When it comes to speakers I am pretty much a novice. I know what good speakers sound like and I also know how power affects output. Other then that -- it is all about the sound. The RT12 has 3 7" woofers, 2 4.5" midranges and 1 1" silk tweeter with a power port for clean bass sound. The speakers can handle up to 500 watts and are Bi-Amp speakers.
I have my RT12s hooked up to an Onkyo TR-SX805 Receiver. I have chosen to run them in the Bi-Amp mode. What this means is that these speakers are able to seperate the woofer driver from the midrandge-tweeter drivers. By doing this you should be able to here things clearly and with better definition. But first I hooked them up as full range speakers. My original speakers was a Yamaha 5.1 speaker set that is about 12 years old. The Yamaha's sound good but on the upper range they have no definintion. So when I first ran the RT12s (using HDNET and MHD from Dish) I was amazed at the clarity and the definition I could hear from the speakers. The midranges were the most differance as I could hear sounds that I could not hear before. I was watching a nature feature on HDNET and I could easily hear the tree frogs move in the trees. When my wife noticed the differance I knew I had made the right choice. She hardly ever notices any change in sound except for it getting loud.
Now to Bi-Amp these speakers you have to remove the gold plated bracket between the woofers and the midrange/tweeter of the speakers. On my setup you hook up the front output from the Onkyo to the midrange and tweeters and then the surround back to the woofers. As I only have a 5.1 system this works well for me with the Onkyo. The Onkyo has a Bi-Amp setting for use with Bi-Amp speakers and it tells you in the manuel that 5.1 is all you are going to get. If you want a 7.1 speaker (allowing surround back speakers) setup with the Onkyo you must engage the use of another amp to drive the woofers. I am fine with the 5.1 setup.
WARNING: if you bi-amp these speakers, you MUST REMOVE the gold cross brackets or you will damage your speakers and your amp.
In the Bi-Amp mode I immediately noticed the midrange and tweeter singing. The definition that you get from Bi-Amping is amazing. Being able to drive the woofers seperate from the mids/tweeter definately pushes the ability of these speakers to offer more definition in the higher range then setting them up as full range. Especially with voices. They sound like the actors are standing in your room with you! On MHD not only could I hear clearly the singers I could easily detect who was sing what. I later watched a string quartet on I believe HDNET later and I was amazed that I could even hear their fingers moving on the strings! Bi-Amping also allows for a smoother and deeper bass projection along with the sub-woofer.
I have a set of Polk Audio F/xi3 diopoldes for surround speakers and they match up very well with the RT12s. I went on the Polk Audio site and they recomend the f/ix5. The differance seems to be that the i5 is 2"x1" bigger speaker box. They have the same speakers and the same specs and they sound great with the RT12s. For a center channel I am still using the center speaker from the Yamaha set. I will pick up a Polk Audio center speaker next month. After reading several sites I decided to setup the speakers as THX 80Hz including the center speaker. I also tuned the volume down on the center speaker about 25%. This allowed the RT12s to operate well within their power range without over-powering the center speaker. When I get the new center speaker I will have to reset up my speakers. I also added 2db to the subwoofer and the result is that I now have some very fine sounding speakers to my HT setup.
The RT12s have great range -- if I was being honest the Yamaha's just were not that good -- especially if you like to hear all the nuances that a sound track can offer. The RT12s put the sound as real as I have heard in a long time right in front of you. After making the changes to the speaker setup I was amazed at how full and enveloping the sound was in the room. No matter where I set I could hear things with a clarity and resonance that I have not heard except in a professionally setup theater. While I am no professional if you are looking for a great set of speakers I can highly recomend the RT12s!
I have my RT12s hooked up to an Onkyo TR-SX805 Receiver. I have chosen to run them in the Bi-Amp mode. What this means is that these speakers are able to seperate the woofer driver from the midrandge-tweeter drivers. By doing this you should be able to here things clearly and with better definition. But first I hooked them up as full range speakers. My original speakers was a Yamaha 5.1 speaker set that is about 12 years old. The Yamaha's sound good but on the upper range they have no definintion. So when I first ran the RT12s (using HDNET and MHD from Dish) I was amazed at the clarity and the definition I could hear from the speakers. The midranges were the most differance as I could hear sounds that I could not hear before. I was watching a nature feature on HDNET and I could easily hear the tree frogs move in the trees. When my wife noticed the differance I knew I had made the right choice. She hardly ever notices any change in sound except for it getting loud.
Now to Bi-Amp these speakers you have to remove the gold plated bracket between the woofers and the midrange/tweeter of the speakers. On my setup you hook up the front output from the Onkyo to the midrange and tweeters and then the surround back to the woofers. As I only have a 5.1 system this works well for me with the Onkyo. The Onkyo has a Bi-Amp setting for use with Bi-Amp speakers and it tells you in the manuel that 5.1 is all you are going to get. If you want a 7.1 speaker (allowing surround back speakers) setup with the Onkyo you must engage the use of another amp to drive the woofers. I am fine with the 5.1 setup.
WARNING: if you bi-amp these speakers, you MUST REMOVE the gold cross brackets or you will damage your speakers and your amp.
In the Bi-Amp mode I immediately noticed the midrange and tweeter singing. The definition that you get from Bi-Amping is amazing. Being able to drive the woofers seperate from the mids/tweeter definately pushes the ability of these speakers to offer more definition in the higher range then setting them up as full range. Especially with voices. They sound like the actors are standing in your room with you! On MHD not only could I hear clearly the singers I could easily detect who was sing what. I later watched a string quartet on I believe HDNET later and I was amazed that I could even hear their fingers moving on the strings! Bi-Amping also allows for a smoother and deeper bass projection along with the sub-woofer.
I have a set of Polk Audio F/xi3 diopoldes for surround speakers and they match up very well with the RT12s. I went on the Polk Audio site and they recomend the f/ix5. The differance seems to be that the i5 is 2"x1" bigger speaker box. They have the same speakers and the same specs and they sound great with the RT12s. For a center channel I am still using the center speaker from the Yamaha set. I will pick up a Polk Audio center speaker next month. After reading several sites I decided to setup the speakers as THX 80Hz including the center speaker. I also tuned the volume down on the center speaker about 25%. This allowed the RT12s to operate well within their power range without over-powering the center speaker. When I get the new center speaker I will have to reset up my speakers. I also added 2db to the subwoofer and the result is that I now have some very fine sounding speakers to my HT setup.
The RT12s have great range -- if I was being honest the Yamaha's just were not that good -- especially if you like to hear all the nuances that a sound track can offer. The RT12s put the sound as real as I have heard in a long time right in front of you. After making the changes to the speaker setup I was amazed at how full and enveloping the sound was in the room. No matter where I set I could hear things with a clarity and resonance that I have not heard except in a professionally setup theater. While I am no professional if you are looking for a great set of speakers I can highly recomend the RT12s!
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