Polk Rti A3 is one of the worst speakers I have ever listened to

[Bigkahuna]

I know from two channel audio that speaker placement and the room can effect performance, also, some speakers do well for some types of music and others are bad for the same type of music. But also what some people like to listen to is music that is not accuratley played and is colored to some extent. A friend of mine is always winding up the bass at my house and I am always turning it down.

 

[audiok]

I'll echo what's been said here - your room is murdering the sound I had similar issues with a pair of Axiom M3's that I've had for more than 2 years, until I recently moved them into a better room. Now they're absolutely amazing. So yes there are crappy speakers, but you won't find out until you do something about that harsh room first. About the EQ thing, I bought an Onkyo 706 for Audyssey MultEQ, and it kicks serious butt. Room accoustics is complicated, so it's best left to the computer to figure it out. And forget about the break-in myth. I really hoped for and tried to detect the difference, but after 4 weeks, my PSB T5's sound the same as the moment I set them up.

 

[Shock]

Futureshop had these one boxing day sale two years ago I believe. A buddy of mine picked some up and I personally liked their sound.

I was super tempted to pick some up but was going through some money problems at that time and I wanted to eat more than buy speakers.

 

[Philip G]

Clean electric current

Guys,

I have the Polk RTi A1 and experienced the same listening fatigue, there was somethin unbearably harsh and chalk-ish in the trebles.
Those effects were most noticeable with my Virtue Two.2. When hooked up to my peachtree iDecco alone the treble was less agressive, maybe just because it resolves less than the Virtue.
However the real problem with overly agressive treble can also come from your current. I listen to my gear in my office/studio which is a room in a larger office loft space with a bunch of electronics plugged onto the grid. I somewhat always suspected the current to not be very clean, I think it is a very noisy electrical environment.
So I bought one of Supra's Shielded Mains Blocks which applies some mild filtering to the current, taking the jaggies/spikes out of the current to make it 'sweeter'. Opted for the Supras because they are very good value and it's a 'no bullshit brand' (my loudspeaker cables are also from them and these alone sound fantastic and very transparent, better than some more expensive Synergistic Research ones I tried).

Result : The speakers now sound very noticeably sweeter in the highs, never agressive and fatiguing, just more 'liquid' and pleasing.

So, if you experience agressive and fatiguing highs it can also be related to your current.

Best,
Philippe

 

[Cruise Missile]

I run the older RTi set in my theater for now. The sound stage is huge, but as it's been said vauge with the depth.

These speakers really benefited from audyssey 32xt or whatever it's called. The imaging didn't improve as far as depth but the harshness of the highs was all but eradicated. Audyssey also improved the nasal thinness in vocals.

(in my room Dianna sounded as if she was singing behind a towel, there was actually a lack of the sibilance that made her hard to understand at times)

There was also huge changes from placement and toe in. Not always good either. I did however finally get it right as far as placement and then the addition of an eq to the room. The RTi's were worth what we paid for them and we've had plenty of enjoyment from 'em. We never expected these to be audiophile quality, more of a place keeper until we own a house and build a dedicated theater.They've far exceeded those expectations.

All of this said though, I dream of the day I get to replace these with something superior.

 

[Bismarck]

I actually used to own the Rti A3s. I thought they were a little fatiguing, but overall I thought they were fine. I wasn't blow away, but I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Since you are listening to a lot of Techno, I would definitely invest in a good subwoofer and set the crossover on the speakers somewhere around 80Hz. That way the speakers play the frequencies they can properly handle, and your sub takes over all of the bass.

 

[bweisnicht]

Guys,

I have the Polk RTi A1 and experienced the same listening fatigue, there was somethin unbearably harsh and chalk-ish in the trebles.
Those effects were most noticeable with my Virtue Two.2. When hooked up to my peachtree iDecco alone the treble was less agressive, maybe just because it resolves less than the Virtue.
However the real problem with overly agressive treble can also come from your current. I listen to my gear in my office/studio which is a room in a larger office loft space with a bunch of electronics plugged onto the grid. I somewhat always suspected the current to not be very clean, I think it is a very noisy electrical environment.
So I bought one of Supra's Shielded Mains Blocks which applies some mild filtering to the current, taking the jaggies/spikes out of the current to make it 'sweeter'. Opted for the Supras because they are very good value and it's a 'no bullshit brand' (my loudspeaker cables are also from them and these alone sound fantastic and very transparent, better than some more expensive Synergistic Research ones I tried).

Result : The speakers now sound very noticeably sweeter in the highs, never agressive and fatiguing, just more 'liquid' and pleasing.

So, if you experience agressive and fatiguing highs it can also be related to your current.

Best,
Philippe

*Cough* BS *Cough*

 

[tom67]

Yeah, sounds like the cure cost a lot more than the cost of the cause....better to walk them to the curb on pickup day and start over if all this remedial action is required.....

 

[Subdusted]

Did you read this or are you speaking from your own 3rd party testing?Just wondering as this is a (get out of jail free card to alot of speaker manufactering companies) it will take a 100 hours to break in these speakers!!!! Load of Bull...speaker break in is a myth and the speakers are "broken" in at the factory where they were made....please get your facts straight before inserting foot in mouth.....

You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. Do you think you are smarter than Martin Logan engineers who recommend 72 hours of break-in period for their speakers before critical listening in all manuals? If you are smarter than them - show us the speakers you made, that outshine Martin Logan Hybrid Electrostats or even cheap Motion 12-s.

Page 6 of the speaker manual : http://www.martinlogan.com/pdf/manuals/manual_motion_20_motion_40.pdf

I quote : " BREAK IN
Allow approximately 72 hours of break-in at 90
dB (moderate listening levels) before any critical
listening."

During the break in period the sound will change drastically during first 30 hours, then the changes are more subtle but they are still quite audible. I am Hi-Fi store owner and listening to speakers is my job, that's what I do for a living, that's what I do every day with different speakers and different setups. I did numerous side by side comparisons between brand new speaker sets and the ones that had been broken in, you can tell the difference after a few seconds of listening...unless you are deaf, of course.

 

[jinjuku]

I think you failed to realize a few things in your reply:

1. This thread is ancient
2. The post you are responding to is from 2010
3. The person you wish to seek conversation with is Banned (per Jamie's request)

BTW. Everyone on the face of this earth that listens to their system with any regularity has:

1. Burned in speakers
2. Burned in cables (speaker, ic, power)
3. Burned in electronics (sources, amps, pre's, eq etc)

It's marketing gobblygook.

 

[Trell]

I think you failed to realize a few things in your reply:

1. This thread is ancient
2. The post you are responding to is from 2010
3. The person you wish to seek conversation with is Banned (per Jamie's request)

BTW. Everyone on the face of this earth that listens to their system with any regularity has:

1. Burned in speakers
2. Burned in cables (speaker, ic, power)
3. Burned in electronics (sources, amps, pre's, eq etc)

It's marketing gobblygook.

The Audio Critic (the late Peter Aczel) made a possible exception for "burn in" of woofers made of metal, but as I recall from that old article it was probably not that big of a deal in any case.

Edit 1: Corrected spelling of Aczel last name.

Edit 2: Here is one issue where he says that a woofer might need a few hours to "break-in" on page 6 six about the "Burn-In Lie". I recall another more in depth article about this but can't find it just now.

https://www.biline.ca/audio_critic/mags/The_Audio_Critic_26_r.pdf