Monoprice Speakers?

smglbrth

Hey all,

Does anyone have any experience with Monoprice speakers, specifically in-wall? I keep trying to find a decently priced center inwall for my parents new set-up and they don't want to spend over $300 on one from Polk, namely the only one they offer, the 255c-RT. Can't say as I blame them. I am thinking of going with the Infinity ERS HV250 but found the Monoprice 6317 for around $42. They might be ok but I just can't fathom a center inwall that's that cheap, something that my mind just can't get around.

This system won't be pushed hard so I'm not too terrible worried about them blowing speakers, as they are all inwall/inceiling Polks with the exception of the sub, PSW 125.

I have been checking Ebay (and Polks Ebay store), plus other websites and cannot for the life of me seem to find any reconditioned/close out, anywhere. Are these inwall centers like gold or what?

Any info anyone could give me would be appreciated!

Syndil

I have a pair of Monoprice RC-65i in-wall speakers I am using for rear surrounds, PID# 4618. Don't let the price fool you, Monoprice charges less because they have almost zero markup, whereas most speakers are sold with an incredible amount of markup. Personally I think it's no coincidence that the speakers I have look very much like the Polks with the same model number, and I bet they sound just as good. But apparently that is something at least some of the membership here don't want to hear. I say for $42, you haven't got much to lose. If you end up not liking it, perhaps use it for your rear channel, or even if you have to sell it on eBay you should be able to recover enough of your meager investment to make it a worth-while endeavor. You may be pleasantly surprised, and if not, no big loss.

Syndil

Comparing the 255c-RT to the Monoprice version, I notice the same thing I noticed when comparing Monoprice's RC-65i to Polk's: The Monoprice version seems to have more bracing molded into the plastic frame. The 255c-RT has almost no bracing on the rear of it.

VR3

Dayton has some nice ones too

tonyb

Syndil wrote: »

Monoprice charges less because they have almost zero markup,.

If that were true, they would be out of buisness inside a week.

While I agree the parents aren't going to appreciate the sound as you probably would, you still get what you pay for in the real world.

Syndil

"Almost" zero is not zero. They do still make a profit, of course. But their business model allows them to do so at much lower margins, just like many of the other Internet Direct sites out there. Monoprice buys the stuff directly from the factory, and sells it directly from their website. There is no distributor to cut in on the profit, there are no retailers, and there are no commissioned salespeople.

F1nut

smglbrth wrote: »

Hey all,

Does anyone have any experience with Monoprice speakers, specifically in-wall? I keep trying to find a decently priced center inwall for my parents new set-up and they don't want to spend over $300 on one from Polk, namely the only one they offer, the 255c-RT. Can't say as I blame them. I am thinking of going with the Infinity ERS HV250 but found the Monoprice 6317 for around $42. They might be ok but I just can't fathom a center inwall that's that cheap, something that my mind just can't get around.

This system won't be pushed hard so I'm not too terrible worried about them blowing speakers, as they are all inwall/inceiling Polks with the exception of the sub, PSW 125.

The Polk center is rated 30Hz-27kHz. The -3dB is 50Hz. The efficiency is 90dB. The cones are state of the art polyproylene with rubber surrounds.

The Monoprice center is rated 55Hz-20kHz, no mention of the -3dB spec. The efficiency is 86dB. The cones are fiberglass with no mention of the surround material. Fiberglass!?! Not exactly what one thinks of when it comes to speaker cone material.

One big issue you would have using the Monoprice instead of the Polk is the efficiency. The rest of the Polk's will be a lot louder at any given volume. You may be able to compensate if the AVR allows for individual speaker levels, but still.

The bottom line, the 6317 is not a good match for the rest of the system and it is clearly an inferior product.

tonyb

Syndil wrote: »

"Almost" zero is not zero. They do still make a profit, of course. But their business model allows them to do so at much lower margins, just like many of the other Internet Direct sites out there. Monoprice buys the stuff directly from the factory, and sells it directly from their website. There is no distributor to cut in on the profit, there are no retailers, and there are no commissioned salespeople.

Sure, I understand that, there are tons of internet only buisnesses with the same model. Point is, just because they sell internet only doesn't reflect on the products quality. Cheap isn't always good, not that it can't be, but as F1NUT pointed out, the devils in the details.
I would hope the OP thinks his parents deserve something a tad better, but, we all do what we can in the end.

smglbrth

tonyb wrote: »

Sure, I understand that, there are tons of internet only buisnesses with the same model. Point is, just because they sell internet only doesn't reflect on the products quality. Cheap isn't always good, not that it can't be, but as F1NUT pointed out, the devils in the details.
I would hope the OP thinks his parents deserve something a tad better, but, we all do what we can in the end.

Obviously..., that's why they came to me instead of going to a place like Best Buy and getting "their" advise. However, I'm not paying the bill either.

Ok, so the Monoprice is out I suppose. Anyone know anything about the Infinity line? It is half the price of the Polk but I haven't dealt with Infinity for years.

Syndil

There is also http://www.htd.com/Products/high-definition . They have some speakers with aluminum cones.

Syndil

F1nut wrote: »

The cones are fiberglass with no mention of the surround material. Fiberglass!?! Not exactly what one thinks of when it comes to speaker cone material.

Woven glass composite what Polk uses in its car audio speakers, as does Focal. Not exactly cheapo stuff. However upon examination of the photos, it does appear that the surrounds on the Monoprice center may indeed be foam (look to be somewhat porous), so that could be a potential minus if longevity is a concern. However in an indoors environment I would assume foam would be fine for at least a decade or so. The Monoprice RC-65i speakers I am using have polypropylene cones with rubber surrounds.

Differences in sensitivity can be compensated for with the AVR/pre-pro. You're going to need to do this anyway, to compensate for the room's response. If you can't, then you need a new AVR/pre-pro. Polk's in-wall offerings vary in sensitivity from 88 - 92 dB, even among the same series. For example, the LCi-RTSC has a sensitivity of 92 dB, while the LCi-RTS FX has a sensitivity of 88 dB, a difference of 4 dB.