Polk 65-RT Architectural Speakers white

Excellent in-wall speaker for the price. We have used them as rear/surrounds in small-ish and medium-sized rooms with fantastic results. Like most similarly-priced in-wall speakers, this model (and others from Polk) do not have integrated enclosures (a box-like structure made of thin material, similar to a traditional speaker cabinet). The lack of an enclosure means that much of the sound energy dissipates behind the speaker and gets lost inside the wall cavity. Manufacturers claim that they take wall cavities into account when designing this type of in-wall speaker -- and that the space between wall studs functions like an oversized speaker cabinet. The problem is that studs often have holes or gaps, especially in big cities like NYC where metal studs (with large pre-punched holes every foot or two) are required by code, even in residential buildings. Anyway, this speaker sounds surprisingly good and while a lot of sound does seem to disappear within the wall, plenty of sound gets to the listener in the room. We add foam inserts inside the wall about a foot above and below the speaker, and that helps. A nice feature on this model is that the tweeter is mounted in a gimbal, allowing the tweeter to be aimed at an angle -- very handy for tweaking directionality without the hassle of cutting another hole and moving the speaker in case the initial placement is not perfect (or if you change your furniture or room layout down the road). If you don't have budget constraints then consider more expensive "audiophile" brands like Sonance or Definitive, as many of their in-wall speakers have integrated enclosures, nicer speaker components, and better crossover circuitry. But expect to pay 5x to 10x as much for those fancy in-wall speakers that may or may not sound slightly better to listeners with critical ears. Just keep in mind that many, many factors are involved -- particularly the size and proportions of the room, furniture and cabinets in the room, windows and doors, amplifiers and other equipment used in the system, etc. For the vast majority of home theatre owners, these would be a great choice for a small or small-to-medium room. For larger rooms, look at Polk's 265-RT.

I have these at ear height and at the same height my Polk CSi A6 Centre channel. When I had first set up my system, the subs weren't working in some situations. For example, when playing Spotify music. I have to say that the speakers alone providing the bass was quite impressive! I had to put my ear to the subs to make sure they were on or off. Now with the everything working as usual, the subs make a huge difference but that accidental test gave me alot of confidence in these speakers My walls are grey and I decided to leave the grills white and I think they look nice. The thin bezel is really nice and really do look built in. For your reference I am using these speakers as my front R/L speakers in a 5.2.4 Dolby Atmos setup. . The other speakers are: Center - CSi A6 Subs - BIC America PL-200 and Mirage Nano Sub (made by klipsh 8") Height - Polk MC80 x 4 (Front and rear height) Rear - Polk MC80 (I put the ceiling speakers in wall and it works well)

The weak bass is probably the absence of a speaker box for resonance, otherwise okay.

These are excellent wall speakers for the money. Have been using Polk speakers for over 30 years and never had a problem; just quality audio.

Easy to install, look great, sound better!!