Manage updates with the Download App
"Great sound for ceiling speakers, but no substitute for traditional speakers"
Pros
Great sound in the sweet spot, easy installation, intelligent design and configuration swithches, good build quality
Cons
Pricey for what they are, Soundstage is expectedly inferior to traditional speakers
Summary
Ok, admittedly, I'm spoiled. My frame of reference for sound quality are Definitive Technology BP7001SC with matching surrounds and Bose 301/201/center.
Unfortunately this is my 3rd surround system in 3 years. We moved to a new house, and design contraints of the home prevented me from using ... Read full review
Ok, admittedly, I'm spoiled. My frame of reference for sound quality are Definitive Technology BP7001SC with matching surrounds and Bose 301/201/center.
Unfortunately this is my 3rd surround system in 3 years. We moved to a new house, and design contraints of the home prevented me from using either of by existing surround sound systems. With pre-wiring in the ceiling, and little space on the floor, I started looking for a 4 speaker ceiling, center channel in the media cabinet, and remote subwoofer package. Having spent heeps on the Definitive solution, I was trying to spend no more than $1,000. I ended up spending $1,900.00 for the following.
4 Polk TC60i Ceiling mount speakers
1 Velodyne MiniVee with remote and microphone
I decided to use my Definitive Tech CLR as my center.
So the bottom line is that your average listener with logical spending habits would be very satisfied with this configuration. If you are accustomed to a broader and more dynamic sound stage, you will find these speakers struggling to reproduce that kind of sound. But I don't know if you can expect much better from any speaker that is aimed at the floor instead of the listener. Space contraints prevented me from trying the TC80i's but I didn't notice much difference in the store when doing the A/B comparison. To that point, Polke makes an identical looking speaker with a tweeter that almost doubles the price. I thought it sounded inferior to the less expensive model, but sound is subjective.
This installation was very easy. A round cardboard template is supplied to cut the hole. Once you find the stud, you draw a circle where you want the speaker. I used a quality box cutter to scribe circumfrence in the drywall, then cut the circle into 4 pie pieces. Pushing up into the ceiling caused the drywall to break along the scribe leaving a perfect circle. You then place the speaker into the opening, and turn the screws with a cordless drill. They speaker's holding system automatically does the rest.
Bottom line, it sounds better than the TV's speakers, and they perform better at movie surround sound than music all channel stereo listening. I would be currious to hear other owners comments about this speaker or other as to the ability to create a clear sound stage.
