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

[soundright]

I got the pair of Polks last year and fortunately I got them for a pretty cheap price about 200 $ , which is 200 $ less than its original price. I did not get a chance to listen to them until recently. At first I thought it was a break-in issue because they sound very harsh, bright and fatiguing on my ears. Now that I have been feeding them music for a week, i don't hear any improvement. When i play classical music on it, it sounds real but also fatiguing. It sounds the worst with electronics music, which is my favorite. Polk Rti A3 absolutely murdered many of the techno songs that I played on them. Very boomy, bright and harsh. You can almost compare them to a pair satellite speakers. I now regret the decision of selling my primus 162 for these polks. I have to say i am utterly disappointed. By the way, I bought those speakers online based on the positive reviews of the buyers on Amazon. Does anyone think the same of the polk speakers as I do?

 

[jinjuku]

I got the pair of Polks last year and fortunately I got them for a pretty cheap price about 200 $ , which is 200 $ less than its original price. I did not get a chance to listen to them until recently. At first I thought it was a break-in issue because they sound very harsh, bright and fatiguing on my ears. Now that I have been feeding them music for a week, i don't hear any improvement. When i play classical music on it, it sounds real but also fatiguing. It sounds the worst with electronics music, which is my favorite. Polk Rti A3 absolutely murdered many of the techno songs that I played on them. Very boomy, bright and harsh. You can almost compare them to a pair satellite speakers. I now regret the decision of selling my primus 162 for these polks. I have to say i am utterly disappointed. By the way, I bought those speakers online based on the positive reviews of the buyers on Amazon. Does anyone think the same of the polk speakers as I do?

I don't know about the RTi's but the 4 systems with the monitor 70's / 50's that I have recommended and put in for friends have all done well considering the price.

Have ran the EQ routine on your receiver just to see if it makes a difference?

I wouldn't consider the RTi line a dog by any stretch.

 

[soundright]

I would like to try the EQ adjustment

How exactly do you do an EQ adjustment? I already turned down the treble but it still sounds harsh.

 

[Matt34]

What kind of room are they in, does it have a lot of hard reflective surfaces?

 

[soundright]

yes, i am in a college dorm

My room is pretty small and is surrounded by concrete walls. Will that have a huge effect on the quality of the sound coming from these speakers?

 

[MDS]

My room is pretty small and is surrounded by concrete walls. Will that have a huge effect on the quality of the sound coming from these speakers?

Unfortunately, EVERYTHING in a room affects the sound in one way or another, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

 

[tom67]

But the Polks have wood veneer, so, hook up the Primus units next to them and pretend the sound is coming from the Polks....

 

[j_garcia]

We must have listened to different speakers then:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38870&highlight=A/V-1

 

[highfigh]

My room is pretty small and is surrounded by concrete walls. Will that have a huge effect on the quality of the sound coming from these speakers?

Small and concrete is a good formula for bad sound. hang a few blankets from floor to ceiling in the corners behind the speakers and at the sides, where the sound from the speakers would reflect to you when you're in your seat. Use a mirror to look for reflections at the wall- if you can see the speaker, the sound will reflect to you and cause harshness.If you have a bare floor, put some rugs down, especially in front of the speakers, where the sound reflects off of the floor. Then, put some blankets on the back wall, at the corners.

 

[Seth=L]

The Primus are great speakers for both farfield and nearfield listening. The Polks I can't speak for, but if they are only good for farfield and your room is small with concrete walls then that would be the cause of the bad sound.

 

[iluvsound]

To make a correction

Actually i think it was a break-in issue. This particular pair did take one month for it to loosen up and to significantly improve its sound. Now I think they sound great, very natural and open. Still not ideal for techno music though, main because it is not paired with a subwoofer. But overall it is great for music and even better for movies because of its huge soundstage.

 

[Seth=L]

Actually i think it was a break-in issue. This particular pair did take one month for it to loosen up and to significantly improve its sound. Now I think they sound great, very natural and open. Still not ideal for techno music though, main because it is not paired with a subwoofer. But overall it is great for music and even better for movies because of its huge soundstage.

Speakers break-in in a matter of seconds or less. Listeners have a longer break in time. If you listened to horrible speakers for long enough, chances are you'd begin to accept their sound and maybe even think they sound good.

 

[Sherardp]

Speakers break-in in a matter of seconds or less. Listeners have a longer break in time. If you listened to horrible speakers for long enough, chances are you'd begin to accept their sound and maybe even think they sound good.

I totally disagree with this. Those drivers are new and more than likely very stiff. Most speakers require some break-in and most improver over time. Seconds is not the answer.

 

[jamie2112]

I totally disagree with this. Those drivers are new and more than likely very stiff. Most speakers require some break-in and most improver over time. Seconds is not the answer.

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.....

 

[GO-NAD!]

I totally disagree with this. Those drivers are new and more than likely very stiff. Most speakers require some break-in and most improver over time. Seconds is not the answer.

I do believe that this has been objectively researched and any change in FR after XX hours is so minute, as to be statistically (and aurally) insignificant. I don't have the time right now, to dig up the references, but if you look yourself, I'm sure you'd find them.

 

[Seth=L]

I totally disagree with this. Those drivers are new and more than likely very stiff. Most speakers require some break-in and most improver over time. Seconds is not the answer.

It's your right to disagree, just know that science supports the opposite.

 

[highfigh]

My room is pretty small and is surrounded by concrete walls. Will that have a huge effect on the quality of the sound coming from these speakers?

That will have a huge effect on the sound, none of it good.

 

[TLS Guy]

My room is pretty small and is surrounded by concrete walls. Will that have a huge effect on the quality of the sound coming from these speakers?

That's like trying to get decent sound in a public lavatory.

I'm no great admirer if the Polk sound, but you will have to make a false room at least and cover the concrete and probably other tricks if the room is a cube. If not you are wasting your time.

 

[TitaniumMan]

I do believe that this has been objectively researched and any change in FR after XX hours is so minute, as to be statistically (and aurally) insignificant. I don't have the time right now, to dig up the references, but if you look yourself, I'm sure you'd find them.

I'm not saying this is proof, but it is an interesting viewpoint with data.
http://www.gr-research.com/myths.htm

 

[skers_54]

I'm not saying this is proof, but it is an interesting viewpoint with data.
http://www.gr-research.com/myths.htm

The big question is whether those changes make a difference in the sound. Would the tuning or FR be appreciably affected? How do those changes compare to manufacturing variances? The data certainly is interesting. It is slightly disappointing that there is no analysis beyond "they change" however.