Polk Audio Monitor 50's worth it?

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Are the Polk Audio Monitor 50 floor speakers for $100 each or so worth it? right now i just go the Polk RM6750 surround package and wanted to upgrade a little bit. i would then take the 2 front speakers and put them in the rear to make a 7.1 system (yes i have room behind my couch). I ike the way it sounds now. i really dont need a major upgrade at this point but do want floor standing front speakers. i got about $200-$300 to do this. its not much but... i also looked at the Monitor 60 series but at twice the price they didnt seem to be a major upgrade over the 50 series or do i not know what i am looking at/for? Anyways any advice on these or anything else in the price range would be appreciated. Thanks !

[TigredelaJungla]

If I were you I would try to save a little bit more money and get the Monitor 70's, I have seen them from time to time from New Egg for around $200 each shipped, that would be a good upgrade but you can always audition different brands that would definetly improve your setting.

[HAMP]

That's a nice idea to use them for the rear surrounds. That is what I done awhile ago with my Klipsch quintet set. I use them as surrounds and used the towers for the left & right.

I would like to add that you would need to get a matching center channel to go with your towers. I have to do the same thing, get a matching center for my Klipsch left & right towers.

[McGarnigal]

What kind of difference can u expect from say the monitor 40s which are 1" tweeter 2 x 5.25 woofers in a bookshelf vs. the same specs in monitor 50s but floor standing? Also including a receiver with not too high wattage when running 5 or 7 speakers at once....

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by HAMP

I would like to add that you would need to get a matching center channel to go with your towers. I have to do the same thing, get a matching center for my Klipsch left & right towers.

???? Why do i need to get a new center channel speaker if i get 2 new front towers? i am almost afraid to ask but i dont see or understand what the problem would be? i hope you are talking cosmetically only !

[prankster]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

???? Why do i need to get a new center channel speaker if i get 2 new front towers? i am almost afraid to ask but i dont see or understand what the problem would be? i hope you are talking cosmetically only !

HAMP is correct. you want your speakers (at least your front stage) to be timbre matched.

[HAMP]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

???? Why do i need to get a new center channel speaker if i get 2 new front towers? i am almost afraid to ask but i dont see or understand what the problem would be? i hope you are talking cosmetically only !

Nope! It's not for looks, it's for sound. It's called 'Timbre matching'. You want your front three to match in sound noise/quality as close as possible.

If you want more detail, you can look up ‘Timbre matching’, I can or some other members can explain more if you want it.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

oh W T F ??? another term i never heard of. are you kidding me? i read alot on crap and never came across that one. sounds like something you would do to build a log cabin. i assume this would mean getting the impedence and all that jazz lined up the same, etc etc etc? what am i looking for in the numbers, etc then?

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

???? Why do i need to get a new center channel speaker if i get 2 new front towers? i am almost afraid to ask but i dont see or understand what the problem would be? i hope you are talking cosmetically only !

Not only will you be timbre matching for uniform sound, but overall you will see a big upgrade in performance with the matching center over what you currently have. A good center channel is critical for reproducing vocals in a multichannel setup. Trust...you definitely want to upgrade the center channel. It will be a night and day difference.

The center channel in that package you have is one of the few low points of that entire package anyway. While ample it is definitely lacking. The sub is the other part of the package that leaves something to be desired, but for the money its a good value overall. Those satellites will make very good surrounds, so your money was still wisely spent.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

so what are we talking about then for a matching center speaker? one that would match the Monitor 50 towers? what am i looking for to match up?

[HAMP]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

oh W T F ??? another term i never heard of. are you kidding me? i read alot on crap and never came across that one. sounds like something you would do to build a log cabin. i assume this would mean getting the impedence and all that jazz lined up the same, etc etc etc? what am i looking for in the numbers, etc then?

lol. I know what you mean, I remember feeling the same way when I heard the term.

I went and bought the new center and it made a world of difference, even tho my center did an excellent job, the sound difference was noticeable and appreciated.

I have to do the same thing again. Buy another center. Mine was stolen and I bought everything that was stolen except the center channel. The one I had has been discontinued, and I have been hoping I could come across it on the net.

[roxyv]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

so what are we talking about then for a matching center speaker? one that would match the Monitor 50 towers? what am i looking for to match up?

If you are in a budget which you are and going for the Monitor 50, the ideal pair center is the CS1...I got these 3 for my upstairs lounge...and just keep an eye at newegg.com they always have this on sale

[acritzer]

I guess I could jump in and say I'm trying to sell my monitor 60's and CS2. Have no idea what shipping would be but I was hoping to get about 375-400 out if them.

What's the OP up to?

[ryandubbz]

Also if you go with the Monitor 50's, I have a Polk CS2 that is for sale.

Mint condition comes with manuals

and also some Monitor 30's for surround

PM for details

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by acritzer

I guess I could jump in and say I'm trying to sell my monitor 60's and CS2. Have no idea what shipping would be but I was hoping to get about 375-400 out if them.

What's the OP up to?

that's a pretty good deal - have you sent him a PM on this? good luck.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

( i saw the posts with a couple speakers for sale...thanks but no thanks)

ok. i been reading and reading for the last hour and all i am gettting is more confused...to a point. seems that timbre matching is more controversial than anything else. heres what i got out of it:
1. NOT an exact science
2. does NOT have to be done
3. best to match the speaker manufacturer across the front 3 speakers
4. best to match the ohms

i read so much crap the last hour about this stupid crap to blow my head off. seems like you just gotta try out what you got then go from there. so when its setup and a car drives from left to right, you want to hear that going from the left speaker to the left center channel speaker to the right center channel speaker to the right speaker continuously. but to do this without hearing the setup first seems impossible. i asked about specs, etc to look for when looking to buy a front speaker setup and no one really gave an answer (its all good).

so that being said... wheres the problem with Polk Audio Monitor 50's front towers and the Polk Audio RM6752 center channel? how do you know that wont sound fine?

[rock, stone]

Heh. I really appreciate how grumpy you are about this. Sometimes this is fun and then sometimes trying to figure it all out is a chore.

I'm no expert, and I don't pretend to be, but I think the thing I would be concerned about with only upgrading your fronts is they might overpower that smaller center.

Also, if you end up going with a CS1 or CS2 for a matching center, make sure you measure your available space. The CS2 especially is not small, and your pics look like everything is pretty close together.

Good luck!

[Trean]

I bought a CS1 and two Monitor 60's as well as two Monitor 50's from Newegg just before Xmas. $68, $113 and $83 per speaker respectively before tax was added. The 50's, 60's and cs1/cs2 are on sale at Newegg every month it seems... might be every other month. Just seems like a lot. I waited for them to be in an eBlast deal as that seems to knock off $10 or so from the normal sale price and I had time to burn.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by rock, stone

Heh. I really appreciate how grumpy you are about this. Sometimes this is fun and then sometimes trying to figure it all out is a chore.

I'm no expert, and I don't pretend to be, but I think the thing I would be concerned about with only upgrading your fronts is they might overpower that smaller center.

Also, if you end up going with a CS1 or CS2 for a matching center, make sure you measure your available space. The CS2 especially is not small, and your pics look like everything is pretty close together.

Good luck!

I aint that grumpy..lol. i am taking this in stride. something new to learn about. hopefully this is the LAST thing i will need to know about that i already didnt know but somehow i seriously doubt that will be the case.

and if i were to buy the CS1, which i think i am going to, the top of my entertainment center will fit that easily. just gotta clean it up a bit. it would go where the center speaker is now and i guess the comcast HD box will just sit to the side of it. will look a bit dumb but? i cant put it under the xbox since its to small and cant put it on top of xbox since the slim is like submarine heater when its turned on.

i looked on the polk audio ebay page, are their remanufactured speakers worth it? i hate used speakers but they have the CS1 for like $70. is that worth it?

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

I aint that grumpy..lol. i am taking this in stride. something new to learn about. hopefully this is the LAST thing i will need to know about that i already didnt know but somehow i seriously doubt that will be the case.

and if i were to buy the CS1, which i think i am going to, the top of my entertainment center will fit that easily. just gotta clean it up a bit. it would go where the center speaker is now and i guess the comcast HD box will just sit to the side of it. will look a bit dumb but? i cant put it under the xbox since its to small and cant put it on top of xbox since the slim is like submarine heater when its turned on.

i looked on the polk audio ebay page, are their remanufactured speakers worth it? i hate used speakers but they have the CS1 for like $70. is that worth it?

HERE it is for the same price brand new.