 "Easy Install" | 2010-03-14 |
| - Reviewed By DME from Atlanta, ga |
| Put these in a wall that I added in my living room. Were so easy to install a child could do it. Front grills on these speaker are somewhat difficult to remove but can be done with a small paper clip or safety pin. Sound quality is plenty good for rear surround speakers however would not use for front speakers. For the price I would say these are great speakers. |
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 "Not bad for the money" | 2010-02-17 |
| - Reviewed By M. Santina from Phoenix, AZ |
| I bought these speakers to replace a speaker that had started to go out. I had a set of Infinity ERS110 speakers on my patio, 1 of them started getting static (6 years old) so I did some research and bought these Polk speakers. I bought the pair just incase the other Infinity goes out. Ease of installation was perfect, it fit into the existing hole and I had it in place and playing music in less than 5 minutes. The problem is that it is very thin sounding compared to the Infinity. I left the working Infinity in place and installed 1 Polk in the broken Infinity's place. You can definitely tell the difference between the 2 speakers. The Infinity is much louder and has more base. Clarity on the Polk is good, I just wish it had more substance. As they are outside speakers I am not too concerned, I'm sure my neighbors will appreciate the quieter sounds, but if I was installing them inside for my TV or stereo I would definitely spend more money and choose another brand or style. Delivery was excellent, I bought them on Monday morning and they were delivered on Tuesday night. |
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 "Perfect for my newly finished basement" | 2010-02-17 |
| - Reviewed By K. Schimanski |
I bought these to install in the basement we just finished. They are mostly to play music during parties and also to hook into the tv if we have parties for the "big game" etc. so the sound can be broadcast though-out the entire basement. We pre-wired three speaker locations to cover the entire 1500 sq ft. These two speakers sound great. You walk from area to are and the sound just carries from one location to the next. The sound is consistent through-out. No loud spots / quiet spots. Turn the sound up loud (I have a high quality Dennon receiver that is probably overkill) and there is no distortion.
They were very easy to install. Take the little card board template, draw your circle, drill a pilot hole, and cut it out. (I used a fine tooth saw-zaw blade by hand since we had already painted the ceiling and I didn't want it to chip/scuff the ceiling, but a jig saw would have probably done fine. Either way is ok, dry wall is easy to saw. On a ladder I used one hand to hold the speaker and the other to easily make the connections. The connecters are easy to work with one hand. I then just inserted into the ceiling, pulled the screw drive our of my pocket (don't forget to do this or you will be down the ladder with your speaker dangling from wire)... screwed in four screws that snap out and then down the little brackets that hold the speaker snug to the ceiling from inside the ceiling, and inserted the grill (which covers the speaker and the screws). Easy as can be.
Another point: circles are easier to install then rectangles. If you are considering buying rectangle speakers, consider how good you are and making things square, plumb, etc. And also consider that even if you are good at it, your drywall installers, even if they worked for a good builder, may not be. So you ceiling and/or wall may not be at right angles to each other. If you install in ceiling close to a wall, or in wall close to a ceiling, you may end up with a speaker that looks crooked one way or another. And even if the walls and ceiling are all straight, it's still hard to stand on a ladder, measure the how far each corner is to your nearest reference point, set the template etc. With circles, these problems go away.
Two quick wiring tips:
1. When you do the initial wiring, make sure you leave enough slack so that the wire hangs and least three feet down lower then the ceiling. It makes connecting the wire to the speaker much easier when standing on a ladder to not have to be making the connections over your head. You'd rather have it waist high. So leave enough slack, it easily tucks up into the ceiling when the speaker is installed.
2. I mentioned that I wired for three speakers. Since these come in pairs, I wanted to buy a single 3rd speaker instead of buying a second pair and having one left over. I made the mistake of buying the very similar "Polk Audio RC6s" for my third speaker without reading enough of the description or reviews. That speaker probably works fine, but it requires two sets of speaker wire, not one. I of course had one set of wire to each speaker location. This "Polk Audio RC6s" I now find out is both a left and right speaker all in one little package. So it didn't work for me. I ended up buy and second set of the product we are talking about here, and it now works perfectly. So if you do the same, either run two sets of wire or just buy yourself a second set... The set is not much more money then the single "Polk Audio RC6s" anyway.
Polk Audio RC6s In-Ceiling Stereo Speaker (Single, White) |
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| "For the price these do the trick - read below" | 2010-02-16 |
| - Reviewed By BP |
I got these for my whole-house audio system. Initially I installed them in each of the rooms, in the ceilings. I ran my Yahama 6-channel stereo amp through switch boxes, to the volume controls, then to the speakers. The switch boxes aren't really necessary, FYI... if you have volume controls, you can just turn the volume off in a room and that room won't draw any power. Its nice for upstairs speakers though, I can turn off my bedroom speakers without having to go up there to mess with the volume controls.
Anyways, I mounted them initially with no insulation in the floor joists. They sounded tinny and there was no bass response. I then took the time to put insulation batting in the joist surrounding the speakers, and the difference was huge. They still don't sound like bose, but they have good bass response and decent highs. The directional tweeter is a plus, you can direct it towards the middle of the room so it doesn't just put the highs to the floor below.
My volume controls are VRR-120 by Phoenix Gold, and I used two of the Monster SS4 speaker selectors. I ran my ipod and appleTV audio/video into my Onkyo amp, then ran the audio out via RCA cable to my Yamaha surround amp for whole-house power. I used the front stereo channel to push one SS4 selector, and the rear surround stereo channel to push the second SS4 selector. That gives me about 110 watts per box, which is more than enough power for 2-3 sets of ceiling speakers... I've never had a problem with not enough volume during parties. You may need to push the amp hard, but it should hold up okay for a long time.
If you have a little more power, or are only running 1-2 rooms per channel, opt for the RC80i speakers, which feature a larger 8" woofer and more power handling. Chances are though, you'll never have these as loud as you think. They're right above your head, so when they get loud it can get annoying and distracting. They get only four stars because the quality is marginal to an audiophile. To the average person like me, they sound totally acceptable for their use. |
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| "Compared to Speakercraft and Monoprice" | 2010-02-11 |
| - Reviewed By jfres from Long Island, NY |
I recently installed three different ceiling speakers at three very different price points in three different rooms connected to my "b" output on my Denon amp. I use all of these at moderate volume levels to listen to TV or music.
Monoprice 8" Kevlars in my carpeted master bedroom - $59/pair!
Polk RC80i in my tiled bathroom - $129/pair
Speakercraft AIM 7 three in my small tiled kitchen - $299/pair! (by far the lowest price I saw on these)
I installed all of these in my attic. I placed plywood across the studs directly above the Monoprice and Polks but did not enclose along the sides (so there is not a complete box enclosing the speakers - although there is insulation enclosing those open sides). I did this to ensure that the sound wasn't getting lost in the attic. The speakercrafts are already enclosed.
I purchased a cheap speaker switch through which I can turn on or off the speakers in each room. I also tried to install in wall volume controls in each room. I purchased 4 Pyle impedance switches which was nightmarish. Very frustrating. Almost impossible to connect any wire thicker than 20 gauge to the tiny connectors. These switches were very poorly built. Even if the volume controls were good it still added a lot of work getting the speaker cable down the wall and then back up into the attic. I bailed on that part of the project.
Monoprice is a website that sells av wiring, cables, connections, HD wall mounts, etc at SUPER LOW prices. I've bought a bunch of stuff and have never been disappointed. The speakers are great for the price, but if budget is not an issue I wouldn't recommend these speakers. Just a bit muffled and not quite as responsive as the other speakers. No sign of distortion at high volumes.
Polks sound alive. Maybe lacking a bit of bass to be used as primary speakers, but that is expected. I'm very happy with the sound of these for music in a secondary room. It's great having music in the bathroom!
Speakercraft sound good. At the levels and for my purposes, though, they are pretty much equal to the Polks. They do have an enclosure behind them so the bass response is better than the Polks but not a huge difference. I guess if you need speakers to crank up as primary's these would be the best, but for the much higher price than the polks, I would not spend the money on these.
If I had to do it again and I would get the Polks for each room. For the price these were overall the best value. |
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| "Excellent speakers!" | 2010-02-06 |
| - Reviewed By David A. Dressler |
| These speakers are great! They are easy to install and have excellent range. I installed mine in my ceiling which was a little scary but it turned out to be easier than I thought. I highly recommend these speakers for anyone looking for a solid product for the money. |
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