Shootout Poll!

[zumbo]

Price is equal.

http://www.energy-speakers.com/v2/products/product-page.php?id=291

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/rti8/

 

[mike c]

unfortunately, I've only heard the Rti's ... have you listened to both of them?
looks equally matched to me ... that said, I'd pick the Rti

 

[bryantm3]

i have the Polk RTi8s and they sound great.

 

[billy p]

Tell you what

the Polk RTi8's are sold at future shop and so are the Athena LS 500 which shold be similar to the Energy C500. I'll go listen and relay what I hear within a day or two. As far as I know energy speakers are not sold in big retail shops, so I won't be able to do a side by side!

 

[billy p]

Listened to the Polk RTi8 & Athena LS500. It wasn't a long audition but my thoughts are as follows. The polk's sounded a little more bright with slightly better details/imaging and the Athena sound was more warm and neutral. IMO I liked the Athena sound more for music as for H/T polk may have a slight edge. Appearance wise the I liked the shape of the new Athenas curved along the sides and not rectangular. Either speaker would be a good choice for a budget minded consumer. Lastly both speaker were heard with and without a Velo dsp12.

 

[Sheep]

Energy's.

Every time I hear RTi's I cover my ears and swear until someone turns it off. Very bright and nasty.

I actually quite like the C series from Energy, and hopefully with get some Surrounds as well as small bookshelfs from them for 7.1 rears (when I get a 7.1 receiver of course).

SheepStar

 

[billnchristy]

For that much I would buy rocket 450s from AV123 or another ID option of your choosing.

 

[zumbo]

For that much I would buy rocket 450s from AV123 or another ID option of your choosing.

The price is around $600. The 450's are $900.

Also, have you heard the 450's, or these ID dealers?

Polk Audio and Energy both have many years experience, and both models are high quality with great sound.

For $600, I don't see a need to order an ID brand.

This is not about other brands. This is a poll with two choices. Easy enough.

 

[zumbo]

Listened to the Polk RTi8 & Athena LS500. It wasn't a long audition but my thoughts are as follows. The polk's sounded a little more bright with slightly better details/imaging and the Athena sound was more warm and neutral. IMO I liked the Athena sound more for music as for H/T polk may have a slight edge. Appearance wise the I liked the shape of the new Athenas curved along the sides and not rectangular. Either speaker would be a good choice for a budget minded consumer. Lastly both speaker were heard with and without a Velo dsp12.

I agree with this. I like the bright side of the Polks, along with the detail. I also like the smooth, laid back(compared to polk) sound of the Energy's. The Energy's seem to handle the low-end better, while the Polks do better up top. I had a feeling Energy might win this shootout. I just don't know if they are better to me.

Any more votes?

 

[wire]

I agree with this. I like the bright side of the Polks, along with the detail. I also like the smooth, laid back(compared to polk) sound of the Energy's. The Energy's seem to handle the low-end better, while the Polks do better up top. I had a feeling Energy might win this shootout. I just don't know if they are better to me.

Any more votes?

I think for movies , the RTI series polks are the way to go . The Energy for me is a better balanced speaker , smooth on the highs and better for music .
So my vote is Energy , being more Music and less on the AV side .

 

[Fure]

I have listened to both of these speakers side by side and I would put the Energy's on top. Not only do they have a smoother sound, but, to me the build quality seemed slightly better on the Energy's. The cabinets have a more sturdy sound when you knock on the side of the cabinets.

 

[zumbo]

Energy's. The cabinets have a more sturdy sound when you knock on the side of the cabinets.

Thanks for the response. That is an important fact.

 

[T2T]

I've heard the bookshelf model of the Energy speaker. It had me impressed. In fact, I liked it better than the NHT Classic 3 when listening. I've had the RTi8s - some love em, some hate 'em. Me? I wish I still had them because the details in sound are what I want now - not, a warm speaker. Also, Polk is releasing the updated RTiA line shortly, so the current RTi8 will get replaced. Where will the sound fall? Who knows?

If I had the cash in hand today, I'd opt for the Energys.

 

[gte357s]

Well, it is really a hard choice. I audition them in FS with HK AVR247. No doubt that RTi8 is much brighter, but the C500 is also a bit too laid back. I tried out different types of musics including orchestra, pop song, Kenny G, guitas .. and for those music that stress on mid and vocols (Kenny G and pop songs), the RTi8 sounds better. It sounds more lively and more imagery. However, there are also places that the high sounds like out of control. The C500 don't have this problem, but it sounds more flat, and a bit dull sometimes. Having said that, I still pick C500 .. because those out of control sections kind of bug me. So, I think I will return my RTi8.

 

[annunaki]

I have almost always preferred Energy over Polk.

 

[PENG]

IMHO the problem with those little FS demo room is the fact that they often got those RTi8, 10 or even 12 hooked up to the AVR24X, or 34X. Some people may tell you HK's 50 WPC is like Yamaha's 120 WPC but that is not true at all. The lower end HK receivers do have relatively large power supplies in them that allow them to meet their advertised all channel driven power output rating but each channel individually do not give much more than they specifed numbers. I don't know why and I am not going to argue with anyone, but I did find the RTi8 and above bright/thin sounding in FS when powered by anything less than the HKAVR6XX. Even the 4XX won't cut it, but as soon as you hooked them up to a 6XX they should do better than any Athena in the same room.

The RTi8 will get my vote on condition that it gets the power that it needs, i.e. at least a RX-V659 or HKAVR645 (For 2 channel comparison only).

 

[mouettus]

As everyone else here stated, it's all about that harsh sound on the polks. Some love 'em, some hate'em. I've had those two exact pairs on my setup for a month and I finally decided to make the switch to Energy. Better reproduction of voices and effects for movies and right in my business for music as I listen to metal and rock music which can go pretty harsh at medium-high SPL. So a little more laid back is prefered.

...so I decided to upgrade to the RC series instead lol. Got the RC-70s coupled with a RX-V1800 and it whales!

Get the energy! ...or if you haven't returned the polks yet, A/B them on your system in your own listening environment.

btw, bass is better on the polks. much more controlled. Energys go lower though. Haven't yet figured out why but my C-100 bookshelves do a tremendous job basswise for 2.0 music listening on my PC (near field).

 

[Soundman]

I've heard the RTI's hooked up to a Yammy, along with some help from our good friend Velodyne, and they sounded excellent for HT, especially for the price they are going for now days.

 

[Thaedium]

I've some how over the years developed a totally unreasonable bias against Polk. I'm not entirely sure if its the name, or the fact that Futureshop sells it. Or maybe the fact that some obnoxiously ugly 17 year old tried to sell'em to me as if they were the best thing out there since sliced bread.

All that said I've heard lots of good things about them from people here on this site, so I doubt it would be a bad choice. On the other hand, if they are comparable speakers, in the same price bracket, I would say go with Energy based on the concept of supporting the little guy who doesn't have the big box stores support. More importantly however, I would listen to both and choose based on that assement.

 

[mouettus]

, I would say go with Energy based on the concept of supporting the little guy who doesn't have the big box stores support.

Have you went to your local FutureShop lately? I think the little guy has grown up and is sold at FutureShop too now.