Polk Audio 265RT Speaker - Review
We don’t get many in-wall speakers in for review as clients usually prefer to mount bookshelf or satellite speakers, but as part of a recent cinema install, we found ourselves with the Polk Audio 265RT and thought it was worth sharing our opinions. Designed to be mounted on a wall in a seamless fashion, they work well to create a seamless audio integration in your home.
Specification
Depth:3.56" (9.04 cm)
Weight:8.1 lbs (3.67 kg)
Driver Complement:• (2) 6.5" (16.51 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance mineral composite polypropylene cone with rubber surround - Mid/Woofer
• (1) 1" (2.54 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance silk/polymer composite dome - TweeterGrille Dimensions:20.88" (53.04 cm) h x 8.88" (22.56 cm) w
Dimensions:19.81" (50.32 cm) h x 7.25" (18.42 cm) w
Speaker Inputs:(1) Pair of Push Connectors - Gold-Plated
Total Frequency Response:30 Hz → 27,000 Hz
Nominal Impedance:8 ohms
Sensitivity (1 watt @ 1 meter):91 dB
Lower and Upper -3dB Limits:45 Hz → 25,000 Hz
Recommended Amplifier Power Per Channel:10 watts → 200 watts
Build Quality and Design
Build Quality is good. It’s kind of what we expect from Polk at this point. We have reviewed many of their ceiling speakers, and they generally offer one of the higher standards when it comes to the design and construction of their speakers.
The nature of this type of speaker dictates that there is no cabinet. Due to being mounted on your wall, the speaker will not require the protection an exposed speaker would. Instead, the front plate is a high-quality ABS plastic with the same material used on the rear mounting system by the drivers. It feels solid in hand, and I suspect will hold up fine for many years.
The external grills provided an added layer of protection. They are made of metal, and you can easily paint them to color match a room.
How to install the Polk Audio 265T
Installing speakers into ceilings or walls can be tricky, which is why we advise most folk to pay extra to an installer to do the job. However, if you fancy having a go yourself, these are one of the easier speakers to set up.
The first reason it’s easier is that you are installing them on a wall and not hanging yourself upside down. The second and third reasons are more about how Klipsch lays it all out for you.
In the box, we found a template so that we could mark and cut the exact hole size required to fill the speaker. You need to be careful you are drilling into drywall without cabling, support beams, or pipes. Once the holes are cut to the correct size, proceed to route the cables. These are passive speakers, so they need to be used with external amplification.
As you are installing the speakers inside the walls, you need to use special insulated cables that comply with the relevant building codes in your location; a regular speaker cable is not suitable for this purpose and can pose a fire hazard.
With cables routed and amp attached (do not turn the amp on yet), proceed to installation. The cables should have some excess slack that so you can attach them to the speaker. When this is done, turn the feet of the eight twist clamps inwards and slide the speaker into the wall.
When the speaker has been inserted then, twist the feet to point outwards and start turning the screw. This process will apply pressure from the feet of the mounts against the internal drywall and create a secure connection.
How does the Polk Audio 265T sound?
The sound depends on what you expect, will these rival a set of floor-standing speakers? Absolutely not. These are designed to be used as part of a home cinema and in combination with a subwoofer. When you get them dialed in for movies, these sound absolutely fantastic.
The three-way design is cool, but the driver size is not sufficient to give us a sense of realistic bass presence for movies. Hooking them up with our Polk 10-inch sub brought the whole system to life. With the bass handled by the subwoofer, the highs and mids were beautifully displayed by the 265RT in a crystal clear yet natural presentation.
Voices sounded very realistic, bringing higher notes on children and female vocals to life while giving grunt and weight to the males.
Spacial coverage while we watched Interstellar was grand and impactful, like they were throwing sound at us and creating lots of stereo separation.
Music also sounded good, but as I mentioned above not as good as a real audiophile hifi system, you can easily pick it up for the same amount of money.
Final Verdict
The Polk Audio 265RT has a lot of stuff I liked during the review. The build quality is excellent, and the installation was extremely simple if you are already a little capable at DIY. The sound produced is on the higher end of these sorts of installations, and I personally believe they offer better value than similar speakers from Klipsch or Bose. You can’t go wrong for the money, but to get the most out of them, you definitely need to pair them with a subwoofer.
