Ever wonder which one is the best when you compare Polk audio’s in-ceiling sound speakers, the Polk 70rt vs Polk 700 Ls?
Listen, choosing between Polk Audio 700LS high-performance in-ceiling and Polk Audio 70-RT 3-way in-ceiling speaker is not easy as these popular vanishing in-ceiling speakers are both versatile in their own right. So I’m guessing your presence here means you can’t make up your mind and decide which one between Polk 70 rt and Polk 700 Ls Audio in-ceiling speakers to choose for your home surround sound setup.
After Comparing Polk 70rt vs Polk 700 Ls side by side, I have concluded that Polk 700Ls is the best in-ceiling speakers than Polk 70rt Ceiling speakers and here is why:
- Polk audio’s 700ls is the best in-ceiling bass speaker line the brand produces.
- Apart from the thumping bass, Polk audio’s 700ls produce high quality sound with clarity.
- The Polk Audio’s in-ceiling speakers are affodable budget premium brand worth the money.
- Polk 700Ls is the best in-ceilling paintable outdoor speakers worth the money and easy to install for novices.
While it is easy to try to compare two products of different brands, it can be quite interesting to compare products of the same brand.
Polk Audio specializes in the manufacturing of different types of speakers which are suitable for their purpose. It also makes speakers made to fit in your wall or your ceiling, which are called in-wall and in-ceiling speakers.
When you think of speakers that are trending as the world’s best, Polk Audio speakers will probably be at your top besides other manufacturers like Micca and JBL.
In this article, we are primarily focusing our attention on two speakers, the 70rt model and the 700 Ls model, both of which were made by Polk Audio.
We want to know all the similarities and the differences that they have while looking at their various features and specifications, all of which is set to help you choose which one is right for your home.
A Quick Polk Audio Brand Overview
Polk Audio has existed for so many years- longer than we can even remember. Polk Audio has maintained one great thing since it first started producing these products is none other than good quality.
With the well-known durability of the products, the quality mentioned many times, and the features offered in their products, Polk Audio has earned a reputation of itself as one of the leading producers of great speakers.
Just as a highlight of what we are to be covering, let’s look at a few similarities of both speakers’ features.
The Polk 70rt and the 700 Ls have a paintable grille. The advantage of having a speaker that you can paint is that the speaker can blend into your living room and can literary disappear, especially when if the In-ceiling models.
On top of that, they have dual bandpass bass ports. These are highly efficient in small enclosures and also they ensure that the angled woofer’s low frequencies are smoothly funneled down the driver array.
This eliminates chuffing, allowing your speaker to achieve full range blending without sacrificing any bass. Polk Audio knows that you love your bass.
Now that we have looked at the few similar characteristics in these speakers, it is time to get into the bigger details.
Best In-Ceiling Features
This section will look at the features in both of these Polk Audio speakers, giving you a side-by-side comparison.
Simple Setup
Believe it or not, both of these speakers are very easy to install. They both come in a one-cut , drop installation which puts the built-in audio within range. Also, expect to find some perfect-fit templates, a precision flange as well as some pre-construction brackets.
These make sure that you achieve a secure and vibration-free efficiency with a simple turn of the patented rotating Cam system.
Don’t you just hate it when the speaker is producing some unwanted vibrations?
It may not seem to bother you for a short time but if you are an all-day music person, the vibrations can be annoying, it can even cause your pet to become uncomfortable.
The good thing is that with both of these speakers, these problems are minimized.
Timbre-Matching
This is one special blending feature. To keep the definition short, timbre-matching simply means “integrating”.
Speaking of which, both the Ls and the rt speakers are timbre-matched to ensure that there is a seamless blending from one speaker to the other, which can be a plus if you plan to combine traditional with built-in speakers.
Reflective room compensation feature
The reflective room compensation feature is one of the modern features that, I think, will catch your interest.
We all know that reflective surfaces distort images, but did you know that they also affect audio quality? It is true.
Reflective surfaces actually make the audio to sound brighter- I hope this makes sense.
The 70rt and the 700 Ls models were built with a vanishing reflective room compensation feature, which when engaged (by selecting a low setting) can lower the tweeter levels to compensate for the reflective surfaces in the room.
How does it work?
Basically, the VRRC (we just made it shorter) is a custom Audio control that cuts the level only in the 4-5kHz range, which is the exact point at which reflectivity destroys sound quality.
Sheer-Grille
The 70 rt and the 700 Ls, both of which fall in the vanishing series, have a magnetically-secured grille.
This Grille protrudes about 7mm (which is fair) from its surroundings. These Sheer-grilles have ultra-small perfs that are almost transparent.
They are built to be acoustically inert, for a lively as well as an unhindered sound. Even though most of them are used in a medium sized room, they have a wide sound coverage, making them suitable for large rooms too.
Cassini oval woofer
Both speakers have a Cassini oval woofer which is mounted above and behind the main driver as well as the tweeter array.
This ensures that the sound has a broad coverage and a dynamic full-range audio performance.
Re-engineered radiator tweeters
The tweeters in the 700 Ls were re-engineered for its customers. They produce a top-end response for the most realistic sounds ever.
The tweeters in the Polk Audio 70rt model, however, were not re-engineered.
Vanishing wall distance toggle switch
This is yet another feature that the 700 Ls has that the 70rt doesn’t have. Many speakers generally produce a boomy sound, especially when the proximity of the surface between the speakers results in a response bump within the frequencies of 50 hertz to about 200 hertz.
This can happen when positioning limitations demand that the loudspeakers should be installed closer than 2 feet from side walls.
That’s where the vanishing wall distance toggle switch comes in. Its main function is to adjust the crossover to flatten response and tune out the boomy sounds (or boominess).
The function does all this while ensuring that the deep bass response is not at all sacrificed, giving you a flexible placement and most importantly, a life-like sound.
Paintable In-Ceiling Speakers
Above a lot of these features, users seem to be interested in this feature the most. The speakers are indeed paintable.
You can install the speakers in your ceiling and in your wall then paint them to make them match the colors in the room. Once again, Polk Audio continues making its customers happy.
Power Port
The power port in the 70rt model has a patented bass venting design which smoothly transitions the air flow.
What this does is that it eliminates unnecessary instability and falsehood, which gives you a deeper and superior bass quality.
Accessories
Now that we are aware of the similarities and the differences between these two models in terms of the various features above, let’s get into the accessories.
Accessory Quantity 70rt model 700 Ls model
Sheer Grille (White) 1 Available Available
PB Constr. Bracket 1 Sold Separate Sold separate
Audio Quality
Feature 70rt 700 Ls Model
Total Frequency Response 34 Hz to 27,000 Hz 32 Hz to 33,000 Hz
Nominal Impedance 8 ohms 8 ohms
Sensitivity (1 watt @ 1 meter) 90 dB 90 dB
Lower and Upper -3dB Limits 48 Hz to 25,000 Hz 45 Hz to 29,000 Hz
External Amplifier
Without external amplifiers, in-ceiling speakers can not do what Polk ceiling speakers with an external amplifier are capable of doing. So, in that respect, I recommend an amplifier with a range of power per Channel in the 70rt model which is from 10 watts to about 125 watts.
On the other hand, in the 700 Ls model, the power per channel range recommended to you ranges from 10 watts to as high as 150 watts.
Inputs
Feature 70rt 700 Ls
Audio Inputs for both speaker models Yes!
Speaker Inputs Yes
- Type Push Connectors – Gold-Plated Push Connectors – Gold-Plated
- Quantity 1 1
In-ceiling mount
Feature 70Rt 700 Ls
Shape Round Round
Dimensions 6.5″ (16.51 cm) diameter 6.5″ (16.51 cm) diameter
In-Ceiling Speakers
Quantity Included 1 1
Availability US internationally US
Depth 8.375″ (21.27 cm) 8.5″ (21.59 cm)
Grille Dimensions 8.13″ (20.65 cm) diameter 8.13″ (20.65 cm) diameter
As we can see, the in-ceiling speakers are not so different in size. Besides these characteristics, let’s look at the driver complement.
The 70rt model has the following
- Enjoy a 0.75″ (1.91 cm) d (Round) Silk/Polymer Tweeter – Tweeter
- You get a 2.5″ (6.35 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance Driver with Mineral-Filled Polypropylene Cone – Midrange
- Comes with a 7″ (17.78 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance Sub with Mineral-Filled Polypropylene Cone – Subwoofer
On the other hand, the 700 Ls model has the following
- You get a 2.5″ (6.35 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance driver with aerated polypropylene cone – Midrange
- Comes with a 7″ (17.78 cm) d (Round) Dynamic Balance woofer with mineral-filled polypropylene cone – Subwoofer
- Get a 0.75″ (1.91 cm) d (Round) Ring radiator – Tweeter
All of these in-ceiling architectural speaker features are provided in their respective speakers in 1 quantity each.
Warranty
You also be happy to know that you get a lifetime warranty regardless of which in-ceiling surround speaker model you choose.
