Recommendations

[janices]

We are putting in a 5.1 speaker system for our home. Main purpose is TV & movie watching. The wiring is done for the 4 inceiling speakers. The center speaker will not be in the ceiling. The room is 20 by 12' with the TV on one 20' wall and the chairs against the other. Can you give me some suggestions regarding what speakers to put in? We are not heavy duty audiophiles, but would like something nice.

Janice

[daboyz]

Hi,Janice! Welcome. We need to know budget.

[janices]

I hadn't really thought much about the budget, but I'll know when we've gone (or thinking of going) too far. For just the 5 speakers, I guess somewhere in the $500-700 range. If something is considerably better but not proportionately more expensive, I would consider that. We stopped at an electronics store and they showed us $250 each for the in ceiling speakers and $500 for the center and that was way too much.

[daboyz]

Try these, I got a friend of mine these from Fry's and he loves them.

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-RC80i-Ceiling-Speakers/dp/B00006BMQT/ref=pd_bbs_sr_6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1233274007&sr=8-6

[Mike21]

Hi janices.

You might try the following (all on Amazon.com)

> Ceiling: Polk RC80i (as in previous post) $244/2 pr.

> Center: Polk CSi A4 $217

> Subwoofer: Polk PSW110 (not the 10) $250

Total: $711

A potential problem is that the center speaker is the very common 8 ohms while the ceiling speakers are at the uncommon 4 ohms. You would need an AVR (audio visual receiver) that could drive 4 and 8 ohms simultaneously. Inexpensive AVRs probably can't. I would not trust the word of a salesperson on this. When it comes time for you to select an AVR you might post this issue on this Forum where you can get some guidance.

Mike21:)

[comfortablycurt]

The RC80i's are 8 ohms, not 4.

I'm seeing some conflicting info here too...Polk says that the RC80i's are voice matched to the Monitor series...Amazon says that they're voice matched to the RTi series...

Assuming that Polk has more accurate info on their site than Amazon though...You might do better to look into the CS1 (http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Monitor-Channel-Speaker/dp/B0002MPMAE/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1233908305&sr=1-11) or the CS2 (http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Monitor-Channel-Speaker/dp/B00030CHPS/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1233908305&sr=1-10) center channel, as it's timbre matched to the RC80i's. The better choice of the two would be the CS2, as it's a larger center channel. The center carries over 60% of a movies soundtrack, so it's a very critical speaker. You don't want to skimp out on the center if you can help it, but obviously you've gotta work within your budget, and space constraints.

The PSW110 would be a solid choice for a sub. You could also look into the PSW505 (http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-12-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B000092TT0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1233908131&sr=1-4). It has a bit more power than the PSW110, plus a 12" driver instead of a 10" driver. It's about the same price too. I've never heard a PSW505 myself, but it's always gotten really great reviews from people on here.

By the way, welcome to Club Polk.:)

[Pablo]

I agree with comfortablycurt, the center is the most important for movies. Make sure they match your front speakers (when I finialy matched mine, it was night and day). You have a decent sized room, so nice bass is important. You may want to spend a couple more bucks than you said (nice sound is as important as a nice picture, and you will be more than happy with it). You also haven't mentioned the amp you are using. What kind of amp are you going to be running things with?

[Mike21]

Comfortablycut -

Apparently, the RC80i Amazon is selling for $122/pr. is not the same RC80i on the Polk website. Check out the specs:

Amazon: Overall FR: 30Hz to 27kHz; Polk: 35Hz to 20kHz

Amazon : FR -3dB: 45Hz; Polk: 50Hz

Amazon: Nominal Imp: 4ohms; Polk: 8ohms

Amazon: Rec amp power: 10 to 125w; Polk: 20 to 100w

I gotta feeling that Amazon is selling the previous, now discontinued version and that's why the Amazon price is 1/2 of polk's price.

Mike21

[comfortablycurt]

If it's the same model, I would imagine it would be the same speaker. Amazon just probably has their info wrong. I've seen Amazon get their info wrong on quite a few different speakers before.

The price on Polks website is just the MSRP...you're almost never going to pay the full MSRP price for anything...they're an older model now, so the prices are probably lower due to that.