Hi-Fi: POLK Audio FloorStanding Speakers / ONKYO Intergrated Amplifier – Review – 76

When the Polk Audio RTi A9s were finally unleashed from their enormous boxes, it was all I could do but to gape in awe at their commanding beauty. While many crave the organic comfort factor of wood veneer, I’m much more impressed by the smart, shiny, 21st century look of the RTi A9, with its black veneer and impressive line of no fewer than six drivers.

And then I found out that it’s available in cherry wood veneer as well, which completely burst my bubble. But never mind, back to the speakers: there are three bass drivers, and even when we were ‘breaking in’ the RTi A9s over a week prior to testing them, it was obvious that the bass performance was not going to be sneezed at. Then there are two mids and, sandwiched between them, a tweeter. At the bottom there’s a port for bass dispersion, and at the back, another port with some kind of weird (but impressive-looking) symmetrical contraption for further improving sound dispersion.

I was pretty knocked out even before my audition, but the best part was to come.  Already thinking they were going to be worth at least $10K, as soon as I cranked them up I was certain of it. Think again. At just $2999, they’re clearly a bargain.

The RTi A9s are incredibly clear – clear like Blu-ray is clear – and the bass response gives the sense that it could reach down to the bowels of the earth. There’s certainly no hint of the bass glug speakers often give when trying desperately to cope with the bottom end so prevalent on modern electronic styles.

The sound is so clear that you feel everything in the music is exposed, the exoskeleton on full display like the audio equivalent of X-ray eyes.
If you like ‘nice fug’ these speakers are not for you. If I had a criticism, it would be that some atmosphere may be lost with the phenomenal clarity, and what “atmosphere” really means of course are those things we don’t tend to notice, like subtle harmonics.

What the Polks are good at is being somehow simultaneously smooth and dynamic, with real depth, impressive soundstaging and plenty of head room.

Matched with the new Onkyo A-9755 digital integrated amplifier – which visually is as ordinary as the Polk is impressive – the overall performance is exquisite. Onkyo has come up with something it calls Vector Linear for this new generation digital integrated, which, when combined with a Pure Stream power supply, gets rid of the usual bug-bears associated with both digital and integrated amps. Personally, I don’t really care how they did it, but this nicely proportioned amp clearly does a fine job of relaying the source component (in this case Tone’s Naim CD player) to the speakers with no fuss.

I subjected the Polk/Onkyo combo to a variety of music and it was no slouch with any of it. T-Bone Burnett’s burnished, artful country rock is beautifully engineered and the deep crawling acoustic bass was seamlessly integrated with the splashing percussion. The crisp top end and the fathomless deep stomp of techno fusion Supermayer was effortlessly conveyed, too.

The system also captures the busy percussion and even the layers between the ‘real’ bass and synthesiser bassline on Emerson Lake & Palmer’s Tarkus epic. Only on the Legacy edition of Jeff Buckley’s Grace do I find any reason to complain. The messiness, power and grain of this hybrid rock sound failed to unleash itself to the dimensions I know it can. But then again, Grace never was a particularly great recording.

Try this combo out if you’re looking for some serious sound for a song (relatively speaking). I reckon these speakers would also be kings of a home theatre system, so if that’s what you’re looking for, I’m sure your local outlet will help you find the right match.

GARY STEEL

TECH SPEC

Polk Audio RTi A9
Floorstanding Speakers

$2999

DRIVERS: 3 x 7-inch low frequency; 2 x 5.25-inch midrange, 1 x 1-inch high-frequency tweeter
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 
18Hz-27kHz
IMPEDANCE: 8 Ohms
EFFICIENCY: 90dB
INPUTS: Dual (bi-amp) 
5-way binding posts
for high performance durability
RECOMMENDED AMPLIFIER POWER: 50-500W per channel
Dimensions: 1253 x 225 x 543mm (H/W/D)
WEIGHT: 34.02kg (total)

Onkyo A-9755

Integrated Amplifier

$2599

POWER: 300W/Ch into 
4 ohms, 1 kHz, JEITA
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 
10Hz-60kHz (+1dB, -3dB)
CONNECTIONS: 6 gold-plated inputs, 2 outputs
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO: 70dB (phono, MM), 100dB (CD)
DIMENSIONS: 435 x 144 x 431mm (W/H/D)
WEIGHT: 17.6kg

Pros

• Powerful sound

• Exceptional clarity and smoothness

• Endlessly deep bass

Cons

• Lacking the subtle harmonics you hear in top-tier systems

Verdict

• I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this combo to anyone getting into hi-fi who wanted a command performance from their speakers

Contact

www.avalon.co.nz

This Review is from Tone Issue #76.