Our native mobile app has a new name: Fora Communities. Learn more.

Upgrade from Polk T Series

3228 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by capo4u, Oct 11, 2019

maclee31

Discussion Starter · Oct 10, 2019

I am looking to begin upgrading the speakers from home theater setup. Right now I have:

- LG - 65" Class - OLED - C7
- Denon AVR-X2200W
- Polk T30 Center
- Polk T50 Towers (2)
- Polk T15 Bookshelves (2)
- Pioneer SP-T22A Atmos (2)
- BIC America - 12" 430-Watt Sub

The room is approximately 14.5x13.

This will probably be a 1 or 2 speaker a time upgrade. I thought the best place to start would be with the center speaker. I feel like dialogue can be a little muddled with my current setup.
Preferably I could find something on sale for under $250. Right now, the center speaker sits on the shelf below the TV (21Wx9Hx13D). Ideally, I would keep the new speaker in the same location, though I could mount the TV and place the speaker on top of the cabinet if needed. My biggest issue with that is that the TV is already 10 from my viewing position, so moving it back against the wall would not be ideal.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

See less See more

Save

1 - 12 of 12 Posts

Russdawg1

· #2 · Oct 10, 2019

Ascend CMT340 would be a great choice.

Fits right in.

I’d also recommend that whatever center you go with, you find a way to tilt it up towards the listening position.

Save

Reactions: 1

sk373

· #3 · Oct 10, 2019

Polk CSi-A6 for $239

It will match well with your other Polks as you upgrade them.

Save

Reactions: 1

Lp85253

· #4 · Oct 10, 2019

imo , upgrade the front 3 and sub as a priority.. the good news is .. there are lots of ways to do it with your set up.. you have room for towers , mtm books or straight bookshelfs.. starting with the center Russ's idea of trying ascend 340's is a good option, probably one of the better you will get.. ascends are very good for dialogue .. i have the cbm 170's , they work very well...

Save

Reactions: 1

Ryan Statz

· #5 · Oct 10, 2019 (Edited)

maclee31 said:
I am looking to begin upgrading the speakers from home theater setup. Right now I have:

- LG - 65" Class - OLED - C7
- Denon AVR-X2200W
- Polk T30 Center
- Polk T50 Towers (2)
- Polk T15 Bookshelves (2)
- Pioneer SP-T22A Atmos (2)
- BIC America - 12" 430-Watt Sub

The room is approximately 14.5x13.

This will probably be a 1 or 2 speaker a time upgrade. I thought the best place to start would be with the center speaker. I feel like dialogue can be a little muddled with my current setup.
Preferably I could find something on sale for under $250. Right now, the center speaker sits on the shelf below the TV (21Wx9Hx13D). Ideally, I would keep the new speaker in the same location, though I could mount the TV and place the speaker on top of the cabinet if needed. My biggest issue with that is that the TV is already 10 from my viewing position, so moving it back against the wall would not be ideal.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

If you like Polk, try the RTiA series for your LCR - or even the LSiM series (which has been on some rather insane sales lately). You'll probably get a lot of recommendations for Ascend, Chane, etc... all of which will (I'm assuming) be leaps ahead of the T series. For the sub, I'm sure most will recommend any of the ID companies (HSU, Rythmik, PSA, RSL). I just bought an HSU myself, waiting for it to get here next week.

Edit: And I think most would argue that the best place to start the upgrade path is your centre, and subwoofer.

Save

Reactions: 1

sk373

· #6 · Oct 10, 2019

You can also try boosting your center channel by a couple dB's to improve dialogue clarity. That would be something you can try without spending any money!

Save

Reactions: 1

pase22

· #7 · Oct 10, 2019

Yes better speakers will improve sound quality, but having the center boxed in is really not ideal. just putting the center on top of the cabinet and all the way forward should be an improvement in dialogue clarity. If you don't want to wall mount the TV, you can use a desktop riser.
https://www.amazon.com/VIVO-Univers...1570724859&sprefix=desk+top+tv,aps,141&sr=8-5

Save

Reactions: 3

zieglj01

· #8 · Oct 10, 2019

Find some type of TV shelf riser to raise your TV -- so you can put your center under it

Save

Reactions: 2

macgallant

· #9 · Oct 10, 2019 (Edited)

You could grab the DCM TP160C-ch center for $100 and either the TP160-CH ($160) or TP260-CH ($340) towers on ebay that's on liquidation now.

I A/B'd the following bookshelf speakers: DCM TP160S-CH vs polk RTiA3's at my friends house and the TP's are a clear cut better.

Polk's pros:
Bass
Dynamic / loud
efficient

Polks cons:
lack refinement/detail
weak imaging
ok soundstage
harsh at high volumes

DCM Pro's:
Incredible Imaging
Incredible soundstage
Tweeter punches way above the price range
composed at high volumes

DCM con's:
average bass response(not bad, bass is tight but doesn't dig as deep). The towers would fix that issue though.

*Note: these DCM are on liquidation and punch way way above their price range, don't be fooled by the low price.

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 1

zieglj01

· #10 · Oct 10, 2019

macgallant said:
You could grab the DCM TP160C-ch center for $100 and either the TP160-CH ($160) or TP260-CH ($340) towers on ebay that's on liquidation now.

I A/B'd the DCM TP160S-CH vs polk RTiA3's at my friends house and the TP's are a clear cut better.

Polk's pros:
Bass
Dynamic / loud
efficient

Polks cons:
lack refinement/detail
weak imaging
ok soundstage
harsh at high volumes

DCM Pro's:
Incredible Imaging
Incredible soundstage
Tweeter punches way above the price range
composed at high volumes

DCM con's:
average bass response(not bad, bass is tight but doesn't dig as deep). The towers would fix that issue though.

Bingo!

Save

maclee31

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 11, 2019

Thanks for all the great suggestions guys! I've got some research to do now. Definitely seems like I'll be moving whatever I buy on top of the cabinet.

Save

capo4u

· #12 · Oct 11, 2019

Ryan Statz said:
If you like Polk, try the RTiA series for your LCR - or even the LSiM series (which has been on some rather insane sales lately). You'll probably get a lot of recommendations for Ascend, Chane, etc... all of which will (I'm assuming) be leaps ahead of the T series. For the sub, I'm sure most will recommend any of the ID companies (HSU, Rythmik, PSA, RSL). I just bought an HSU myself, waiting for it to get here next week.

Edit: And I think most would argue that the best place to start the upgrade path is your centre, and subwoofer.

Count me in as a recommendation for Chane. I upgraded from an old Polk center primarily for dialog intelligibility. Have not been disappointed.

Save

1 - 12 of 12 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Upgrade from Polk T Series

maclee31

Attachments

Russdawg1

sk373

Lp85253

Ryan Statz

sk373

pase22

zieglj01

macgallant

zieglj01

maclee31

capo4u

Top Contributors this Month