Polk RT600 - Why the hate?

HTguru1982

My fiance bought a set of these over the weekend for my birthday. I honestly wasn't expecting much, especially after a fairly scathing review from Audioholics 12 years ago. And I know most of you guys sort of dislike any of the RT floorstanders with the single 6.5" woofer. But I have to say that I'm pretty impressed. I honestly don't know what Polk was thinking with the height, or lack of, but they do sound really good. I initially hooked them up as surrounds and was so impressed, I tried them as fronts. Now, do they sound as good as the RT55? In a nutshell, no. But they aren't chumps, either. In a small room like mine, they do reasonably well. Good amount of warmth, decent sound stage, play loud enough with no noticeable distortion. Unfortunately, I have RT55's and that extra woofer helps considerably. So while I won't keep them up front, I am tempted to keep in the system as surrounds for now. I may have to build some stands to get them off the floor about 6 inches. Seriously, why would Polk make a floorstander where the tweeter is well below ear level?

Love these vintage RT's!

ken brydson

I agree. I have a pair of 600i's and they sound pretty good for what they are. Enjoy!

chungasrevenge

as long as you enjoy them, that's what counts:-D

HTguru1982

I moved these back up front and am using the RT55's as surrounds. For some reason, it just works. The 600's don't seem to be too behind the 55's in terms of performance, even if they are a little less "open". The 55's work incredibly well as surround speakers and help fill the back of the room with plenty of sound. I may keep it like this for a while. Or until I can get another pair of 55's.

mantis

The older RT's are actually loved by some of us including me. I don't own them anymore but they will always have a soft spot.
They are a very cool speaker, can get bright depending on what you connect them to and calibrate.

Overall a very fun speaker to own, enjoy.

HTguru1982

I'm a huge fan lol. The RTi70's CSi40, etc were part of my first "real" system. It was only recently that I discovered how awesome the second gen RT's are. The "i" versions were too laid back for me. Ultimately, I hope to put together an RT5000 system but what I have now is perfectly fine.