Monitor 70's or RTi A7's?

[ph0rk]

I'm in the process of regressing back to a 2.0 system in my main room - sick of dealing with subs and surrounds. I currently have a pair of Boston Acoustics VR-M60's and an older Yamaha RX-V620. I'm thinking of getting an HK 3490 and some towers.

Monitor 70's can be had for a steal right now - are RTi A7's really ~250% the performance? I live in NC and auditions of either are essentially impossible without a purchase first. I'd like a set up that is considerably less bright than what I have now, I seem to have developed some treble sensitivity (that or brittle highs were just a novelty). The room is 12x25 with cathedral ceilings, but because of other space issues the speakers will need to be pretty flush with the wall - so the TSi's are not an option, unfortunately - front ported (or the neato rear power port with dispersion plate) only.

They'd be used for 50/50 music and tv/movies/games and a moderate volume.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[Upstatemax]

I love my Monitor 70's... It's also my understanding that the Monitor line is more mellow and more suited for music than the Rti line.

Some complain that the Rti line is too bright and is best for HT use.

[ph0rk]

I love my Monitor 70's... It's also my understanding that the Monitor line is more mellow and more suited for music than the Rti line.

Some complain that the Rti line is too bright and is best for HT use.

Interesting. Well, I'd much rather err on the side of mellow than bright. Now, if only I could find them still stocked in cherry :)

I don't suppose someone who has auditioned both could verify the brightness issue?

[vijayl]

I own M50 and RTi8. For 2ch, I wud recommend M70 over rti A7. If u hav any plans to upgrade to 3.1 or 5.1, I wud recommend RTiA7. I like the sound of Monitors for music. Not sure if the brightness of RTis are receiver specific !!

[ph0rk]

Actually, it seems I was wrong about the TSi 500 - it is bottom ported. Assuming the carpet spikes are long enough, that could work just fine, though I don't think any local stores carry the TSi 500, either.

[wutadumsn23]

The 500's are bottom ported? I thought they were vented? I am of course an idiot and maybe this means the same thing, but I thought the bottom porting was like the RTi A series? Someone please clue me in, lol. P.S. I have the 70's and enjoy them very much, but have no experience with the RTi line.

[cnh]

RTI-As are front ported, higher models also have a secondary port (power port sytem). I own M70s, so I'm biased. I've heard the Rti-8s and I prefer my M70s. Now Rti-12s and Rti-A9s are ANOTHER story...but that's some extra change and the RTI-A7s will hit lower frequencies and put out a bit more sound than the 70s. The tweeters on those Rti series are a bit more detailed but they are designed to handle heavy duty cinema Dynamic PEAK sound so they're reinforced with an extra heat sink, etc.

The M70s are definitely a bit more laid back and the best of the Monitor line. They have the 2.5 cascade crossover which gives them, IMHO, a bit more musicality than the RTI-8, A-5 models. Power wise the M70s can handle more power than the RTI-A5s and only a bit less than the Rti-A7s.

I think that appropriate comparison is NOT between the A7s and the M70s but the A-5s and the M70s. After all that's where the 2 series cross over price-wise.

I would also say that the M70s REALLY benefit from using a good power amp with them!

cnh

[Crown7]

Well Im new aat this but newegg has m70's for $230 free shipping.. I have the RTIa7's and saw a deal on the m70's. Can I use the m70's for the rear or am i crazy?

[Crown7]

I love my Monitor 70's... It's also my understanding that the Monitor line is more mellow and more suited for music than the Rti line.

Some complain that the Rti line is too bright and is best for HT use.

Can you explain what you mean by too bright on the Rti's please?

[cnh]

You can use those as rears...you only really have to match drivers on the Left/Center/Right fronts....and the Ms are not so far from the Rtis that you would hear any difference with them as surrounds. I think they would make awesome surrounds for you.

cnh

[cnh]

Brightness means that there would be more emphasis on the highs; they'd stand out and be in your face a bit more than a more laid back speaker. That's not necessarily a bad thing for certain applications. RTIs are designed as the Polk HT speaker. The flagship LSIs are the most musical though with heavy duty power amps you can use them for HT also. And the Ms/TSIs are the lower line that's designed to go both ways but is less capable in HT than RTIs and nowhere near as musical as the LSI.. Of course this is my opinion, others agree. I've heard a lot of people say they love 'music' on the RTIs...for me I've only liked music on Rti-A9s because of they're unique configuration!

cnh

[danz1906]

Go for the RTiA7s:D

[wutadumsn23]

Thanks cnh, much clearer now, lol. I am still learning all the technical mumbo jumbo.

[Crown7]

Brightness means that there would be more emphasis on the highs; they'd stand out and be in your face a bit more than a more laid back speaker. That's not necessarily a bad thing for certain applications. RTIs are designed as the Polk HT speaker. The flagship LSIs are the most musical though with heavy duty power amps you can use them for HT also. And the Ms/TSIs are the lower line that's designed to go both ways but is less capable in HT than RTIs and nowhere near as musical as the LSI.. Of course this is my opinion, others agree. I've heard a lot of people say they love 'music' on the RTIs...for me I've only liked music on Rti-A9s because of they're unique configuration!

cnh

iN that case, having 4 towers isnt a bad thing I think especially for the price i can get the M70's...I will be doing mostly music though so i hope I can hear the differences...Thanks for the advice! The hardest part after buying them will be getting them thru the front door and past the senate (the wife):p

[leroyjr1]

I'd go with the RTI A series. If it's music speakers you want try out a pair of SDA's.

[cnh]

You're right there Leroy1,

I have a pair of SDAs coming for just that purpose. But I really do think the M70s are underrated, the A7s are better yeah--but the A-5s...I'm not that impressed...really.

cnh

[Crown7]

I'd go with the RTI A series. If it's music speakers you want try out a pair of SDA's.

Are the SDA's you guys are talking about the SurroundBar speaker?

[leroyjr1]

Are the SDA's you guys are talking about the SurroundBar speaker?

NO, there Polks older vintage speakers.

http://www.polksda.com/list.shtml

[rru2s]

I love my monitor 70s, and use them in a 25' x 16' room that is half open to a 13' x 15' foot room. I am running 2.1 with an Outlaw RR2150 receiver, the monitor 70s in the corners elevated about 18 inches, and an Epik 15" 330W subwoofer. The sound is great for music, not too bright. I'm not much for hard rock, so I don't really need that bright of a sound, mostly jazz and vocals.

It should match well to the HK3490. I have one of those in my bedroom hooked up to Monitor 60s and a 12" Velodyne VRP 1200 sub.

I am also thinking of picking up 2 more of the monitor series as rears, since the room is so large. However, I already have so much furniture for watching my HDTV I would have to displace some furniture, so I'm probably stuck with 2.1 for now.

After listening to both systems daily for a year or two, I can tell the difference between the four 6.5" speakers in the 70s versus the three 5.25" speakers in the 60s. Truthfully, the 6.5" attenuate the upper midrange just a tiny bit too much. 5.25" is perfect for midrange but weak in the upper bass, so a combination of both types would be an interesting speaker, which Polk does not currently make.

[cnh]

rr..

This is a perfect example of the subjective element in audio...to me the strength of the M70s is that it 'tames' that somewhat exaggerated midrange in the lower models! And makes it less harsh for 'music'....due to the larger drivers and the fact that it is the ONLY M tower that is not a 2 way design...so it has larger midwoofers filling in some of the upper midrange. It is true, one man's attenuation is another man's 'warmth'! I also find that the M70s put out much MORE sound than the lower models....I hear more on the recording.

cnh

[ph0rk]

I ended up going with the Monitor 70's for now - the closeout pricing is too good to pass up, and my new condo has such thick (almost-shag!) carpet I don't think the TSi series would work, they'd sink too deep into the carpet to allow enough room for the port (Whatever happened to the bottom-mounted powerport baffles of the RTi70/150?)

That, and if I was going to drop >$1k on some towers I'd probably just bump up to the LSi15 :)

Thanks for all the feedback!

[Crown7]

rr..

This is a perfect example of the subjective element in audio...to me the strength of the M70s is that it 'tames' that somewhat exaggerated midrange in the lower models! And makes it less harsh for 'music'....due to the larger drivers and the fact that it is the ONLY M tower that is not a 2 way design...so it has larger midwoofers filling in some of the upper midrange. It is true, one man's attenuation is another man's 'warmth'! I also find that the M70s put out much MORE sound than the lower models....I hear more on the recording.

cnh

This is great guys...truly awesome...Looking forward to testing them out for game 7 with Boston and Orlando tonite...Thanks for the schooling!!

[potee]

This is great guys...truly awesome...Looking forward to testing them out for game 7 with Boston and Orlando tonite...Thanks for the schooling!!

Let me know how the m70s turn out. Go boston!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Paul

[Crown7]

rr..

This is a perfect example of the subjective element in audio...to me the strength of the M70s is that it 'tames' that somewhat exaggerated midrange in the lower models! And makes it less harsh for 'music'....due to the larger drivers and the fact that it is the ONLY M tower that is not a 2 way design...so it has larger midwoofers filling in some of the upper midrange. It is true, one man's attenuation is another man's 'warmth'! I also find that the M70s put out much MORE sound than the lower models....I hear more on the recording.

cnh

Ok fellow forum members...I make the purchase from j and r, hop in the yellow cab lugging the box get home, plug in, and tried to get cute by installing my monster banana plugs in the RTI7's. Turn everything on, and....WTH?? The sound came out mufflled on the 7's! Apparently either I didnt do a good job threading the copper to the bananas, or maybe the gauge was too small. In any event the faux pas allowed me to hear the M70, which was deep and wide ranging..I proceeded to almost kick myself because for the price of one RTI A7, I could have bought almost 3 m70's...

But reality set in, I took out the plugs, did the standard connection, and boom, everything was in sync. The M70's was a bigger footprint than I anticipated, but i couldnt beat the $150 price from J and R. I have to find one more m70 in cherry now and I would be straight...So CNH, pleae tell me that If I replace my other sony surround with the M70, I would be satisfied. I got two more speakers to go, the center and the left surround. I will report more on the listening tests, but I gotta leave the house go to work to pay off these speakers now...Good day fellas...

[rru2s]

rr..

This is a perfect example of the subjective element in audio...to me the strength of the M70s is that it 'tames' that somewhat exaggerated midrange in the lower models! And makes it less harsh for 'music'....due to the larger drivers and the fact that it is the ONLY M tower that is not a 2 way design...so it has larger midwoofers filling in some of the upper midrange. It is true, one man's attenuation is another man's 'warmth'! I also find that the M70s put out much MORE sound than the lower models....I hear more on the recording.

cnh

Actually, I do agree with you ... OVERALL the m70s are considerably better than the m60s, and this is ESPECIALLY evident without a sub. Now the m60s do a tiny bit better with the upper midrange, but the middle-midrange and lower mid-range are lacking in the 60s. So the overall balance is the m70 is definitely a better speaker all-around. All I meant by my comment is that it would be interesting to hear a Polk speaker with a combination of 5.25 inch and 6.5 inch drivers, but not being an engineer I have no idea how they would handle the cross-overs and whether the outcome would be a smooth integration across the spectrum.

[cnh]

Ok fellow forum members...I make the purchase from j and r, hop in the yellow cab lugging the box get home, plug in, and tried to get cute by installing my monster banana plugs in the RTI7's. Turn everything on, and....WTH?? The sound came out mufflled on the 7's! Apparently either I didnt do a good job threading the copper to the bananas, or maybe the gauge was too small. In any event the faux pas allowed me to hear the M70, which was deep and wide ranging..I proceeded to almost kick myself because for the price of one RTI A7, I could have bought almost 3 m70's...

But reality set in, I took out the plugs, did the standard connection, and boom, everything was in sync. The M70's was a bigger footprint than I anticipated, but i couldnt beat the $150 price from J and R. I have to find one more m70 in cherry now and I would be straight...So CNH, pleae tell me that If I replace my other sony surround with the M70, I would be satisfied. I got two more speakers to go, the center and the left surround. I will report more on the listening tests, but I gotta leave the house go to work to pay off these speakers now...Good day fellas...

First there is NO way that A7s should sound 'muffled', so I suspect your wires are at fault, or receiver? A7s put out an even wider soundscape than M70s...but they 'do' sound 'different'! A7s put out more bass..more detailed highs. I can't put them down they're a great speaker for what they do.

But any time you can get a new set of M70s for below half-price NEW you can't really complain.

Crown 7 are you saying you want to run 4 M70s or even 6? You can do that if you have the space but you're going to need some power for that to really sound its best. You also want to get the CS2 (the larger center) for that config--I have one and it's great. I have run M70s/CS2/and TSI-300s as surrounds (they're the new M50s) and yeah towers in the back give you MORE sound! But it's not big with the WIFE! So I'm back to M30s back there for now!

As a concluding note. M70s--underrated in my opinion. I remember talking with a Polk rep who told me that in the M70s Polk did everything 'right'--drivers, crossovers, etc. They were a very 'balanced' speaker. He also said that of the RTI-series the RTI-A7 had something similar that series and that the A-9s were a bit tubby on the low end. In the end I disagree with that assessment of the A-9s--I really think that's the speaker to go with in that series!

Remember the M70s use to sell for over 900 a pair. Now TSI-500s sell for over a 100 less MSRP. I'm still trying to figure out how you cut costs that much on a NEW replacement line?

cnh

[Crown7]

Cnh, it definitely wasn't the receiver...maybe I need thicker speaker wire...the ones I have now I admit are old and very thin. The current set up, to clarify are RTI7's in the front, and m70 on the rt surround. So ultimately I'll get the 2nd M70 for the left, and I'll take your advice and get the cs2 center. Right now all the non-polk speakers are sony ht's (don't laugh). Problem is I gotta find a location for the center speaker...its a work in process. I found the cherry m70's somewhere on the web for $229 but I won't get that second one until the summer. Hopefully when I could get it it better be available...I think I will buy some newer thicker wire...how many of you guys use banana plugs on your speakers?

[Upstatemax]

I only use banana plugs for my Denon receiver... Polk speakers have that hole in the post so you can fish the wire right into the post for a really secure fit. My Denon post don't have that and I was not happy with the fairly loose connection that I had with the bare wire and post connection...

[swapna81]

Right now at newegg.com the polk 70's (black) are going for $179 with coupon code EMCLSNN38
and the cherry ones for 200 with coupon code HAS523 if anybody is looking for them.

I ended up going with the Monitor 70's for now - the closeout pricing is too good to pass up, and my new condo has such thick (almost-shag!) carpet I don't think the TSi series would work, they'd sink too deep into the carpet to allow enough room for the port (Whatever happened to the bottom-mounted powerport baffles of the RTi70/150?)

That, and if I was going to drop >$1k on some towers I'd probably just bump up to the LSi15 :)

Thanks for all the feedback!

[cnh]

If you're going with Rti-A7s up front you should match the center with a Csi6 or last year's CSI-5 instead of the CS2! Need to keep those fronts matched!

M70s L/R front, then CS2 YES!

cnh