Polk VS Infinity---NEED advice! Thanks!

[Travis Bickle]

I am currently working for company that offers a good accomidation program from polk audio and Infinity. I am young and dont have a lot of money but I plan on buying my system piece by piece.

I have heard some polk speakers and infinity speakers at work and I think I like the infinity sound a little more. I noticed the highs of the polks hurt my ears at high volume levels. I enjoy classic rock and some "recent" rock/punk. I like the sound of guitars and drums. My favorite recordings of all time is "The Wall and DSOTM from Pink Floyd."

I hope this offers enough info that will help you recommend a good way to go. Here are the speakers I am looking at.

Infinity models
Primus 360
Alpha 50
Beta 40
Beta 50
Kappa400

Polk models
Monitor 60
Monitor 70
RTI 10
RTI 12
RTI 8

I would like the to get info on the Kappas the most becuase we dont carry them at work... they look more on the "high-end" spectrum... and are under $300 my cost.

[J*E*Cole]

I am currently working for company that offers a good accomidation program from polk audio and Infinity. I am young and dont have a lot of money but I plan on buying my system piece by piece.

I have heard some polk speakers and infinity speakers at work and I think I like the infinity sound a little more. I noticed the highs of the polks hurt my ears at high volume levels. I enjoy classic rock and some "recent" rock/punk. I like the sound of guitars and drums. My favorite recordings of all time is "The Wall and DSOTM from Pink Floyd."

I hope this offers enough info that will help you recommend a good way to go. Here are the speakers I am looking at.

Infinity models
Primus 360
Alpha 50
Beta 40
Beta 50
Kappa400

Polk models
Monitor 60
Monitor 70
RTI 10
RTI 12
RTI 8

I would like the to get info on the Kappas the most becuase we dont carry them at work... they look more on the "high-end" spectrum... and are under $300 my cost.

I bought some new Infinity Alpha 50's about a month ago for a pretty good price of $179 each, but I would have paid full price for them (usually around $599 to $699 a pair). They sound awesome. Very natural sounding and very capable. They take a fair amount of hours of play to kinda break in, if you will, but they continue to sound better still. I too am a Floyd fan and find that these speakers are most suitable even without a sub for this type of music, in fact, they have been able to handle about anything. You can really crank up the power and they keep right up. Very clear and well defined mids, and capable bass and crisp highs. Highly recommended at any price up to $800 IMO. I also bought the Alpha center the other day and it is also very impressive, and before I bought these Alpha 50's, I was using Alpha 40's as my mains. I have now made the 40's my surrounds so I have a complete Infinity system, and it really, really sounds great. I auditioned some Polks before buying these, and they seem much more musical in general. I also recommend bi-wiring them, it made a pretty big improvement for me.

Good luck.

[Travis Bickle]

I bought some new Infinity Alpha 50's about a month ago for a pretty good price of $179 each, but I would have paid full price for them (usually around $599 to $699 a pair). They sound awesome. Very natural sounding and very capable. They take a fair amount of hours of play to kinda break in, if you will, but they continue to sound better still. I too am a Floyd fan and find that these speakers are most suitable even without a sub for this type of music, in fact, they have been able to handle about anything. You can really crank up the power and they keep right up. Very clear and well defined mids, and capable bass and crisp highs. Highly recommended at any price up to $800 IMO. I also bought the Alpha center the other day and it is also very impressive, and before I bought these Alpha 50's, I was using Alpha 40's as my mains. I have now made the 40's my surrounds so I have a complete Infinity system, and it really, really sounds great. I auditioned some Polks before buying these, and they seem much more musical in general. I also recommend bi-wiring them, it made a pretty big improvement for me.

Good luck.

Thanks for the quick response! I can get the Alpha 50s a little lower then you paid so im sure it would be a GREAT deal. Can I please ask... what is "bi-wiring?" I am new to this stuff but want to learn. Its a shame that most other employees that I work with (circuit city) wouldnt know hi-fi audio if it smacked them in the face. (Im actually in the comp depy myself). Everytime I go into the listening room, I cringe at the highs and lows CRANKED!!! Trully annoying heh.

[J*E*Cole]

Thanks for the quick response! I can get the Alpha 50s a little lower then you paid so im sure it would be a GREAT deal. Can I please ask... what is "bi-wiring?" I am new to this stuff but want to learn. Its a shame that most other employees that I work with (circuit city) wouldnt know hi-fi audio if it smacked them in the face. (Im actually in the comp depy myself). Everytime I go into the listening room, I cringe at the highs and lows CRANKED!!! Trully annoying heh.

I got mine at Circuit City on clearance and I was gonna buy those big Sony SSK90's, but I saw the last 2 Alpha 50's and immediately said sold. And yes, those soundrooms suck. Anyway, when you bi-wire, you create a sep rate path for your high/mids and lows as they travel to the speaker resulting in improved sonic performance, however there will be people tell you it makes no difference, but I noticed a big difference. Notice on the back of the Alpha 50's that there are gold plated connectors that combine both sets of posts if you choose not to bi-wire, simply remove the connectors or bridges if you do bi-wire.

[darqice]

hmm $129 for those alpha 50's at the employee price is amazing!

cole, you have the alpha 37c or alpha center like you said? I'm thinking of doing the same thing