Has anyone heard these in person or have an opinion on them? I am helping my father put together an HT system in the new house they just built. The house has a dedicated media room which is about 23Lx11Wx10H. Since the room is narrow, we are planning 3 rows of 2 HT chairs. Okay, so with the particulars of the room out of the way, what recommendations are there for such a narrow room?
I can't find anywhere to demo the Polks in Tulsa, OK. Circuit City doesn't sell the RTi and above lines, and their staff are incompetant teenagers to boot. In addition, there isn't a lot of room between the walls and the HT chairs to pass through, so would in-wall speakers for the side channels be a horrible compromise? Any other brands that would just blow the Polks away for the same price range (about 1K for the front pair).
The rear two channels/sub can be any size and all speakers will likely be pushed by a Pioneer Elite VSX-92TXH receiver with 130Wx7. I have searched the site a bunch to try to find answers, but no one has much input on these.
It's unfortunate that you can't get a decent demo prior to a purchase of that magnitude. I think the RTiA is a much better speaker than it has been historically and the upate was long overdue. Unfortunately for this thread.....CC only sells the TSi and Monitor lines.
The RTiA low end is tight and rolls pretty smoothly, midrange is solid but not overly warm, the high end is clear but can glare if overdriven. That's a critical view of the speaker, that most folks don't even notice.
I agree with the panel suggestions since the actual room gets forgotten, for the most part, in new installs. That should tame alot of common issues.
The in-wall idea isn't crazy and I've heard a bunch of well done mixes between traditional and in-wall/ceiling. I want to go 100% in-wall at some point as I'm tired of wal warts and moving things around.
There are other solid suggestions in this thread and ultimately, it's up to you. I like to hear things before I buy them but sometimes you take the leap of faith based on what you find in your travels. I bought Magnepan MMG, sight unseen, and have become a devotee of planars ever since. Be careful, you may get injured
I'm sure that you'll make an informed choice, regardless of what it is in the end.
Mark
Polk Audio CS