POLK AUDIO Is any Good?

[motiram]

POLK AUDIO Is any Good?

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How is polk audio, compared to other best home theatre models. I was considering Polk RM 7200. Is it good, bad or ugly? Does it work with Onkyo receiver? Any answers/suggestions appreciated. I got a 22 x 20 room and I am looking for best home theatre in best price

[Bryan]

Budget? Do you need or do you already have a sub? Do you enjoy the sound of the Polks?

[motiram]

I am looking for 750-1000$ for a hometheatre (speakers + woofer) and a Onkyo receiver. Can u suggest me. I was thinking of Bose AM 10 III for 750$ on ebay. Is it a good choice. Or shud I take Polk RM 7200, its also 700$ on ebay. Can u suggest me. Thanks.

[Bryan]

Skip the Bose. They are a choice you will end up regretting later. Let me recommend a few options (in no particular order):

(my) used ceramic nOrh 4.0 video package - $450 plus shipping. You'll either love or hate the looks. Best speaker I've heard for HT and is excellent for music. Phenominal sweet spot.
Adire Audio Rava - $450ish delivered. One of the best budget subs out there.

Total: $900 plus shipping on the 4.0s. Excellent compromise for speakers and subwoofer.

HSU Ventroloquist/VTF-2 combo - $710 delivered. This is geared more towards HT. Hard to go wrong with HSU.

Rocket ELT package - $999 plus shipping. Downside is you do not have as strong a subwoofer but you can upgrade with either PBS (powered bass stand) for $499 plus shipping later on or the sub to a Rocket UFW-10. Still, excellent compromise for both HT and music.

B-stock Rocket Tyke package w/UFW-10 subwoofer - $848 plus shipping. Geared more towards HT. Unlikely you will replace the sub anytime soon but will likely want to upgrade the speakers.

The Polk system may be a good one but I shy away from it due to the sub. A quality sub will go a long way and can help lesser speakers sound better.

[hifimaster]

DO NOT BUY BOSE!
That is, if you have ANY interest in sound quality or accuracy.

Now that's out of the way, I suggest you take a selection of your favorite DVD's and CD's and go out and listen to as many speakers as you can. Speaker selection is very subjective. Some speakers sound may not appeal to you. You must decide by what you hear.

BTW, Bose will tend to sound good to the layman, but the sound is VERY inaccurate and fatiguing.

Best of luck,
James

[Resident Loser]

The strident, seemingly authoritative shout of unconditional rejection based on YOUR opinion of "DO NOT BUY BOSE!"

-OR-

"...You must decide by what you hear..."

"...Bose will tend to sound good to the layman..."

And just what is the level of your professional status that raises you above that of "layman"? Tossing around jargon qualifies you as nothing!

jimHJJ(...just curious...)

[Resident Loser]

...one of the "darlings' of the "golden-eared" set...then Matthew got all uppity and started to advertise and allowed his products to be sold in places like BB and CC...Oh! The horror of it all!!! Just like Bose, they have a marketing department who blatantly sell product...unlike some of those "audiophile" brands who rely on "word-of-mouth" cache which develops into an entire mythology and subsequently results in limited distributorship, which insures lack of competition and artificially inflated prices.

Go and listen...listen to Bose...listen to Polk...listen to everything in your price range...it's cash from your wallet, no one else's...you must be satisfied sonically, and if it applies, the WAF is a big nut to crack...

BTW, both companies produce fine products...it all depends on what YOU like...

jimHJJ(...just some food for thought...)

[topspeed]

Polk builds nice speakers, if a bit boomy for my taste. Their Powerport innovation is something other manufacturers should copy/improve/steal because it really does address some inherent problems with ported speaks. I certainly wouldn't discount them and think they deserve a listen. You could do a lot worse than Polk.

I have to agree with RL that the moment a speaker manufacturer decides to "go mainstream" (as if selling tons of product is a bad thing?) they loose their chache with the audiophile group. This is, of course, ridiculous. If anything, now that they have more resources to work with, the manufacturer can further the state of the art whether in driver design, manufacturing efficiency, or whatever. To discount them because they advertise or are sold through a chain is somewhat shortsighted.

Good luck.

[hifimaster]

Jim,

I feel like I don't have to justify my post. A simple search for Bose on this and dozens of other forums will tell you why I replied this way. Maybe it just makes me feel better if I can help someone avoid spending money on a product claimed to have "Better Sound Through Research" (which obviously is a marketing slogan/gimmick) than spend the same money on a product with much higher quality of perfomance. Maybe some people just don't care.

Whatever,
James

[matt39]

hey motiram,

Polk is a good brand and deserves consideration in your speaker search. However, there are a lot of choices in your budget range so it would pay you to look and listen around before making a final decision. Ordinarily I would not recommend Bose because I think other brands offer sound as good or better for less money. If Bose sounds the best to you though, then you should get them. Your opinion is the one that counts the most. A couple of brands other than Polk that I would consider would be Athena Technology and Klipsch. Take your time and good luck.

[motiram]

Hi folks, Ur answers are real helpful. But where can I go to test the systems like Bose, Athena, Klipsch and Polk. I wanna check these 4 and see what suits my home. Is there any store other than Bestbuy, Circuitcity. I went to these stores, but they dont have any for display. Can u suggest any in Virginia. Thanks.

[Geoffcin]

Hi folks, Ur answers are real helpful. But where can I go to test the systems like Bose, Athena, Klipsch and Polk. I wanna check these 4 and see what suits my home. Is there any store other than Bestbuy, Circuitcity. I went to these stores, but they dont have any for display. Can u suggest any in Virginia. Thanks.

To check out sound quality is Best Buy. By me they have all the speakers out in the open, and there's often three systems playing in addition to TV's, boom boxes, Xboxs and anything else you could possibly think of. They carry Athena & Klipsh, though I coudn't tell you what I think of those speakers, because; as far as I'm concerned I've never been able to hear them properly! Circuit City is better, with a dedicated audio room, but last time I went nobody there has even a rudimentry idea about how to properly A/B speakers. Your best bet would be an upscale audio dealer, but they are only going to carry the more expensive brands. At least you'll get an idea for how a system is supposed to sound.

I happen to LIKE Polk. A buddy has a Polk system in his basment, and it plays well. Polks have an extended high end, and good efficiancy. They tend to make budget systems sound good.

[matt39]

I'm at something of a loss if Best Buy (Athena, Bose, Klipsch) and Circuit City (Polk) don't have models on display. Try using the dealer locator on the manufacturer web site to get possibilities in your area (www.athenaspeakers.com, www.klipsch.com, www.polkaudio.com). Keep in mind that these brands are suggestions and if you have other brands like Infinty, Boston Acoustics, PSB, Cambridge Soundworks etc. you can audition them as well. Once again check the manufacturer's website for dealer locations in your area. Hang in there and good luck.

[Willow]

Just because a speaker is sold in box stores does not at all make it a lesser speaker..so they dont sell polk at most boutique stores who gives a crap where you buy an lsi by polk is an lsi anywhere you buy it.

As mentioned athena, polk and try energy as well

[remmib]

Not that Polk RM7200 is bad, but for $1000 you can definitely get a better package. I recently auditioned Polk RM7200, RM7600 , Engery HT 6 pieces (forgot the model), jamlab HT package and mirage HT (including sub). I think for most HT speaker packages, the mid range is lacking due to the size.

I actually bought the RM7200 and RM7600 and compare side-by-side, there is no question that RM7600 sounds a lot better (music and movie). The small center channel on the RM7200 produces thin voice that's not very deep. I personally like the the sound of RM7600 better than Engery and Mirage. Jamlab's package sounds pretty good, similar to RM7600.

In terms of bang for the bucks, both RM7200 is RM7600 is hard to beat as they are to be discontinued. RM7200 comes with PSW550 sub you can get for $499, and you can have black or the cool titanium finish. RM7600 is only $399, but you have to add a sub. I kept the RM7600 and got a HSU sub. and the system is well under 1k, and IMOH the system sounds much better than the energy and mirage package that's around $1000-$1200. I have to admit that those systems look nicer and are easier to fit in a small room. (RM 7600's satellite is more like bookshelf speakers). You can go to Sounds & Vision's website to look up their January 04's review on the RM7600. It was rated highly comparing to several rather expensive speaker packages.

Forgot to mention, I also went to bose store to see what they offer. In summary, all cube+sub AM speaker packages (they demo'ed with Onkyo receiver) suck. However their lifestyle 28/35 system with their own equalization/amp sounds quite good, on par with most speaker packages menionted here, but it costs 2-3k.

[Mathew J]

Jim,

I feel like I don't have to justify my post. A simple search for Bose on this and dozens of other forums will tell you why I replied this way. Maybe it just makes me feel better if I can help someone avoid spending money on a product claimed to have "Better Sound Through Research" (which obviously is a marketing slogan/gimmick) than spend the same money on a product with much higher quality of perfomance. Maybe some people just don't care.

Whatever,
James

I guess then one should ask are you positive all of the posts here and on dozens of other forums are from those who actually know what they are talking about or are they just as clueless? I once asked a poster on another board what they were basing their negative statements on and they were honest in saying they had never seen, heard, or knew of Bose before the net...and that they were basing their whole argument against the brand on comments they have read on boards such as this...

I would at least encourage people to go out and listen to it first and decide for themselves.

And the marketing comment is laughable at best, so you suggest they put out ads which said what? "All highs no lows must be Bose"...right, it is MARKETING!! the job of which is to sell your product and convince people it is better than the next guys, and in the Case of Bose along with Polk and many other now despised brands it appears as it is working...but again as others have said enthusiasts only appreciate that which no one knows about or if they do that which is dirt cheap, cause if the commoner likes it then it must be bad.

[Mathew J]

Pepsi spew....Well this should qualify you for the Audio Stupidity Hall of Shame. ;) :D


So for suggesting that someone make up their own mind he is nominated for a "stupidity hall of fame"? or are you referring to his comments on Polk...go read any audio board and read the seemingly negative words about Polk, while not as scathing as for Bose you can tell there is a certain sense of resentment in the air for the company/product.

[goldsheet]

> RM7600 is only $399, but you have to add a sub.

Based on your comments, I gave the RM7600 and PSW303 a listen,
and picked them up for $599 last week at Fry's.
Got a good combo at a good price.

[Mark of Cenla]

Count me in as Polk fan. I bought some RTi4's from Circuit City a few months ago for $200/pair. I have used then with an 80s Sony 50watt/channel receiver and a Hafler preamp and power amp setup. The Polks sound good with either (better with the Hafler, of course). I use them in my bedroom music system. In fact, I am listening to them now. I am more of a music lover than an audiophile. They sound very "natural" to me. Peace.