Calling all Polkies:Official Polk thread - Page 423

I have an Onkyo TR 605 with Polk Audio Monitor 60's , CSR center, R150 Surrounds, and a Bic Acoustech 12 inch sub. Mainly watch movies but I do listen to some tunes from time to time. Since I just replaced my R50's with the Monitor 60's I was wondering if Bi Amping the 60's would be a large benefit?\\

Also, if Bi amping is a large benefit, which terminals on the back of the Monitor 60's are for the tweets and which are for the woofers?

I agree for HT, but if your doing a 2 channel system a decent NAD integrated on a set of LSi 7's are da bomb.

Also the LSi 7's are the LEAST powerhungry of the bunch so you could get by with a lesser wattage amp and just get LSi's for your fronts only.

I use Infinity Primus 162's for my surrounds and if I go 7 channel might even move my Monitor 60's to surrounds......

Well Newegg denied the request for a new speaker. Funny though, they were the ones who said they would send one. I spend a LOT of money with them, you would think they would have a little lead way with me.

Edit: I told them to cancel the refund. Since it is all cosmetic issues I'll keep it. They are giving me a $20 credit so I guess that is good enough.

I went with Polk because a friend of mine swore by them. I had a listen of his and was blown away (plus Newegg had an amazing sale over the weekend) so I decided to get them in cherry so my buddy wouldn't think I was copying him too much.

Just received the following from Newegg for an amazing deal.

1 Pair of Monitor 30's = 89.99
2 Monitor 60's = 99.99 each
CS2 Center 99.99
PSW10 99.99
1 pair of OMW3 79.99 (still waiting on)
Harman/Kardon AVR-2600 for $329.99

Using the 30's for desktop speakers, and they are pretty good, way too big to be used as rears for surround sound in the way the room is set up, so I had to order the OM3's. The rest is going into my HT setup. These are my first real (not part of a set) speakers, and so far I'm loving them. The size of the CS2 blew me away. I had a bookshelf I planned to place it on top of (so much for book shelf speaker name), but the depth of it made me switch my furniture around. I learned the hard way I should measure before buying.

Also if the speaker is damaged in shipping put in a claim with the delivery company if the seller backs out. Both UPS and FedEx are more to blame than Newegg more than likely, and have decent customer service, make sure to call within 48 hours of delivery, and keep the box. Watch these guys pack a truck, if you think throwing a monitor over a fence is bad, wait til you see how they load a truck. Its no wonder so many have broken grills. I think they look better without the grills, so I took them all off save the 60's because the toddler in my home loves to poke stuff, and they are the only speakers within her reach.

eljr, if you're just doing a 2 channel rig, take a good look at the LSi or LSiMs as some have suggested here. I have the RTiA9's and are great for H.T. and do sound great musically but I've heard from the Polk forum that the LSi's are great for 2 channel.


Rob, congrats on your CSi5. I just got my CSiA6 to replace my CS2, yeah, I agree, what a difference. And I can confirm your idea is a stellar one as I moved my M70's to surround and replaced them with A9's. The effect is awesome. The sound is way cool. I had M40's as surrounds and the 70's are way better.

At first, I couldn't tell what I was most impressed with, the A9's as mains or the M70's as surrounds

You won't regret it. That is why I was considering the 50's as wides instead of the 40's.

As a total audio newbie, I need you guys to educate me. As I stated before, my current 5.1 setup is a Kenwood HTiB 600 wpc system that I think sounds pretty good, but that's because I don't know any better.

I know it's hard to describe sound, but in what ways will I notice an improvement from what I have to the Monitor series? And then up to the RTi series?

I really want to understand this instead of just buying because it has to be better than what I have, and since I plan to have my own dedicated theater room once we move (whenever that may be), I would rather plan for the future. Plus it'll help me sell the upgrading to the wife....

I highly agree with EndersShadow who helped us make the leap to LSi's. What a debt of audio gratitude we owe to the folks on the Polk Forum for convincing us that our NAD T747 AVR could handily power an LSi set-up = LSi7's and LSiC. What a joy to listen to. I was also very worried about the LSi power requirements but have since learned that the LSi7's are more like 6 Ohm and much easier to drive than the 9's. I can assure you that this is true. Plus we have a sub. We are in audio heaven.

The best way I know how to describe what you get from the upgrade is; clarity and detail.

You hear sounds from your new speakers that you didn't hear before. You watch the same movie over and over but suddenly, you hear something different and you say to yourself, self, that sounds awesome!!!

When I was getting amps and my massive Epik Empire, my wife would ask, why do you need all that power, my response would be, honey, when you have this much power, you get more detail at lower volumes.

Thanks for your input guys.

Before buying the 70's I had M60 fronts and M50 surrounds. Then when I bought the 70's I at first kept the 50's at surround, but it only took a few minutes to realize that I really needed to put the 60's there.

I'm guessing if I put A9's up front then I'll probably feel the same way about moving the 70's to surround rather than leaving the 60's there.


If I ditch the 60's then I'll basically have TWO complete excess sound systems... two M60's, two M50's, two CS1's to get rid of... plus I still have some TSI bookshelf and satellites to sell too. I'm running out of room to stack the boxes in the basement.

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Geoff - I'm curious if you considered the RTi A7's or just went straight for the A9's. Polk has RTi10's, essentially the same as RTi A7's on eBay for $600/pair, a lot more affordable than the A9's. It would seem that the 10's crossover at 2.8 KHz would be a better match to the M70's (2.4 KHz I think) than the A9's crossover at 1.8 KHz. But I read one review on AZ that the A7's were somewhat lacking in midrange, which is very important for HT. It looks like the A9's are huge speakers though. The RTi10's would probably fit in our space better. Tough decision.

I did consider the A7's but in the back of my mind knowing I would eventually do the 9's just like when I considered the M60's as opposed to the 70's.

I read the reviews from HomeTheater on both the A7's and 9's. The midrange had more presence with 9's which was lacking in the 7's (comparatively).

Plus, I'm the kind of guy that doesn't want to go though the what am I missing by not having the other one syndrome. Going for the top of the line has always brought the best results for me, and I have to tell you, the 9's don't disappoint.

They take up a decent footprint but man am I glad I have them.

There's a ton of guys that love their A7's and never look back, personally, I would always wonder what the larger speaker would sound like in my system so I try not to place myself in that position.

I considered the Onk 607, 707 and 807, finances permitting, I'd have gone for the 5007, but ended up with the 807.

When I got my first polks, I ordered the CS1, as it got to my house, I never opened it up, returned it and got the CS2. Had carefully considered the M60's but alas, went with the top of the Monitor line and ordered 70's.

I've had remorse before and don't like it, so I've learned to go with my gut instinct and go with what I know I want (just ask my wife)

I know what you're saying in both posts. I've certainly had the other one syndrome. And as far back as the seventies, I've always ended up with the top of the line only after going thru two or three lesser models. The reviews sound true to what I've read, but I think it's the other one syndrome that in the end will make my decision for me. Thanks again.

You can repay that debt by enjoying the music

I just bought a Pioneer 1021. It replaces a 12-year-old Onkyo. I have the Polk RM 6700 surround set that my dad gave me several years ago because it was too much for him. However, these are definitely showing their age. I had to replace one of the speakers in the surround. Polk said it would be a replacement, but the "tenor (?)" is off and it is very noticeable to me. I am looking at a replacement for the whole set.

I really like the 70 Monitor II. The only problem with these is the size of the matching centers, which are too large for my setup. I heard some say skip the center altogether. With current prices, I figured I would spend about $1200 on four 70s, a center, and a 10" sub. Can anyone recommend a setup that would not be a step down from the rs 6700, but might have a smaller center? Or should I just go with four 70s and a new sub and forget the center?

Thanks. Been a while since I posted on here.

Unless you have a very large HT room, most would agree that 70's for surrounds are overkill. What are your room dimensions?

I know I've seen posts from folks running the CS2 for L/C/R channels. I've got a space constraint where this setup would make sense.

Interested in feedback on how you enjoy things. I'd be using Monitor 60s (didn't have enough room to get them up front) as surrounds and 40s as rear driving with a Yamaha RX-A800. Room is roughly 13x20, odd shaped, 8' ceiling.

Only other option is to remove the feet and lay the 60's on their sides (elevated) and many have "gagged" at that option

There is no need to have monitor 70's as surrounds. And honestly with your receiver I wouldn't suggest it as your receiver is lacking in actual power. Also spending that much on unneeded surrounds will eat into your subwoofer budget. When you say 10" I hope you aren't referring to the Polk psw10 cause it has as much bass as the monitor 70's do by themselves.

I have a rm6750 and have upgrade my front 3 speakers to Polk rti4's and a csi3 center and have been very pleased with the result. My next upgrade will be a quality subwoofer and receiver for $1000, and then probably a set of fxi surrounds. Now I still use the rm6751's as surround with no complaints.

The RTi line is a better built speaker IMO with better mid range and over sound quality.

For your money look at getting RTi a1's/a3's keeping the working rm6700's as surrounds to allow for a quality subwoofer purchase

Thanks for the advice. What sub wouldl you recommend. My room is aobut 20' x 30'

That's a BIG room. You might need more than one sub.

Hi Guys! I have monitor 70's as fronts and 60's as surrounds. So do I need to put the 60's on stands so that it is atleast 2ft higher than 70's? Also, can I place them at 60-70 degrees rather than 90-100 degrees as my room dimension does not allow me to have an ideal setup?

I'm running 70's and 60's in the same layout as yours and don't do anything special.
I'd say just put them where they fit and go with it. I thought about raising them but
then that could also be a safety concern. What works best is different for everyone.

Unless of course a guy just wants to have it that way.

True but I wouldn't recommend the VSX-1021 for that set-up.

So, I'm trying to figure out the best configuration if I go with RTi8s ($400 for the pair) for my fronts. Based on what is currently available on Polk's ebay store, I was thinking CSi5 ($225) for my center and FXi A4 ($270 pair) for my surrounds (they don't currently have any RTi series surrounds (was thinking of the RTi4 which I'm assuming would be cheaper than the FXi A4s.

Total cost would be $895 for the 5 speakers.

How good of a setup is that for a 5.1 HT only?

That looks pretty good. I was actually considering those RTi8's for surrounds.

For your 5.1 set up, that would sound pretty sweet. And, with that center, you'd be set for any L/R upgrades like the 10's or 12's.

Of course you're going to want a pretty decent sub.

I'm running 70's up front and 60's for surrounds and I just put the 60's where they fit. Not every room will allow for 100% optimum positioning, just do what you can and run your room correction software which should help correct most issues.

Also about a month ago I raised my 60's by placing bricks under them, they are now apprx the same height as my 70's. I notice no difference in sound. In my room with the 60's on the floor the tweeter and and top most driver are above the couch arm, the middle driver is partially blocked by the couch arm.

So on a 5.1 setup what is the ideal height for the surrounds. I've heard high on the wall, ear level and about a foot over ear level.

I most often see apprx 2 feet above your ear when you are in the listening position recommended as a general guideline.

I feel though that with modern room correction there is a fair amount of leeway when it comes to optimum placements vs the placements your room will allow. I say set up however your room allows and run the room correction set up and tweak as/if needed.


Oh BTW I was bummed to hear that newegg denied your claim on the damaged 70 you received. Maybe try polk audio support, they might be able to do something...just a thought.

I'll be updating the sub and receiver next since my current one should drive the upgraded speakers. Having to do the whole upgrade in phases but want to do all of the speakers at the same time,

I can't speak for either of those two specific receivers however I push my RTI line of speakers with the Onkyo 667 which was the receiver packaged with the Onkyo hts6100 HTIB. It does an adequate job so I would imagine either of the two receivers will perform well. I have read very good things about the 709 so my recommendation is to go with that and enjoy!