Polk RTi A9 - Horrible Demo

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Van73 said:
I'm seriously thinking about switching to A9's. Heard nothing but good things and would lighten the load on my G.
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I hate to say anything disparaging about the LSi 15 not having heard them but two Polkies I'd spoken with strongly discouraged me from them while highly recommending the A9s.

Just recently I was fortunate to snap up a pair of refurbished A9s in cherry for $1K delivered, from Polkaudio (eBay). They are indistinguishable from new and carry a 2 year warranty. All 10 pairs offered went in under a week.
 
There is a "wide" range of opinion about "power" over at the Polk site. Some of the old timers run 30 watt x 2 class A amps on SDA 1Cs and say they have plenty of power. Most would admit that it's not simply about power but the quality of that power. And those with tube set ups are not running 200 watts a side. lol

As for Rti-A9s. I've never heard those live up to their potential on a simple AVR even a 50+ pound Onkyo, or a Pioneer Elite, etc. Put the power amp on and experience a "different" speaker. This is even true for the entry level tower series, the old Monitor 70s.

But this is just my personal experience. I've heard all those combos and the AVRs don't cut it with A9s.

As far as Lsi-15s, you need crossover mods on those. So you should skip those at this point and go directly to the new LSiM 707s (leaps and bounds better than the 15s and more coin to). If you haven't heard the new Polks get your listen on because these can compete with most speakers that are in their price range and some above it.

cnh2
 
I've had a pair of A9s for two and a half weeks. I'm running them with a Denon AVR-3805. It's been an interesting experience.

- They aren't bright at all.
- They seem a bit heavy in the upper midrange but my spectrum analyzer disagrees.
- They are very sensitive to room placement. Pull them well away from the wall and great things happen.
- They have warmed up after a few hours of listening.
- I was hoping these speakers would allow me to avoid a subwoofer. They have not disappointed. My brothers asked where the sub is.
- For HT, these things are lethal.
- For most music, I prefer them paired to my 1975 Kenwood 7300 integrated amp, with one bump of loudness. They are absolutely brilliant together.

It is my belief that we have a lot of well engineered speakers, these days. Any decent speaker can sound really amazing, if set up properly. The RTi A9 is no exception. There isn't a lot between a number of speakers. I don't brag about the A9s as the best speakers or even the best I've heard. They are merely really great.

Given that I paid about $900 Canadian for a new pair and they weren't on sale, I think they are an unbeatable value. I'm delighted with mine.
 
I had the A-7's and they weren't too bad, always wanted to try the 9 or 12. Even the 7's liked the power. I think the Emo X2 would be a great match for the 9.

I doubt any reciever @ frys is going to have the balls to run the 9 properly. At least not enough to review them.

Spending some time reading reviews, it's pretty common to read thing's are pretty bleak until the power is right.
 
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