Small size

I've been using this speaker system for about 5 months now, and have no regerets. During the first month or two, the sub seemed heavy and directional. I fiddled around with the level and placement, but couldn't seem to get it just right.
I didn't know that the cone in a subwoofer had a break-in period, but it does! After some time, the lows have smoothed out and base response is still tight. I've heard some comments about high end distortion, but it's most likely the amplifier. Any speaker that has the ability to faithfully reproduce your audio source, will also faithfully reproduce any deficiencies in your amplifier. Another thing I've discovered, is how much hiss is present in the soundtracks of some television broadcasts. My listening habits are about 90 percent HT. When I do listen to music, it's generally in the background during dinner. I have sat and listened to music, and it sounds good. Not outstanding, but good. Home theater is outstanding. I experimented with using the line level input vs. the speaker level inputs on the sub. Polk suggests using the speake level inputs, and they're right. Setting your front speakers to large, and allowing the crossover in the sub to do it's thing, virtually eliminates the classic low-mid hole characteristic of most sub-sat systems. Overall, you can't go wrong with this speaker system. I would enthusiastically reccomend this to anyone.

My system:
Sony STRDA333ES receiver
Polk RM6500 speakers
Toshiba TP43H60 Television
Toshiba SD2109 DVD player
JVC 4700 sat receiver on Dish network

Clear Exact Sound over entire frequency range. Small design and Very well made.

Can not get another matching Sub like the one that comes with the set making you choose another Polk sub if you want to expand the set.

I wanted a small speaker for my Apt. that would make the living room turn into a home theater. For the price these did very nicly! I get the thunder in the base and the crash comes in clear. Music is a joy on these speakers also. In this price range, No speaker is better. Also I was supprised at the weight of the sattlites, they are heavy and add to the accoustics of the speakers, no cheap plastik box here.

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Bose

Solid feel and sound

Like many others, I almost got sucked in to the Bose PR machine. After reading all the reviews here, and talking to the folks at Crutchfield, I decided to go with the Polk set.
I have no regrets, the speakers sound great for both home theater and music. I do have one nit-pick, I thought it was kind of cheap that Polk would put binding posts on the satellites and spring clips on the sub. They advise you to run the front speakers through the sub, so the binding posts on the fronts seem wasted. The subwoofer sounds a little thumpy to me, but it's most likely my room. There's no phase switch on the sub, but I don't see that as a major deficiency. The rear speakers just sit there and snooze most of the time because I'm still running Pro-Logic gear for now. One of the reasons I wanted to upgrade my speakers was to prepare for Dolby Digital. Overall I am pleased with this speaker system, and would buy them again. I'm only giving the value rating a three out of protest for the price. Compared to other speakers in the same price range, these excell. However, I feel that ALL speakers are way overpriced, so a three is actually very good.

Fantastic Sound, Size, Great Value

Plastic wall brackets (but I won't be using them anyway), Remote power control for the sub would be a nice feature, depending on your location and ease of access to the manual knob

Where have you heard before that great things sometimes come in small packages. Hearing is believing! The satellites and center speakers are exactly matched which I believe is one of the most important criteria for any home theater speaker system. The 100-watt subwoofer is plenty of power for me. I thought I was going to buy Bose AM-15 until I heard the RM6500 system, and the price was $500.00 less. I bought the system from Crutchfield for $799.00 (ask for Eddie). It was nice to work with someone who is really knowledgeable about audio products and who was not half my age. Crutchfield may not have the lowest prices on certain items, but their service and low shipping cost makes them a better value for my money.

My current home theater includes:
Sony STR-DB830 A/V Receiver
Sony DVP-C650D (DTS Capable)
Sony SLV-678HF VCR
Sony FD Trinitron WEGA KV-27FV15 TV
Polk Audio RM6500 Powered Subwoofer/Satellite Speaker System (“A”)
B&W 503 Tower Speakers (“B”)
Monster HP Speaker Cables

Also, I purchased speaker stands (Model SA-1) directly from Polk (ask for Chet) for $89.95 (per pair) plus s/h. They are not shown on Polk’s web site yet, but you can get a glance at them in Polk’s 2000 catalog – page 32. The stands mount directly to the threaded insert (1/4 inch x 20 thread) in the back of the speaker with the top of the speakers being approximately 39 inches off the floor (fixed height, no adjustment). The stands have a radiused plate bottom vs. other brands which feature an all tubular design.

One note, I wired all 4 satellites and the center speaker directly from the receiver even though Polk recommends wiring the satellites and center speaker from the subwoofer. My A/V receiver has a very adequate crossover so it would be a shame not to take advantage of the 5-way binding posts on both the receiver and speakers. Enjoy!

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Bose

CONSTRUCTION/COST

MUSIC

I just returned my polk6500's being less than satisfied with thier performance. I liked the size/looks and construction of this system but after setting up I was dissapointed. Quality of sound for HT was ok, the sub performed well and has ample power although a bit heavy. The center speaker was not very clear and seemed to pass a bit of noise at low levels, not much punch at all. The front and rear speakers were very bright and I think to small to get a good blend of high/mid/low. Put on some tunes and these speakers come up short, way to bright with no punch and break up at higher listening levels, they could not fill my room (20'x15') with what I thought I would hear from POLK:(
Just for kicks I placed my Advent Marbls in front and WOW- what a difference, for $50.00 a pair the sound improvement was huge with music or HT.
I packed up my Polks, got my money back, bought another set of Advents for my rears and picked up a Mirage center and Sub while saving myself over $100.00.

Great performance for the price. Home theater blows me away. I know some people have said that the RM6500 doesn't offer enough, but if you're like me, no time, limited budget, can't get to the movies...etc., BRING THE MOVIES HOME!! When you watch the matrix - incredible. It's like you really are at a state of the art movie theater. I'm using the system with a Pioneer VTX-D608 and a Pioneer DV525 dvd player (TV JVC 32D500 w/ component input). For the borderline audio enthusiast/casual listener with a family (4 kids under 3 years of age), wife, etc., this is the speaker system for you. Incidentally, music sounds great too.

Would have loved to have the volume control on the sub remotely controllable. Wall brackets a bit on the cheap side.

If your like me and want a good system at a reasonable price, get this, you won't be sorry. Everyone really has to remember that the room you put the system in really is a factor in sound.

Get it - you won't be sorry.

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None really. Went from a broken 1984 JVC analog stereo receiver with Radioshack speakers to this.

Very good HT. Most music sounds great. Small size.

Certain music sounds like it is missing mid-range.

First, let me say that I think it is unfair to compare these mini-satellite speakers to typical bookshelf sized speakers, never mind floor standing speakers. You buy mini-satellites because you have a space problem, and/or you want the discrete looks.

Having said that, I think this is an excellent satellite/subwoofer system. Its WAY better than Bose, and costs less. I even think its better than my old EPI floor standing speakers.

HT is great. Most music also sounds good. Vince Gill (I still believe in you) sounds like he's in the room.

However, I did come across a few songs that sounded odd. Yes (Big Generator) sounded weak in the mid-range, but then again it never sounded quite right on my floor standing speakers either. On the other hand, Yes (90125) sounded great on the Polks.

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Bose AM-10, AM-15. Yamaha CLS-150.

size, appearance, home theatre application

lacks full music range,

I just returned my 6500 to circuit city. I purchased it primarily for HT, after comparing it to BOSE (no comparison). Excellent for HT with the exception that the surrounds sounded very weak. Replaced the Polk surrounds with my old Cerwin Vega (CV), D-2 speakers and the CVs produced superb surround. I then played a CD (classical-symphony) and the sound from the CV surrounds was clearly superior to the 6500 satellite speakers. I then realized that even though I purchased the 6500s because I wanted small size, the penalty for the small size is inferior reproduction of music. I was still impressed with Polk quality and I purchased Polk RT 600s for the front, a polk PSW 140 sub, a polk CS 245 center, and am using my old CVs for surround. The sound is superb on both DVDs and CDs.

My receiver is a sony DB 830, and a toshiba 2109 DVD.

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none

Good punch for HT, seemless crossover between satellites & sub

Not quite as good for music as I was hoping, spring terminals on the subwoofer

I wanted a satellite/subwoofer speakers system to go with my new Yamaha RX-V595a AV receiver. Although I wanted good 5.1 channel home theater sound, I didn't want to give up good quality 2-channel music listening. To further complicate matters, the built-in cabinetry in our living room restricted the size of the front & center channel speakers.

I haven't had a chance to do any critical listening yet, but my early impression is that the musicality of the RM6500 setup isn't quite as good as I was hoping, although it is adequate (and certainly better than the midrange-deprived Bose AM-series!)

When it comes to movies with 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS sound, these speakers really do their stuff! A favorite at our house right now is The Iron Giant on DVD, and when the giant walks around you know it! I would hate to watch this movie without great home theater sound.

For both music and movies, the crossover between the satellites & sub seems very good. From a distance, you would swear that there is a full-range speaker in each of the front left & right satellite positions.

Before buying the Polks, I listened to the Klipsch satellite/sub setup, and while the musical accuracy seemed very good, it was too bright for my tastes. I also considered PSB which I think might have had the edge on musical performance, but their center channel was too tall to fit in my cabinet.

Polk recommends using the speaker inputs on the sub, which I did do (although I would have preferred to just run a line-level cable to the sub.) Overall I am satisfied and would buy again. By the way, I used 16-gauge Monster Cable XP for all my speaker hook-ups.

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Bose, Klipsch, PSB

size immaging soundstage handling power

need to turn up the treble a tad no biggie

wow i was very impressed with theses little guys for the price ya cant beat them.
my system

1.cerwin vega vs-15(for 2 channel stero)
2.polk rm 6200 5 channel (movies)
3.panasonic dvd
4.sony cd pioneer cd
5.yamaha eq
6.yamaha rx-v800 reciever
7.ksw-12 sub (both)klipsch
my buddy and i where sitting around listening to music on the cerwins and i went to the bathroom he turned up the treble a tad and turned on the 2 front polks and shut off the vegas and i didnt notice a diffrence then 1 day he came over i cranked it up on the polks and asked him what speakers where playing lmao we couldent tell they are good for both with a sub of course i got a klipsch

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klipsch quintets