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Thoughts on Polk

Haywood

Well-Known Member
Famous
What are your thoughts on Polk speakers? I do not have a ton of experience with them, but I've heard that they are a great bang for the buck.
 
I haven't auditioned any of their new models, but a few years ago I found them to be as equally harsh as their older models. Historically they have been "bright" speakers to me with a boosted upper bass in many cases. That said, they weren't terrible overall, just voiced in a way I found harsh and slightly boomy.

But, I cannot speak for their current models.
 
I used a pair of Polk TSi-200s and a CS20 center in my living room for a while. I recently relocated them to my home office.

I don’t have a Golden Ear but I really like them and can’t identify any obvious flaws in performance. I wouldn’t trade them for many other $200/pr speakers.
 
Their old Lsi series of speakers were extremely well reviewed and thought of. At the time I thought they were the best 1k speakers I ever heard.
As for the lower end models I always thought they sounded better them most gave them credit for. They were/are an easy target because of where they are sold.
 
There are some Polk in-wall speakers that get very good feedback for speakers in their price range. I've been considering them, but I'm a little gun shy with Polk vs options from Paradigm and Definitive Technology. The attraction with the Polks is that they are quite a bit less money and have over a thousand positive user reviews across Amazon, Crutchfield and a few other sites. The issue in general with all of the speakers I can afford is that there are ZERO professional reviews and not even a ton of feedback on the A/V forums. <sigh>
 
There are some Polk in-wall speakers that get very good feedback for speakers in their price range. I've been considering them, but I'm a little gun shy with Polk vs options from Paradigm and Definitive Technology. The attraction with the Polks is that they are quite a bit less money and have over a thousand positive user reviews across Amazon, Crutchfield and a few other sites. The issue in general with all of the speakers I can afford is that there are ZERO professional reviews and not even a ton of feedback on the A/V forums. <sigh>

Relax … you’re building a living room system right?
 
Relax … you building a living room system right?

The main system is starting out in the living room, but will move downstairs as soon as phase 1 of the basement remodel is done. This is for the family room/kitchen area, which is the hub of the house. The system will see a ton of use, mainly for background music, TV and games. I want it to sound as good as possible and have enough power to fill the area with music, but I do not want to spend huge money either.

We decided to go with in-walls for a variety of reasons that have to do with room layout, use and aesthetics. The only exception is the center, which needs to be a traditional speaker small enough to mount under the TV like a soundbar. The TV is above the mantle and we are going to use a pull-down TV mount, so we need the center channel to move with the display. Definitive Technology, Paradigm and Polk all make center channel speakers small enough to mount like soundbars. I can put together a five speaker system from any of them for $1100 or less.

We already have an entry-level Yamaha receiver, a 50" 1080p display, subwoofer and source components.
 
Ok here's a thought: these are in-walls, so get the smallest size speakers you can find that look decent, and try those first. If they suck, it's much easier to carve out a bigger hole in your wall than to make a large hole smaller.
 
The same person (Sandy Gross) was the main driving force behind Polk and Def Tech, and his latest venture is GoldenEar.
 
I'm pretty sure I've not listened to a Polk speaker since the early '80s, but if I recall correctly they sounded pretty good to me (at the time.) I think they were the RTA-12 - or something like that. They had two 6.5" woofers and a big passive radiator, and a tweeter on top. The reason I remember is that I've got four of those woofers and a passive radiator sitting on a shelf in my office about six feet away from me. I got them from a Polk dealer friend for a six pack of beer and used them in a custom-built unpowered sub that I designed.

Jeff
 
These are the contenders for the front mains:

Paradigm CI Home H55-LCR
https://www.paradigm.com/products-current/type=inwall/model=ci-home-h55-lcr/page=overview
CI%20Home%20H55-LCR.jpg


Definitive Technology DI 5.5 LCR
https://www.definitivetechnology.com/products/di-55lcr
93207074295_hero.png

Polk 265-LS
https://www.polkaudio.com/products/265-ls
747192120375_265-LS_Hero.jpg
 
MTM configuration has been stated by Flint as having lobes in the horizontal plane that can be heard as you move around the area.

M
T
M configuartion moves the same lobes into a vertical lobes and makes them harder to locate as you move around.

They both have the lobes but the vertical ones will work better for listening in most rooms.
 
I would never use horizontal placement of an MTM speaker anyplace other than a center channel. Were it practical, I would go with a vertical center, but it usually isn't.

I have not found center channel lobing to have any discernible audible impact unless seated more than a chair or two off-center. This may be because I have never had a dedicated space or an acoustically treated room, but I've never been able to hear it anywhere on a couch in front of the system.
 
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