Best In Wall Setup Polk or Klipsch?

jack08501

Hello,

I am new to in wall home theater, and I am setting one up in my basement as we speak. I am going to use in-wall speakers for all five channels and I have narrowed my search down to Klipsch and Polk.

System 1- Klipsch R-5800-W for front and center speakers, R-5650-W for the rear surrounds.

System 2- Polk TC265i for the front and center, TC65i for the rear surrounds.

One of my questions is if you think the Klipsch R-5800-W will work well as a center channel when flipped on its side. The advantage I see with the Polk is that the TC265i sets up on its side like a traditional center channel. Does this make a difference?

BTW- My room size is 19X18, I have a dedicated sub and a Denon Receiver.

Thanks!
Jack

danger boy

well lets see.... this is a Polk Audio speaker forum.. so i'm thinking most people in here would like Klipsch better than Polk. :rolleyes:

VR3

Originally posted by danger boy
well lets see.... this is a Polk Audio speaker forum.. so i'm thinking most people in here would like Klipsch better than Polk. :rolleyes:

+1

jack08501

Funny replies but no serious answer

Jack

Frank Z

Although you may hear from a few happy Klipsch owners here, the overwhelming majority will recommend Polk. Don't take it the wrong way, we're Polk fans through and through so it's only natural that we'd recommend 'em.

SCompRacer

Hi Jack. I'm new to in-wall/ceiling speakers too. Just finished a 14' x 22' family room with Polk LC65is for fronts/center and LC60i's for rear in ceiling. I listened to the RC's first, but after hearing the difference spent more 'future' money to get the LCi's.

Have you had a chance to audition either of your choices yet? I had to do a bit of driving to find stores that had in wall speakers set up. Ended up buying them at a Tweeter store. They had like three brands of in-walls set up.

EDIT: Before I covered the walls and ceiling, I built ideal volume enclosures for the speakers. The Polk manual tells you the size. They have a custom enclosure for the in-walls, but they were too costly for me.

gregure

I think the Polks would be far superior to Klipsch, just because I hate the Klipsch sound-way too bright. Looks like the Polks would be a nice choice w/ the silk tweeters, as I work around such speakers all day long from Speakercraft, and those silk tweeters are really nice.
However, I think the LC series w/ the ring radiator tweeters would be better, and be even more superior to Klipsch.
If you want to go really nice, look into the Voyage in-walls from Martin Logan. Very detailed, very accurate, w/ Transducer film tweeters/mids, tweeters being aimable as well.

aaharvel

i'm in agreement with Gregure.

Klipsch's have bright sound characteristics- and unless you have them hooked up to a dark-sounding receiver such as a Marantz or whatever then you're going to get a bright sound, and inside a wall would make it even worse (worse for me as I don't like bright sound, if you like it then get the Klipsch)

Polk speakers, hooked up up to most any type of receiver/amp - at least to me seem to sound more natural and much less fatiguing over time than any Klipsch speaker.

wallstreet

I've never been impressed with the Klipsch inwalls. If you go a little off center the treble drop off is very noticeable. This is a critical component of inwalls since you can't (usually) aim the speaker toward the listening position. I know the Polk has an aimable tweeter, but I'm not sure about the Klipsch.

Originally posted by jack08501
Funny replies but no serious answer

Jack

But if you really want an answer go listen to the speakers and decide for yourself. Klipsch inwalls can be heard at UE and Polks can be heard at Fry's. What difference does it make what I think?

TrappedUnder Ice

Check out some in-walls by Sonance. I got a pair of these and I'm quite impressed with the sound, quality and features. has trebble attenuation: +/-3db or 0, and you can angle the tweeter. Very nice in deed ... anyway...just some food for thought. BTW...they were not much more then the compatable Polks.

hoosier21

I was going to ask "why not ask the folks at Klipsch" but I see you did.

http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=65080&sessionID={3BE8F9A3-E5DA-45F3-B4EB-AB1D64918B21}

Anyway, that is a question only you can answer, how could anyone know what is best for you? Do your best to research, demo, and buy what you feel is the best for you.

Have fun shopping.

wallstreet

I also own 4 Paradigm Reference inwalls the outperform my Polk ab755's.

audiobliss

Considering the design of the Klipsch in-walls (with the Tractrix horn), I imagine turning it on its side (for the center) would change the sound a bit. I wouldn't imagine that would change the sound of the Polk in-walls, though.

As to which set would be better, that's really up to you and your ears. As you can see by my sig, I'm a happy Klipsch owner. I also like the Polk speakers I've heard (and the Paradigm, Energy, and Wharfedale speakers I've heard, too........dang...I'm not nearly discriminating enough.....:p). If I were you, I'd try to demo any in-walls you can find and spend a lot of time listening to both music and movies through them to see which one sound better to you.

Let us know what you decide to do!

Shell

SCompRacer, is right check out the LCi polk series. Also, since you are finishing your basement install the speaker enclosures you do hear a noticeable difference.