Infinity vs. Polk

[Gaigebacca]

Infinity Primus P362B -- $99.99 each

or

Polk RTi8 -- $199.99 ea

My price range is right around $400 for my front pair. Which of these is the better buy?

My current center is an Infinity Beta C250, and a polk psw10 sub. Onkyo TX-SR605 AVR. Current plans are for a 5.1 setup right now, so I could bi-amp the fronts... how much would that improve the sound quality... if at all? I am a little fuzzy on the idea/purpose of bi-amping... Any info would be great!

Thanks - Gaige

 

[blued888]

P362's are not bi-amp capable. I think you'd be better off going with the Infinitys since you have an Infinity center already.

Is that $99.99 from Fry's? Until when is that and from what area are you? I'm also planning to get those. Greater Los Angeles area hopefully has them.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I would pick the ones that sound best to you.

To properly bi-amp you need a couple of external amps. If you mean bi-wire, there is no benefit to it.

 

[Alex2507]

If you mean bi-wire, there is no benefit to it.

Not even a little? C'mon, I know you heard something. It's okay, you can tell us. Don't be scared. Nobody's gonna laugh at ya. We're all friends here, right?

Seriously, I don't think that Beta center will match with anything. In case you do choose the 362's, you can get the matching center here:

http://stores.ebay.com/Harman-Audio_Infinity_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ10225969QQftidZ2QQtZkm

 

[Gaigebacca]

Yes, that pricing was at Fry's, and good through today. My Onkyo states that it is bi-amp capable. You just have to use the last rears as well as the fronts to one speaker. so instead of being able to have a 7.1, you can only have a 5.1 setup. I was able to listen to the Polks with the same center I have, and they sounded good, but the positioning for them at fry's wasnt the best, as they had the towers closer to the center of the room angled at like 45-50 degrees in, where as the center was in the front/center about 8-10 ft in front of the positioning of the towers. The infinities I was able to listen to as well, but similar type setup, but with different center as they were in a different room.

But if someone could still give me a little more info about bi-amping and the perks would be great.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

There are a thousand threads on bi-amping on this forum, use the search function. Even when an AVR says it is bi-amp-able it would be unlikely that you can any headroom as you still just have one power source.

Yes, that pricing was at Fry's, and good through today. My Onkyo states that it is bi-amp capable. You just have to use the last rears as well as the fronts to one speaker. so instead of being able to have a 7.1, you can only have a 5.1 setup. I was able to listen to the Polks with the same center I have, and they sounded good, but the positioning for them at fry's wasnt the best, as they had the towers closer to the center of the room angled at like 45-50 degrees in, where as the center was in the front/center about 8-10 ft in front of the positioning of the towers. The infinities I was able to listen to as well, but similar type setup, but with different center as they were in a different room.

But if someone could still give me a little more info about bi-amping and the perks would be great.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Yes my speakers are bi-wired but there is something wrong with me. The bi-wiring makes my system seem brighter but only when I am hungover

Not even a little? C'mon, I know you heard something. It's okay, you can tell us. Don't be scared. Nobody's gonna laugh at ya. We're all friends here, right?

 

[Gaigebacca]

Ok... so maybe I am confused some... it states that my AVR can put out 90 watts per channel, x8 channels. if my sub is powered, not passive, thats -90 from the max... that leaves 630 watts for the other 7 channels. but if I am only using 5 speakers, not 7, then how does bi-amping the front two not make any difference? Is the receiver not pushing 180 watts to each speaker? Am I looking at this the wrong way?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Your AVR doesnt have a buch of little amps in there just waiting around to see if they get to power a speaker. You have one power source and the more you take away from it, the weaker it becomes. So if you have 5 speakers set up and then add 2 more you are just tapping into the power that is available. Same holds true for bi-amping off of the same amp, you have a "blank" amount of power and dividing it isnt gonna change anything.

 

[Gaigebacca]

Well I understand that... that is part of my question... if it has 720watts available total... and there are only 5 speakers drawing power... do they all take 144 watts.. or is each output limited to 90 watts at the AVR... leaving ~180 watts of unused potential?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Under normal listening you are probably using somewhere between 1 and 20 watts. Peaks require more power and it's nice to have there when it's called for. Your amp powers the speakers to the best it can as determined by what the music/movie calls for at the time. It's not as straight forward as saying you have 100 watt amp, you have 5 speakers so each one has 20 watts.

So to answer your last question, most of your "watts" are of unused potential most of the time.

Your 605 has plenty of power to run the speakers you are looking at with ease. Hook up a set of 12-14 AWG wire, forget about bi-amping and go to town.

 

[Gaigebacca]

Thanks, thats what I was looking for. My only concern has been that people have said in multiple reviews that to get decent low-end response out of the RTi8's, you need to be able to give it close to its upper power requirements. So that has been the reasoning for my questioning.

but my original question still hasnt been answered very well... are the RTi8's worth the extra ~$200 or so over the Infinity 362's?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

but my original question still hasnt been answered very well... are the RTi8's worth the extra ~$200 or so over the Infinity 362's?

I would have to put on your ears and go listen them in order to answer that question and neither one of us would like that

 

[Gaigebacca]

touche my friend... touche...

 

[Alex2507]

but my original question still hasnt been answered very well... are the RTi8's worth the extra ~$200 or so over the Infinity 362's?

I think the best way to tell is by looking at some measurements of the speakers and the Primus 360s are covered here:

http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/605infinity/index3.html

The 362s and 360s should be pretty close as far as I know.I don't have anything for the Polks though. Then you need to know how to interpret those numbers and graphs or have somebody who knows help you out with that. That's not me either.

Then of course there is always the option of listening to them for yourself and picking one. That always goes over big around here. If you like the Polks and can afford the extra money, then the choice is easy. Then again, did you say the Primus deal ends today? Near as I can tell people who have the Infinitys, like the Infinitys. Give 'em both another listen with your favorite music and do a coin toss. While the coin spins in the air, you will find yourself hoping for one or the other.

 

[TLS Guy]

Well I understand that... that is part of my question... if it has 720watts available total... and there are only 5 speakers drawing power... do they all take 144 watts.. or is each output limited to 90 watts at the AVR... leaving ~180 watts of unused potential?

The real issue, is that the power divide is 400 Hz. Biamping usually just involves powering a tweeter. That gives no advantage at all because the power increase is insignificant.

To get the benefit of biamping you need active electronic crossovers.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

MSRP on those Infinities is $299 each, so $99 is one heck of a fantastic deal!

 

[Gaigebacca]

Yes... unfortunately it was too little too late before I realized the bargain that was... for brand new speakers... I also had the "future wife" (engaged to be married in October) to put the decision through. So hopefully they will go on sale again... got the go ahead once I am done refinishing the ceilings and laying down the floor. So hopefully Frys will have another sale on them in a month or so.

FYI on a little background... we just purchased our first house a couple of months ago, and it was a foreclosure, so I am pretty much completely redo-ing 80% of the house to get it ready for her move in come October. (Anyone know of some good quality wood flooring for under 2.50 sq ft.?)

 

[allargon]

Congratulations on your engagement!

I missed this thread. Too bad Fry's doesn't have any sweet deals on the RTi12's or RTiA9's (yeah, right) right now. Those the the two Polks I would consider. I hear the RTi8's and 10's at the store and wondered WTF? The sound was flat. Some called Polks bright. I just thought those two were flat.

 

[Gaigebacca]

I didnt think they sounded flat, but the low end was definitely lacking, and was putting out the "shwoofing" sound that you always hear on bad subs. But the placement of the towers was horrible, and I am sure people have been going in and blaring the speakers before they were "worked in". I think I am leaning towards the Infinity 362's right now.