DARKHAVEN

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $393.00 from www.acousticsounddes

Summary:
This is THE surround to purchase if you are a bang-for-the-buck consumer. The bottom line is simple. Polk's FXi5 surround is flexible, beautiful, a quality piece of craftsmanship, sounds incredible, and is acoustically comparable to surrounds that cost almost twice as much. Here's a little breakdown:

If you are planning on hanging your surround speaker on a wall, the FXi5 is for you. It has a sturdy backing backing plate with a dual key-hole design, so you don't have to purchase extra mounting brackets. Additionally, being wedge or triangle-shaped, it is not very deep, so it won't be an eyesore and stick far off your back wall. The speaker itself is beautifully finished in low-gloss black and the speaker grills are high quality. As this speaker is a dipole/bipole unit, you have increased placement flexibility over most surround speakers. Can't mount the speakers behind you, have to place them off to the side of your seating position? No problem. Want to place them right behind your head? No problem. Polk includes a dipole/bipole switch on the speakers to adjust their phase, which will change the sound field they create based on their position in the room. I can tell you first-hand that the dual-sided nature of these speakers creates an impressively widespread and dispersive sound field where I have them hung (behind me on the back wall). Height-wise, for those of you who don't know, the recommendation is to hang them at a height where the tweeter will match your ear while STANDING. Yes, standing, as opposed to fronts, which should match your ear height while seated. Just a piece of advice. Oh, and when you hang them, use both keyholes and either drill into a stud or use molleys, because these things are heavy!

Acoustically, these speakers are typical Polk quality. The 6 1/2" woofers put out clearly defined midbass and decent bass for their size. The 1" tweeters are smooth silk domes, not harsh metal domes. I find the combination to be warm and accurate without being shrill or fatiguing. In order to get deep base, you will need a sub, but you know that.

These speakers are power efficient for their size, but you'll want 100 watts or more per channel for these babies to really sing.

As I stated in the beginning of this review, these speakers are the best bang-for-the-buck speakers you will find, Polk has done a phenomenal job (once again). Enjoy!

Strengths:
Smooth highs
Detailed mids
Dipole/Bipole selectable
Fit and finish is excellent
Wedge shape is acoustically dispersive and not physically deep
Incredible price-per-performance ratio

Weaknesses:
Heavy

Similar Products Used:
Bose
JBL
Infinity
Klipsch
Sony
Paradigm
Phase Technologies

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Price Paid:  $393.00 from www.acousticsounddes

Summary:
This is THE surround to purchase if you are a bang-for-the-buck consumer. The bottom line is simple. Polk's FXi5 surround is flexible, beautiful, a quality piece of craftsmanship, sounds incredible, and is acoustically comparable to surrounds that cost almost twice as much. Here's a little breakdown:

If you are planning on hanging your surround speaker on a wall, the FXi5 is for you. It has a sturdy backing backing plate with a dual key-hole design, so you don't have to purchase extra mounting brackets. Additionally, being wedge or triangle-shaped, it is not very deep, so it won't be an eyesore and stick far off your back wall. The speaker itself is beautifully finished in low-gloss black and the speaker grills are high quality. As this speaker is a dipole/bipole unit, you have increased placement flexibility over most surround speakers. Can't mount the speakers behind you, have to place them off to the side of your seating position? No problem. Want to place them right behind your head? No problem. Polk includes a dipole/bipole switch on the speakers to adjust their phase, which will change the sound field they create based on their position in the room. I can tell you first-hand that the dual-sided nature of these speakers creates an impressively widespread and dispersive sound field where I have them hung (behind me on the back wall). Height-wise, for those of you who don't know, the recommendation is to hang them at a height where the tweeter will match your ear while STANDING. Yes, standing, as opposed to fronts, which should match your ear height while seated. Just a piece of advice. Oh, and when you hang them, use both keyholes and either drill into a stud or use molleys, because these things are heavy!

Acoustically, these speakers are typical Polk quality. The 6 1/2" woofers put out clearly defined midbass and decent bass for their size. The 1" tweeters are smooth silk domes, not harsh metal domes. I find the combination to be warm and accurate without being shrill or fatiguing. In order to get deep base, you will need a sub, but you know that.

These speakers are power efficient for their size, but you'll want 100 watts or more per channel for these babies to really sing.

As I stated in the beginning of this review, these speakers are the best bang-for-the-buck speakers you will find, Polk has done a phenomenal job (once again). Oh, and acoustic sound design (www.acousticsounddesign.com) has them for $393, which is over $100 cheaper then anywhere else you are going to look (just FYI). Enjoy!

Strengths:
Smooth highs
Detailed mids
Dipole/Bipole selectable
Fit and finish is excellent
Wedge shape is acoustically dispersive and not physically deep
Incredible price-per-performance ratio

Weaknesses:
Heavy

Similar Products Used:
Bose
JBL
Klipsch
Infinity
Paradigm
Phase Technologies

birdbox

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.75 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
To start out, I have to thank all those people out there who take the time and energy to write unbiased reviews from their perspective for the benefit of all of us out there searching for advice.

I spent a great deal of time researching online for the perfect speaker system for me. I wanted the best speaker system I could get for, as everyone wants, the best price. After a great deal of research, I decided upon Polk Rti12 fronts, Csi5 center, Rti6 rears, and Fxi5 surrounds.

The latest addition has been the Polk FXi5 surround sound speakers, which I purchased at the lowest price I could find at www.acousticsounddesign.com, and these speakers are the focus of my review.

I received the FXi5’s just over 2 weeks ago and immediately put them to the test. My first test was to hook them up to a Crown XLS602 2 channel amp and test the speakers solely as front firing mains. I did this in order to get a feel for their performance completely on their own. I have to say, cranking up the volume, these speakers stepped out of their design envelope and proved themselves all on their own. It took the full 125 watts to really get them thumpin’, but when pushed to their limit, they really shined. Of course, the deep bass (below 60 Hz) was not drastic, but from the symbols down to the bass drum thumps, the FXi5’s performed beyond my expectations. To keep the lows on level with the highs, I increased the low level spectrum a few db. At this setting, the speakers put a huge smile on my face and I knew then that I made the right decision.

Now, for their true purpose, I set up the FXi5’s with my current system in a 7.1 surround sound theater. I drove the FXi5’s, Rti6’s, and the Csi5 with a Yamaha V-2500 receiver at 120 Watts RMS per channel. The Rti12’s are hooked up to the Crown Amp to get those six 6 inch woofers moving. Currently, I don’t own any DVD’s that output true 7.1 surround, but even with 5.1 Dolby, I was able to get a good feel for how the addition of the FXi5’s improved the sound stage. I set up the FXi5’s as side surrounds and included the Rti6’s as the rear speakers. One of the unique abilities of the FXi5’s is that you can set the speakers as either Dipole or Bipole surrounds. I set up these speakers in the Dipole configuration with the speakers set off to the left and right, slightly behind the center of the room. When only the Rti6’s were running as the sole surrounds, it was easily noticeable when surround effects from the movie were sent to the speakers. However, with the FXi5’s, the surround effects blended seamlessly with the fronts and rears. Sitting near the center of the room, I felt completely immersed in the movie, like truly being in a top-notch movie theater. Watching both Star Wars and Lord of the Rings I found myself blown away by the addition of the FXi5 surrounds. I just can’t wait until DVD’s are released with 7.1 surround standard.

To see how the speakers performed for music, I set the Yamaha receiver in 7 channel “stereo”. In this mode, all of the speakers play the music as though they are in 2 channel mode. Sitting in the center of the room and blaring Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Rage Against the Machine, I felt surrounded by music. From every direction, the voice, guitar, and drums penetrated the room. I contribute the seamless blending of front and rear speakers to the FXi5’s. They may not have the speaker area to shake the room on their own, but the really do disperse both highs and lows both forward and aft. I utilized the receiver’s capabilities to time align the speakers and this may have had some effect on why I couldn’t discern which speaker stood out as the powerhouse. Of course, I assume Polk engineers focused on making their speaker systems blend effortlessly, and I’m glad that I purchased an all Polk system.

I’m sure there are higher quality speakers on the market, but for the price, there’s no beating the FXi5’s. At $599 retail, the speakers are certainly worthy, but at the price I got at www.acousticsounddesign.com I can’t help but say…Go For It! These speakers are quality, and the guys are acoustic sound design proved to me they are a quality company with their warranty and fast shipping. I love these speakers.

I hope this review helps anyone interested in a quality system, and in particular, the Polk FXi5 surrounds. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. Make sure your receiver can push them to the limit and you will be blown away by the solid design and caliber of sound these speakers produce.

Currently I’m on the market for a subwoofer, and currently leaning towards Polk, I’ll be buying the PSW 505. I’ll certainly leave a review no matter what I purchase. I hope you take the time to leave a review of your next purchase, whatever it is! I know I appreciate it.

Strengths:
Great soundstage and premo blending with the Polk RTi12, RTi6, and CSI5 from experience. Optional Bipole or Dipole design increases setup options. I love how they truly blend the surround effects of movies and hit solid high's to low's when thumping your favorite tunes.

Weaknesses:
They need power. The minimum RMS wattage will not show the speakers true potential. Max them out and you'll be blown away.

mceagle

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $379.00

Summary:
Simply Outstanding Speakers! I replaced my Polk R-15’s with these beauties - Words cannot describe the huge difference in both movies, SACD Audio and Music DVD’s. Bright, clear and efficient with a surprising bottom-end.

Strengths:
See Above - Additionally, the Bi-Pole / Di-Pole option gives you unlimited mounting and placement options for best results.

Weaknesses:
None!!!

Similar Products Used:
Klipsh - a/d/s

hansemi

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $335.00 from online

Summary:
Excellent speaker, makes a great addition to my system. I spent months researching and reading reviews before settling on this particular speaker. It has awesome sound distribution. Easy to mount on wall. Am using as my main back surround speakers.

Strengths:
Quality sound in small package.
Easy to install on wall.
Looks great, sounds great!

Weaknesses:
none noted