Polk Audio R50

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Polk Audio Review

by arun_41 Feb 5, 2008 8:40PM PST

First up, there is no Polk R50. The second, Polk makes some great speakers. If musical clarity. real clarity (and I dont mean the bose kind of crappy quality) moves and lifts you, Polk is for you.

The cost would range from 25K to 130K, including the cd reciever head unit. Giving three options across diff budget and car sizes.

1. Compact car and Entry level Budget :

A good head unit around 8-10K, look at Alpine, Pioneer(above 8K), Blaupunkt(above 8K), etc. Polk Audio MMC 650 coaxials with crossovers for front and back.

2. Mid size Car and Mid Level Budget 60K:

Head unit as above, Polk Audio MMC 6500 Momo components front and rear, hooked to the Polk C 400.4 amp. Use good quality wiring and make sure installation is done well. You will hear installation flaws with this set up. As well as sonic perfection. This is what I have.

Beyond this setup, its only having the money and wanting the best.

3. Mid size car and money no issue:

Change the MMC 6500 to SR 6500 front and back. I havent heard the SR 6500 but they are a notch above the Momo's. Frankly, scared to hear them as then I shall start desiring....

One last thing, All Polk speakers need a break in period 15-30 days. Depends on the model (components have a longer break in than the coaxials), how long you listen to them daily and of course how loud .

Out of the box, when you hear them first, know that you're only listening to 70% of what you will hear once break in is complete.

Happy Listening!!!

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lol

by RustyDallas Feb 6, 2008 12:19AM PST

First of all, those speakers are not a figment of your imagination. Second, I have no idea what your question has to do with cars. I've noticed those speakers a number of times at Fry's and have been curious myself but I've never heard them. If you have a Fry's in your area, you can listen to them in their very substandard demo room. Seems like too much for the money so I just assume they aren't that great but who knows? Anyway, here's some user reviews and that's all the help I can give you other than to reinforce that you aren't crazy.

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speakers/floorstanding-speakers/polk-audio/PRD_171948_1594crx.aspx

Rusty

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Cars?

by scottnewmexico May 20, 2008 3:06AM PDT

The Polk R50's are home audio tower speakers

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The entry level Polk are really really crappy

by jostenmeat Feb 6, 2008 2:41AM PST

Sorry. But, they are cheap as hell!!!!

Their entry line has the flimsiest cabinets I have ever seen. One of the tests for us consumers to try when auditioning is the ol' "knuckle rap test". With those Polks, a petite girl could punch a whole through those.

Why is a solid cabinet a good thing? It has to do the avoidance of cabinet resonances. Less stored energy too. That same petite girl would break her hand if she tried to punch a top-end B&W with its extensive bracing.

It wouldn't surprise me at all, if those Polks had absolutely zero bracing.

And, btw, they don't sound very good. Very little power handling, in my estimation, makes for a poor HT speaker already. Little detail. Unimpressed with anything, be it off-axis response, imaging, detail, etc.

Sometimes you only do get what you pay for.

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Interesting...

by scottnewmexico May 20, 2008 3:03AM PDT

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scott NM

by jostenmeat May 20, 2008 7:03AM PDT

I am kind of shocked by your post on these. They definitely are not not crappy at all. I have in the past, sold the entire line of Polk Audio home theatre audio and the R50 line (I myself own a pair of the cherry finish, vinyl fold design) is very well made for the money.

I'm sorry to shock you. TBH, I am more familiar with the bookshelf R150, but if you honestly think this line is excellent, we simply have to agree to disagree. That's fine, I don't mean to offend you. There are a couple of regulars here who own Polk. I have two friends that own Polk. I have a CI friend who likes Polk.

I don't even like their top of the line Lsi speakers. The JBLs and Focals I heard in the same room blew them away, in my *opinion*. And Im not even that big of a fan of the other two brands. Though I think JBL offers the best value of the three, IMO.

I must say...it would take one heck of a little girl to pop a hole in the cabinets of one of these! I would be *really* impressed. Doing a "cabinet rap test" hardly estimates a speakers capability, however, doing a proper break-in at lower volume with a test CD, then doing an audio sweep analysis and seeing that these R50's outperform similar speakers up to 500% of their value does. Yes, the internals of the R50 are indeed braced. They weigh 47 pounds each.

Your measurements should be representing what I would expect to be a whole host of resonances. I'd love to see your comparative measurements between the Polks and speakers that cost 5x as much.

It really bothers me when people post things like this. They seem to know "everyting" while illustrating the exact opposite within their posts. I do however, respect your "opinion."

I never said I knew everything. I just try to help as best as I can. Instead of criticizing me, why don't you help others instead? Forum readers will gather their own opinions from our cumulative writings. Just because I type a lot does not mean that everyone believes everything I say. I never expected them to either.
Its really funny how some people post for the very first time in a forum just to criticize someone. Pretty weak sauce if you ask me. Where are your measurements? How well did they perform off-axis? Can you tell me anything about the x-over being used?

Bottom line:

Polk Audio R50's are an ***incredible*** value! They are hard to beat. There are many other lines like Focal, Peerless, Veladyne, Sony ES, etc. that cost *many* times the price that will indeed outperform the R50's. The upper line of polks proportionally increase in performance, so you do the math.

I do not believe that Focal offers great value at any price point. I've listened to every current line they make, including the top of the line Grande Utopias powered by Mac tube amps. The pair retails at 90k.

I've never heard Peerless.

Velodyne, I've only heard their subs. Including DPS all the way up to DD.

Never listened to Sony ES. I didn't know they were reputable. Then again, I don't know that you are reputable either. Hmm, and what does this math add up to? I refuse to give you my summation, since I feel I do not have enough variables.

To be completely honest, I really doubt anyone would actually choose Polk's bottom of the line speakers after doing any kind of measurements. The time it takes to do extensive measurements... you could just work those hours instead, save up, and buy better speakers.

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Polk audio speakers

by lbc9762 Aug 21, 2015 11:04AM PDT

YES, THERE ARE POLK AUDIO R-50 SPEAKERS BECAUSE I OWN A PAIR AND I MUST SAY THAT THEY HAVE EXCELLENT SOUND QUALITY. I WOULD CERTAINLY RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYONE THINKING TO BUY A PAIR.

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