Polk Audio 265-LS 3-Way High Performance In-Wall Loudspeaker, Single

2023-05-28T20:00:00

I've had these speakers as front LR in my 7.1 system for about 6 months. I'm so glad I went with Polk. I've had lots of brands but this is my first Polk system. I started my selection with 11 brands and narrowed it down to Polk. I felt like all of the other brands were some kind of compromise. Out of my final 3 choices it was also the only one that was not way overpriced for a high quality speaker. My room is a multi-purpose family room with lots of acoustic challenges and the 265-LS fronts do a great job of filling the room. I'm running a Polk R300 for center and RC60i's for both side and rear surrounds.

SergioC

Originally posted at

2018-11-10T19:00:00

Picked up a pair of the 265 LS and a 255c-ls for my family room. Installation was some as most modern inwalls tend to be. The look and feel of the units are definitely a premium. The micro mesh cover is fantastic. Like most higher end inwalls they grills are magnetic and paintable. Yes the speaker is much larger than many inwalls, but you are getting an additional 6-1/2 inch driver out of it. And it still fits in a standard 2x4@16"o.c. stud bay.Now for the sound. I will say the clarity of voices is tremendous. It was immediate to both myself and my other half that the clarity in vocal ranges justified the change of inwalls. We had a fairly mid level inwalls prior that sounded ok. Still we're not my favorite but these really make low level listening an enjoyable experience. They have a unique take on the tweeter woofer adjustment. The woofer adjustment is more a reverb adjustment as it simply states closer or farther than 2 feet from a wall. While the tweeter simply cuts out the 4khz to 5khz range to prevent unwanted resonance. It works well, and there is an included Bass Port foam filler if you have non insulated or deep cavity walls. Imaging is decent,much better than I expected. This is a huge limitation for inwalls. I would have loved to have a way to toe in the woofers or possibly the entire unit and not just the ring radiator tweeter. But overall I was happy and can't complain. Personally I prefer a horn loaded compression tweeter, the ring radiator was not my favorite change, but after giving it time I understand it's benefit. Simply it's not offensive. It is very generous and forgiving with poor quality material and can sing comfortably with a good source and higher volume with a great power source. Listening to Hans Zimmer live in prague in Dolby Atmos was a pleasure at reference volumes. At low volume it was good but once it was up it felt near live. In the end I highly recommend these inwalls for their quailty of sound, quality of build, and calm demeanor. Movies feel big and voices are clear, music is reproduced very well and I am delighted that an affordable inwall can check off so many marks. I compared these to many companies with the top 3 being Klipsch pro 250 rpw, JBL studio 2 8iw, and sonance vp-82. The Klipsch and jbls are incredible but are unforgiving with poor source material. Their horn designs bring a clarity that is fantastic but they will also bring out many imperfection in your room, quality of your products, and the source material. The sonance were excellent, most of their products are. However as much as I really wanted an 8inch woofer they didn't audition well in my room and I feel like it might have been their additional warmth that I didn't want. I felt they colored some source material in a way I didn't find natural, which shocked me considering I've had other models that really challenged for top spot. In the end I went with the laid back sound of the Polk that still remained clear. A little to do with the discount I came across but also to do with the easier listening at lower levels without hurting reference levels. They were comfortable and for this room that's what mattered most. Next I will have to try out a couple or a few Polk subwoofers and see if their smaller footprint than my svs and Klipsch units keeps a smile on my face, my ears warm, and a beat in my chest. Thanks Polk! I can officially recommend your products to strangers, clients and friends! I am hoping an 8 inch combo LS inwall is in the works, and a model that can be aimed entirely would really take these up a massive notch without much engineering involved! Same with the center. It's good but bigger is almost always better in audio!

Stuiemac

Originally posted at