Looking for Polk surrounds and rears suggestion

[redgoat2006]

I am looking to add to my system. Right now I have the Polk R50s as my fronts, Polk CSM center speaker, and a Polk 10" sub with the Onkyo 605 receiver.

I don't know much about speakers, but I would like something that would match up well, but not too expensive.

Would the monitor 40s be good for side surrounds? or would something be better. Should I move the r50s to the rear, and get Monitor 40s for the front. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I would really like to spend under $400 for the surrounds, and rears.

 

[GlocksRock]

If you are ok with bookshelf speakers, the R15 would do you right, and they are voice matched to the R50s. I used to use them as surrounds for my R30. If you can't find them anywhere for cheap, go here and get the newer version of basically the same thing.
http://shop1.frys.com/{nI+TZtwVcUXdjWVabSTrKw**.node3}/product/4965491;jsessionid=nI+TZtwVcUXdjWVabSTrKw**.node3?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

But if you want towers for your surrounds, I would get the R300 or R30 if you can still find them. I'm sure you can find some on ebay.

http://shop1.frys.com/{nI+TZtwVcUXdjWVabSTrKw**.node3}/product/4965501;jsessionid=nI+TZtwVcUXdjWVabSTrKw**.node3?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Check back every day or two as they are always going on sale for about $100 per tower.

 

[redgoat2006]

So would the r150s as the side speakers, and r30s as rears work well then? Is there a slight step up from that, or would they not sound well together?

Would even adding r500s as the rears instead of the 30s fill the room better? It is a 18 x 14 room.

 

[GlocksRock]

Using towers instead of bookshelves will sound better, they will have better bass extension. Plus if you can keep 6.5" woofers all the way around, that is even better too. You can always go to the Monitor line, but the R series will be a better tonal match to what you already have, but yes R15s or R150s as sides and R30s or R300s as rears or R50s or 500s as rears will be good too. If you stay in the R series, it will all sound good. I used to have R30s as fronts, and R15s as surround and surround backs, and it sounded great, and I was using a CS2 center since I couldn't get a csi25 at the time, but the CS2 matched well enough and still sounded great.

 

[redgoat2006]

Thank you. I will probably need to upgrade my sub eventually since it is psw10, and has little bass. However, I don't listen to music, just movies/gaming.

 

[GlocksRock]

The Polk subs are known for not having very good output. Upgrade your sub to someting from some place like SVS or HSU, or AV123 and you will see what you have been missing. Even for movies and games a good sub makes a huge difference.

 

[redgoat2006]

I'll look into those. I wish frys still had the deal on the r50s that i got several months ago. Ahh well.

What should I use for the r150s? Should I use stands from somewhere, or hang them somehow?

 

[dorokusai]

Great posts GR I agree with the subwoofer comment in regards to the older Polk Audio subwoofers but the newer ones are much better than the past. They're no SVS killers but finally respectable. Still Glockin'? I just picked up an optics frame for mine from Glockmeister. Sorry to derail.

Goat - I would also suggest sticking with the R series until you're ready to do a complete overhaul. It's a nice series and they sound pretty good....every bit as good as the Monitor series IMO. The subwoofer is the weak point if you do alot of HT, which it appears you do. I'd check out the Polk DSW series if you want to stick with them but you certainly can't go wrong with SVS, HSU or Epik. At least try and get your ears on the newer series so you can hear the difference.

Mark
Polk Audio CS

 

[dorokusai]

I'll look into those. I wish frys still had the deal on the r50s that i got several months ago. Ahh well.

What should I use for the r150s? Should I use stands from somewhere, or hang them somehow?

I would hang them. B-Tech(BT-77) makes a very nice mounting bracket.

Mark
Polk Audio CS

 

[redgoat2006]

Does anyone know if they make the r300 in cherry? I can't find it. Also, what would be a good place to purchase the r50/r30 and get a good price. I can't find good deals on them anymore, or they are unavailable.

 

[dorokusai]

The R30/R50 have been discontinued so it's simply a matter of available stock at various B&M stores. The R300 isn't available in Cherry.

I would suggest Circuit City, Tweeter or Fry's Electronics depending on your location. You can always check the store locator on our homepage.

Mark
Polk Audio CS

 

[cheapskete OCer]

my current set up is Onkyo 705, R50s,CS2, 2 pairs of R15s, and a Epik Knight 15" sub ..if you want cheap rears that timbre match (R15s) just wait a few weeks if you can ..i bought mine almost 2 yrs ago from outpost.com(frys) before they went out of stock and i have seen them for sale on there again so many times..you can do what i did and go to a site like fatwallet.com or slickdeals.net then go to the forumsearch option and type in polk then save the search like on ebay and it will email you anytime a polk audio item is on sale..
everytime the polk R series is on sale at frys it gets listed on fatwallet

 

[GlocksRock]

Great posts GR I agree with the subwoofer comment in regards to the older Polk Audio subwoofers but the newer ones are much better than the past. They're no SVS killers but finally respectable. Still Glockin'? I just picked up an optics frame for mine from Glockmeister. Sorry to derail.
Mark
Polk Audio CS

Thanks! Yes, I am still Glockin... went and shot my new (used, but new to me) Glock 21 over labor day.

 

[ChunkyDark]

There have been some really good deals on Polks atrium speakers (~75 shipped). I haven't heard the atrium or r series so not sure if the timber would be slightly off or horribly so.
If you check out polks forum they have a section for folks selling old gear and it tends to be heavy in polk stuff (go figure).

 

[dorokusai]

If you check out polks forum they have a section for folks selling old gear and it tends to be heavy in polk stuff (go figure).

Actually, the Flea Market is pretty diverse and out of the first 50 ads or so....about 6 Polk listings.

Mark
Polk Audio CS

 

[redgoat2006]

Well I really want the cherry color since that is what my floor is. I think it goes together well. It looks like I can get the monitor50 or even 60s cheaper than the r50s now. Ebay has some ridiculously high prices on them, amazon included.

If i moved the 50s to the rears, with the r15s would the monitors sound too off or would it be fine. Is there any other rear or fronts I could get to matchup. I bought the r15s as sides because they were only about $60. I don't want to pay $270 shipped for the r50s. i can live with black as long as I use them as fronts since the black would match my tv. Out in the open the black clashes too much with the cherry flooring.

 

[GlocksRock]

As long as you have the front 3 speakers matched, you will be fine. The monitor and R series are close enough that you wouldn't notice too much of a difference.