Polk Audio RC85i 2-Way In-Wall Speakers
From the Manufacturer
The Polk Audio RC85i 2-way In-wall Speaker delivers incredible sound to any room in your home without using any floor or shelf space. The RC85i is easy to install, requiring only that you cut a hole, feed the wires through, and simply drop the speaker in where it is held in place by rotating cams that safely secure the speaker with no extra assembly or mess. Once installed, the paintable grille and flange allows this in-wall speaker to virtually disappear in the room. The Polk RC85i utilizes an eight-inch dynamic-balance, mineral filled polymer-composite cone with a rubber surround that outlasts cheaper foam surrounds, as well as a one-inch dynamic-balance, metalized soft dome tweeter with a swivel mount. The swivel-mounted tweeter is aimable for direct high frequency control that ensures spacious imaging with amazing clarity, and well-balanced sound in any listening position, even off-axis listening positions, rather than in just a small sweet spot…more
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13 comments
Anonymous on August 5, 2009 at 11:58 am
Super easy to put in and fantastic sound. Followed everyone’s advice and stuffed the cavity with insulation. . . . taped the wall with Scotch blue painters tape. . and scored the paper of the drywall with a razor before cutting with a small drywall saw!
Badu on August 5, 2009 at 12:45 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Polk audio speakers are grea
I have purchased 10 pair and am very pleased with the sound quality. Installation is simple. Can be wall or ceiling mounted.
Micha on August 5, 2009 at 1:30 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of it’s price range
I went to a local super electronics store and listened to all they had. To beat this speaker system the price jumped by at least $100.
Chrissy on August 5, 2009 at 1:42 pm
The livingroom in our new home just doesn’t have a place for free-standing speakers due to the floorplan (very open to the rest of the house, with a fireplace in the front corner). This ruled out using my existing (high-end) theater speakers (large towers). I went to the local big-box store, and the only set of in-wall speakers they had that I thought were worth buying were a set of Klipsch that came in at $600 per set. I almost went for them, but after measuring I found they were about 2″ too wide for where I needed to install one of them. The $300 Infinity set sounded horrible. They didn’t sell Polk Audio or Boston Acoustic, which was actually what I wanted to look at. So . . . I figured at $140 from Amazon, the RC65i’s were worth a shot. I’m glad I did – price vs. performance these are an excellent set of speakers. Decent dynamic range, and actually a surprising amount of bass if you don’t have a subwoofer (though I recommend having one – you can only get so much out of a 6″ speaker). Now . . . are these “amazing” speakers? Well . . . no. They do not compare to my aforementioned towers. Those towers were also $900 a piece. They also are not nearly as good as the $600 Klipsch in-walls I looked at. If you think you’re going to get amazing clarity and dynamic range for $70 a speaker . . . you’re going to be disappointed. What these are is a great everyday speaker that will sound decent to most people under most conditions. They are a *slight* bit muddy, but not for the price range. That’s the thing you really have to do is compare them to other speakers you could buy for so little money. And even some that cost a little more – the Infinity set I listened to at the big-box store was twice the price and didn’t sound any better. It also helps if you have a good receiver that lets you control the dynamic range being sent to your speakers. I have a high-end Yamaha that allows me to cut the low frequencies out of the main channel and only send them to the sub (12″ powered down-fire). Doing this, you get rid of most of the “muddy” issues. Summary: Can’t beat them if this is how much money you want to spend. Period. I liked them so much for my application that I ordered a set of rc55i (the smaller ones) and installed them for the back surround channel. When I finish the basement I’m thinking of getting some of these (rc65i) to use for the back-channel.
Kylee on August 5, 2009 at 2:19 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very nice inwall speakers
Installed these and the Polk Audio RC80i in-ceiling the same weekend – both should have been easy. The 85is are a little larger than I was expecting – but sound great.
Jaelyn on August 5, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I purchased a pair of these in-walls for a pool table/game room area I am building in the basement. My receiver is an Onkyo 805 7. 1 home theater system and these will serve as stereo/audio part for only that room. I have never owned Polks or in wall speakers for that matter and listened to them at the big box store before purchasing these through Amazon. I was really impressed at the audio quality. I also didn’t want floor standing speakers, but didn’t want to sacrifice audio quality either so these speakers filled the bill. No back boxes are necessary, the speaker is designed as an “infinite baffle” type and only requires that the front and rear moving sound wave are isolated from each other. Polk recommends to maximize the sound quality, you place a modest amount of a sound absorbing material, such as Polyfil (a synthetic cotton-like material found at craft/fabric stores) inside the cavity before installing the speakers. Supposedly, this will absorb the rear moving sound wave and reduce mid range coloration. I think insulation also works just as well. I haven’t done this yet and they still sound excellent!
Fidella on August 5, 2009 at 3:41 pm
4.0 out of 5 stars
Got what I expected
The speakers installed easily and sounded good.
In fact, because I didn’t have time to do the job all at once, I had to put them in to cover the holes, then remove them to…
Gunhilda on August 5, 2009 at 5:39 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great sounding speakers
I have a pair of these speakers and use them for for my front L/R speakers in my home theater. I am very impressed which the sound quality I get from these speakers.
Oraefo on August 5, 2009 at 7:01 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great pair of speakers
I am using them for my rear surrounds. Worked like they are supposed to. Easy to install. They sound great. They look great.
Xing on August 5, 2009 at 7:12 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fit the Bill
I am overall very pleased with these speakers. Unfortunately, there were a few unforeseen glitches that I ran into that were not anyone’s fault.
Bade on August 5, 2009 at 7:48 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great speakers with aimable tweeters
Installation was very easy. The frame and grill took paint beautifully and blended right into the wall. A thin film behind the grill hides the speaker cones.
Audrina on August 5, 2009 at 8:17 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good clean sound
I have two pairs of these speakers, one in my kitchen ceiling and one in my dining room wall. Both installations sound great.
Rafferty on August 5, 2009 at 8:26 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
one non-expert’s opinion
Circuit City’s Firedog team recommended these and after a lot of research I had them installed this weekend. They rock!