Klipsch CDT-5800-C II In-Ceiling Speaker – White (Each)

Love’em!
I bought these to replace my existing ones and to match the other speakers in my system. They were easy to install and sound great!

Theatre sounds!
These sound great!

Love Klipsch
Great sound, great design and easy installation.

Polk RC80i verses Klipsch CDT-5800-C II
This review will be cross-posted.I bought a pair of Polk RC80i’s for my bathrooms (one in each) and two Klipsch CDT-5800-C II’s for my great room, all driven by an Elan A1240 12 channel amplifier.To understand any mileage (“may vary”) differences, you need to understand the room you’re installing in compared to mine: one bathroom (guest) is about 8 feet by 15 feet with standard 8 foot ceilings; the other (master) is much longer and has vaulted ceilings, varying depth, but not beyond 10 feet; finally, my great room has 20 foot vaulted ceilings in an L shape that is mostly unimpeded from the ceiling outward, sort of like an inverted bi-directional amphitheater.I’ve put about 20-30 hours on each speaker before writing this review. Some say break-in periods are over 100 hours, so bear that in mind, but I feel this has been sufficient.First, a technical spec comparison:- Polk: 8 inch woofer, rated to +-6dB @ 35Hz – 20kHz; 90db@1W,1m; 100W RMS; (110dB max); $125 each on Amazon- Klipsch: 8 inch woofer, rated to +-3dB @ 49Hz – 23kHz; 95dB@1W,1m; 50W RMS; (112dB max); $200 each on AmazonKlipsch has the additional beneficial features over the Polk of a rotating woofer assembly and a -3dB switch for woofer and tweeter independently. Both have 360deg adjustable tweeters. Klipsch also has a very nice flush magnetic grill, whereas Polk has the traditional internal circumference friction fit (which I already had fall out).Polk has dropped the ball on providing adequate technical specs for people who know how to shop to compare audio equipment. I assume their frequency response is +-6dB, but as they do not specify, it could be worse.Now the opinion:At first and for a while after installation, I was shocked to find myself vastly preferring the Polks. I thought I must have done something wrong…or maybe my ears are so biased from cheap speakers my whole life that I can’t respect good quality. Maybe it was my source audio, so I found well enconded FLAC files to test, which didn’t yield any changes. I eventually reached the realization that the Klipschs were really proximity-dependent and you had to be within about a 20 degree conical radius under them to get their full potential. The Polks did not have such a substantially strict range. I also realized that the Polk in the guest bathroom was giving a much more substatial bass response, which was playing into why I preferred it so much. That room is a massive bass trap, I realized. Now that I’ve sort of figured out the magnitude of effect the rooms and distances are playing, I can finally filter and determine the real quality of each.While the Polks are extremely good at their price point, well made, and specifically advertised as for wet environments, they do lack a slight clarity in that the Klipschs overtake them on. I may try the -3dB on the Klipschs just because of the expansive room they’re in to see if biasing towards lower frequencies helps my ears prefer them more.To describe the speakers in comparison: the Polks can be tinny at highs and more muddy at lows and mids, while the Klipschs can almost be described as lacking fullness… there’s something I can’t quite put my finger on with them aside from the need for an additional subwoofer in the room to compensate for lack of low frequency propagation.The lack of low frequency response is not something I will attribute to the Klipschs, however. I beilive the Polks would experience the same problem in the same room, as the master bath starts exhibiting a similar issue with it’s ceiling height somewhere between the other two. It is a room issue. It’s actually extremely impressive sub-50Hz can be achieved at -3dB with the Klipsch (can’t vouch for the Polk unless I measure some sweeps).So in conclusion, if you have standard 8-foot to 12-foot ceilings across the house you probably will have a better experience than me. The Klipschs are undoubtedly more clear and crisp, yet I can forsee even better speakers in my future. The question is, is the extra $150 per pair (+60%) worth it for the Klipschs? And I would say probably not, unless you have money to blow. The Polks perform outstandingly and the sound quality differences are measurable, but nearly negligible from an enjoyment perspective.

Speakers have great sound, well worth the price

Clean install. Added Martin Logan Dynamo 1600 15 inch Sub for Bass; Plus Yamaha Natural Sound Receiver; plus Sonos Port and it sounds like pure studio sound.Great range of Mids and highs. Great Dept. Handles power. Plays crisp and clean at loud volume levels. Worth the upgrade.

Great addition to my theatre upgrade. 7.2.4 atmos set up on a Yamaha RX a3070. Really adds a new dimension to movies coded with atmos.