Polk HT System For Small HT Room ??? (1 Viewer)

Hi Guys,

I'm putting together a HT system and I want to know if this Polk setup is too much for a room 16L x 10.5W x 8H

Polk Audio RTi8 or RTi10 (Front)
Polk Audio CSi5 (Center)
Polk Audio FXi3 (Surround)
Polk Audio PSW404 or PSW505 (Sub)

I'm going step by step and for now I'm going to be using my good old 5.1 SONY ES 555 receiver until February when i can get maybe a Denon AVR-3805S.

Is this the right setup to start with? The setup is mostly for Home Theater.

I would appreciate any comments.

Thanks

Wilson,

Go with the RTi6's for your fronts and put the extra money towards a better sub like the SVS-PB10ISD, or the Outlaw LFM-2. Polk makes great speakers, but their subs are lacking.

Agreed on the different sub recommendation. The smallest SVS should put a very large smile on your face. Whatever receiver you end up going with, make sure it has preamp outs if someday you want to add an external amp. If you do go with the RTi6s, which is fine, just remember you'll have to spend some more money on stands.

In general, you will be very happy with that system.

Agreed. There's little benefit in buying tower speakers if you keep your receiver/speakers/sub crossed over at 80Hz. The RTi6 speakers would do a great job - and use the same drivers as the RTi8, minus the 2nd 6.5" woofer.

Plus, enough can't be said about considering the PB10-ISD sub. In a room the size of yours, it will knock your socks off for both movies and music.

Thank you guys for your responses.

I checked the SVS website and just by the looks of the subs (I'm Liking it already)

Was not too impress with the LMF but thanks anyway Tommy.

I'm not too crazy about giving up the look of tower speakers, I'll have to play around with the setup (plus She doesn't like the idea of stands is a WAF thing)

Since I wasn't sure between the RTi8 or the RTi10 I came up with this idea.

I can dish the 10's, get the 8's I'll be saving $259 dish the Polk Sub and instead get not the PB10ISD but THE PB12ISD and still be within my budget not to mention that I'm getting an even better sub but also a better looking one.

So what do you think guys? is this setup making better sense? btw is that AVIA/SPL Meter Bundle SVS is offering, something I'll benefit from?

Thanks Again for all you input.

Wilson,

Wilson,

I just purchased this weekend Polk RTi4's and the CSi3. I have a very similar sized room (11x15x7.5). I chose mine because I plan on wall mounting the RTi4's. We did not want floor standers (towers or stands) because of the kids (2 and 4) since they would probably be pulling them down.

I wanted to upgrade my front sound stage so my thought was to keep my exisitng Sony satellites for the rear and sub. Down the road, I will upgrade the sub next (SVS-style --> 20-39PCi or PB10ISD) Teh next upgrade after the sub would be to move my RTi4's to the rear and upgrade my fronts to either the RTi6's or RTi8's. I'm also connected to my neighbor, so I cannot have a system that is too boomy.

I do not have them yet, so I cannot tell you how they sound, but I was advised that this configuration should be more then enough for this sized room, especially since I'm upgrading from 2" full range satellites to the 1" tweeter/5.25" Mid bookshelf combo.

I got them from Crutchfield so I can always exchange them for the RTi6's if I feel they need a little ummph but based on some reviews that have compared the two, the RTi4's are a better fit especially if you plan on having a good sub. The 6" speaker is a little too boomy at times the 5" is tighter and gives a better sound. I chose the CSi3 sine it also has the 5" speaker to match the RTi4's.

Sorry, I know I'm rambling but maybe you can make sense out of my post.

-Lou

wow not only your room is simlar but I also have a 2 and 4 funny huh?

I'm not worry about the little ones as we are not going to leave them in the room alone (I'll take my chance on that and pray they don't outsmart me):frowning:

Like I said in my last post I like the look of the RTi8 and combine with the SVS PB12ISD I think it will be the right combination. I'm hoping Tommy, Shelby and Wayne agree with me on this one. I'll be ready to order them by the end of next week, I still have some time to play around with ideas and settings.

The room is getting ready for electrical and speaker wires roll out which we'll start tomorrow, we just finished framing it.

I'll be ordering the projector this week, I need to mount it to get an accurate idea of the screen size (I'm going with Goo System on that) According to Infocus the SP4805 at 15ft will produce a screen between 96 and 116 with 16.9
aspect ration mine will be somewhere in the 110's.

Thanks for reading and writing sorry if i got

a little carried away with the details and got deviated from the speakers topic, I feel that sometimes the little details are important too.

Lou you mentioned that you are attached on one side same story here what the contractor suggested for me is to put double insulationn an sheet-rock on that side, hope it works for me.

Thanks again guys

Wilson, welcome to the HT forum. It's the best of the bunch. I use 6's/4's/CSi5 and 2 Dayton 10'ers in a 19x14x7 room. While it really bothers me to disagree with anything Wayne suggests, since you have already decided to go with the CSi5 over the 3 and will be used more for HT than music, I think the RTi8's are a better fit than the 6's. Towers offer more "impact" (good for HT) than bookshelves and would be a better match to the CSI5. My only complaint with the 6's is they sometimes seem to emphasize the upper vocals too much making a couple of singers sound a little thin. And I'm using a very warm sounding HK 520 with the treble turned down and the bass turned up a bit. I also think dual driver towers might perform better in the 80 -200hz range than bookshelves. Too bad they cost so much more. I've thought about up-grading to 8's but haven't as yet. You might also want to check the speaker forum on Polk's main web page. Many threads there would be helpful. There are a couple of knuckleheads there (just like at AVS) but there are many knowledgeable Polk people there who know the in's and out's of Polk speakers. And yes, little details are important (like speaker height) and often overlooked. Especially by me! P.S. choose your AVR carefully. I wouldn't call RTi's bright but they need a warmer receiver to me. Denon should be fine.

Wilson,

If you like the tower look better, then go for it. I have found towers to be more stable than bookshelfs on stands myself, too top heavy. Pricing on bookshelfs with good stands come closer to the tower price anyway. Personally, I don't like mounting to a wall either, since the soundstage can't be tweaked with placement.

Enjoy your journey,

DG