Polk R30s and R50s

[Chrisk327]

I'm not quite in the market for new front speakers but i saw a deal and thought i'd ask the question.....

How are the Polk R30s, I've haven't seen them in store anywhere, but they keep popping up on outpost.com for 40 bucks each.

Now, i have an older set of R15s maybe 5 or so years old... I was using them as rears for now. as fronts i think they sound a little muddy i would not be happy with them as fronts. I've also listened to some Monitor series bookshelves and thought they were alright, but not impressive.

Either or, are the R30s similar to the R15s?

If the R50s go on sale, are they similar?

I think i should pass and save some money... but thought i'd ask the question...

 

[Taifun]

I have the current setup:

R50s L&R
CSi3 Center
R15s surrounds

I like the R50s in this match up. For the price they are worth it if you can find them (cheap)

I plan on grabbing the R30s to replace the R15s as they are also 5 years old.

 

[Rocky]

I have the R15's and CSi25, but both are getting replaced with sinclair speakers. The R-30's are alright, but you could probably do a lot better by saving up a little more

 

[heroesunplugged]

R30's

R30's are actually better sounding speakers than the R50's. The R50's are larger but the vocal's/midrange is much more articulate in the R30's. At $80 a pair it would be hard to get a better pair of inexpensive speakers. The R30's use to sell for around $200 each at CC a while back before they phased them out and replaced them with newer models. When they were discontinued there were guys selling them for $120 a pair on e-bay so $80 is great. BTW I just checked and I'm finding them for $119 but not $40 each. Maybe you know something I don't.

 

[GlocksRock]

Yeah, I saw them for $40 each on outpost earlier today, but they raised the price back up. I have R30's up front, CS2 center, R15's for surround and surround back. I think that you can't do better for the money. They are being pushed by a Yamaha RX-V1600 and can get very loud and while they don't sound like really expensive speakers, they don't sound like cheap speakers either. I say pick them up while they are cheap, and if you miss it now, they (or the R15's) will be back on sale soon, just keep checking outpost.com

 

[Ron Temple]

I have the current setup:

R50s L&R
CSi3 Center
R15s surrounds

I like the R50s in this match up. For the price they are worth it if you can find them (cheap)

I plan on grabbing the R30s to replace the R15s as they are also 5 years old.

I've got the same setup...for the price these are great for HT, but get shown up by slightly ($200 bookshelves) more expensive speakers for music. Still I have no complaints. The are fairly articulate, decent midrange, tweets are a bit laid back, bright overall. On the otherhand the CSi3s tweet is very bright, great for dialog, but I find it a bit sibulant, have to keep it turned down 2-3dbs for music.

I auditioned a pair of 30s which I bought for my son. Not great at low volume, but at moderate volume they sounded good. Might agree with the poster that said the mid is more articulate. These Rs don't do loud extremely well, at least in my room.

All in all, I spent about $280 for all 5 speakers, unless you got in on the Athena closeout, I don't see how you can beat these for value.

 

[Chrisk327]

I think I'm going to hold out and step up a notch. I already have a system set up that works. I'm just looking to eventually get the fronts and center upgraded and timbre matched.

I was reading online about some Paradigm esprits or titans as possiblities for the future. but those will wait as i just got my new sub Mirage S12.

thanks

Chris

 

[mlhm5]

I'm not quite in the market for new front speakers but i saw a deal and thought i'd ask the question.....

How are the Polk R30s, I've haven't seen them in store anywhere, but they keep popping up on outpost.com for 40 bucks each.

Now, i have an older set of R15s maybe 5 or so years old... I was using them as rears for now. as fronts i think they sound a little muddy i would not be happy with them as fronts. I've also listened to some Monitor series bookshelves and thought they were alright, but not impressive.

Either or, are the R30s similar to the R15s?

If the R50s go on sale, are they similar?

I think i should pass and save some money... but thought i'd ask the question...

If you watch ebay and you want to go with Polks, you can easily buy a pair of R7s for $100-$125 plus shipping. I would rate the Lsi7 & 9 as Polk's best bookshelf and the RT7 and RT55 as second.

There is a group that say the Monitor 5 with the peerless tweeter is better, and can be bought for much less.

http://www.polksda.com/list.shtml