Polk RC80i In-ceiling speakers
I will start this by saying I am no audiophile…
I am however, in search of a good audio experience across a wide range of listening preferences. (movies, television, some background music for the occasional house party, etc…) So last night I began my installation/upgrade of my home theater system. The first part consists of putting in new in-ceiling speakers. The condo came with the wiring already run for a surround system, which is pretty nice. But, without having heard a decent set of speakers in about 10 yrs I started by looking around at what was affordable and offered good quality.
After a trip to a local audio/video specialty store here in Chicago to listen to the *really* high-end ($300/piece) Polk’s, I settled on the RC80i series for far cheaper, but similar specs.
After installing the first one last night and hearing it for the first time all I can say is that it is awesome! it may not be the best performer on earth according to the technical details, but as an average person I cannot hear any lack of quality. Sales people and dealers will bombard you with specs and try to get you to buy the most expensive thing you can and audio enthusiasts will squabble over 10hz frequency range here and an extra watt of RMS there - and to that, I say B-O-R-I-N-G!
These cost a minimal $130′ish a pair off Ebay and offer a real theater-like experience without breaking the wallet - or ticking off the neighbors downstairs. (although I think I could definitely wake them up if I decided to crank it…)
