Maximum placement versatility, maximum surround sound
Matching speaker performance to the unique acoustic properties of your listening area is essential for achieving the ideal home audio experience. Because your home listening area is unique — from the design of the walls to the arrangement of the furniture — Polk has designed the Polk Audio RTiA Series F/Xi A4 surround speakers with dual pole-pattern performance, letting you customize speaker performance to your room's acoustics. If you need to place your speakers in-line on either side of your listening area, choose dipole mode. In a dipole speaker configuration, the two speakers are out-of-phase with one another, meaning that while the drivers on one side of the listening area are pushing air, the opposite drivers are pulling air. When properly setup, this configuration provides an open, enveloping rear-effects soundstage. If, on the other hand, you need to place your F/Xi A4 speakers toward the rear of your listening area, a bipolar configuration uses in-phase speaker drive to create greater sound output, a near-360° soundfield, and improved localization for use with digital discrete systems such as Dolby Digital.
Audio with Dynamic Balance®
A variety of factors play into the audio performance you get from your loudspeakers, including cabinet design, polarization, speaker location, room acoustics, crossover, and speaker-cable quality. At the heart of the matter, however, is a speaker's drivers. The F/Xi A4 uses a three-driver combo — two tweeters and a midrange driver — for accurate, low-distortion delivery of all your favorite songs and soundtracks. First, the F/Xi A4's 5.25" midrange driver features Dynamic Balance®. This technology uses laser imaging to create the right combinations of materials, driver geometry, and construction techniques to produce flat frequency response, sharp detail, transparency, and dynamic wide-range audio reproduction. Second, the F/Xi A4's two 1.0" tweeters feature a silk dome construction to deliver clear, detailed high-frequency audio.
A cabinet design with audio performance in mind
What's on the outside of any given loudspeaker is just as important as what's on the inside when it comes to a speaker's sound-reproduction performance. The F/Xi A4 surround speakers' cabinets sport three design features that enhance their audio performance. First, the triangular cabinet design aims the midrange driver and tweeters in different directions, producing a more realistically diffuse sound-wave front and wide, lifelike imaging of surround-sound effects. Second, acoustically inert 0.75" MDF cabinet material provides extra bracing that dramatically reduces vibrations, and hence, distortion of the sound produced by the drivers. Third, a vented-enclosure design takes advantage of the movement of air behind a driver to improve speaker efficiency, while allowing for a smaller, less intrusive cabinet size.
Down with diffraction
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. The F/Xi A4 features anti-diffraction "Floating Grilles" that lift the grilles literally off the baffle area, minimizing grille-edge reflections for clearer sound and more open imaging.
Secure, versatile connections
The gold-plated five-way binding posts featured on the Polk Audio FXiA4 are designed with wide holes for large-gauge bare-wire connections. The Polk FXi Series' binding-post construction offers the most secure audio-cable connection, and is the most versatile wiring application available.
The finishing touches
Go one step further in your quest to reach the pinnacle of home audio. A high-performance outdoor speaker like your new Polk FXiA4 can only help your home audio system reach its full potential if it is receiving a quality, high-integrity audio signal. Audio cables — chosen specifically for the needs of your system — deliver the ability to maximize your Polk FXiA4's potential. View the accessories list attached to the Polk FXiA4 at Vanns.com or call a Vann's customer service representative at the 800 number at the top of this page for assistance in selecting the right set of cables.
