Bi Wire or Bi Amp Polk RTi 12?

[starflight]

Hi guys,

I'm new here. Joined just about a week ago, but never formally introduced myself since I was in hurry when I posted my first question about which speakers to get. So here is a hello to you all and a quick thanks to you all who have answered my questions so far!

Thanks to some great advice and spending a lot of time reading the review and suggestions from people, I have started my new HT system. I decided to go with Polk RTi 12's for my fronts and I am powering them with my new Yamaha RX-V2600.

I know these speakers can handle a lot of power and from recommendations of many, could use separate power amps. I think I'm ok for now since I live in an apartment and won't be able to blast these anyway. I've just hooked up the speakers to the receiver yesterday with 12G wire from Knukonceptz and I have been loving what my ears hear.

The question now is. Should I Bi-wire or even Bi-amp these puppies? What do you folks who have these speakers do? How are they connected to your receiver? To me, these speakers are a joy to listen to. I auditioned them and was blown away at how wonderful they sounded. I've been testing all kinds of music with these, RnB, Jazz, Rock, Pop and classical. You name it, these speakers work very nicely with all kinds of music. One these for sure though, they could use more bass.

It maybe a matter of needing more power to bring these 3 woofers alive though as I have read. Anyway, one of these days I will match it up with an SVS sub, but with that mentioned, will bi-wiring or bi-amping these to my Yamaha RX-V2600 make any difference?

According to my Yamaha manual, I can bi-wire these speakers by connecting to the B speakers. Will this still be ok when I am in multi channel listening modes or will this just work when in stereo mode? Thanks in advanced!

 

[mike c]

bi-wiring wouldn't make one bit of difference

bi-amping with your receiver ONLY will theoretically be better than just bi-wiring.

getting a big external amp would be the best

using existing smaller external amps (100+wpc) to bi-amp would also be better than using just the receiver.

 

[Sheep]

Bi-wiring will make no different.

Running a True Bi-amp will help with power. If they don't have as much bass as you'd like, turn the tone control up.

SheepStar

 

[starflight]

bi-wiring wouldn't make one bit of difference

bi-amping with your receiver ONLY will theoretically be better than just bi-wiring.

getting a big external amp would be the best

using existing smaller external amps (100+wpc) to bi-amp would also be better than using just the receiver.

Thanks for the answer. I was skeptical about this stuff. No money for the external amp yet, but I think a future sub should address the lack of bass.

 

[starflight]

Bi-wiring will make no different.

Running a True Bi-amp will help with power. If they don't have as much bass as you'd like, turn the tone control up.

SheepStar

I turned the tone control for the bass to +6.0 already. Just not getting as much bass as I would like. I'm sure that even with 3 7" woofers, this is no comparison to having a good sub.
Cheers!

 

[mike c]

Thanks for the answer. I was skeptical about this stuff. No money for the external amp yet, but I think a future sub should address the lack of bass.

agreed. if you crossover your mains with a subwoofer ... they won't need as much power.

now ... talking about subwoofers ... let's spend your money

 

[starflight]

agreed. if you crossover your mains with a subwoofer ... they won't need as much power.

now ... talking about subwoofers ... let's spend your money

LOL I think the sub will have to wait. The one I want is close to $1000. I'm sure I won't even be able to fully utilize in this apartment before I get evicted.

 

[Matt34]

LOL I think the sub will have to wait. The one I want is close to $1000. I'm sure I won't even be able to fully utilize in this apartment before I get evicted.

For an apartment $600 spent on a sub from certain companies will end up with the same results.

 

[benolium]

2 is better than 1

LOL I think the sub will have to wait. The one I want is close to $1000. I'm sure I won't even be able to fully utilize in this apartment before I get evicted.

Not sure if you mentioned which sub you were looking at. That isn't a big deal. Consider getting 2 smaller subs INSTEAD of 1 larger sub. You will improve LFE considerably, reduce standing waves, and it will no doubt sound cleaner. 2 smaller is almost superior to 1 monster one if placed properly. Since I'm in the spending mood, lets find you 4 smaller subs!

 

[starflight]

"spending mood" huh? yeah, I guess I am seriously in the spending mood. To be honest I just decided to keep the Polk PSW10 sub that I got free. It managed to fill the low end quite nicely. It's by no means the cleanest sounding sub I've heard or had but not that I have it opened, I decided to use it until I have more confident about the noise level I can create here.

However, I have been doing some research into Adcom GFA555 amps to drive the RTi12's. But once again, the problem is that I live in apartment. I don't want to piss of all of my neighbours... I wonder though will 200WPC RMS from these Adcoms be that much better than the 130WPC RMS from my Yamaha RX-V2600? My guess is that it would but still... hmmm what you guys think?

 

[LA Venga]

Starflight, did you happen to buy those RTi12s at Tweeter? They were running a similar deal at my local store (spend 500 on Polk Audio products, get a free sub), and I am thinking about getting a pair of 10s to start off my system.

 

[AVRat]

Both the 10/12s really need a separate amp to get the best out of the Polk's bottom end (bass below 120 Hz).

 

[LA Venga]

Follow up to AVRat: Does that mean that an Onkyo TX605 would not be able to power 10s sufficiently?

 

[cfrizz]

A receiver will power the Polks. However, you will not hear the full potential of what the speakers are capable of without a separate amp.

All speakers benefit from more power.

It wasn't until I got a Parasound 1500A 205wpc amp that I found out what my 17yr old Polks were capable of. The bass was fuller, I detected intruments in songs I thought I knew inside & out that were muffled or simply undetectable before. Vocals & dialog were clearer. There was better separation of the instruments.

I have since stepped up to the 5 channel amp in my signature.

Simply put, it was a night & day difference between what a receiver can give the speakers & what a separate powerful amp can give them.

It was the single best improvement I made to my system.

 

[ctwed]

You can not even imagine the difference you will see! A complete order of magnitude! One problem, the power amp will tend to point out weakness in other components.

 

[mtrycrafts]

All speakers benefit from more power.
.

I doubt that is so. If it is very sensitive say 100dB spl/w/m, you will hardly use much power before you go insane and deaf.

Or, if it is a poor speaker, its linear range is reached well before the amp starts to clip. So, not all speakers will benefit with more power. It all depends on the speaker, room, listening habits, etc.

 

[cfrizz]

That is simply YOUR opinion Mtrycrafts & it differs greatly from everyone who has a powerful HT separate amplifier powering their speakers.

We are relying on our ears hearing music we know very well. Not turning the joy of listening to music into a flipping science project.

So you can doubt it all you want, but it doesn't mean what we are saying is any less valid then what you are saying.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Ouch...

I am not sure I can tell much of a difference from running my speakers off of my cheap AVR vs. running them off of my amp except at very loud volumes.

That is simply YOUR opinion Mtrycrafts & it differs greatly from everyone who has a powerful HT separate amplifier powering their speakers.

We are relying on our ears hearing music we know very well. Not turning the joy of listening to music into a flipping science project.

So you can doubt it all you want, but it doesn't mean what we are saying is any less valid then what you are saying.

 

[mike c]

Ouch...

I am not sure I can tell much of a difference from running my speakers off of my cheap AVR vs. running them off of my amp except at very loud volumes.

a lot would depend on your speakers and how you run them.

for example, I ran my 8 ohm towers in FULL RANGE (no sub), played loud, that's where I heard a difference between a mid level receiver and an amp.

but if cut at 80hz, and with low volumes, the difference might not be noticeable.

but it sure doesn't stop me from using amps up front

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Yep; I knew what I was getting into when I bought it. I mean, you cant have a bad-*** system without a hundred pound amp

a lot would depend on your speakers and how you run them.

for example, I ran my 8 ohm towers in FULL RANGE (no sub), played loud, that's where I heard a difference between a mid level receiver and an amp.

but if cut at 80hz, and with low volumes, the difference might not be noticeable.

but it sure doesn't stop me from using amps up front