Polks Up In Da House: Better Than Missions?...Yes. (1 Viewer)

[Chuck C]

Brent Cantrell, loyal Polk enthusiast and current salesman

shipped my friend Mark his Polk RT35i's not too long ago, and they arrived today! We did some comparisons against my Mission 701 speakers. For reference, both have a 1" tweeter and 6.5" midbass.
Up against Fifth Element, U2 Best of Album, and Some MP3s, the Polks are hands down better. Both speakers are very dynamic, but as far as tightness and soundstaging and all those other terms, the Polks win. Wow are they sweet! Build is impecable, they are very powerful, and that blue woof is sweet. As for the Missions, they sound disconected and muddy. The 701s have deeper bass--not by much, but the RT35i's have better bass; I'd describe it as connected. In other words, there is a lack of midrange with the Missions. The tweeters on the Polks are very powerful and sound more transperent than the 701's cloth/silk tweeters. As a matter of fact transparent is the key description for the RT35i's. I'd best describe the Polks as alive and very well-rounded. Look out, because these are just the future rear speakers!
I'm pretty jealous now

If you have any q's, let me know.
(assoc. equipment Onkyo TX-DS575x: Dolby D, Stereo with and w/o sub, 5-Channel Stereo, Panasonic RV30, Velo 810, 16awg)
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Chuck
http://www.hometheaterinsider.com
[Edited last by Chuck C on September 28, 2001 at 08:19 PM]

 

[Thomas_A]

Glad to see you and your friend are enjoying the Polks.... Many dismiss them due to the fact that CC sells them... but I put them up against some B&W's...wich I was not impressed with
think the 35's are great... should try the 55i's
Peace out
Thomas
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So far, So good, So what
Link Removed
http://thomas2307.homestead.com/thomasworld.html

 

[Jake Austin]

I'm glad CC sells them. I work there and get em at about 65% off.
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Link Removed

 

[Andy Kim]

I have the Mission 700's and the Mission 70c1 center and I have to say that from my experiences, these Missions sound good for music but not so much so for home theater. Chuck, they do sound muddy and lack the clarity that my ears seek. I can't tell you how many times I've fiddle with speaker placement...I've found that the Missions play clear when they are played loud. At lower volumes, they get muddy.

 

[Chuck C]

Andy, I totally feel ya. Turn them up loud and they still sound artificial but better. On a related note, my Mission 704s back at home sound totally better than the 701s. Now I'm stuck...sell and upgrade? I might be crazy enough.

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Chuck
http://www.hometheaterinsider.com

 

[MatthewJ S]

Missions vs Polks? I'd have to say that ,without having compared those 2 specific models side-by-side, I'd deffer to your judgement, but personal experiance w/ selling the 2 lines would make me think that if you were using a receiver that better handled the efficiancy diff(I would guess that the missions are lower) then you might experiance differant results. The ability to control the drivers and the quality of the amps will greatly influence the test ...as for polk, I've noticed a differance between the tijuana made models of today and the older baltimore ones...also , did you all volume match, just a thought.....

 

[Chuck C]

Matthew, you name it, we did it all....quiet volumes, high volumes, matched volumes. Of course you're right, I only had one type of amp for comparison, but hey, I'm just telling you what I heard for myself.
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Chuck
http://www.hometheaterinsider.com

 

[joe logston]

went to circit city last week to have a lesan to the rt-35 and rt-55 polks and to my ears the rt-35 sounded a lettle better a cleaner sound to it the rt-55 are too bass heavy the rt-35 had deeper sound stage but it was the the right set up for both speakers you need to have them at home and set up right but the sound of them as is the rt-35 are a better sounding speaker. thank you, joe

 

[RichardH]

Glad you like your new Polks. I used to own RT35's, before they were the "i" version. I actually went through 5 pairs of them because they all rattled at a certain frequency. I think Polk has lost a step in QC or that was a batch made on a Friday
Anyway, how much did the 701s cost you? I'm wondering how the Polks would fare against something like the 772 (which is what I happen to have at the moment). I do have fond memories of the RT35s when I had them.
Polk has a new LSi line out which appears to use the top-of-the-line Vifa XT tweeter. I guess Polk isn't making all of their drivers anymore. Should be interesting to hear those when they get to the stores. It's the same tweeter used in Krell's $30k speakers!!!

 

[Chuck C]

I paid $200 for a brand new pair of 701s (ebay). BTW, the RT35i's aren't mine, they belong to my lucky friend. Read about the run down of his system here.