Polk R30 cherry floorstanding loudspeakers - $49 each ($98 pair + shipping)

[Snowlock]

any links to this famous T-amp?

 

[konakona]

sorry i took long to reply.. too busy upgrading my long sword and light leather mail
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=99359&highlight=t-amp
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98533&highlight=t-amp
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=100285&highlight=t-amp
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=101272&highlight=t-amp

 

[bigpow]

Cool!
Sounds like a good value combo: $125 for a pair of R30 & $40 for T-Amp

 

[mdetz]

Originally posted by: VanillaH
sorry i took long to reply.. too busy upgrading my long sword and light leather mail

that is awesome. is 15watts/channel enough tho?

 

[Kaido]

I'm curious...it looks like the Polk Audio R15 speakers are supposed to be a match for surrounds...what kind of stand would you put them on? The R30s look like a good addition to my parent's living room, but if I ever wanted to upgrade to a surround sound set, I'd need some stands for the rears...any suggestions?

Oh yeah, if I get them, I'll be using them on the Sherwood RD-6105 receiver I picked up through Hot Deals last year

 

[imthebadguy]

are these better than my logitech z-680's.....im thinking no, but you never know

 

[hytek369]

Originally posted by: vladgur
Are they at Frys for the same price?

gonna find out tomorrow

 

[Heifetz]

Originally posted by: imthebadguy
are these better than my logitech z-680's.....im thinking no, but you never know

I would think so. Computer speakers are really no match for real speakers. They're good for their size, and have a lot of bass, but I think the Polk with a decent amp will blow them out of the water.

 

[Wolverine27]

Originally posted by: VanillaH
just get the famouse T-amp.. only costs ~$40 shipped from what i hear.

Where can this T-amp be found in stock? I'm intrigued...

 

[Salvador]

I've never heard these speakers, so I can't comment, but for $100 a pair, they look all right.

A few things to note. They are 89db efficiency. They aren't super efficient, but they aren't inefficient either. You probably can't play them really loud with a low wattage amp. Inexpensive floor standers are usually a little muddy sounding for my tastes because the cabinets aren't braced very well. OTOH, it's a small cabinet with small panels, so you shouldn't get too much in the way of cabinet vibration. The speakers have soft dome tweeters, so if you pair them with an inexpensive amp, the highs won't make your ears bleed. They are shielded, so you can put them right next to a monitor or tv without causing distortion. They go down to 55 hz, so that should cover most music. You'll probably want to add a sub if you're going to use these for HT speakers. Big plus for me is that they use 5 way binding posts, so you can use thicker speaker wire with spades or banana plugs. I hate when a company cheaps out and puts in the spring clips, so you can only use small gauge wire or pins to connect the speaker wire to the speakers.

Like I said, at $100 a pair, what the hey. They aren't going to sound like my ProAc's, but they aren't $2,500 a pair either.

BTW.. Comparing these speakers to computer speakers is like comparing apples to oranges. Computer speakers are compact and self powered. These speakers are passive and require amplification of some sort. Plus, even though they have a small footprint, they aren't nearly as compact as computer speakers with sats and a sub.

Sal

 

[Heifetz]

Originally posted by: Salvador
I've never heard these speakers, so I can't comment, but for $100 a pair, they look all right.

A few things to note. They are 89db efficiency. They aren't super efficient, but they aren't inefficient either. You probably can't play them really loud with a low wattage amp. Inexpensive floor standers are usually a little muddy sounding for my tastes because the cabinets aren't braced very well. OTOH, it's a small cabinet with small panels, so you shouldn't get too much in the way of cabinet vibration. The speakers have soft dome tweeters, so if you pair them with an inexpensive amp, the highs won't make your ears bleed. They are shielded, so you can put them right next to a monitor or tv without causing distortion. They go down to 55 hz, so that should cover most music. You'll probably want to add a sub if you're going to use these for HT speakers. Big plus for me is that they use 5 way binding posts, so you can use thicker speaker wire with spades or banana plugs. I hate when a company cheaps out and puts in the spring clips, so you can only use small gauge wire or pins to connect the speaker wire to the speakers.

Like I said, at $100 a pair, what the hey. They aren't going to sound like my ProAc's, but they aren't $2,500 a pair either.

BTW.. Comparing these speakers to computer speakers is like comparing apples to oranges. Computer speakers are compact and self powered. These speakers are passive and require amplification of some sort. Plus, even though they have a small footprint, they aren't nearly as compact as computer speakers with sats and a sub.

Sal

Its not as if computer speakers are magically powered. They too have an amp, but its part of the speaker, or sub, rather than a seperate component. I think realistically, the amp is probably the weakest part of any computer speaker system, because of size and money constraints.

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: Kaido
I'm curious...it looks like the Polk Audio R15 speakers are supposed to be a match for surrounds...what kind of stand would you put them on? The R30s look like a good addition to my parent's living room, but if I ever wanted to upgrade to a surround sound set, I'd need some stands for the rears...any suggestions?

I bought the R15 surrounds that match these R30's the last time they were on sale for $49 a pair (also at Outpost). IMO, they're only good for being rear surrounds or bookshelf speakers. I guess you could put them on stands if you wanted, but you might be better off mounting them to the wall as there is a slot on the back of them for a #10 screw head to slide into.

The R15's are a nice compliment to the R30's in terms of look and feel.

techfuzz

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: Salvador
Like I said, at $100 a pair, what the hey. They aren't going to sound like my ProAc's, but they aren't $2,500 a pair either.

You can't ever compare speakers based on how much one costs vs another. Sound (quality) is subjective to every person and each set of speakers will sound different than the next. You might try to apply all the quality and quantity numbers to a set of speakers, but if the person listening to them doesn't like what they hear it doesn't matter one bit.

techfuzz

 

[hytek369]

no sale at B&M

 

[RideFree]

Got notice that these should be here Monday.
They'll do just fine as the rear pair. Front is 4 JBL Century 100s 2R & 2L.
I've owned the JBLs for nearly 40 years.

 

[hytek369]

deal is dead

 

[Salvador]

Originally posted by: techfuzz

Originally posted by: Salvador
Like I said, at $100 a pair, what the hey. They aren't going to sound like my ProAc's, but they aren't $2,500 a pair either.

You can't ever compare speakers based on how much one costs vs another. Sound (quality) is subjective to every person and each set of speakers will sound different than the next. You might try to apply all the quality and quantity numbers to a set of speakers, but if the person listening to them doesn't like what they hear it doesn't matter one bit.

techfuzz

I'm taking price into account. You'll also have to remember that some of the best bargains in speakers come from Canada because of the exchange rate. This is what I'm comparing these speakers to in my head. I'm thinking of a comparable speaker from Energy, PSB or Paradigm for price comparison. I have a pair of PSB Alpha's (Pre HT addition). They sound great for what they are at $200 for the pair, but they are bookshelf speakers. I've had them on my Target stands comparing them to my $2K a pair ProAc's and they do well with the same electronics until you really listen to them. To the untrained ear, you might not be able to hear a lot of difference. If you've trained your ear to listen for subtle differences though, you'll hear a world of difference.

That being said, if you aren't placing the speakers correctly or using good electronics, who cares anyway.

I know that computer speakers aren't magically powered. Everything is shrink wrapped by design for use with a computer. They also have price in mind because most kids listening to heavily compressed mp3's, can't tell the difference. Price is more important because people will only spend so much on a set of computers speakers, no matter how good they are. I think that any computer speaker set is pretty much crap, but you have to look at it for what it is and what your source is. A computer is a noisy environment and if you were to hook up high priced electronics and great speakers, you'd really hear all that noise.

Anyway..

I've been around Polk for years and they've never astonished me, especially for being bargains at their price points. Maybe that's why you're seeing them discounted for half off like other electronics chain brands such as JBL, Infinity, etc.. Like I said, with the blow out price, they are probably decent buys. That's all I'm going to say about it.

Sal

 

[JDub02]

n/m

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

R30s are back, R15s are $50 for a pair.

It's for the black ones again.

 

[hytek369]

this is stupid, the cherry ones are now $120, so gay

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: hytek369
this is stupid, the cherry ones are now $120, so gay

It seems like they're alternating the sale between the cherry ones and the black ones, but I'm not really sure.

I haven't seen the R50s on sale for quite a while now

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
R30s are back, R15s are $50 for a pair.

It's for the black ones again.

Anyone know if the R15's are $50 for the pair for sure? It doesn't say anywhere that I can see if its for the pair or each speaker.

Link


Also, anyone know of any hot deals for a decent Center channel?

I went ahead and ordered the R30's and the R15's (assuming they're a pair) and guess I'll have to call Monday to confirm if thats the case or not unless anyone knows for sure.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: blazert40

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
R30s are back, R15s are $50 for a pair.

It's for the black ones again.

Anyone know if the R15's are $50 for the pair for sure? It doesn't say anywhere that I can see if its for the pair or each speaker.

Link

Well.. I know for a fact that this exact item cost $129 yesterday.

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: blazert40

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
R30s are back, R15s are $50 for a pair.

It's for the black ones again.

Anyone know if the R15's are $50 for the pair for sure? It doesn't say anywhere that I can see if its for the pair or each speaker.

Link

Well.. I know for a fact that this exact item cost $129 yesterday.

Well I'm gonna take a chance, they do show the cherry finish ones for $129 but on that it clearly says that its a pair and the black ones for $50 just don't say, at least that I can see.

 

[CSx2011]

B&M - On Friday r15's were $129 per pair... Saturday, cherry r15's were $49.99 per pair. Black r15's are $129 B&M and $49.99 on outpost...

The black r30s are on sale on outpost and B&M... at least they were @ B&M on Friday, I didnt check yesterday.
On outpost, cherry r30's are $119 each (Limit one pair) Black r30's are 49.99 each.

Got a set of cherry r15's, and they sound pretty good.


I wonder if I should get a set of r30's and use the r15's as surrounds... the black and cherry mismatch... can't complain though