Polk AudioRC80i 2-way Premium In-Ceiling 8" Round Speakers, Set of 2 Perfect for Damp and Humid Indoor/Outdoor Placement - Bath, Kitchen, Covered Porches (White, Paintable-Grille)

I'm an Audio Engineer by trade. I purchased 4 sets of these because Amazon was throwing in the 8" subwoofer and I couldn't be more pleased. I created a 7.1 environment. One speaker didn't get used but whatever. I paid under $600 for the entire setup with shipping n' all that. Forget paying the $300+ for a center speaker. IF you have all of the same, then the timber of the should should be even. When I score films, I use the same speaker types for the 5.1, 6.1, 7.1.Installation:The installation was a walk in the park! I had to cut into a wall stud to make the center speaker fit but that was the hardest and most time consuming part. Installing them in the dry wall took all of a few minutes for the 3 speakers (L/R/C).I do recommend getting some insulation and putting that in first before you install your speakers. It dramatically increases the performance and sound. The wall I was installing them in didn't have any so I went up in the attic and cut out some small pieces from a part of my ceiling. IT worked like charm. :-)Once those were done we cut into the ceiling and started installing them there. Those were a little tricky because in some parts I had Drywall and in another I had some form of concrete or something like that. It had wires n' all that. After we broke through it (extremely messy) the installation of those speaker went just as smooth as the others. Just had to patch and paint a little but it wasn't too much of a pain.Running the wires weren't too much of a pain. There was a closet on the other side so I just drilled a hole and ran the speaker wires into the closet. THEN I drilled another larger whole over by the receiver and ran all of the wires through that. I have an attic so when I ran the wires from the ceiling ones, I drilled another whole in the closet (top) and dropped all of the wires down form there and then into the larger hole by the receiver.Eventually I'm going to use wall plates but I didn't have them and I was too excited!I recommend getting 200 feet of speaker wire. Be liberal with it because more wire is better than less wire.These speakers have tweeters that can be angled. I recommend you angle them to your listening position.Sound:Once I turned on the receiver I said "oh... I guess it sounds ok". Then I started to justify it... "I only paid $500 for it so I get what I pay for...". DON'T GO DOWN THAT STREET! I started to play with the receiver (Sony) and I started tweaking the levels: FLAT EQ and adjust volume settings according to your room.FOR THE RECORD, LOUD BASS doesn't mean your system is good. You want to have an even sound. The bass will stand out but too much bass can really mess up the listening experience.Anywhoo, after making the adjustments I realized that I was watching my regular cable 1080i on an OLD movie that didn't really have too much 5.1 let alone 7.1, SO I did some tests:** Avatar: 4 of 5 - I liked it a lot but it didn't have enough for me.The speakers performed very well. I had it about a quarter of the way up in total volume. No issues...** G.I. Joe: 4 of 5... Explosions, lasers, sword fighting the works!I was starting to get hooked on the speakers! I had this one turned up about half way because I wanted to hear all the crazy stuff that goes on in the fighting scenes. Speakers performed very well** Star Trek: 5 of 5... They did a WONDERFUL job on this.In this movie I cranked the speakers up about half way as well. It was "loud" but no fatigue or signs of distortion.** 2010: 5 0f 5... This movie had so much CGI and destruction I just had to try it.This was cranked up about 3 quarters of the way up. It was LOUD but you can REALLY HEAR EVERY SPEAKER in the 7.1 playing something different. AWESOME TEST! The speakers held in there and at that point I was satisfied completely satisfied with my purchase.Conclusion:The 7.1 (Polk RC65i and the 8" sub) is a WONDERFUL combination. I'm very pleased with the performance and sound. I would recommend this particular configuration to anyone looking. You will not be disappointed.Make sure you get the right receiver that puts out the right amount of wattage. I have a Sony STR-DH810. It puts out enough power to do these speakers justice. Onkyo makes some good ones as well. If you under power these speakers you WILL lose out on sound. GET A GOOD RECEIVER WITH THE RIGHT POWER.If your room is larger and you decide to get the 8" version of these speakers, get a larger sub like a 12". The others will go deep enough to capture most of what your looking for and you can tweak the larger subs crossover and have it push out the REALLY low frequencies.I hope this helps anyone out there looking!

Excellent speakers at a fair price. Easy to mount. Nice looking when installed

I bought these to install in the basement we just finished. They are mostly to play music during parties and also to hook into the tv if we have parties for the "big game" etc. so the sound can be broadcast though-out the entire basement. We pre-wired three speaker locations to cover the entire 1500 sq ft. These two speakers sound great. You walk from area to are and the sound just carries from one location to the next. The sound is consistent through-out. No loud spots / quiet spots. Turn the sound up loud (I have a high quality Dennon receiver that is probably overkill) and there is no distortion.They were very easy to install. Take the little card board template, draw your circle, drill a pilot hole, and cut it out. (I used a fine tooth saw-zaw blade by hand since we had already painted the ceiling and I didn't want it to chip/scuff the ceiling, but a jig saw would have probably done fine. Either way is ok, dry wall is easy to saw. On a ladder I used one hand to hold the speaker and the other to easily make the connections. The connecters are easy to work with one hand. I then just inserted into the ceiling, pulled the screw drive our of my pocket (don't forget to do this or you will be down the ladder with your speaker dangling from wire)... screwed in four screws that snap out and then down the little brackets that hold the speaker snug to the ceiling from inside the ceiling, and inserted the grill (which covers the speaker and the screws). Easy as can be.Another point: circles are easier to install then rectangles. If you are considering buying rectangle speakers, consider how good you are and making things square, plumb, etc. And also consider that even if you are good at it, your drywall installers, even if they worked for a good builder, may not be. So you ceiling and/or wall may not be at right angles to each other. If you install in ceiling close to a wall, or in wall close to a ceiling, you may end up with a speaker that looks crooked one way or another. And even if the walls and ceiling are all straight, it's still hard to stand on a ladder, measure the how far each corner is to your nearest reference point, set the template etc. With circles, these problems go away.Two quick wiring tips:1. When you do the initial wiring, make sure you leave enough slack so that the wire hangs and least three feet down lower then the ceiling. It makes connecting the wire to the speaker much easier when standing on a ladder to not have to be making the connections over your head. You'd rather have it waist high. So leave enough slack, it easily tucks up into the ceiling when the speaker is installed.2. I mentioned that I wired for three speakers. Since these come in pairs, I wanted to buy a single 3rd speaker instead of buying a second pair and having one left over. I made the mistake of buying the very similar "Polk Audio RC6s" for my third speaker without reading enough of the description or reviews. That speaker probably works fine, but it requires two sets of speaker wire, not one. I of course had one set of wire to each speaker location. This "Polk Audio RC6s" I now find out is both a left and right speaker all in one little package. So it didn't work for me. I ended up buy and second set of the product we are talking about here, and it now works perfectly. So if you do the same, either run two sets of wire or just buy yourself a second set... The set is not much more money then the single "Polk Audio RC6s" anyway.Polk Audio RC6s In-Ceiling Stereo Speaker (Single, White)

These are fantastic speakers. I installed them in my ceilings all over my home. Great speaker for the price.