New Speakers or Amp?

While your intentions are good, the OP indicate there isn't much room so bookshelf speakers make a lot more sense for his needs. I have no doubt the models you brought up would fill the room more but since space is an issue, these models and all other floorstanding speakers wouldn't work for him.

 

Bookshelf speakers plus stands take pretty much the same space as many modern floorstanders. BUT.. the wife said 'no' to floorstanders anyway.

 

These speakers were already mentioned in the thread, not by me.

I was bringing up their large size and provided dimensions for that very reason.

On the Polk Audio web site, it is hard to get a grip on the different sizes visually. Which is why I presented photos of the RTiA9's in my living room.

These things are not only HUGE as compared to average tower speakers, but they are really deep. The A9's are over 21" deep and have both a rear and a front port, so they require some breathing space.

It is also the reason that I brought up the RTiA5, as being still a smaller speaker than the RtiA7.

Polk Audio also offers the RTiA3 book shelf speakers, which are on sale at 40% off for $240/pr. and they are also 89-dB efficient.


Polk also has their LSiM703's, but they are $750/ea. But sometimes they put the LSiM line on a 50% sale, which could be workable.

Klipsch offers bookshelf speakers that are efficient and play loud.

The OP may look into Peachtree D5's, which used to retail at $1k and now sell new for $600.

There is a seller on eBay, currently offering these speakers for sale, together with stands that were designed and built by him. He was using them in a 5.1 surround system, which included a center channel and a sub. The eBay listing is just for two D5's. Which can usually be found on eBay of $350-$400, plus freight. I have a few pairs the D5's and various other Peachtree speakers. The D5's are 87-dB efficient and will play well with 25-50 Watts of power.

I think that they are one of the best bookshelf sounding speakers at their current selling price point.

Here is what the seller added to his eBay listing;

"These speakers were originally manufactured by Signal Path International, which was later sold to Peachtree Audio Design. The speakers were designed by Jim Spainhour and David Solomon, engineered by Aerial Acoustics' Michael Kelly, and manufactured in China. I purchased them directly from David Solomon after hearing them at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2006. They were chosen to be a part of an audiophile surround sound system to demonstrate my multichannel DAC/amplifier which I was trying to bring to market. These speakers were chosen because they had a remarkable full dynamic range for monitor style speakers. Plus, they are very nice looking. They utilize long throw drivers allowing them to get a fairly deep bass sound. These speakers are very similar (I believe they are the same size, use the same drivers and electronics) as the current speakers Peachtree Audio sells as their D5 Monitor Speaker. The Era Design 4 or Peachtree Audio D4 is the little brother of these Design 5s."

 

My thoughts exactly.

Floorstanders will usually give you deeper and more powerful bass, due to having larger cabinets and also tend to be more efficient for the same reason.

 

It's purely because of the aesthetics. A bookshelf speaker is a small cube-shaped thing but a floorstanding speaker is a much bigger one.

Same reason why we went with a glass table in the living room. To give the illusion there is more room since there is no break in the sight lines.

 

That is a lot of information I really appreciate it, That is a good deal on the Polk's for sure.

 

For the record, I do not favor the RTiA7 for anything more than HT. From Polk for a music speaker I'd suggest the LSiM705, which is a good sounding, well balanced speaker.

 

As you have pointed out, the RTi series was designed for HT in mind. I have both HT and 2-channel stereo and I use my mains for both. I found that they performed equally well at both tasks.

At the time that I purchased the A9's, I did so during a half price sale, where the normally $1,500/pr. speakers, were on sale for half price, making the cost of each speaker, $375 EACH!

That is a hell of a lot of speaker for $375/ea. So, maybe there are better speakers out there for stereo, I don't know of any, that would fit the needs of my specific system for this stupid cheap money.

Sometimes a member may be looking for a large tower speaker, that can really handle a lot of power and really pressurize a good size room, then look no further. They may not be the ideal choice of acoustic or Jazz selections, but they are not entirely bad for them either.

But if you really want to rock out at some high SPL's, then these may be the speaker for you. My room is about 450 sq. ft. and it takes fairly large speakers and and a good solid amp with plenty of power reserves to do this, I use an Emotiva XPA-2000 (generation 1) to power them.

Again, they are now in storage and I have now acquired a $4,000/pr. Polk LSiM707's to replace them with. This is Polk Audio's flagship speakers and I am pleased with their performance, which is more detailed, less harsh and less in your face than the RTiA9's. They are of course, more $$$. Although I did buy this pair at one of Polk's half price sales. I don't know what tower speaker, would beat their performance at $1k each. The 707's weigh in at 99-lbs. each.

I consider the 707's to be a far more laid back sound, which is desirable, when I'm running them alongside of the Altec Lansing A7's.

I developed a habit early on of having two different pairs of front speakers. The other pair is the more efficient and forward sounding Zu Audio, Omen Definitions (original series). I have a speaker A/B selector switch on top of one of the 707's to switch back and forth between the Polk's and the Zu's.

With the RTiA7's on sale for 40% off at $600/pr. you will look far and wide to find a dynamic sounding speaker to best these at this price. The same goes for the A5's which are $480/pr. on sale.

 

Just an update on what I have decided to do first. Got a great deal on the Paradigm Mini Monitor V7 and was able to get a decent price on trading in my Diamond 220's. Just got them on Monday and right out of the box a much better soundstage and surprisingly much better bass. Obviously the higher efficiency Paradigm which is 90db are much easier to drive with my D3020. Will really like to see how they fair when they get broke in. Thanks to everyone for the advice, I will eventually get a new amp, but speaker upgrade first was great advice.

 

Good choice. Enjoy!

 

speakers.

 

oops,...i late again

nice, glad your happy. enjoy the music