AVS Forum banner
3M views 46K replies 3K participants last post by  LouM5 
#1 ·
I just felt it was about time we had an official polk speaker thread , being that according to the speaker brand poll , we have quite a few polkies in here. This might be a good place to discuss tweaks , problems or experiences with your speakers. I for one own a pair of Rti 8s which im very thrilled with and just recently upgraded my center speaker to the almighty csi 5 which has turned out to live up to the hype. The weak link in my set up is my Boston acoustic subwoofer which really isnt that bad but I could do better. The sub is positioned right next to my throne (sweat spot) ,a position I found to sound the best(at this location it also doubles as a poor man's butt kicker
). Anyhoo , it will be nice to hear from other polkies out there....
 
See less See more
1
#3,341 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueMagic /forum/post/13832328


I took a leap of faith and ordered the PB-10NSD. This is my first home theater setup so I don't have much experience to compare it with, but I can honestly say this sub literally rocks my house

Good to hear. I'm going with the PB10-NSD as well. Can't wait. Thanks.


Edit: As many of these specialty subwoofer companies don't have a warehouse of them ready to ship, how long did it take to get your PB10-NSD from the date you placed the order? Thanks.
 
#3,343 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by redwing3139 /forum/post/7867470


Hello I also have a question regrading the Polk Mains, What would most people recomend Rti8 or the Monitor 70's since they are some what close in price. Thank You for your help

I have a similar question, but I didn't see any answers.

Are the RTi8 speakers better than Monitor 70 or Monitor 60 speakers? They have been on sale for approximately the same price. I have Monitor 70 fronts and Monitor 50 surrounds and they do sound great. Would RTi8 speakers be an improvement?
 
#3,344 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by metal83 /forum/post/13836781


Would 2 monitor 60's or 70's and a CS2 be a good choice to start up a system?


I am second guessing this RM6880 system i have in fear that i will want to upgrade sooner than later.

And i would like to be able to listen to music along with movies, music, and games.

I use Monitor 70's as mains and 50's as surrounds and I'm quite pleased with their performance. You will be very pleased with the Monitor series as a starter setup!
 
#3,345 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioMike /forum/post/13835558


Brit, I think you will love that sub. I think you can feel now that you have done your homework and sought advice to the fullest extent and feel confident that you have made an educated decision about what is best for you.


Thank you all for the kind words, I will definitely still be sharing my knowledge in this thread, no matter what I decide to do. I'm glad I could help you couple of guys out so much over the past weeks and look forward to a new batch of recruits to the Polk Army

Hallo,

As I told You I received my DPS-12.

This is big nice looking sub.

Works great and there is no comperison to Polk psw-111.

I was nice supriced while I was reading manual and I found that it has AUTO POWER ON/OF.

I was reading your last post where You posted that dps10 doesn't have this option.

On Velodyne website there is nothing about that DPS12 has it too, maybe thay just added this option to all DPS series ???

As You suggest me I put all my speakers as full band except front-80hz and woofer-80hz.

Now everything works great but I will check more your suggestions later.

I think that was smart and good choice a DPS12 over PSW111 - what do you think ???

Thanks to You and others I think I have now nice looking and great sounding HT.

Fronts - 2xMonitor 60's

Center - CS1

Side surrounds - 2xMonitor 50's

Subwoofer - Velodyne DPS12
 
#3,346 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cjm7c /forum/post/13837409


I use Monitor 70's as mains and 50's as surrounds and I'm quite pleased with their performance. You will be very pleased with the Monitor series as a starter setup!

What about the center, what do you use? Do i have to get the CS2, or would the CS1 match up as well?


And....would i be able to run this kind of speakers with just a receiver? I dont want to get into external amps and all that.
 
#3,347 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by xcapri79 /forum/post/13837179


I have a similar question, but I didn't see any answers.

Are the RTi8 speakers better than Monitor 70 or Monitor 60 speakers? They have been on sale for approximately the same price. I have Monitor 70 fronts and Monitor 50 surrounds and they do sound great. Would RTi8 speakers be an improvement?

When I auditioned the Polk line, I didn't hear a big difference between the RTi series and the Monitor series. Of course that doesn't mean that you won't notice the upgrade. The RTi series speakers are much more well built than the Monitor series, so if better build quality is what you want, the RTi series is a definite upgrade.


If you want a big upgrade in quality (within the Polk line), the next logical step is to move up to the LSi series. The LSi15's are noticeably better performers than the Monitor 70's.
 
#3,348 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cjm7c /forum/post/13837515


When I auditioned the Polk line, I didn't hear a big difference between the RTi series and the Monitor series. Of course that doesn't mean that you won't notice the upgrade. The RTi series speakers are much more well built than the Monitor series, so if better build quality is what you want, the RTi series is a definite upgrade.


If you want a big upgrade in quality (within the Polk line), the next logical step is to move up to the LSi series. The LSi15's are noticeably better performers than the Monitor 70's.

I thought the monitor series were supposed to be better than the RTi.
 
#3,349 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by metal83 /forum/post/13837511


What about the center, what do you use? Do i have to get the CS2, or would the CS1 match up as well?

Right now I'm using a phantom center, but I'll probably pick up a CS2 once I rearrange my components to accommodate it. The CS2 is the more logical match for the bigger monitor 70's as it has the same drivers. The 60's and 50's have smaller drivers which match those in the CS1.
 
#3,350 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by metal83 /forum/post/13837511


What about the center, what do you use? Do i have to get the CS2, or would the CS1 match up as well?


And....would i be able to run this kind of speakers with just a receiver? I dont want to get into external amps and all that.

CS1 is the best match for monitor 50's and 60's

CS2 is the best to use with monitor 70's
 
#3,351 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cjm7c /forum/post/13837539


Right now I'm using a phantom center, but I'll probably pick up a CS2 once I rearrange my components to accommodate it. The CS2 is the more logical match for the bigger monitor 70's as it has the same drivers. The 60's and 50's have smaller drivers which match those in the CS1.

You are right cjm7c.

I had same problem few weeks ago and I choose CS1 to my Monitor 60's.

Works perfect.
 
#3,352 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cjm7c /forum/post/13837515


When I auditioned the Polk line, I didn't hear a big difference between the RTi series and the Monitor series. Of course that doesn't mean that you won't notice the upgrade. The RTi series speakers are much more well built than the Monitor series, so if better build quality is what you want, the RTi series is a definite upgrade.


If you want a big upgrade in quality (within the Polk line), the next logical step is to move up to the LSi series. The LSi15's are noticeably better performers than the Monitor 70's.

Thanks for your reply. I absolutely agree about the quality of the Polk LSi. I have the Polk LSi series in my main living room. LSi25 front, LSiC, and LSi15 surround.


The Polk Monitors are in the master bedroom. I just did a comparison with a variety music including Don McLean Classics, Best of Bowie, and ZZ Top Greatest Hits. I love the LSi's!

You can purchase 5 RTi8 speakers on sale for the price of one LSi25 so it is a matter of economics. I can't afford two LSi systems, right now.
 
#3,353 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cjm7c /forum/post/13837539


Right now I'm using a phantom center, but I'll probably pick up a CS2 once I rearrange my components to accommodate it. The CS2 is the more logical match for the bigger monitor 70's as it has the same drivers. The 60's and 50's have smaller drivers which match those in the CS1.
Quote:
Originally Posted by peterlakomy /forum/post/13837545


CS1 is the best match for monitor 50's and 60's

CS2 is the best to use with monitor 70's

Thanks guys
.


How about my other question. Can these all the speakers be run off just a receiver?
 
#3,355 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cjm7c /forum/post/13837589


I think the RTi series is one step above the Monitor line.


Everyone should audition the speakers themselves so they can make their own judgements as this is highly subjective.

Understandable, i just dont have anywhere close to audition unfortunatly. The closest place that has polk is CC, and they dont even have anything set up to listen too.


I'm all set to go out and buy everything, speakers, receiver etc etc. So i am scrambling trying to figure this all out, i'm dying for a sound system
.
 
#3,357 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by metal83 /forum/post/13837587


Thanks guys
.


How about my other question. Can these all the speakers be run off just a receiver?

This really depends on the size of your room and the distances at which you sit from the speakers. The Monitor series speakers are all fairly efficient (90 dB per watt at 1 ft.), so in most smaller rooms you should be able to power them with a rather modest receiver.
 
#3,358 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by metal83 /forum/post/13837587


Thanks guys
.


How about my other question. Can these all the speakers be run off just a receiver?

I would say that any decent receiver that has banana plug speaker outputs from Pioneer, Denon, Onkyo etc. will run the Polk Monitors just fine.

I have an inexpensive Pioneer VSX-515 that works fine with the Monitor Series. I also have a Pioneer VSX-1014TX that works great with my front LSi25's after I bi-amped them.
 
#3,359 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by metal83 /forum/post/13837511


What about the center, what do you use? Do i have to get the CS2, or would the CS1 match up as well?


And....would i be able to run this kind of speakers with just a receiver? I dont want to get into external amps and all that.

I run the 70's 50's and 30's in a 7.1 system and had the CS1 for some time before I swapped it for a CS2. Really I didn't notice a huge change in the center channel sound. The CS1 just looked a little small between the 70's. If you can afford the CS2 by all means grab it.

IIRC the Monitor series speakers are entry level high performance speakers and the RTi line is a notch above although I couldn't tell the sound quality difference so I went with the Monitors.
 
#3,360 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by skipsterut /forum/post/13837624


Generally yes. But depends a bit on the receiver. Which one do you have in mind?

I keep going back and fourth between the Onkyo 606 and Yamaha 863 and 1800. I'm not considering the Yamaha 663 because of its lack of HDMI connections. I dont want to add a switcher, i just want everything going directly to the receiver. Even if it means paying a bit extra.


The Onkyo i could get for $450 at CC

And at BB i have a $450 gift card, and a 12%off coupon, which is why i am considering the more expensive ones at that store.
 
Top