Yes, yes, I know, I know, yet ANOTHER speaker A vs speaker B question, ?Go listen to the #$%^!@ speakers and make up your own mind!? I fully agree with that statement, but please hear me out. I want to upgrade the Mission MV-8e fronts that I currently have with something bigger and bolder, they have served me very well over the years and really enjoyed them.
I?ll be using the speakers for HT the vast majority of the time, with some occasional casual stereo listening and certainly not for critical listening. I?ve narrowed down the choice to the Polk RTi A7 and Bentley FS-150. The specs are very similar, the Polks have two 7? bass drivers, a 6.5? mid and a silk dome tweeter. The Bentleys have two 8? bass drivers, a 5? mid and also a silk dome tweeter.
https://www.polkaudio.com/en/floor-standing-towers/rtia7
https://www.bentleyacoustics.com/copy-of-fr100-3
Now this is where the differences are an unknown to me, from what I?ve read, the Polks need a decent amount of power to shine, the majority of AVRs just don?t cut it. Are the Bentleys just as power hungry, or do they do reasonably well with your average AVR? I?m sure the Bentleys will do better with an external power amp, will I need to get something like the Rotel RMB-1075 (120W/ channel, 8 ohms) or will the Rotel RMB-1048 (40W/channel, 8 ohms) be sufficient?
Are the mids and tweeters in the Bentleys in a separate chamber from the bass drivers? Not that it really matters, just curious to know.
I?m leaning towards the Polks, purely because I?ve heard them before and liked the powerful, bold presentation. They were powered by an external 200W NAD power amp (can?t remember the model now) and sounded really good to me. The Bentleys have huge praise on the forum and certainly look the part, so I?m really keen to check them out too, I just haven?t had the opportunity to listen to them yet.
I?ll be using the speakers for HT the vast majority of the time, with some occasional casual stereo listening and certainly not for critical listening. I?ve narrowed down the choice to the Polk RTi A7 and Bentley FS-150. The specs are very similar, the Polks have two 7? bass drivers, a 6.5? mid and a silk dome tweeter. The Bentleys have two 8? bass drivers, a 5? mid and also a silk dome tweeter.
https://www.polkaudio.com/en/floor-standing-towers/rtia7
https://www.bentleyacoustics.com/copy-of-fr100-3
Now this is where the differences are an unknown to me, from what I?ve read, the Polks need a decent amount of power to shine, the majority of AVRs just don?t cut it. Are the Bentleys just as power hungry, or do they do reasonably well with your average AVR? I?m sure the Bentleys will do better with an external power amp, will I need to get something like the Rotel RMB-1075 (120W/ channel, 8 ohms) or will the Rotel RMB-1048 (40W/channel, 8 ohms) be sufficient?
Are the mids and tweeters in the Bentleys in a separate chamber from the bass drivers? Not that it really matters, just curious to know.
I?m leaning towards the Polks, purely because I?ve heard them before and liked the powerful, bold presentation. They were powered by an external 200W NAD power amp (can?t remember the model now) and sounded really good to me. The Bentleys have huge praise on the forum and certainly look the part, so I?m really keen to check them out too, I just haven?t had the opportunity to listen to them yet.
