Polk Audio RTiA7 High Performance Floorstanding Loudspeaker, 20Hz-27kHz Frequency Response, 8 ohm Nominal Impedance, Single, Cherry

2019-11-14T19:00:00

I have had these speakers for a few years now in a home theater set up. They sound great for the price point and I would put these up against any $400 tower on the market.

Commonroohawks

Originally posted at

2019-08-09T20:00:00

I've had these speakers about a year now. I also have the Monitor 60. The RTIA7 has amazing sound. The bass is tight and clear,but not overwhelming. I feel they could have a little more presence in the mids,but the tone is fantastic. I think you would also be hard pressed to find a better sounding tweeter. The highs are crisp and give an amazing detail to the music.

Stvpvey1

Originally posted at

2019-07-24T20:00:00

Bought 2 years ago they still amaze me. I have read through the reviews I can assure you if you bi amp and give them power you do not need a powered subwoofer. I unplugged my klipsch $600 subwoofer as the sound quality was far better without. Only complaint is the terminals are internally connected through crossover so you can not remove bass out of mid range driver. This stops the upper limit of the speaker as the mid drivers excursion causes some popping( this is at louder then you can handle in the room levels) so is not really a concern more a limit of the towers. On a side not they were worth the 499 a tower so on sale a no brainers if you are in the market.

Jackie29

Originally posted at

2019-06-23T20:00:00

Back around 2009 - 2011, I put together a budget home theater system consisting of a Yamaha RX-V867, CS20 center, TSi400 towers in front, TSi300 towers as side and rear surrounds, TSi100 for front presence speakers & a couple PSW110 subs. The sound was incredible (particularly for the price paid averaging about 50-80% off the MSRP of all items at the time). Admittedly, this wasn't necessarily the Polk product line that I wanted, but I had just left the workforce to be the unpaid around the clock caretaker for a family member diagnosed with a terminal illness. Fast forward 10 years, the bulk of which was spent out of the workforce to take care of two other family members who had been diagnosed with terminal illnesses and life was suddenly drastically different. Now I could look forward to returning to the workforce and perhaps upgrading the home theater / audio speakers and components.... but in a couple years considering I really wanted the RTiA line or better, and just wasn't in the financial situation to make that jump. Then I awoke on Saturday, May 25 and felt the urge to check out the Polk Audio Direct eBay store & I'm glad I did considering I saw the mind-blowing price offered on that day of RTiA 7's at $227.97 a pop. That changed everything in regard to my upgrading prospective time line. I had been watching the pricing on the RTiA line for a buddy of mine who always wondered how I find such good deals and had been aware that the list prices had come down. Suddenly the pricing was just so good, I couldn't help myself, and I pulled the trigger on 4 RTiA7 towers, for front main channels & rear surrounds, along with a CSiA6 at $189.97. Concurrently, I figured if I was making this jump, I may as well see what kind of deals I could find on receivers and found a new Yamaha RX-V2085 for under $1K and figured what the heck, go big or go home. On June 3, my receiver arrived, with the RTiA7's & CSiA6 arriving a day earlier than anticipated on June 4. For the last 20 days, I have been enjoying this new sound experience for 16-18 hours a day as I decided to push out my return to work date a few weeks to both adjust to this new reality and enjoy this new sound. I was so impressed with this line of speakers, I decided to up my game by adding RTiA3's for front and rear presence considering the pricing and my feeling that new speakers of this quality and pricing aren't stumbled upon very often. I'm really baffled as to why people refer to these speakers as "not very musical". As someone who had for many years prior to the illness related tumult of the last 10 years been an avid concert-goer who would describe music as his life, and be found playing guitars and drums for hours every day... I'm not quite sure how someone can come to the conclusion that they're not very musical. These things SING... and SING and SING again. I wouldn't doubt that someone could adequately critique them by painting the picture that the LSiMs have superior sound - Look at the specs and pricing and sure, easy to believe.. but to say that these aren't musical is a farcical mischaracterization. I recall having a free Saturday afternoon a few years back and visiting a very high end audio boutique (exotic speaker brand pairs ranging from 10k-100k+) a buddy of mine was working at - the owner is highly educated on the physics of sound reproduction and spent decades working for various high end speaker manufacturers throughout North America and Europe and we discussed how some people refer to themselves as "audiophiles" simply to hear themselves talk and pat themselves on the back for harshly critiquing audio equipment when the reality is many don't have a dang clue what they're talking about - sort of how when someone claims that a band of highly skilled musicians sucks though they have no clue about the skill of playing an instrument or understanding the music making process. It's just a sad, uneducated opinion. To be frank, I was initially thinking of holding out for a few years of banking cash so I could afford some Paradigm Prestige that I had listened to at the aforementioned boutique that have a list price of about 10x the RTiA. Upon revisiting said boutique whilst doing errands, I'm glad I pulled the trigger on the RTiA. When the Paradigms caught my ears and eyes a few years back, they concurrently made my TSi's sound hollow upon listening. That just wasn't so with the RTiAs. In fact, for the vast price difference, I'm glad I bought these and didn't toss away 10x the money in a few years. A buddy of mine recently visited and he was so impressed his not very critical critique was that he hadn't heard such good sound since he had listened to his cousin's system of Marantz high end components with Focal speakers that fronts alone were 6k a pop. So, let me tell you, if you want to get an incredible sounding system, and at what are currently rivaling budget pricing models, do not hesitate. Buy the RTiA line. If you're coming from a truly budget line, this will open your ears up to hearing things in your music collection you never knew were on a recording. I've been completely dumbfounded by experiencing the lush soundscape, subtleties in recordings I never knew were there. I just can't gush enough about this line. Music had always been my passion, but one I've not enjoyed for some time - life had just been too crazy to find the time to sit back and listen to music, to really critically listen, anyhow, and time just wasn't there to make music. There had even been times that I wondered if music would still have the same impact it always had on me when things did change and I would be able to refocus my life on myself. Yup. 100 fold with these new RTiA's. I. Just. Can't. Stop. Listening. To be frank, I've enjoyed the highly musical nature of these things so much, in the last 20 days I've abandoned music listening for only a few of my waking hours and that's only been to watch a movie so I can experience them for movie watching, or running errands during which time I missed the music coming from them so much I nearly wanted to cry lol. Don't hesitate. Get some RTiAs. Your ears will thank you.

CocoLovePolk

Originally posted at

2019-06-07T20:00:00

The RTiA7’s are in my bedroom and I upgraded from the RTiA5. I’m running Anthem gear and they’re Zone 2, so there’s no option to add a sub. The A5’s are great but I wanted more bass extension and certainly did get that, as one would expect going up a model in a line of speakers (same for these if I later went with A9’s. I’m very happy with the move up and I have only about 30 hours on them so far. So, beyond the bass response, I found the A7’s to have better midrange clarity and the highs are about the same if not a little better/less crisp. They are certainly a more pleasant full range version and a little more detailed being a 3-way and the 6.5” doesn’t have to worry about bass. Their sound is impressive, considering the price. Additional kudo’s to Polk as the styling is first-rate and finish quality makes them quite nice furniture, as others have said. Crazy good looks at this price. They are a little crisp but not fatiguing and have a wide but a somewhat flat sound field (so far), but at this price point there’s nothing that comes remotely close in appearance and quality bass response. So all in all, I would say if you’re considering either A5 or A7 to go for it as the price difference is not that much. The A5’s are good if you have space constraints or already have a sub, but otherwise the A7’s are truly a full-range speaker and worth the extra money.

HiFiBri

Originally posted at

2019-03-24T20:00:00

Great sounding speakers sound great with music and movies. Very detailed sound everything is crisp and clear. 105 watt receiver and works excellent with these without bi-amping. Cherry finish looks great also and speakers make a great visual impact also.

StudioBill

Originally posted at

2018-10-24T20:00:00

These were supposed to replace my custom AR 130's , in 30 x 30 rec room ,2 channels powered by Anthem 225 . First as stand alone , no comparison at all, the high's wash right through the mids which continually border on obtrusive , the lows are neither inspiring or definitive and walk around fairly easily . Prepare to spend on a decent sub to try and compensate . After adding a Paradigm PS1000 high current sub and adjusting E.Q . and crossover settings , I was able to make it manageable . Thankfully these were not extremely expensive speakers and will be hitting the auction block shortly .

Souped

Originally posted at

2018-09-27T20:00:00

Los Rti A7 son muy buenos en todo. Cierto es que se debe dejar el tiempo de rodaje para apreciar el sonido que realmente pueden dar: es excelente su relación calidad-precio. No creo se pueda conseguir con otra marca esta calidad de sonido por el valor. Además, cada modificación, cableado, bicableado, no hacen otra cosa que mejorar la calidad de audio percibida. Yo tengo estos bafles conectados con un sistema pre y power de Parasound, fuente Marantz DV9500, cables de Van Den Hul, Black Rhodium, y a bafles de Kimber Kable. No puedo estar mas contento con su sonido!

JOPEAR

Originally posted at

2017-07-18T20:00:00

I bought these on closeout as demo models at RC Willey for $200 for THE PAIR! Pushing them with a 165wpc Onkyo M504, and running a Marantz 2285b as the preamp. These speakers are incredible! I will never part with them. Room shaking bass, very detailed midrange, and clean treble. Many people complain about them sounding thin or too bright. Two things: 1. Allow sufficient time for them to break in. And 2. Drive them with good quality amplification. Most modern A/V receivers don't quite have the oomph of a standalone amplifier or vintage receiver. Very impressed with them.

Jpsyoda

Originally posted at

2017-04-16T20:00:00

I am from India and bought this with Marantz PM5004 which is basic integrated amplifier (45RMS) and this combination rocks. 45RMS playing 300RMS speakers. Simply incredible. Crystal clear sound - music and movie. Very tight bass - clear vocal - tweeter blends with any instrument. I bought this combination 1 month back and playing it for > 100 hours - speakers have opened up. My family is really enjoying English / Hindi / Marathi songs. This system well deserves 5 star rating. Most important RTIA7 is in TOP 10 Floor Standing Speaker List for a decade now from 2007. I play DSD-FLAC-ALAC-CD-MP3 and any type of song is like taking rebirth by these speakers. What surprises me, I heard notes from these speakers which I did not captured on any other same level speakers which is astonishing. In the near future - my plan to go for MARANTZ AV Receiver and remaining RT1 center and rear speakers.

Sandeep P.

Originally posted at

2016-03-02T19:00:00

I have had a pair of RTiA7's for about 10 months and become more pleased with them every day. Like any quality speaker, ample break in time is required, so that is why I am waiting until now to write my review. The RTiA7 is everything you would want in a quality speaker, including a beautiful cabnet. I power mine with a Yamaha 80 wpc integrated amp. which seems to be a perfect combination. Bass, treble and mid-range come out clear and distinct on any type of music. The Polk RTiA7 proves that you don't have to pay a thousand dollars plus per speak to get exceptional performance.

Chuck67

Originally posted at

2015-12-11T19:00:00

Fantastic speakers. Cheap price for this level!!! Warm sound. Plenty of detail. Great bas!

Joop

Originally posted at

2015-11-25T05:59:01

I hooked these speakers up to my stereo for the most awesome concert hall sound that I have ever heard from any other speakers in my life. Beautiful! I listen to rock music, classical, and the full genre of music that is past and present. Pure listening pleasure! Adorama's customer service is awesome too!

Patrick W.

2015-09-01T20:00:00

I have owned a pair of the ATi7's for six years now, combined with a ATi6 center channel and two ATi1's for a five channel system. The Polk Ati series are not only fine sounding speakers, but the cabinet finish and design is just as nice as the sound. The sound quality is clean, and easy to listen to for hours at a time. They reproduce music well, from Jazz to Classical. I would recommend these, for the price, they are a bargain....

Bob_C

Originally posted at

2015-07-08T20:00:00

First let me preface this review by saying I bought these solely for music. I spent quite a bit of time researching various brands. After narrowing the list down I spent as much time in various stores listening to each brand, unfortunately there was no one stop place. Finally I narrowed it down to these and one other brand. I decided on these and boy am I happy. I have these paired with an Onkyo NR636 receiver and I am in heaven listening to them. The are clean, crisp and hold true at any volume. In fact my wife who is a casual music listener even said "I never heard music like this, it sounds so different". If you are reading this and are unsure about what speakers to buy, STOP wasting your time these are unbelievable!!!!!!!

JJDeadhead

Originally posted at

2015-07-08T20:00:00

I bought the RTI10 over a decade ago and they still rock the house.

Jeff H.

Originally posted at

2015-04-12T20:00:00

I purchased a pair of RTiA7 towers to place in our living room for listening to music. I had been looking at several makes and brands of speakers before buying these. When Polk offered a friends and family deal for 50% off I decided to go ahead and dive in head first. The speakers arrived about a week ahead of schedule and that is certainly a good thing (under promise - over achieve!!!). The boxes were in good shape and the towers were well packaged in foam and covered with this flexible foam. After unboxing I did find that the Polk logo / plackard on of my grilles was pulled away from the grille. I tried to push it down such that is didn't look odd but it would not stay stuck. I will be calling Polk to try and address this minor issue. Overall the build and look of these beefy towers is very impressive. The drivers look very nice and the cabinet is truly beautiful with its finely finished curves and edges. I know some had mentioned that these are heavy. I will say they aren't light but by no means are then heavy compared to other loudspeakers on the market. As for sound quality............. I was originally planning to do separates and use an Emotiva XPA-2 with a TBD pre. However, I came across a killer deal for a Rogue Tempest integrated tube amp. If you are not familiar with high end audio tube amps then you should look into these exquisite devices to power your favorite gear. In any case I was a little worried about the Tempest given it only outputs 60Wpc. I even chatted with a tech rep at Polk to get their blessing. We agreed that it should be fine for up to moderate volumes. I setup and connected my MP3 player & Audio Technica turntable to the Tempest integrated amp and connected the RTiA7's. With tube amps you typically do not get the best audio for a couple minutes until the tubes are warmed up. I started my listening with a vinyl pressing of the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. Strating at low volumes it was clear that these tower are very articulate and fast to respond. Their sound stage and imaging were ok but this was likely due to the mixing of the recording. The clarity was obvious in the mids and highs. At low to moderate volumes the bass from the 7" woofers were a bit lacking (note that I do not have an EQ for the phono stage). However, as I listened to several tracks I turned the volume up to see if I could drive the towers with 60Wpc off a tube amp without distortion (I did not go crazy with max volume that the Tempest could do given these speakers are brand new). At upper middle volumes, loud enough to fill my living room and kitchen area with clear nice sound that would not be overly bothersome, I could not detect any hint of distortion or stress on the speakers. The bass was far more present but still not as strong as I would have expected. I do believe there was an issue with being under powered as there was not hint of distortion. in the mids or uppers or the bass for that matter. I am aware that some folks have stated these speakers as being "bright". Perhaps this is what I am hearing. I then switched inputs to my Sony MP3 player, which has a built in basic EQ. I started with a live recording of Alicia Keys (Unplugged). Again, starting at a low volume and adding volume until I was happy I found that the towers again were very sharp, crisp, clear, and articulate. It's amazing on the live recording the small details that were audible like fingers tapping guitars, feet tapping the floor, breathing, etc. Some of these were clearly evident while listening to Unplugged. The Rogue Tempest and RTiA7's really shine together. the track, Unbreakable was fresh and new with the new speakers and integrated amp. The imaging was far impressive with this recording too. Close your eyes and you could see Alicia on stage playing the music to you. Then I switched to Green Day's Good Riddance. The "F-bomb" at the intro that is spoken under the intro audio was very clear and obvious. I have heard this in the past with other speakers and amps but never this clear and obvious. There was no second guessing what that little bit of sound was; in a good way!!! The recording was brilliant and again the sound stage was wide and deep. I also tweaked the EQ in the MP3 player and was amazed at the difference. I was now hearing a much more full sound with respectable bass reproduction at low-moderate volumes. I did not detect any distortion when turned up as loud as I was comfortable with on brand new speakers. Overall I am very happy with these loudspeakers despite the logo issue on the grille and the bright sound of the towers. Please keep in mind that I am writing about brand new speakers with less than 10 hours of play on them. I suspect that as they are used the next month or two that things will change and will become a little less bright. However, if you want these towers but not the brightness then look at getting a quality preamp with EQ or stand-alone EQ. As mentioned in other reviews and in the Q/A section for this speaker you do want a quality power source. Most "commercial" AVR's do not really have that great power reserves and do not usually output what the box says. Be careful to not under power these and blow the tweeter. I will say that 60Wpc from a high end audiophile tube amp will drive these towers nicely. However, please do not expect that combination to blow the doors off the house. For a relaxing listening of music on a daily basis it's a perfect combination. If you do want to blow the doors off the house then something like the Emotiva XPA-2 would likely be better. Or if you have nearly $4,000 to spare a Rogue Pharoh would be best! All MP3's listened to for this review were ripped at 320Kb/s.

JgibsonEMU

Originally posted at

2015-03-27T20:00:00

Bought my A7s about a year ago in Cherry & absolutely love them. They are beautiful! They reproduce sound very well, my cd collection & mp3s have come alive. Have the A6 center & 4 A5s as surrounds & wides with an HSU sub & doesn't get any better imho. Am thinking of getting an amp to drive the mains otherwise, they still sound good but am curious what they'll sound like with power just for them. My avr is an 818 & when setting up just the fronts, they were wonderful & adding all the other speakers did dimenish their perfomance somewhat, hence getting the amp.

wtxgringo

Originally posted at

2015-01-22T19:00:00

This is not my first Polk purchase, but it certainly is the best! Purchased the RTi A7's from Crutchfield in cherry. Delivery was very fast. Every time I play them they get better and better. Absolutely love the mid-range as well as the bass. The high's are crystal clear as well. My setup: Adcom GFA 555II Adcom GFP815 TEAC CD-1000 Denon DCM-390 Sony SCD-CE595 Audio Quest Golden Gate Cables, bi-wired The finish is gorgeous. They look like very fine furniture. Love the curves.

doverdoobie

Originally posted at

2015-01-14T19:00:00

If there is bass in the signal that reaches these speakers, they will reproduce it, faithfully. Ask my down stairs neighbor. I would, but he no longer speaks to me.

fxdwg3

Originally posted at

2015-01-01T19:00:00

Great sound nice finish I have the cherry they look very well built easy setup Thank you to the guys at Safe&Sound Chicopee Ma

Joe C.

Originally posted at

2014-12-19T19:00:00

This was my first speaker from Polk and i must say ? am impressed with the sound however ? wanted a different color so have them painted in piano black, now its even beter to my eyes. This color should be an option for Polk. ?t is a killer speaker now.

murathanoz

Originally posted at

2014-07-18T20:00:00

using this speakers for the past one year with marantz rcvr sr 6007. bought these beauties after listing different range of speakers. i must say for the amount i paid these are extremely efficient speakers that any serious listeners can consider. thank you polk. i am so proud of my decision. awesome.....awesome....awesome... hip hip hurray.

vishud

Originally posted at

2014-07-04T20:00:00

I bought my speakers over a year ago.They are well balanced though speakers have a some what loud tweeters.They are warm and pretty fast when called for.I run them with my Odyssey audio stratos for power amp with parasound preamp. My amp has enuf power to drive the speakers well. I wished polk could tune the tweeter down a bit which is my only glitch. Overall very good sound for the price.

Franz123

Originally posted at

2014-06-28T20:00:00

If you are reading this, you are probably like me and hesitating whether or not to buy the RTiA7's. I researched on and on and I heard that you will need to biwire, or biamp, or you will need a dedicated amp, or you need a min of 200 watts. This is all a bunch of B.S.! If you have a quality AVR 80 watts or more you are fine. I do agree that they are short on bass, but run with a subwoofer and they are absolutely awesome speakers. My only regret is not buying them sooner.

Integra

Originally posted at

2014-03-06T19:00:00

Bought these about a month ago, and honestly, blown away by the quality. I love these speakers. Never really had any high quality speakers like this and I have to say they were worth every penny. Highly Recommend you go in and listen to speakers before you buy them, almost went with a cheaper Pioneer set and can't even tell you how glad I'm that I went in and listened to these before I did.

GregK

Originally posted at

2013-12-11T19:00:00

Awesome sounding and very crisp sounding absolutely love these speakers

joseph

Originally posted at

2013-06-06T20:00:00

Running these on a Denon 3313 with a Polk PSW505 sub-woofer and Polk CSi5 Center channel. In one word, the sound is...AMAZING! My advice, don't skimp on the center channel and get the sub-woofer.

GJW

Originally posted at

2012-12-28T19:00:00

Wow!! Love these speakers! A 500% improvement over what I had...love the midrange and the bass...the styling and size of these speakers make for a perfect fit to my living room space and they complement my Denon setup perfectly!!!! All I need now from Polk are surrounds!!!

Tom I.

Originally posted at

2012-08-11T20:00:00

a good speaker, I thought they were great but my tweeters popped at the same time, after a year of use.

Brian

Originally posted at