Calling all Polkies:Official Polk thread - Page 102

New Member checking in.

Just picked up a pair of polk monitor 60s for 200 bucks @ hhgregg, couldn't be happier with the quality.

I think the A5 is the same as the i8 which I have, since I have a HSU 3 3 Turbo I felt I did not need the i10 (A7). My thoughts. I have a CSi30 center but have ordered the CSi5(A6) so I think you will be good to go if you have a real sub otherwise the A4 will work just fine.

I was in the same boat as you thinking my system was missing something?
Had 4 Monitor 50's front and surround, 2 Monitor 30's rear surround, CS1 Center and a PSW110 sub. I exchanged a set of monitor 50's for a set of Monitor 70's (Fronts) Fired them up and thought hmmmm still too bright. Set the crossover from 80 Hz to full band and the speakers came to life. (way richer sound). Don't even know if these can even handle full band but setting the crossover higher than 60Hz they become to bright again. I am by no means an audiophile but they made a huge difference for my setup. Just my opinion.

Hallo guys,
What do you think about polk audio monitor 50 as a front speakers and cs1 as a center subwoofer psw10 - for very small room.
as a surround I have to keep my harman kardon hkts18 (because of cash) i can't upgrate everything but in the future for sure.
Is this mix will play ok ?- waiting for some advice and help.

I'm trying to determine the optimal configuration for my system. I listen to music mostly, but will eventually do some HT. Here's what I have:

Yamaha RX-V661 receiver
2 - Polk RM50T towers for Front L&R
4 - Polk RM6751 satellites for Surround L&R and Back L&R
1 - Polk RM6752 center channel speaker
1 - Polk PSW303 sub
2 - Definitive Technology ProMonitor 800 for Presence speakers

My question is, are the RM50T's considered large or small? Although they have no drivers larger than 4.5", they certainly have "big speaker sound," IMHO.

Will my system sound better if I let the PSW303 do all of the low end work (setting the Fronts to small), or should I allow the RM50T's to share the load (setting the Fronts to large)?

Another question:
Should the sub be connected as LFE (unfiltered) via RCA patch cable, as suggested by Polk , or should I consider speaker level wiring and connecting the Fronts through the sub? Which is better and would I really notice the difference?

I have been emailing with Polk customer service and in the end sent them some pictures of the room. They have been a great help. In the end he agreed that putting RM7 at the side was the best way to go. He said the RM101 would not match and the RM8 in an alcove would not be good. So he agreed RM7 on the sides would work well. So it looks like I'm going to go with:

Center: RM8
Fronts: RM8
Sides: RM7
Rears: RM8
Sub: PWS111

Thanks for your help. Polk customer service has been great. I would definately recommend them to anyone based on my recent experience.

Great that you got the help you needed. Good luck and enjoy!
In my experience, too, Polk Audio's customer service is remarkably small-company good for a mainstream manufacturer - A++.

- Val

I'm expanding my 5 speaker surround setup to 7, and I'd like to ask for advice on which speakers to add.

Current setup:

Monitor 10B fronts (bought new over 20 years ago, still sounding great).

CS-400 center.

Unknown model Polk indoor/outdoor speakers (bought as open stock from Good Guys about 8 years ago). They are triangular shaped, 2-way (tweeter and ~5" mid), plastic housing.

I would like to add new side speakers, and move the in/out speakers to the rear. I am using a Denon AVR-4306 receiver (which has Audissey for level setting, EQ, etc.).

Any suggestions on which side speakers are the best choice? I am thinking of FXi A4, but I open to all opinions.

I'd go with something vintage on wall mounts or on stands...M5s or M5jrs would matchup nicely with the M10s. Modern Polks are just too bright and forward in comparison to the vintage stuff. That being said, the bi/di-pole surrounds are immersive. Tweeters won't match though.

Which connection is better for subwoofer LFE or RCA.
Does it make any different in sounding ???
I just received my PSW10 - no LFE connection, I can exchange it for more expensive but I dont know if is it worth to ad 100$ more just for connection ?

waiting for answers and suggestion for the post above, too

Peter, The 50's and CS1 are a perfect match up front. The Harmon's will work for now as the surrounds, won't be ideal...but the surrounds are less important to match than the front 3, until you can get the $150 for the Monitor 30's.
As far as the PSW10...not very good reviews for this sub. For your price range, check out: The JBL Venue Sub10 and Sub12., The Sub10 is actually less than the PSW10 and seems to have more favorable reviews...also check out the Velodyne VX-10 for around the same price. If you have a Circuit City nearby, they have some great clearance prices on other Velodyne subs which are a steal for the price tag...especially if you can pick up a floor model.

saw an add for r50's at fry's for $60? looking at the polk site price leaves me confused. they price the r50's higher that the mon50 making me believe it is a superior speaker. i have the mon50's and paid 3x the fry price on the r50? anyone know the diff in series and whether i should have went r50 instead of mon50?

I have a question for anyone that owns the CSiA6:

What is the height of this center channel when it is "upside down" and tilted up? I bought it on an overwhelming suggestion over the CSi3 and CSiA4 to match my RTi12's, despite the fact that I don't think I have a good place to put it. The bottom shelf of my TV stand will fit the 7 3/4" H, but not sure how much taller it becomes with the other configuration. The top shelf is a no-go and putting it on the top of the stand with my TV will take some work to raise the TV, as the bottom of the screen only sits some 6" off the shelf it sits on.

Thanks for the info, Ron.

Do you know if the Audissey EQ (or EQ in general) does anything to improve the timbre matching? Or is that just a false path to follow...?

Every once in a while I get an itch to replace the M10's, but then I listen to them carefully, and decide that they are still great speakers. My interest in replacing them has more to do with getting rid of the big boxes for something more svelte, like the the RTi's, which have a nicer footprint.

RE: PSW10 LFE connection
From the Polk Audio Forums:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/show...ighlight=psw10

"Hello,
There is an error in the PSW10 owner's manual, there isn't an LFE input on that model. However, that shouldn't be a problem. All you would need to do is connect the single sub-woofer output, of the receiver, to either the right or left input on the sub-woofer (the sub-woofer's bass amplifier adds the two channels together so a connection to either one is fine). Or, if you prefer, you may use a "Y" cable to provide a connection to both inputs on the sub-woofer. While this doesn't change the sound quality it will allow the sub-woofer to play louder at each of it's volume control positions.

"The second thing you would need to do is set the variable low pass filter, on the sub-woofer, to the highest setting (the variable low pass filter is the dial that has "Hz" labeled). This will set the internal low pass filter above the low pass filter frequency given by your receiver and, in effect, create an LFE input. If you have any questions please telephone us at 1-800-377-7655 and we'll be happy to help.
Regards, Ken, Polk Audio"

Hope this helps.

Timbre matching the surrounds isn't terribly critical, but I think you'll definitely notice the difference between the early Monitors and RTis. I went through the RTis to get to SDAs, sacrificing floorspace for the sound I prefer. The M10s are going to be tough to replace. Not that the RTis are bad, just different design goals. For HT many prefer them, for music, some do. Many vintage owners run a separate 2 channel rig, just so they can keep the old monsters. RTis in a HT rig are pretty awesome.

If you want to try something different then by all means switch out the vintage for RTis. Just hold on to that pair or you might regret it.

Yeah, that's the problem. Whenever I listen critically to the M10's, I think: "I don't want to get rid of these!"

Thanks for answer.
What about subwoofer POLK PSW111 - for a small room ???

Certainly play with the settings, but a good baseline that I would start with:

Hook up the sub via the LFE out on the AVR and LFE in on the subwoofer. Turn the crossover on the subwoofer to max.
Set all speakers to small.
Play with the crossover settings from 80-120hz or so and see what sounds best.

Michael

I have a pair of monitor 10's as well (series II) and was wondering what you thought of the CS-400 as a center for them. Do you feel it matches up pretty well? Any other speaker you would recommend for a center? (other than another monitor 10...)

I would say that at $300 it is not the best choice.
Are you dead set on getting a Polk sub?
How small is your small room?
Do they have audio stores in Eastern Europe that carry Polk subs or others that you can go and listen to them?

I have Rti8's and CSi3 center and plan to install a pr of side and a pr of back surrounds. Which would you recommend: 4 TC80i, 4 TC60i, or 4 Atrium (outdoor)? I don't have wall space for book shelf or Fx surrounds. The ceiling speakers would look the best but I worry about sound degradation because the TCi series are not enclosed. On the other hand the Atrium's may not match the front speakers as well. What's your advice??? Are there other alternative?

I picked up a PSW10 at Fry's for $99, thinking it would just be part of a 2.1 PC setup. That's how it seemed initially. I wasn't impressed. But man has it come alive in the following weeks once it was broken in. I have acually have a Velodyne in the living room and I'm surprised that I like the PSW10 more. The best way to compare the two is in the first LOTR movie where Sauron explodes. The Velodyne easily handles that scene, while the PSW10 flutters and travels a lot. But when we're talking tight musical bass, the Polk actually kills and is tons more accurate. Feels very concert like and really kicks compared to the rumble of the Velodyne. I'm very pleased and surprised as I was expecting a rumbler. That's why I'm less concerned about having towers now for mains. The PSW10 is simply more accurate with music than I ever expected.

I've been using it since I bought it new, something like 6 or 7 years ago, and I think it works fine. It matches well enough that I haven't noticed any problems.

But some people are more sensitive to these things than others, so you might have a different reaction.

I think the Monitor 5 and M5 Junior that Ron recommended as side speakers would also work well in the center.

Quite a few folks are using CS400s and 400is with vintage speakers. It does match very well...not perfect, but the tall and deep cabinet gives it a very similar timbre to the large box floorstanders and massive bookshelves from the RT55s back through the previous revs...it's not as bright as the RTi series.

Hallo guys,
Next week I would like to upgrade my system to 7.1
Now I am using polk monitor 50's as a front and csi1 as a center.
I would like to buy two Monitor 60's and put them as a front, move monitor 50's as a surround and buy two fxi3 biopole/dipole as a back surround.
What do you think is it good and wisly choice ???
Waiting for some comments and suggestions

Why do You think I am in Eastern Europe ???
I am in Chicago.
Regarding psw111 - it is not about the 300$ couse I will get it at arround 150$ but I was asking about quality of the subwoofer because it gets 5 stars rewievs.
What do you think OhioMike and all people on this forum ???

Anyone?

Had kind of an Iron Curtain or German grammar to your posts. I was actually reading your posts with a Russian accent in my head and it fit really well.

I have not actually used any of the Polk subs personally, I just read a few reviews a week about them on here that are not completely favorable. Most are not tuned very low 32-38hz as opposed to the 18-28hz from the more renowned sub makers. I know a big complaint about the PSW10 has been port noise. It was stated above that the PSW10 was very tight and accurate with music, but lacked the umph for big movie explosions. I guess all subs have their pros and cons. I wish my Velodyne was a little bit more accurate in music, but my needs are 95% movies in which it is a tremendous performer. So I can deal with the less than perfect music accuracy. I guess at $150 the PSW111 may be a great value...but I have seen it in person and it is barely bigger than my Monitor 30's and I just can't see it being able to produce the low end the way a 10" or bigger sub in a much larger cabinet can. I could however see it being an amazing sub for rock and pop music which demands a fast response and tight hit in the bass. I guess, it really just depends on where your needs lie as their is no perfect sub out there. Are you able to give the 111 a test run in store or in home?