Our take on the Polk Audio MC85

by Amanda P.

Fill your room with great sound, without sacrificing an inch of floor space. Polk's MC85 speakers, sold separately, install flush in your wall for a sleek, attractive look. Pivot the 3/4" tweeter to aim the high-frequencies where you like, so you can fine-tune your system's sound. The 8" woofer provides rich, warm lows. And this speaker's moisture-resistant design means you can use it in your kitchen, bathroom, sauna, or even outdoors, under the eaves.

Building a system
Install a pair of the MC85s for stereo music listening. These speakers can also work as the fronts, center, and surrounds in a surround sound system. The MC85s are voice-matched with the other MC in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, so you can mix and match.

An optional in-wall bracket is recommended for installing the MC-85 in a new home under construction.

Got wire?
Most speakers don't include any. Learn more about in-wall wiring at the Crutchfield Learning Center.
Shop our selection of in-wall speaker wire.

See more info on this item

Our 60-day money-back guarantee

Highlights:

sold individually
frequency response 50-20,000 Hz (-3dB)
3/4" aimable silk dome tweeter
8" Dynamic Balance® woofer
handles up to 100 watts
sensitivity 90 dB
8-ohm impedance
paintable white matte grilles
durable, moisture-resistant construction
cutout: 8-3/4"W x 12-3/4"H
mounting depth: 3-7/16"
lifetime warranty

Priced each

Hands-on research from the Crutchfield Labs (what are the Labs?)

Features and specs chart | What’s in the box? | In-depth notes

Features and Specs


Enclosure Type Loading...	In-wall
Video Shielded Loading...	No
Tweeter Loading...	Dome
Midrange Size Loading...	---
Woofer Size Loading...	8
Woofer Composition Loading...	Composite
Woofer Surround Loading...	Rubber
Power Range (Watts) Loading...	20-100
Sensitivity Loading...	92 dB
Impedance (Ohms) Loading...	8
Frequency Response Loading...	50-20kHz
Connector Type Loading...	Spring clip
Bi-Amp Inputs Loading...	No
Parts Warranty Loading...	Lifetime
Labor Warranty Loading...	Lifetime

Product Research

What's in the box?

Download owner's manual

White in-wall speaker
White grille
Cardboard template
Plastic paint shield
Owner's Manual (Eng/Fre/Spa)
Online registration card

Our Product Research Team

At Crutchfield, you'll get detailed, accurate information that's hard to find elsewhere. That's because we have our own in-house Product Research team — they open the box, verify contents, check the owner's manual, and record dimensions, features and specs. We stay on top of new products and technologies to help people make informed choices.

Features
Mounting Options

Features

MC Series: The Polk Audio MC Series in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakers offer great built-in sound for multi-room listening. The MC Series features Dynamic Balance driver technology, an aimable tweeter, and polymer cone woofers, which ensures your music always sounds crisp and clear. The MC Series also uses infinite baffle tuning for excellent bass response, so you can install them in virtually any kind of wall.

Dynamic Balance Technology: Laser imaging technology allows Polk Audio engineers to see the entire vibrating surface of a driver and tweeter; they can actually see the resonance develop on the speaker cones-resonance that is the root cause of loudspeaker distortion. Being able to see the resonance develop, they then determine the Dynamic Balance of high-tech materials, geometry and construction that together effectively tune out the offending resonance. Exclusive Dynamic Balance Composite Material Technology delivers sound that is effortlessly clean and clear, even at lifelike volume levels.

Woofer: The Polk Audio MC85 in-wall speaker features a 8.0" Dynamic Balance Polymer Composite Cone for smooth wide-range response with low distortion. The polymer composite cone provides excellent damping and bass response while resisting deterioration. For a smoother response and improved durability, each woofer uses a rubber surround.

Tweeter: The MC85 in-wall speaker uses a 3/4" aimable silk dome tweeter with neodymium magnet for clear, detailed highs and excellent imaging even for off-axis listening positions. Aiming the tweeter toward your listening position improves imaging and detail.

Infinite Baffle Tuning: Infinite Baffle Tuning uses the virtual enclosure of in-wall/in-ceiling space for superior bass response.

Moisture-resistant: Durable, moisture-resistant materials allow you to install the speakers in bathrooms, kitchens, saunas, even under outdoor eaves.

Timbre-matched: The MC Series speakers are timbre matched to Polk Audio's freestanding speakers, such as the Polk Monitor, TSi, and OWM series; just in case you need in-wall/in-ceiling surround speakers to match your freestanding fronts.

Mounting Options

Installation: Each speaker requires a cutout of 8.75" (W) x 12.75" (H), with a depth of 3.3125" behind the drywall. Each speaker frame has a width of 10" and a height of 14.3125". Once the holes are cut, each speaker is placed in the opening and the Rotating Cams are tightened, allowing you to secure each speaker to the drywall without any extra assembly. The cam extends 1.25" deep from the mounting surface of the speaker and will accommodate a drywall thickness up to 1.25". When the cams are rotated, each extends 0.8125" beyond the 8.75" cutout width. If you will not be mounting these speakers in drywall, make sure the wall or ceiling material can safely support the weight of the speakers before installation; each speaker weighs approximately 3.6 pounds.

Paintable: The grille and flange can be painted, allowing these speakers to match any decor.

Review this product

Submit a review and you will be entered to win a $150 gift card

Crutchfield Great Gear Giveaway Official Sweepstakes Rules

Reviews for the Polk Audio MC85

Average Customer Review:

3 people say:

Review this product:

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences about this product. Please be sure to focus your comments on the product itself. Read our Review Guidelines for more information.

Review title

* Email

Your email won't be visible. Please use the email address that is associated with your order.

Display name

(e.g., JohnD) Your review will be signed using the display name and location

* Your location

(e.g., Charlottesville, VA)

* Your rating

Click on a star to rate the overall product on a scale of 1-5

1500 characters left * Your review

Attach a YouTube Review

Crutchfield Video Review Guidelines

Only submit videos that you made or are authorized to use.
Do not submit videos that contain music, video or visuals that are copyrighted and belong to someone else.
Please see our Review Guidelines for more information.

Submit the URL of your YouTube™ video review or product demonstration. e.g., "http://www.youtube.com/v/o79TWHh598U"

500 characters left Pros

500 characters left Cons

* Agree to Terms By checking this box you agree your review becomes the property of Crutchfield, that you are over 18 years of age, that you own or have owned this product, and that you are located within the United States or its territories. Please see our Review Guidelines for more information. We reserve the right (but are not obligated to) review all submissions and edit or remove any review in any manner which we deem necessary. Your review should be posted within seven days.

Filter by rating:

5 Star: (2)

4 Star: (1)

3 Star: (0)

2 Star: (0)

1 Star: (0)

Sort by:

Showing: 1-3 of 3

View page: 1

4 out of 5

Great Speakers

Written By Mallard27, St. Louis, MO on Wednesday, June 05, 2013

I was looking for speakers for my workshop that would offer a good level of base as I enjoy my music. These may have been overkill for the room but I got them at a great price. Overall, I am very pleased with the product except for the fact that they really shake my wall. I wish this would have been talked about somewhere as I don't think I would have purchased these speakers had I known this. I have in ceiling polk speakers, the RC series, and I don't have problems with this as far as I know. All in all, great speakers. I am rating as 5 star because of the severe wall shaking that is occurring. I am considering returning the speakers given the amount of wall vibration. I used 1" foam insulation in my walls and cut this away behind the speakers. I also put fiberglass insulation above and below the speakers in hope this would help and it did a little but not as much as I hoped. I did some browsing on some forums and it seems like this is a somewhat common issue with in wall speakers.

Pros:

Great base, great overall sound

Cons:

Shake the walls a lot. I am concerned that my drop ceiling is going to shake and that it could be bad to mount a TV on the wall given the rather severe vibration at times. An advisor recommended I use Russound Flexbox, but this is way to expensive for what I am doing. The wall vibrates across the whole wall and onto adjacent walls so this isn't just around the speakers themselves.

Was this review helpful? Yes | No

5 out of 5

Wall speaker

Written By Honeid, Crystal Lake Illinois on Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)

excellent speakers for the cost

Was this review helpful? Yes | No

5 out of 5

Beautiful

Written By Eric, Celebration, Fl on Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)

These installed great, were clean and tight to the wall and had no issues. Once the system was going these speakers really shined. The bass response was fantastic, the pitch was clear and tight and and the overall sound reproduction was amazing. The more these speakers were used the better they sounded (short break in period but wow).

Highly recommend in all regards.

25 out of 26 people found this helpful

Was this review helpful? Yes | No

1-3 of 3