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Post by JKCashin on Jun 8, 2020 22:43:59 GMT -5
So I have a "planning document" that lays out how I plan to move my system forward over the next few years.
Currently, my mains consist of a pair of Polk Audio RTiA9's, driven by a pair of XPA-1Ls, with bass supplemented by a pair of Energy ESL-8 subwoofers. LFE is handled by a single Velodyne 15HT.
The ESL-8s are OK... given what I paid for them, and the Velodyne really surprised me.... plus it was FREE!!
The Polk RTiA9s sound pretty good to me... but I haven't had an opportunity to compare them to better speakers. In short, I like them for now, but may not realize what I am missing. I think for now I would like to keep it that way...
The plan was to incrementally upgrade... first by getting an SVS SB-3000 subwoofer, then a second, both replacing my Energy ESL-8s.
Next (step 3) I would replace the Polk Audio RTiA9's with Polk LSiM-707s. I've read some very favourable reviews, and it could present a cheap upgrade.
FInally, step 4, the "ultimate" goal was to replace it all with a pair of GoldeanEar Triton One.R, retiring the SB-3000s as the Tritons should be able to handle the bass by themselves, at least if specs and reviews are to be believed.
But I have been thinking... maybe I should skip right to the last step. The cost of the two SB-3000s would be $2,800 (all prices Canadian), and the LSiM-707's would be about another $2,000 as they tend to go on sale for about that. That's $4,800, but by the time I get around to selling them, the "used" markdown would mean I would not get back the full $4,800... I'd be lucky to get half that. Using todays prices, I can get a pair of Triton One.R for about $8,000... so while it means the outlay would be half that at the time, I would be losing on the used equipment, as you always do.
So, should I just wait a little, using the Polks (which I honestly like... maybe I just don't know any better at this point in my journey) for a few more years, and then go whole hog into the Tritons? Or do I do the incremental approach (or a modified version of it) to get some more moderate gains sooner?
Bonus idea... I have a "spare" XPA-1L... I could bi-amp the mains... yeah?
What say all of you?
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Post by creimes on Jun 9, 2020 1:06:54 GMT -5
I have owned that line of Polks years ago and ten changed to Monitor Audio RX6 towers and then the Chane A5rx-c and now the Emotiva T1 I will honestly say the Polks could not hold a candle to any of the speakers I have owned since, speakers are all about personal preference though, after owning a brand for so many years one can get accustomed to the sound and find it hard to move on to something else, the level of detail I hear on my T1 is astounding for the cost of them, I have nothing against Polk but I've moved on from brands that sell at Best Buy or the boxstores and ventured into unknown waters haha. But also you never know until you try something different what you like or dislike, I prefer speakers and equipment that reveal what is there in the music but that's just me.
I have never heard the LSI series in the Polks but I have heard the Ring tweeter is much better than the soft dome in their lower end stuff, I would love to try Tekton but being in Canada as well it's out of my league as most brands are, the Chane A5rx-c I owned before the T1 seemed to have a bit more of a flatter response in my room as where the T1 go a bit deeper and the highs seem a tad more transparent if that makes any sense. I know sometimes its a bit hard but going out and listening to different types of speakers can help gauge what you like or don't like.
I have found that speakers and room treatments make the biggest difference in SQ. How do you find the C2 you have compared to the RTiA9 ? why not get matching T1 or T2 towers, there's a guy in BC that has T1 pair for $700.
Chad
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Post by JKCashin on Jun 9, 2020 7:07:38 GMT -5
Thanks Chad! Yeah I was thinking that as good as I think the RTi-A9s sound, I just have not had the opportunity to compare it to a better speaker, i.e., I just don't know any better yet. Maybe I should just get some T2's for now as it would be very inexpensive and hold onto that for a while. I had planned to go to the Montreal Audio Expo to audition some better speakers, but then, CoViD19... sigh.
Thanks for the input on this... I just spent a few bucks on the new amp, wire, connectors, 4 Emotiva B1+, and about to lay out for an XMC-2... sospousal approval for further gear won't happen until after Christmas.
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Post by JKCashin on Jun 9, 2020 7:35:35 GMT -5
As for the Emotiva C2... they are a center, so I have never really listened to them "on their own". I will say they are very clear... it's like they are not there at all. It took me a while to get used to having actual bass out of a center... but the bass they do reproduce is more correct than the speaker it replaced.
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Post by creimes on Jun 9, 2020 9:20:10 GMT -5
Yeah the RTiA9 are big speakers and I'm not bashing them haha, I have just moved on from those line of speakers and it's been fun exploring different stuff, Chane has some new speakers releasing soon as well, a new L series line and 700 series line, they both look impressive as well. See how you like the tweeter in the B1+, it obviously won't have the low end the T2 and T1 do but it will give you an idea. I have the 5s monitors on my desktop and really love them as I do my T1 haha
Chad
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Post by JKCashin on Jun 9, 2020 16:27:48 GMT -5
Yeah the RTiA9 are big speakers and I'm not bashing them haha, I have just moved on from those line of speakers and it's been fun exploring different stuff, Chane has some new speakers releasing soon as well, a new L series line and 700 series line, they both look impressive as well. See how you like the tweeter in the B1+, it obviously won't have the low end the T2 and T1 do but it will give you an idea. I have the 5s monitors on my desktop and really love them as I do my T1 haha Chad creimes I appreciate that you didn't bash them LOL... they are what I have at this point. I try to not bash other peoples gear... if they like it, awesome. If they can't upgrade at this time but know there's better... I try to gently advise. But bashing? Not cool IMHO. A little history may help... I was given them as a gift by my spouse, and when I got them I started reading up on them and the recommendation was to hit them with some power to get the best out of them. That lead me to discover Emotiva amplifiers. Got a pair of XPA-1Ls, then then that drive me to get teh XMC-1... then another two XPA-1Ls and the Emotiva C2 center.... well, you know how it goes! So the Polks were an upgrade, which drove me to upgrade amplification, and processing... now my equipment has outgrown the speakers I guess... so I am looking to move on. I have the four B1+ coming tomorrow... just got the amp and cables to drive them. So I will get some play time with the Emo sound to see what I think.
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Post by garbulky on Jun 9, 2020 17:01:33 GMT -5
JKCashin I haven't heard your specific polks so I can't comment on what would be an upgrade. I've always been of the idea that one should save to get exactly the kind of audio gear they want. I say that having learned it the hard way. I have NEVER regretted going for exactly what I want. Just strive and save. With audio gear, you can keep your dream speakers for ages and they'll still sound just as good, so the wait in between isn't so bad and the many hours of enjoyment you will get from them is fully worth it. However, I would reccomend going for a set of XPA-2 gen 2's for your main speakers. Your upgrade choices seem great on paper.
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Post by JKCashin on Jun 9, 2020 19:10:53 GMT -5
JKCashin I haven't heard your specific polks so I can't comment on what would be an upgrade. I've always been of the idea that one should save to get exactly the kind of audio gear they want. I say that having learned it the hard way. I have NEVER regretted going for exactly what I want. Just strive and save. With audio gear, you can keep your dream speakers for ages and they'll still sound just as good, so the wait in between isn't so bad and the many hours of enjoyment you will get from them is fully worth it. However, I would reccomend going for a set of XPA-2 gen 2's for your main speakers. Your upgrade choices seem great on paper. XPA-2 Gen-2 over the XPA-1Ls? Really? Why?
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Post by JKCashin on Jun 9, 2020 19:11:26 GMT -5
(asked with respect...)
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Post by creimes on Jun 9, 2020 21:32:23 GMT -5
Yeah the RTiA9 are big speakers and I'm not bashing them haha, I have just moved on from those line of speakers and it's been fun exploring different stuff, Chane has some new speakers releasing soon as well, a new L series line and 700 series line, they both look impressive as well. See how you like the tweeter in the B1+, it obviously won't have the low end the T2 and T1 do but it will give you an idea. I have the 5s monitors on my desktop and really love them as I do my T1 haha Chad creimes I appreciate that you didn't bash them LOL... they are what I have at this point. I try to not bash other peoples gear... if they like it, awesome. If they can't upgrade at this time but know there's better... I try to gently advise. But bashing? Not cool IMHO. A little history may help... I was given them as a gift by my spouse, and when I got them I started reading up on them and the recommendation was to hit them with some power to get the best out of them. That lead me to discover Emotiva amplifiers. Got a pair of XPA-1Ls, then then that drive me to get teh XMC-1... then another two XPA-1Ls and the Emotiva C2 center.... well, you know how it goes! So the Polks were an upgrade, which drove me to upgrade amplification, and processing... now my equipment has outgrown the speakers I guess... so I am looking to move on. I have the four B1+ coming tomorrow... just got the amp and cables to drive them. So I will get some play time with the Emo sound to see what I think. It's crazy how many speaker brands and types are out there, mind boggling in fact and of course we could never hear them all. For years I was your typical box store purchaser hence why i owned a Yamaha receiver and Polk Audio speakers, at one point I almost bought some "Boston Acoustics" speakers from a local audio store in Winnipeg called "Brian Reimer Audio" but if I remember I was younger and didn't have the funds lol. Some years later I ended up in a local HIFI shop "Creative Audio" where I purchased my Monitor Audio RX6 towers and sold my Polk towers and a little while after that I received some advice from a fellow employee to check out Canuck Audio Mart and I seen a sort of local guy selling a Emotiva UPA-7 to which I then looked up the Emotiva brand and ended up getting my first external amps a pair of UPA-1's and it's all history from there haha. Chad
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Post by ttocs on Jun 9, 2020 22:19:10 GMT -5
I don't think there's a "wrong" choice when selecting speakers because it's an almost unique experience person to person due how we each hear. If you like it, you like it, and you are not wrong.
That said, I too am a Polk fan from around 9 or so years ago when I upgraded to a CSi5 Center speaker (if I remember correctly). I really enjoyed that speaker and still have it. I went from that to the center speaker I now use, and got it mostly for timbre matching, otherwise I'd still be using the Polk.
As far as incremental vs all-in, with Main speakers I have taken the all-in approach. I'm only a year into my third pair of good speakers, with my first pair lasting 32 years (woofers re-coned every ten years). I've been very happy with each choice.
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Post by garbulky on Jun 9, 2020 23:55:07 GMT -5
JKCashin I haven't heard your specific polks so I can't comment on what would be an upgrade. I've always been of the idea that one should save to get exactly the kind of audio gear they want. I say that having learned it the hard way. I have NEVER regretted going for exactly what I want. Just strive and save. With audio gear, you can keep your dream speakers for ages and they'll still sound just as good, so the wait in between isn't so bad and the many hours of enjoyment you will get from them is fully worth it. However, I would reccomend going for a set of XPA-2 gen 2's for your main speakers. Your upgrade choices seem great on paper. XPA-2 Gen-2 over the XPA-1Ls? Really? Why? Sorry I didn't read carefully I thought you were planning on runnign the XPA-11 with your mains. I didn't realize about the XPA-1 L's. I have heard XPA-1 L's and also 4 XPA-1 L's in a bi amped configuration. Imo the XPA-2 gen 2 had better deep bass extension where the bass and low mids felt a bit more relaexed and open. But um the XPA-1 L imo is quite a nice amp, so you don't have to get XPA-2 gen 2's. I think the XPA-1 gen 2 amps are the best of the Emotiva line but the XPA-2 gen 2 is not far behind. But yeah, you don't have to upgrade. The XPA-1 L is a nice a$$ amp!
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Post by JKCashin on Jun 10, 2020 0:02:04 GMT -5
And I have 4... so I can bi-am the L+R if desired... right now I am using 3 of them into my L+C+R
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Post by garbulky on Jun 10, 2020 2:03:04 GMT -5
And I have 4... so I can bi-am the L+R if desired... right now I am using 3 of them into my L+C+R ooohhh.... I didn't notice a marked difference between bi amped and regular with the XPA-1 L. But you know what, it was still cool as hell! Hehehe.
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Post by JKCashin on Jun 13, 2020 1:16:07 GMT -5
OK hooked up the B1+ tonight... and wow.. if these little wee speakers are any indication, the T2 must be amazing. There's no way a speaker this small and inexpensive should sound this good!
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Post by garbulky on Jun 13, 2020 11:25:49 GMT -5
OK hooked up the B1+ tonight... and wow.. if these little wee speakers are any indication, the T2 must be amazing. There's no way a speaker this small and inexpensive should sound this good! The T2 is one of the best speakers I have heard.
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Post by creimes on Jun 13, 2020 11:26:59 GMT -5
OK hooked up the B1+ tonight... and wow.. if these little wee speakers are any indication, the T2 must be amazing. There's no way a speaker this small and inexpensive should sound this good! My thoughts exactly haha, the 5s on my desk are amazing and the T1's behind my screen are as well, especially given what I paid for them lol, ever since owning speakers with either the planar tweeters in the Chanes or the air motion tweeter in the T1 I find it hard to enjoy a soft dome tweeter anymore, just not enough detail in the soft domes that I have listened to anyways, glad you like the B1+ Chad
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Post by JKCashin on Jun 13, 2020 11:57:47 GMT -5
I had a bit of trouble wrapping my head around the idea of a speaker being good, without being expensiv. This has totally changed my approach. My budget for long term was about $8,000 Canadian or $US6,000. But now I am thinking I may not need to spend that much. I was thinking the Goldeanear Triton One.R long term... but now...
So now I get to do an interesting experiment. These B1+ are AMAZING. Well, they are now. I had never believed in break in until now. The first five minutes they sounded positively awful! Thin, almost like AM radio. 10 minutes later made a world of difference.
Two hours later and the bass has really come in. Now here's the fun part... I have two pairs. So in about a week, once I know the sound a bit better, I plan to swap to the unused pair to see how much of the perceived improvement is "real" (as much of an unscientific test as it will be.) It will be interesting. The first few minutes of them though? Nope.
Thanks all
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