Polk's Best Older Bookshelf Speaker

[mlhm5]

Is the RT55 a better sounding speaker than the RT7? I have heard conflicting viewpoints. Some say the combo of the woofer and tweeter in the RT7 is about as good as you can get in a bookshelf, but the RT55 has a lot more support.

Second question. Is the Lsi 9 the best bookshelf speaker Polk ever made? If not which model?

[polksda]

Well I guess it depends on the size of your bookshelf, but for smaller speakers in the monitor line I always thought that the Monitor 5B did quite a nice job.

[heiney9]

+1 on the 5b's. Simply a great sounding speaker. Perhaps better than most if not all Polk's recent bookshelf efforts (not including the Lsi's). Lsi's are in a different catagory. Add the new tweets to an old pair of 5b's and prepare to be blown away. Even with the original sl2000 they are great.

H9

[smglbrth]

I'd have to agree with the consensus' above. The 5B's are my favorite as well. Although they do push the size limit for "bookshelf". Can't remember which speaker was the one with the same arrangement as the 5B but with the smaller, 6 1/2", radiator on the bottom but when I listened to both, years ago, the 5B killed it in the bass realm. Just never saw the other bookshelf as being "practical" when the 5B was sitting right next to it. But..., it's all what a guy likes, or hears.

Just wish Polk still made bookshelf speakers the old fashioned way with radiators. It may have been cheating but I like it. I haven't heard the LSI 9's however but with the price point I'll stick with the 5B's I have. Maybe someday....

[heiney9]

I'd have to agree with the consensus' above. The 5B's are my favorite as well. Although they do push the size limit for "bookshelf". Can't remember which speaker was the one with the same arrangement as the 5B but with the smaller, 6 1/2", radiator on the bottom but when I listened to both, years ago, the 5B killed it in the bass realm.

Just wish Polk still made bookshelf speakers the old fashioned way with radiators. It may have been cheating but I like it. I haven't heard the LSI 9's however but with the price point I'll stick with the 5B's I have. Maybe someday....

I believe those were the 5jr's. I really like the sound of the passive radiators over a typical ported design. Obviously for compactness the port is the way to go. Although I must say the Lsi's being ported certainly is no limitation as I would take the Lsi-9 over any old monitor speaker. It all comes down to design and execution. Where size isn't a limitation I'd typically take a PR over a port design (in most cases).

H9

[speakergeek]

Personally, I think the RT7 is better, but I may be a little biased. ;) In the nine years I've had them, I never felt the need to replace them.

[TroyD]

RT7....all the way.

BDT

[mlhm5]

Well I guess it depends on the size of your bookshelf, but for smaller speakers in the monitor line I always thought that the Monitor 5B did quite a nice job.

Nice webpage, thanks for hosting it.