Home > Consumer Reviews > Polk Audio RM95 5-Channel Home Theater System (Set of Five, Black)

I was originally looking at a Bose speaker setup, but I couldn't bring myself to spend $1000 on speakers. Not knocking Bose, but I thought Polk Audio has always put out a good product, so I though I'd give them a try, and I've been very pleased.

I bought them on sale at Tweeter for $599 around Christmas, and I could not be happier with them. Part of the deal was also the PSW11 sub which has more than enough punch for my system.

I have them set up for a home theater system in my basement and they sound phenomenal, but placement is critical to getting the most sound out of these speakers (actually, any speakers) due to the fact that they have dual drivers. All this means is they have a mid-range and tweeter on two of the three sides of the speaker (they are triangular in shape if looking from the top-down). They are designed to create a sound field by bouncing sound off of the walls in your room.

It is very important to experiment with placement of these speakers to get the best sound from them. Each room is different in relation to your listening area, so try a couple of different spots before affixing them to the wall (decent wall brackets are included).

Music sounds great, too. I don't usually blast music, but frequency response and clarity are both excellent. They are small enough to fit quite nicely any room without drawing attention to themselves like some other larger bookshelf speakers commonly used in home theater setups.

No matter what you buy, though, just remember that if you are considering buying $600 worth of speakers, make sure you don't waste your money by going with cheap speaker cable. I used all Monster cables (16 gauge), and terminated everything with Monster speaker terminals, and they sound really good.

Hope this helps.

Before this set of 5 small easily wall mounted speakers I had a Bose acoustimass 10 system. I was not happy with it at all but decided not to deal with a return. I kept the system for a few years now. Since the introduction of Blu Ray and 7.1 audio I figured now is as good a time as any to upgrade.

The 1st brand that came to mind was Polk. I have had Polk products in my car for over 10 years and I have never had any problems with any of their products. The sound was always impressive and almost everyone who got in my car complimented me on them without knowing what brand I had installed.

Since I previously had Bose I grew attached to the idea of small speakers. These fit the criteria of brand and size I was looking for. The RM95 set includes 5 of Polk's RM8 speakers which include 1 - 3/4" Diameter tweeter and 2 - 2-1/2" Diameter mid range speakers which is a slight upgrade to the RM85 set.

These speakers have a great sound that blend just right. I have heard things on CD i never heard before using my old Bose unit. I bought 2 Monitor 70s for the fronts got a free PSW10 10-inch Powered Subwoofer to create a 7.1 system that didn't break the bank at Amazons prices.

Only downfall was the speaker connections are quite small so using the Monster cables that were recommended by Polk needed to be customized to fit. I got the bigger THX certified cables I am sure if you go with the regular speaker cables from monster or a cheaper brand they will fit no problem.

As for looks 1 side is a shiny black while 2 sides have a soft almost foam look grill that give the room a clean look. This set is pleasing to the eye and the ears as well as the wallet.

I'll keep this one short. These speakers sound great with music or movies. They never sound pushed, harsh or compressed. Clear and sweet.

I moved from a much larger place and had to transition from huge floor standing 7.1 Klipsch speakers along with a monster Onkyo receiver to a smaller sat/sub setup and a far less involved receiver.

I was at Frys and they had these new in the box red tagged for $189! Since I didn't really care what I wanted and just had a budget to stick to I went for it. Had no idea how they sounded or what they were. I just knew it allowed me to spend more on the receiver.

Well when I got home my expectations were low. New smaller apartment, former system of mighty glory no more. I connect them up, fire up Transformers on Bluray and crap my pants. Stunning.

End of review.

They sound good. The look good. I used this system to complement an older pair of Polk RT-7 bookshelf speakers and a PSW111 to build a 7.1 speaker set. Cosmetically, these matched well my RT-7s. The set arrives with decent wall and surface mounting hardware.

Beware these have small spring loaded terminals. Connecting up with wire AWG 14 or larger can present a challenge. Note that for short runs less than 75 feet, AWG 16 is fine. In case Polk is reading this, I would see the addition of binding post terminals as an improvement worth paying for.

Installation.
I suspended these from the ceiling. The screw mount on the bottom is compatible with Omnimount Universal mounts. I did not need any of the adapter bits included with the speakers or the mounts. The RM8s just screwed right onto the threaded ends of the mounting arms and lock in place with the chrome finished nut, supplied with the Omnimounts. Neat! This arrangement would look good wall mounted as well.

Wish List.
The grill covers, with the attached Polk name plate, cannot be spun around and mounted upside down. Since I mounted these from the ceiling using the screw mounts, they hang upside down and "Polk" is flipped over. My ceiling is 10' and we don't notice it. However, it might be a problem for some looking for a perfect finish.

If you do what I did, bear in mind the speaker pairs are designated left and right. Because they hang upside down, I recommend you reverse left and right.

These are great speakers for those looking for a smaller set that creates a quality sound. As with most electronics, the amount of satisfaction you will find with these speakers depends on where you are coming from previously. My previous speakers were an older set of Yamahas that, when I bought them 10 years ago, I thought were great. These Polk's blow those out of the water. The setup took awhile (cutting the new speaker wire, positioning, etc.) but once they were in place I put in a Blueray movie and whoa! I was hearing so many more of the subtle nuances of the movie that I wasn't getting before. They also sound great blasting out music through my Ipod. I am still using the old Yamaha sub, and realize that I need to upgrade that as well to match the quality of the speakers.

Each speaker comes with a small stand that can be used to place the speakers on entertainment furniture. They also come with mounts for the wall, including the center speaker.

My only complaint is the small size of the clips for the speaker wire. I found that the speaker wire can slip out if you have significant downward pull on the wire. A simple rearrangement of the wire fixed it, but I would expect a $500 product to have better clips. This may be a deal breaker for some, but for me the other positives outweigh this negative.

Overall, the quality of sound, sleek look, and compact size have me sold on these speakers. Those looking for a compact set for their home theater would be wise to upgrade to these.