Great audio performance compliments the sharp speaker design
Why settle for vinyl speakers when you have the warmth and beauty of wood? If you need some new floorstanding speakers and don't want to break the bank, you might think you have to compromise on quality. But, we've got exciting news: the Polk RTi series kicks it up a notch with anti-diffraction grilles, MDF construction, and decadent, luscious, sound at an affordable price. The RTi A7 floorstander is almost exactly like the RTi A5, but it has two 7" woofers for extra-dimensional, room-filling bass.
MDF construction
Cabinet resonance can ruin the sound of an otherwise well-designed speaker. You dont want to hear your speaker cabinets humming along with the music, you want to hear the uncolored sound launched by the drivers and tweeters. Polk takes special care to create resonance-free speakers with super-reinforced MDF construction. This type of construction means the speaker has a massively-braced asymmetrical cabinet. The extra bracing eliminates vibration, so that distortion is kept at bay. All you get is clean, vibrant sound flowing smoothly throughout the room.
Layers of sound damping
You thought the curved cabinets were just for looks, but think again. In addition to extra-strong MDF construction, Polk uses Damped Asymmetric Hex Laminate Isolation for clean, accurate sound. What's that? Well, the RTi A7's asymmetric MDF design is made from a six-layer laminate with five viscous layers to create the optimal shear-damping system (that means each part of the MDF bracing is layered).The process was designed specifically for Polk — these cabinets create a stronger, more rigid and acoustically inert enclosure, and they produce less audible coloration from panel resonances.
Innovative design
The RTi A7 has features that go above and beyond your average speaker. For example, it has PowerPort Bass venting for superior bass that you can really feel. Power port vastly reduces "chuffing" or "port noise" and provides deeper, more powerful, lower distortion bass than could be realized with conventional ported or sealed designs. And, the acoustic resonance control technology creates more natural midrange, while the mylar bypass capacitors in the crossovers extend high frequency response and improve detail.
Are you for or against anti-diffraction grilles?
It's now time to talk to you about a special cause known as anti-diffraction. We here at Vann's are really concerned about distortion. And no — not distortion in the media, but distortion OF your media. You know, your home-theater audio experience? Diffraction is a type of distortion that occurs when sound reflects off an object such as a grille frame. The re-radiated sounds smear the original sound, much like ghost images on a TV smear the picture. Except instead of a ghost image, you get boxy-sounding audio. Well, James Polk wasn't president for nothing: let's just say he worked long and hard to pass the first "anti-diffraction grille" (rhymes with bill), so that audio can be free from the boxiness — because you have the right to great audio! Polk's anti-diffraction "Floating Grilles" lift the grilles literally off the baffle area, minimizing grille-edge reflections for clearer sound and more open imaging. (Bet you didn't know President Polk was such an audiophile back in the 1800s, did you.)
Ok, maybe we exaggerate about Polk
Maybe President Polk didn't actually know anything about speakers, but Polk Audio does. So, when you pick up a pair of speakers, dont forget to get the appropriate cables! Even the best speakers won't sound as good if you are trying to get HD sound through insufficient cables. So, click on the "accessories" tab above to see what kinds of cables you might need, or contact a Vann's customer service representative to find out more. End soapbox.
That neodymium. . .ferrofluid. . . stuff explained
Ferrofluids are used to form liquid seals (ferrofluidic seals). Used in many high-frequency speaker drivers (tweeters), they provide heat conduction from the voice coil to the surrounding assembly, as well as mechanical damping to reduce undesired resonances. The ferrofluid is kept in place in the magnetic gap due to the strong magnetic field and is in contact with both the magnetic surfaces as well as the coil.
Inputs with BLING
Don't get caught lounging around in your living room, listening to fine audio without some BLING in the back, you know what I'm saying? Gold plated 5-way binding posts are wide holes for large-gauge bare wire connections. They create the most secure connections, and are the most versatile wiring applications. Plus, they keep you rock-steady with the ladies.
