Polk MXT 5.1 Home Theatre Pack - Upgraded 10" Subwoofer - ONLY 20 PACKS LEFT
Monitor PSW10E Subwoofer
Monitor XT15 Bookshelf Speaker Pair
Monitor XT30 Center Channel Speaker
Monitor XT60 Tower Loudspeaker Pair
Polk 5.1 Channel Home Theatre Speaker Package $1437 (Was $2396) + $150 Flat Rate Shipping @ West Coast Hifi
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AssociatedWCHIFI on 02/08/2022 - 15:30 westcoasthifi.com.au (1024 clicks)
Last edited 04/08/2022 - 13:15 by 1 other user
Last edited 04/08/2022 - 13:15 by 1 other user
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What do you mean ?
n i c e
Suggestions for an amp to go with it?
U G L Y you ain't got no alibi you ugly.
But i'm sure the sound performance is great, classic Polk quality
I would assume that they come with grilles.
https://www.polkaudio.com/en-us/product/floor-standing-tower…
Yeah that would help
Unfortunately it's still a big black box though.
straight sharp edges, should be a breeze to wrap it in whatever finish you like.
Not all Polk speakers are good. These are however very good
Yeah, they definitely need a grille
I always removed the grills when I had decent speakers. Can't remember why, possible marginal increase in sound quality? That or the speakers I've owned in the past had extremely ugly grills
I literally select speakers based on their looks. Sue me. If a speaker looks better with a grille on, than off, I don't buy it. I don't even mean that the speaker has to look bad. It's just that if the drivers look better covered, I don't buy. I want to see what I spent other people's money on!
Fishbone lyrics?
same one with Denon amplifier for $1899 at Costco Epping
Similar pack however different subwoofer. 8" sealed vs 10" ported here.
Errrrr…..guys so, now it's NOT free shipping and the same thing WITH an amp to drive it can be had from Costco?
See comment above regarding difference
Which is better value? This or the Klipsch deal (not sure if you still have that) you had a couple of weeks ago?
This Polk pack is a better speaker pack in terms of performance however the Klipsch was a cheaper alternative. Very similar however the Klipsch pack no longer available so I created this pack.
Tell me you know nothing about speakers without telling me you know nothing about speakers.
Read the title, it says Home Theatre which for this price are very decent pack
Sometimes I wish I didn't…
It's a decent price for a cheap surround pack. The only problem is…it's a cheap surround pack.
2 way active systems have their time and place.
And yes you can get some stellar 2.0 speaker setups that do very well with musicHowever these combined with a powerful amp would push some serious quality sound it's chalk and cheese when you're watching movies.
Admittedly i'm not a fan of big black speakers.Let's leave it there
Lets.
How do these compare in sound quality when paired with a good Receiver? Will they come close to Edifier S2000MkIII?
Second this
The fronts included in this package aren't crazy good or anything, but I would expect them to perform better in a larger room than the Edifiers. In a smaller space or for near field listening though I doubt you'd see much improvement if any. They're floorstanders and the edifiers are bookshelves so this is pretty much expected.
The only thing I would say is the Polks aren't all that sensitive so you'd want to make sure whatever amp you use has enough wattage to drive them. An entry level AVR or desktop amplifier probably wouldn't get the best out of these at anything close to reference levels.
Do yourself a favour and just buy a pair of wharfedale EVO4.1s.
Skip this junk.
It's not that helpful to compare 2.0 bookselves to a 5.1 set — different use-cases.
The wharfdales don't seem that great either, not sure I'd drop over a grand on them.
I meant to say Evo 4.2s. Does ASR review those? And the point is that buying a crappy 5.1 set is a waste - you're better off getting a high quality stereo setup you will want to keep for 20 years for the same cost.
You're basically sacrificing very high quality for rear channels and a subwoofer. Firstly you don't need a sub, and rears you can just use any old bookshelf speaker you have laying around.
Review of the 4.2s
I think it depends on your use case. If you're mostly just listening to music, then getting a great pair of 2.0 speakers is probably best. Similarly if you mostly watch content that's not surround mixed or wouldn't benefit much from it, like anime or game shows / talk shows / etc.
But if your main use case is watching big cinematic movies, then you will absolutely benefit from a 5.1 system, the immersion from the surrounds and the boom from the sub is fantastic in movies. Even if it comes at a bit of a cost to sound quality.
@Aequitas: The sub will be cheap and nasty at this price, but loud booms may still impress those who don't know any better.
I agree the wharfedales are great quality
Unfortunately they are a price point above these.Personally I'm hanging our for a pair of 4.3s or 4.4s
As an audio noob I always wonder if it's worth to splurge on traditional speaker system vs modern soundbar package like Samsung q990b. Will I notice big difference?
depends on your use case. soundbars main advantages are price (over a surround system, 2.1 systems are much cheaper for the quality), ease of set up and aesthetics (to some).
If you just want a quick and easy surround sound system for watching movies every now and then. A soundbar is probably okay for you. But the sound quality is generally not very good and neither is the surround effect, since it's really all just coming from the front.
If you predominantly listen to stuff that won't really benefit from surround sound, then it's probably best to just get a 2.0 or 2.1 system as the sound quality will be much better per dollar. Also the left/right separation will be much better since you can place the speakers further apart than a soundbar's length. Which may be important based on your distance from them.
But yeah, fully depends on your use case, what you value most and how much you are willing to spend.
if you have limited space, Samsung q990b is the way to go.
Maybe, if you have time, go into an audio store and just compare a few different systems. Admittedly, it might be hard to compare the sound bars as the area where you are comparing might be very different to what you will be using at home.
Yeah true, atm I have 3.1 Sony soundbar but wanting the q990b for 11.1.4 surround n dolby atmos(?). Even tho was told dolby atmos in soundbar system is useless.
Mentioned how useless putting dolby atmos in a soundbar is in my long arse post below. But i'll elaborate just on that.
To put it in perspective. I have a somewhat expensive set of upfiring speakers in my HT system (not a brag as you'll soon find out) and even though i've got the right type of room for them, i've worked out all the geometry lol and i'm running more 'sophisticated' room correction… They only just do the job and that's it. Definately nice to have, very cool and fun to demo but they're probably the absolute last thing to invest in. If I wasn't renting they'd be mounted high up or in the roof, but never upfiring.
I'm not sure I even notice them working, period. in soundbars. Its literally for the guy who tells anyone and everyone that he has Dolby Atmos at home just like the movies, and when he watches Goodfellas he goes outside his house every time because he swears he's hearing helicopters.
As a 'noob' you'll be happy if you go with either. Its going to be an improvement and there's novelty with both.
The upside of soundbars is the obvious convenience and space saving of them. Just the one box, fewer wires, fewer components. Its simpler, more 'elegant'. The downside is its only ever going to be a stand-in for a proper stereo/surround system. That's why you'll find them loaded to the gills with features in order to market them as being 'premium' and up to date, but the implementation is poor in just about everything they do.
Some of those issues are fundamental. If you do get into audio you learn pretty quickly is that its not just about the speaker itself, its where you put it. The fronts (Left/Right) in a soundbar are already out of position from the start, given where most normal people will stick their couch (audiophiles aren't 'normal' as the name would suggest). Then you've got 'Surround' speakers quite audaciously at the front, let's not even talk about that one, or Height (used for Atmos/DTS:X) speakers that indiscriminately lob sound at somewhere along your ceiling and if you're lucky some of them might find their way back to you in some intelligible form.
Then you have the components inside the box to consider, because noob or not sometimes it absolutely is about the speaker itself. If you do a breakdown of the costs of manufacturing everything that's included in a soundbar and compare it to buying all that shit individually, its becomes pretty apparent that they're cutting corners somewhere. There are other reasons, economies of scale, its a more competitive market, etc. but clearly the amplifiers in your Samsung aren't going to be on par with the standalone amp that costs exactly what you paid for the whole bar, and what's more that amplifier is (profanity) huge and your soundbar is anorexic by comparison. How can they be made of the same stuff ?
Its not just about quality or form either. If you look at anything that utilises a speaker, whether its HiFi, your guitar's amplifier/cab, shitty laptop speakers, there's a noticeable variance in size, design and materials. Understandably then there is a noticeable difference in the sound they produce, its not a coincidence. Different speakers for different uses, with size generally corresponding with the range of frequencies (low, mids, highs) they are individually suited to and the load they can each handle. Somehow this doesn't matter for soundbars, you can just load them with a bunch of small ineffectual cones and nobodies going to notice the difference… until they do, and rush out to buy a fancier one with a separate sub.
I'll stop rambling now because I think you get the point. The cost advantages and simplicity of soundbars like most things, come at the cost of specialisation and (the sticking point for myself) customisation. I could write out a similarly long post about why setting up a home theatre system is an absolute pain, and others could make valid points for why soundbars better suit their use cases, but what it boils down to for me is this…If any one component in my system sounds 'off' to me, I can spend the next hour or day changing it to my liking. If I want something better, or i'm just bored and want to experiment I can replace it altogether. At the end of the day you can invest as little or as much as you want in it. I should mention higher-end soundbars have started to bridge the gap by offering separate speakers, room correction, etc. but at that point if having good sound matters that much to you, you might as well do it properly and invest just a bit more to build a home theatre.
If you're still not exactly sold on the merits of either, honestly just get a decent 2.1 setup. It will sound better than the soundbar (as purely a music/all-round sound system and not some approximation of going to the cinema) and give you room to expand into a HT down the track should you wish, or stick it in another room for music listening only and get a soundbar if that's what you want to do…or just buy a soundbar now and never think about any of this ever again. Whatever works.
Thanks for the lengthy explanation. I think i ll go soundbar for now since I need the space just want to have that "immersive" experience without burning holes in my wallet. Thanks again
Nobody really mentioning it will cost $500 for a basic amp to drive a 5.1 setup, and then there is speaker wire, banana plugs etc. All told you'll be looking at around $2 grand for something like this and, it is only entry level. The smart choice is a good set of passive bookshelf speakers and a nice dac/amp class-d setup, that will sound better than any sound bar.
nice