So, you are now looking for some floor standing speakers for your home theater system. When building a home theater system, there are many people who would recommend you to pair the system with floor standing speakers for good reasons. Typically, good quality floor standing speakers are able to deliver superior audio quality, much better than bookshelf speakers. In addition, floor standing speakers, despite the towering size, don’t need very wide surface area, so they should be easy to place on the left and right corners of the room.
Here, we are going to discuss about the comparisons between Polk RTI A9 and Klipsch RF 82. The two are highly rated floor standing speakers on the market. Some people like Polk RTI A9 better, while some others swear by Klipsch RF 82. Hence, choosing between the two models can be confusing. See the comparisons below to decide for yourself.
Contents
Polk RTI A9 vs. Klipsch RF 82: Design
Between the two models, Polk RTI A9 is the bigger one. With the base, it has 48.625” height, 8.875” width, and 21.375” depth. Its weight is approximately 75 lbs. On the other hand, Klipsch RF 82 is 42.6” tall, 9.5” wide, and 16.25” deep; the weight is about 66 lbs. As you can see, the Polk speaker is both taller and longer. The Klipsch, on the other hand, is slightly wider to the sides. Whichever model that you choose, make sure that you have enough room to place the speaker.
Polk RTI A9 is available in two finish options, black and cherry. The finish is furniture-grade hardwood veneer, beautifully curved and decorated with sleek trim accents. Behind the finish is the proprietary curved six-layer DAHLI enclosure that has been optimized for clean, accurate sound reproduction. The speaker has the PowerPortPlus Bass Venting design, and it features six on-board drivers, consisting of three 7” bass woofers, two 5.25” midrange woofers, and one 1” high-frequency dome tweeter. The woofers are made of polymer composite. The drivers are protected by durable injection-molded butyl rubber surrounds to suppress unwanted cone resonances. The speaker is equipped with computer-modeled anti-diffraction grilles to minimize sonic interference.
Klipsch RF 82 is also available in two finish options, black and cherry. The woodgrain vinyl finish is matched with an improved internal cross-bracing design to minimize panel vibrations. The speaker comes in a bass-reflex enclosure featuring dual rear-firing ports. On the front, you can find just three drivers. The uppermost one is the 1” Tractrix Horn-loaded titanium dome compression driver, matched to a precision square for optimum sound spread, and two 8” Cerametallic woofers for handling midrange and bass frequencies. The drivers are protected by rubber surrounds. The speaker also comes with a magnetically attached low-diffraction grille that really accentuates the speaker’s elegance.
Polk RTI A9 vs. Klipsch RF 82: Features
One of the most significant advantages offered by Polk RTI A9 is that it is video-shielded. With the magnetic shielding, it is virtually resistant to interference caused by other electronic devices, most notably televisions and display monitors. You can place it right beside your television without any problem. Without such magnetic shielding – Klipsch RF 82 does not have the magnetic shielding – a speaker should be placed with some distance from the television in order to avoid interference.
Both models have bi-amp inputs. In other words, each has two positive and two negative connections for powering low-frequency and high-frequency drivers using dedicated amplifiers or amp channels. Bi-amping can enhance your speaker’s sound quality, as it produces better depth and more detailed audio reproduction. However, Klipsch RF 82 comes with regular binding post connectors. Of course, these are high-quality connectors that are durable, but they are not as versatile as Polk RTI A9’s five-way binding post connectors, which can accept bare wires as well as any of the typical speaker wires.
Both speakers have the same impedance rating, which is 8 Ohms. Klipsch RF 82 requires 150 Watts RMS power input per channel. On the other hand, Polk RTI A9 is somewhat less picky, as it has been designed to be able to work properly with any input power between 50 Watts to 500 Watts per channel. Of course, higher input power can drive the drivers more powerfully and produce overall higher volume levels, but be careful not to power the drivers outside the recommended range. Don’t be too high, don’t be too low. Such action will damage the drivers.
Polk RTI A9 has a frequency response range of 30 Hz – 26 kHz. On the other hand, Klipsch RF 82 comes with a frequency response range of 33 Hz – 24 kHz. On the paper, the Polk speaker should be able to produce both lower and higher frequencies than the Klipsch speaker. But we can’t really determine the sound quality of the speaker from the numbers alone.
Polk RTI A9 vs. Klipsch RF 82: Sound Quality and Performance
In general, both Polk RTI A9 and Klipsch RF 82 have excellent sound quality. You can’t really go wrong with either. However, they do have different characteristics, so one of them may sound better to your ears than the other. There are many people who like the Polk speaker better, and there are also many others who like the Klipsch speaker more.
Klipsch RF 82 tends to produce more details and better definition, and the sound reproduction is more accurate. However, it has flat sound that it can be fatiguing. Pairing it with a Denon receiver, which has the AudysseyMultEQ, can help to reduce the fatiguing effect. On the other hand, Polk RTI A9 tends to produce warmer sound and more pronounced bass.
| Name | Polk RTI A9 | Klipsch RF 82 |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Polk RTI A9 | Klipsch RF 82 |
| Features | - Single real wood floorstanding speaker with all MDF construction and resonance-free enclosures - Equipped with dual 5.25-inch polymer composite cone drivers and three 7-inch polymer composite subwoofers | - POWER HANDLING 150W RMS / 600W Peak - FREQUENCY RESPONSE 33Hz-24KHz ± 3dB - Enhanced 1" titanium horn-loaded tweeter, dual 8" high-output woofers - Dimensions: 43.6" H x 9.5" W x 16.25" D |
| Ratings | 4.6 out of 5.0 stars | 4.9 out of 5.0 stars |
| Price | ||
| Best deal | Save Money Please click here | Save Money Please click here |
NOTE : Product prices, availability, ratings and save money information are accurate as of the date/time indicated on post time (as seen right bellow the tittle) and are subject to change. Any price, availability and save money information displayed on Amazon Site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Conclusion
In general, you may want to choose Klipsch RF 82 because the speaker’s sound has better definition and is more detailed and accurate. However, if you hate such flat sound, which can be fatiguing, you can choose Polk RTI A9 instead, which has warmer, more pronounced bass. Besides, it is more flexible with the input power requirement.