Amp for RTI A9

[PENG]

They probably got popular initially because of the excellent performance to price ratio relative to others at the time.

 

[Gmoneywp15]

They probably got popular initially because of the excellent performance to price ratio relative to others at the time.

Even today- ppl telling me they should be replaced, but they cost 1/10th of what ATI cost.

 

[PENG]

Even today- ppl telling me they should be replaced, but they cost 1/10th of what ATI cost.

ATI amps are of course excellent but there are other much more affordable amps that are better on specs compared to Emo's.

 

[TLS Guy]

Even today- ppl telling me they should be replaced, but they cost 1/10th of what ATI cost.

Your speaker mid drivers blowing had nothing to do with the amp. They blew because it is another classic example of an incompetently designed speaker. It is not hard to see the problem. The crossover from woofer to mids is 120 Hz. So those small mids are handling a lot of bass and the midrange where there is a lot of power.

So no matter what amp you buy you will blow the mids if you play it loud. 120 Hz is not midrange, it is well in the bass range, and right in the most major part of the power band of most music.

You need to be speaker shopping and not amp shopping if you want to play it loud.

 

[Gmoneywp15]

Your speaker mid drivers blowing had nothing to do with the amp. They blew because it is another classic example of an incompetently designed speaker. It is not hard to see the problem. The crossover from woofer to mids is 120 Hz. So those small mids are handling a lot of bass and the midrange where there is a lot of power.

So no matter what amp you buy you will blow the mids if you play it loud. 120 Hz is not midrange, it is well in the bass range, and right in the most major part of the power band of most music.

You need to be speaker shopping and not amp shopping if you want to play it loud.

Definitely above my understanding- I’m a simpleton - towers are rated for 450W at 8ohm, my amp pushes 150. I also have the towers set to “small” in my Marantz, not sure exactly what that does would assume it cuts out some of the lower frequencies feom
Being sent to the towers.

 

[lovinthehd]

Definitely above my understanding- I’m a simpleton - towers are rated for 450W at 8ohm, my amp pushes 150. I also have the towers set to “small” in my Marantz, not sure exactly what that does would assume it cuts out some of the lower frequencies feom
Being sent to the towers.

Amps can generate clipping that can damage speakers, even if amp is rated less than the max for the speaker. Polk's spec only indicates a recommended amp power range of 50-500w, but not a specific figure for a continuous signal to the speakers, doubt it's 450, tho.

Setting speakers to small in your marantz enables bass management, i.e. the use of a crossover of high pass filter for the speakers and a low pass filter for the sub. Setting the speakers to large means don't use bass management, and the speakers would run full range.

 

[TLS Guy]

Definitely above my understanding- I’m a simpleton - towers are rated for 450W at 8ohm, my amp pushes 150. I also have the towers set to “small” in my Marantz, not sure exactly what that does would assume it cuts out some of the lower frequencies feom
Being sent to the towers.

First of all what power a manufacturer says a speaker will take means virtually nothing as whether a speaker will blow or not and is highly dependent on the relative frequency content of the program.

The point is that those mids crossed at 120 Hz are not going to take a lot of power. There is a huge amount of power in the frequency band between 100 Hz and 3KHz. So for most program with that incompetent design, most of the power is going to go to those mids and not the woofers. So those mids will blow with much less power than you think. A bigger amp will make it far more likely you will blow the mids again.
Yesterday yours was one of two posts with that same exact problem. Those are speakers to drop like "hot potato!" Using the small setting will not alter the power to the mids, and not change the odds of blowing them.

 

[Tankini]

First of all what power a manufacturer says a speaker will take means virtually nothing as whether a speaker will blow or not and is highly dependent on the relative frequency content of the program.

The point is that those mids crossed at 120 Hz are not going to take a lot of power. There is a huge amount of power in the frequency band between 100 Hz and 3KHz. So for most program with that incompetent design, most of the power is going to go to those mids and not the woofers. So those mids will blow with much less power than you think. A bigger amp will make it far more likely you will blow the mids again.
Yesterday yours was one of two posts with that same exact problem. Those are speakers to drop like "hot potato!" Using the small setting will not alter the power to the mids, and not change the odds of blowing them.

Thanks Doc, for posting this. I now understand how OP blew all 4 mid-range driver's. 120hz XO'd to 5 1/4 drivers

 

[isolar8001]

Polk lists the 120hz crossover is to the "Subwoofer Array Driver Complement " in that speaker, from the "Mid-High Array Driver Complement"
Seems like they forgot they need something in that cabinet to be an actual woofer ! It's a wonder everyone of those towers made aren't fried.

• Mid-High Array Driver Enclosure TypeSealed
• Mid-High Array Driver Complement• (2) 5.25" (13.34 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance drivers with polymer composite cones and rubber surrounds - Midrange
• Subwoofer Array Driver Enclosure TypePowerPort Plus Bass Venting
• Subwoofer Array Driver Complement• (3) 7" (17.78 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance drivers with polymer composite cones and rubber surrounds - Subwoofer
• Front Array Driver Complement• (1) 1" (2.54 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance silk polymer composite - Tweeter

 

[Tankini]

Polk lists the 120hz crossover is to the "Subwoofer Array Driver Complement " in that speaker, from the "Mid-High Array Driver Complement"
Seems like they forgot they need something in that cabinet to be an actual woofer ! It's a wonder everyone of those towers made aren't fried.

• Mid-High Array Driver Enclosure TypeSealed
• Mid-High Array Driver Complement• (2) 5.25" (13.34 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance drivers with polymer composite cones and rubber surrounds - Midrange
• Subwoofer Array Driver Enclosure TypePowerPort Plus Bass Venting
• Subwoofer Array Driver Complement• (3) 7" (17.78 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance drivers with polymer composite cones and rubber surrounds - Subwoofer
• Front Array Driver Complement• (1) 1" (2.54 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance silk polymer composite - Tweeter

Right! I found an old thread where this one dude had modified the crossover in his RTi-A9's. Took care of that issue. But Doc is spot on Polk absolutely did XO the mid driver's @ 120hz...1.800 Hz @ the tweeter. Used cheap XO parts like Polk always did back in them day's. Thing is those speakers had a retail price of 1750 for the pair when they first came out back in 2004.