Calling all Polkies:Official Polk thread - Page 379

I run a set of RTi12's off my Adcom, essentially the same speakers in a different enclosure than the RTi A9. It's on a shelf on an open front/closed back entertainment center "credenza", plus the 5500 runs hotter due to it's MOSFET output transistors vs the bipolar output transistors on the 555. The 555 can be bridged to a single channel, the 5500 can't The 555 has a damping factor of 150-200 while the 5500 has a 700 damping factor. The damping factor is how well the amp can control the speakers, especially the woofers. As a result some have the opinion the 5500 has "tighter bass".

Essentially they sound slightly different and one can be bridged and the other can't, and one runs hotter. Both sound good, and it's a matter of personal preference which one you like better.

I didn't know any of this until after I bought it though, I bought it on a late night whim.

I'm either going to pull it out of the credenza and put it in open air, or set up a couple of quiet PC fans on the heat sinks to be safe. It's not hit thermal protection yet but electronics tend to live longer when cool.

Those Nakamichi plugs do look good and the design does look better. Unfortunately I already ordered the 2801 plugs from monoprice though since I've used those plugs before with my other system and need them by this week. Ill look into upgrading the plugs when I redo the wires later on this summer.

monoprice also have the the straight back banana plugs. I use them and have no problems.

Hey guys.

Seriously considering the Polk RM95 5.1. Will it able to fill my 5m x 5m area? Any comments especially from the owners? Thanks!

Hey guys, I finally started on my first HT and ordered a pair of Monitor 60's and CS2. The speakers sound great and the difference when playing Black Ops is crazy lol. I have the speakers hooked up to a Pioneer VSX-1021-K with Monoprice 12 AWG speaker wire and banana plugs. I never thought making your own speaker wires would be so easy and gratifying. Anyways, I couldn't be happier with my purchase and I plan on upgrading to the Monitor 70's, move the 60's to the back and add a sub in the near future to complete my 5.1 system!

Do this instead: Get Monitor 30's for surrounds and spend the savings between the pair of Monitor 30's and the Monitor 70's on a better sub.

I personally suggest something in the 400-500 dollar range. It will make things even better IMHO.

I ran the same front 3 you did and wish I had spent more on my sub as the dialog was awesome but my bass was very lacking with my PSW125.

If you have to look Polk, get the PSW505 (or 2) OR a DSW sub. Those are the only ones I would suggest personally.

Other more expensive subs would be something from SVS, Elemental Designs, Outlaw Audio, Epik, and others I may have forgotten...

hsu

Thanks for the advice, sounds like I can save some money which is always good lol. I was actually thinking of getting a BIC America Formula F-12. From what I've read it's the best sub for under $200.

Pay to attention to that man behind the curtain! The speakers you choose for surrounds does indeed make a difference. Personally I noticed a BIG difference between M50's and M60's in the surround position. Try Ender's suggestion if you wish, and if you don't like the M30's as surrounds, then you have a cheap pair of bedroom speakers. I have some M30's in the bedroom and basically use them as speaker stands, to keep the M40's off the floor. However, you definitely should spend as much as you can afford on a good sub. In the long run, you'll end up paying a lot more on subs if you buy a cheap one and end up not liking it, which inevitably happens...


...especially if it's an F12. I had the F12 and sold it a year ago... never could get it to sound right, and I've been banished from the F12 forum for saying so. You get what you pay for.

Yeah, I would prefer the 70's especially since they can be had for a really great price. The only thing that concerns me is the size and placement of the 60's in the back. Don't have much room to work with and they may look awkward with the way my living room is set up. As for the sub, I can't really afford or at least justify spending more than $250. I completely agree with "you get what you pay for" but my budget doesn't lol. Thanks for the info!

Yup, sometimes you have to make some sacrifices due to room contraints. Thats why I like the 30's since they have keyhole mounts you can do lots more with them than a floorstander.

If you do go with floorstanding surrounds it wont be a "problem" as I had R50's (cheaper Monitor 50's) as surrounds for a long time. I just didnt notice them being any better than my Primus 162's which being wallmounted take up no floorspace and dont get in the way at all.

But if your dead set on Monitor 70's as fronts and moving the 60's to surrounds do yourself this favor.

Buy a really nice 400-500 (or more) sub first.

Great 3.1 will trump 5.1 with a lousy sub ANYDAY! And since the 70's are still at ~250, if your budget was 300 for a sub, you just jumped it up considerably and will really enjoy your sound until you can get some surrounds.

Hell you dont even have to match surrounds by brand, so if you got some older speakers you can throw in for surrounds for a bit, do that get a really good sub and then once you get your fronts youll be set for a bit......

Funny, I was just reading an older thread, from February of this year I believe, about the difference in quality between $200-300 sub and a $400-500. From what I read it really is a good idea to spend a little more. I'll have to do some research while I save up a little more money I guess. The only reason I would get the 70's before a sub is because of the great price of the 70's and in case they become harder to find (not really sure if that would be a problem though).

Hey everyone,
This is my first post in the Polk thread. I currently have monitor 60's as my fronts, cs1 center (will be switching to cs10 because of size constraints of my new tv stand), owm3 rears, pioneer vsx1020k receiver. A few questions for you guys:

1) do you think the cs10 will match up well with the 60's and do you think I'll see an improvement over the cs1?

2) how do you guys like the owm3s as rears? I haven't installed them yet

3) I'm currently sub shopping and wanted some feedback. I want to spend less than 500 shipped. I'm looking at the hsu STf-2. Any other suggestions for my system?

Thanks

Speaking of speaker stands, I am in the process of putting together my system now and noticed that the Monitor60s for surrounds are a little low for my current sofa. The sofa is an L-shaped sofa so the Left Rear speaker is barely making it over the top of the sofa.

Do you have any recommendations for speaker stands to use with the Monitor 60s?

Hey guys, I got a problem with my Monitor 60's. I've had them just over a month. That means I can't return them to the place I purchased them from. I can only go through POLK warranty. The top left front of the speaker cabinet is starting to separate. It's about 2" across the top and 2" down the side. The gap is only about an 1/8 inch so far. I'm just wondering if this is something I can repair myself or spend $$$$ to ship it back to POLK? Anyone else had this problem with their speaker cabinets? Anyone else attempted to repair it by themselves.

See what Polk has to say first. Never know, they might offer to cover shipping.

I have the owm3s they are not show stoppers but they do the job. I'm happy with my decision which was really spurned by the size of the other speakers. I had to wall mount and the current location I had doubts if it would support the weight of the 30s/40s.

The CS10 is better than the CS1... actually anything is better than the CS1. I use a CS10 in the bedroom with M40's and also use a CS10 with Sony fronts and OWM3 surrounds for TV viewing. They are a versatile center. You may notice a timbre mismatch with the M60's but will appreciate the added clarity. The OWM3's are also versatile but not very powerful... depends on how hard you expect to push them. BTW if you get the STF2 you will not be disappointed.

Does anyone have an opinion on in wall and in ceiling speakers, namely the RC85i for rears and RC80i for Surround left/right, looking at these. I'm currently running some 12 year old JBL HTIB speakers as Surrounds in my 5.1 system. And this would be the last step in moving to 7.1 all polk. Even though my viewing area isn't large, I do have an open area into my entry way and dining room (3 walls, no true 4th). I'll have to upload a layout for any recommendations.

newegg is always putting their Polk Monitors on sale, so I do not hink oyu will have a problem geting this sme deal a few months down the road.

I tend to agree with EndersShadow on the issue of surround speakers. For HT, the M30 is fine in that application, and you will not get any perceivable difference going larger. However, I would preference by saying that if you're planning on listening to any multi-channel stereo using PLII or DTS NEO, than your going to want the largest speakers you are willing to put in the surround position, as you will hear a significant difference!

For subs, if you go HSU, I would recommend stepping up to the VTF-2 MK3. Otherwise, if you're not willing to drop that kind of coin, I'd go with the PSW-505 and call it a day. I may get flamed for saying so, but having heard the STF-2, the 505 is just as musical and capable of significantly more output. The STF-1 and 2 aren't bad subs for the price, but the 505 is a better value. I currently have a pair of 505's, and couldn't be happier.

Certainly entitled to your opinion...even if it's BS.

Anyone else find this as well? I was going to get a STF-2 to go with my monitor II set up but 505 is really more budget friendly. I have maybe a 2500 cu ft space open on two sides to kitchen and hallway (total 1st fl in townhouse maybe 6000 cu ft). My sub position is corner loaded right next to MLP.

The OP had asked if the CS10 would be an improvement over a CS1. The mere fact that the CS10 costs more than the CS1 alone should be enough to show that it is a better speaker, as are the CS2 and CS20... in fact the CS1 is at the bottom of the Monitor line, so therefore, yes, anything is better than the CS1... and that is not BS... but of course, you are also entitled to your opinion, even if you wish to believe that the CS1 is superior to the higher end of the line.

The CS1 and CS10 use the exact same speakers. The only thing that is different is the crossover was changed from 2300hz to 2500hz and they glued black plastic to the sides.

The TSI series is just a cosmetic upgrade of the monitor series and a slight tweak to the crossover. If the Monitor series II was sold at MSRP it would nearly be the same price as the TSI series, just Newegg offers them at blow out prices.

I wasn't expecting an upgrade with the cs10 because their specs are almost identical. The only reason I'm switching is to fit the cs10 in my tv stand (it's half an inch shorter)

I'm sure this has been asked before, but do you guys find the 60s to be more musically accurate than the 70s?

I don't disagree that the CS10 might be better than the CS1 although the fact that the CS10 costs more than the CS1 doesn't necessarily guarantee superior performance. Moreover I didn't say nor did I imply that the CS1 is superior to the higher end of the line. My statement merely points out that the sweeping statement that "anything is better than the CS1", (a statement that contains no qualifiers limiting it to the Monitor line) demands that one conclude that the Polk RM7/RM8 center speakers, for example, regardless of price, driver size, etc, must also be better than the CS1...and for that I called BS.

For those of you in the Midwest area (IN, OH, IL, MI) I have a PHENOMENAL opportunity for you.

A couple of us on the Polk Forums are being granted some demo time on the new Polk LSiM 703's, the LSi 9's replacement.

The get-together is at a forum members house on the 17th of September from 10 am - 6pm ish in the Niles Michigan area. It doesnt really get better than this. I am not sure how many vendors are actually going to carry these speakers, so this is your chance to get your ears on them, and many other speakers as well.

A list of the current gear is below. PM me if your interested for further details.

Pre
Adcom GFP-750 Pre - 2-Channel
Onkyo TX-NR808 - Home Theater
HK AVR354 - Bedroom 2-Channel

Amps

Parasound HCA-3500 (Upgraded with Rubycon Black Gate Caps and numerous other Audio Grade components) (500x2 into 4 ohms)
Parasound HCA-2200II
Paraosund HCA-1500A
Parasound HCA-2205

Source
Logitech Squeezebox Touch (FLAC)
Pioneer DV-79AVi
Pioneer DV-47ai
Pioneer BDP-05FD

Thanks for coordinating this for me EndersShadow! I would love have you guys over to get your ears on a nice new set of Polks!

Don