Which subwoofer to mate with RTiA5

[wristshot]

Hi, folks. Newbie here.

About to spring for a pair of RTiA5s with a CSI A6 center. Trying to figure out which subwoofer to mate them with -- hard to tell from the Polk site. Advice?

Also: I have a Yamaha RX-V667 receiver. I've heard that the RTiA5s don't mate well out of the box with certain Yamaha receivers, but the logic is beyond me. Can anyone point me to an explanation?

Thanks!

[Sci-fi Polk Guy]

I had a system which consisted of a Yamaha RX-v663, a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 50's, a Polk CSiA4, a pair of Polk RTi4's and a Polk PSW505. I can tell you from personal experience that my Monitor 50's and my RX-V663 together sounded brighter than the noonday sun on top of Mt. Everest. Everything else, especially the CSiA4 was great. I tweaked the equalization of the 50's, but it didn't help much. I'm sure that you would get much better bass with a pair of RTiA5's than you would with a pair of Monitor 50's so you may have more success than I did. My system was great for home theater, but the music always sounded very, very bright.

Regarding a sub, if you are looking for something less than $400 out of the box, including shipping, I would definitely consider the Hsu Research STF-2. I've had mine for about 5 months now, and I am very satisfied with it. It is about the same size and weight of a PSW 505, but IMHO the STF-2 is a much better sub. Its bass is much tighter and it sounds more musical than a PSW 505.

[gudnoyez]

I have a Denon and a Yamaha Avr and A5's the Denon sounds better with them. I'am happy with the psw 111 but there are a lot better subs to choose from.

[specd_out]

I had a yamaha and I will agree that its a brighter/harsher sounding combo. I now have a Pioneer AVR and I am much happier. Pairing a sub with the a5s is simple if you want a HT sub. Finding a musical sub is a little more complicated. I have a Polk dsw600 for my ht sub. While I have heard better. It works for me, for the time being.

[jbooker82]

I like my DSW Pro660 WI sub. You can get it onsale from new egg for around $350 free shipping.

[rpf65]

Get the biggest sub you can afford. You can always turn the volumn down. You can't add low end freq response.

[F1nut]

About to spring for a pair of RTiA5s with a CSI A6 center. Trying to figure out which subwoofer to mate them with -- hard to tell from the Polk site. Advice?

The DSW Pro 660wi will work well with your speakers for HT use.

Can anyone point me to an explanation?

Yamaha's house sound tends to be on the bright/sterile side. The RTi A series tend to be a bit hot at the top, which works well for HT, not so much for music. The combo might have too much sizzle.

[wristshot]

Wow. Thanks, everyone, for the very helpful responses. Mind if I ask a couple of follow-ups?

First of all, I should be point out that I'm using my system more for music than for HT, had not realized that made so much of a difference.

So..., does that change anyone's rec on subwoofer? In general, I'm having a hard time parsing the Polk subwoofer line and figuring out which ones are good for what. BTW, what would folks say is the current replacement for the discontinued PSW505, which people seem to love.

I can't change my receiver, so given the potential mismatch with these speakers, should I be looking for other speakers instead? If so, anyone have recs for alternatives of similar price and quality?

Are there not settings on the Yamaha that I can tweak to compensate for the brightness?

Again, I greatly appreciate the informed answers I've gotten here.

[Landers0440]

I have a couple 660s and love them. But really you could go with the 440 even and still get incredable clean sounding bass to go with your a5s

[chiptouz]

I love my hsu vtf3mk4 and wouldn't change it for the world. It was a little more expensive than the ones you were looking at, but after buying a PSW350 and paying $499 over ten years ago and replacing it with a the hsu the difference was staggering!

[pstrev]

Hey man. I have almost the same set up. I've got the DSW Pro 550wi. No regrets. Lovin the Yami too!
Regards.

Pat

[aclpro]

I use the DSW Pro 550wi with a pair of A7's, a A6 center and FXia6 surrounds with a Yamaha Rxa 720. WHen I ran YPAO it set all my speakers to large and the A7's carried much of the base, I bi amped the A7's set all speakers to small set the cutout to 80 hertz and the sub seems to work much better. I tend to belive it is more home thatre based. I do have 2 complaints though if you want it front facing all the controls are on the bottom, secondly to adjust the volume you have to use the remote or the push buttons on the back, a simple knob would have been fine for me. All in all I am pleased this is an upgrade from my almost 20 yr old technics sa x6 reciever , MB Quart QLC centers towers and bookshelves for rears and a cerwin vega 12 inch sub. I must saymy old equipment served me well. I hope my new gear doe me just as good. Enjoy your new toys!

[chiptouz]

Have you made your decision? What did you get?