Review by Gertrude, the Bad Queen:

This is a high-quality, resilient speaker that is good for a lot more than a game system. The sound quality is amazing. I have used this speaker in a variety of circumstances to very good end. Yes, it does work with music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band but to only use it as a game system speaker is to miss most of its capabilities.

I have used this speaker in a variety of applications – in different rooms, for students, and even in the backyard. It has been useful in my office hooked up to an ipod, blasting gorgeous sound in a long narrow room that has defeated most speaker systems. It has also proven itself for Audio Books, in a variety of situations. In the classroom, using a boom box has always been problematic as only the few students seated most closely to the speaker are able to understand it, but this allowed the sound to fill the room in a pleasing way. No more kids hanging over the table to hear a book on tape! I have also been able to use this outdoors, setting it up on the deck while I did yard work (okay, puttered in the yard) and was able to hear it clearly. (Lucky for me, my neighbors are only here on weekends.)

I did actually set it up as a game speaker, too. The hookup of this speaker is self-explanatory, with pictures. My installation in our game system was not standard because we use a receiver between the game systems-dvd-vcr-tivo and television. To get the speaker in the mix, I interrupted the feed to the stereo system and sent the audio to the speaker instead of the home theatre system. The only problem this caused was limiting the placement of the speaker. It had to be right in front of the television, which I suppose was the point for Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The sound of all games was improved by the speaker. As Mario would say, “It’s a go!”

The sound quality is amazing. Polk’s experience in sound systems is readily apparent. It has one 6 and 1/2″ mid-range speaker flanked by two 3×5 horn tweeters that produce clean treble. The cabinet functions as an acoustic sub-woofer, with two ports at the back of the cabinet. The sound is incredibly rich and has ample power without distorting sound.

For audio books, music, and game play, this unit has enough sound quality to overpower a large living room. For those who want high volume, you don’t have to turn it up to the highest setting where distortion occurs.

This is a substantial speaker, much more than a game system speaker.

Review by Paladin08:

The unit arrived at work and several of us immediately plugged it into the Wii then fired up Guitar Hero II.

Pros:

- super easy to setup

- LOUD! Even at a 4 of 11 (not yet half way) on the volume settings, we had the office manager running in from down the hall wondering what we were up to.

- Full sound. It’s not just a sub-woofer but a full speaker sound.

- It does make you feel like you are on a stage and want to rock out!

- Less than 15lbs = portable. Carry strap included

- If you have a big space you want to blast some music, get the necessary cable (not included) and plug in your MP3 player

Cons:

- Some Guitar Hero songs sounded as if they had too much treble. No way to adjust the bass.

- Some Guitar Hero songs sounded too much bass.

- It’s a big unit. Hard to just “fit” this next to the console in some setups. You can’t just slip it into the entertainment center for most folks I’d wager.

- a pouch or something on the side to carry the cables would make this more portable

- I’d plug the MP3 player into it, but the necessary cable is NOT provided. Not to mention most of us have small portable speakers for the MP3 player already. If that is what it is going to be used for, who needs a 12 pound monitor?!?

OVERALL:

This unit is for a specific use…to pump up the volume of console games when a surround sound speaker system isn’t available to plug into. It’s portable enough to take to a friend’s house too. But without control over the bass/treble, loose cables to lug around and overkill for most other activities this unit may only appeal to a select few for the price.

Review by B. Lee:

I also own the previous generation RTi6 bookshelf speakers by Polk and was able to do a direct comparison. The 6s have larger drivers so their slight mid-bass advantage is to be expected, but in all other ways the RTi A1 is an improvement. The sound projects further outside of the cabinets, or rather the cabinets disappear and throw a great, wide sound-field outward. Instruments sound like they should, male voices aren’t nasal or chesty, and the highs are soothing rather than sibilant and tinny (as the previous RTis could get under pressure). I have never heard a speaker this nice at a price this low.

Review by F. funches:

i have had these in just over a week and with the hours i have played them i would say that i am entering the break in stage. right out of the box they sounded a little bright, now they sound a little more laid back and smoother. most reviewers on here pair their speakers with a receiver and a sub. i would suggest that you use neither. in stereo i would suggest you use more superior hardware to get more from these gems,such as a good amp,a preamp and a good cd player,or turntable. now for my review.i listened to the polks well into the late hours of the night each night. as my preamp and amp got warmer the polks fell deeper into the sound stage as the sound stage got wider. i turned the lights off and i was conviced they were full range speakers.from the sometimes thunderous bottom end to realistic midband and the smooth highs.as the hours went on i plunged deeper into my cd collection,and the sound stopped comming from the speakers and were placed in locations in the air between and the outer edges the speakers. when i kept on looking at each speaker it did not appear that sound was comming from them. this has happened to me before on a larger scale with my legacy signatures (130lbs each beasts , a little over five feet tall and almost 4grand more).will downing’s pleasures of the night (cd) is my usual reference cd for male voices and his voice came so close to me in that center stage i know i could have slapped him if i had reached out my hand. maxwell’s cd embroya is my bottom end test cd and wow the gut they had was tremendous. i continued to listen to more cds from jazz to some classic r&b and classical and they got better and better. i love’m. and by the way did i say they were a very good looking pair of speakers.

Review by B. Lee:

I also own the previous generation RTi6 bookshelf speakers by Polk and was able to do a direct comparison. The 6s have larger drivers so their slight mid-bass advantage is to be expected, but in all other ways the RTi A1 is an improvement. The sound projects further outside of the cabinets, or rather the cabinets disappear and throw a great, wide sound-field outward. Instruments sound like they should, male voices aren’t nasal or chesty, and the highs are soothing rather than sibilant and tinny (as the previous RTis could get under pressure). I have never heard a speaker this nice at a price this low.

Review by F. funches:

i have had these in just over a week and with the hours i have played them i would say that i am entering the break in stage. right out of the box they sounded a little bright, now they sound a little more laid back and smoother. most reviewers on here pair their speakers with a receiver and a sub. i would suggest that you use neither. in stereo i would suggest you use more superior hardware to get more from these gems,such as a good amp,a preamp and a good cd player,or turntable. now for my review.i listened to the polks well into the late hours of the night each night. as my preamp and amp got warmer the polks fell deeper into the sound stage as the sound stage got wider. i turned the lights off and i was conviced they were full range speakers.from the sometimes thunderous bottom end to realistic midband and the smooth highs.as the hours went on i plunged deeper into my cd collection,and the sound stopped comming from the speakers and were placed in locations in the air between and the outer edges the speakers. when i kept on looking at each speaker it did not appear that sound was comming from them. this has happened to me before on a larger scale with my legacy signatures (130lbs each beasts , a little over five feet tall and almost 4grand more).will downing’s pleasures of the night (cd) is my usual reference cd for male voices and his voice came so close to me in that center stage i know i could have slapped him if i had reached out my hand. maxwell’s cd embroya is my bottom end test cd and wow the gut they had was tremendous. i continued to listen to more cds from jazz to some classic r&b and classical and they got better and better. i love’m. and by the way did i say they were a very good looking pair of speakers.

Review by Ronman:

I purchased the Polk Audio CSi A4 after getting the CS10 center channel speaker for Christmas. I wanted to go as “high-end” as possible for the money. I’m definitely glad I spent the few dollars more. I love the real wood finish. It has a very polished, refined, yet agressive look. The build quality is great, and the sound is awesome! I’m in the early stages of upgrading my speakers; I went for the display and receiver upgrades first. I plan to go with all Polk speakers in this class!

Review by Robert A. Cooper:

The good:

* Great Polk Rti A sound–matches the rest of the speakers in the line perfectly

* Real wood speakers at this price point is amazing

* Cherry finish is really quite beautiful

* Solid high-quality construction

No real complaints, but just a suggestion: If you’re matching this with large tower fronts (for example, the RTi A7 or RTi A9) in a home theatre system, consider upgrading to the A6. It can better keep up with the bigger speakers.

Review by T. Kann:

This one certainly saves space(if space is your main concern). My car(Dodge Stealth) has little trunk to spare anything so this box comes handy. It has some sort of deep bass but does not have a punch to it. If you are looking just a bass to add to your stereo, this will definitely do the job.I hook it up to my 1000 Watts Amp and 50×4 Power Acoustic DVD/Stereo and it sounds great. I like it. Note: all Sub-woofer with a type of Tweeters on it won’t create a punch…If looking a punchy bass, don’t get this one.

Review by Randy Smith:

I bought this box to replace my 2-15″ box so I could get more leg room. The specs said it would go down to 30Hz. No way. It has more bass than I thought, but it doesn’t push it. Don’t expect hard, slamming bass from this box. The only thing I was impresssed with was its ability to take alot of power. I put 75 watts of hard bass to it and it took it, but didnt really shake the floor and windows like my 15′s did, and yes, I expected that. The biggest problem was that the speakers aren’t tuned to the box, like most of these boxes. If you take these speakers out & put them in a box 3 times bigger, you’d have a great sounding speaker. The manufacturer obviously did not tune this box. They just threw the speakers into it, added some tweeters, ports, and wired it. I guess you get what you pay for. I really want a slim box for a regular cab pickup with some bass, but I guess I’m outa luck.

Review by Joey Joe Joe Jr. Shabadoo:

I have been in the process of replacing my HT speakers, moving away from my piecemeal 5.1 setup (old Altec fronts, Bose surround satellites, Boston Acoustics center channel), to an all-Polk 5.1 configuration. From the research I did prior to actually buying anything, reviews seemed to stress that the RTI-A polk line sounds just about as good as other companies’ speakers that typically run for twice the price. After listening to a bunch of options at the now-defunct Tweeter, I came to the same conclusion; I purchased this set of RTI-A7s for fronts, a Polk Audio CSI A6 Center Channel, and Polk Audio RTI A3s for rears. I got the RTI-A7s for a song at Tweeter right before they closed, even cheaper than here or other sites.

These were also the first new items I bought as part of my replacement project, so it really gave me a chance to listen to these in comparison with my old Altecs. I did an A-B test, and the detail and sound field these babies put out really blew away the older, more conventional (and aesthetically speaking much uglier) Altecs (running on a Yamaha RX-V1800). Mid- and High-range detail are exceptional on the RTI A7s, really light years ahead of my old dinosaurs, and perfect for HD formats like BluRay or SACD. The only area where the Altecs win by a slight margin is deep bass (

Review by Robert A. Cooper:

These are some really wonderful speakers. I auditioned literally dozens of speakers from Polk, Klipsh, Energy, B&O etc. Some of the ones I tested were 10 times the price of these Polks and even excluding price considerations, these were the best I heard (I even enjoyed them more than the more expensive Polk LSi Series).

In the past, I would have said that I prefer loudspeakers with a more rounded, mellow, laid-back sound as opposed to ones that are a bit more forward and precise, but the RTi A7s changed my mind. They are not at all harsh or bright, and while they are very precise, they’re not at all fatiguing to the ear. To my ear, these speakers offer a fantastic listening experience for both music and home theatre. And, while you’re not buying speakers to look at them, you’ll be happy with the real wood finish and superb craftsmanship of the cabinets as well.

Of course, sound quality is somewhat subjective, so you should listen for yourself if you can. However, there’s a good reason why these speakers are sold out and back-ordered all across the country: they’re really that good. If you can actually get your hands on them, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Just for reference: I use these about 70/30 for music/TV. I have an Onkyo 876 powering these speakers and have them paired with the Polk MicroPro 1000 Sub, Polk CSi A4 Center and a set of Polk RTi A3s for the surrounds. You don’t have to source all your speakers from one manufacturer or series, but the Polks are all “timbre-matched” to ensure seamless sound. (Speakers have “accents” and in some cases–particularly with the fronts and the center channel–mix-and-match speakers can sound harsh). Hope this is helpful.