Polk Audio T50 Home Theater and Stereo Floor Standing Tower Speaker (Single, Black) - Deep Bass Response, Dolby and DTS Surround

What a difference this made in our home theater setup! We'd tried center channel speaker models from Sony and AR, but never were we satisfied with vocals until we tried this. After getting it set up and balancing the sound to each speaker properly, for the first time ever we had excellent, clear and full-bodied vocals, as well as a nice little central bass boost we weren't expecting at all. What a difference -- we can actually understand what actors are saying now, and it didn't break the bank to make it happen. Fantastic addition to our home theater enjoyment! We upgraded our main speakers recently with a pair of absolutely exceptional KLH Kendall floorstanding speakers (replacing our more than four decades old Bose 601's), and these and our new Polk center channel speaker gave our home theater system a new and absolutely stunning sound! However, for me, the new KLH speakers proved to be so much better than any other speaker system we'd owned before that now, when listening to music, I usually set the receiver output to the two-channel, stereo-only setting. All the home theater and fancy music settings are lots of fun played through all our speakers (we have Bose 301 series IV's handling the side and rear channels, and there's a rear center channel we haven't yet used), but now, if I'm in the mood for music, I far and away prefer the un-colored, natural and original sound of two-channel stereo. There is nothing wrong with the Polk T30 for music; in fact, it sounds great, and in my opinion, two would sound quite good as the main speakers in a beginner or small room setup -- it's just that our new KLH Kendalls are so clear, clean and musical that anything of even slightly less ability is a distraction. On the other hand, when we put the T30 to the use for which it was designed -- handling the center channel output of our home theater setup -- it's added a whole new level of enjoyment to films and television. For rich, full, clear vocals and all other aspects of center channel sound reproduction in a home theater setup, this very reasonably priced speaker from Polk is hard to beat, particularly if you're lucky enough to get it with a hefty Prime Day discount (as we did). :-) The improvement in the overall sound quality of our system achieved just by adding this basic, almost budget priced center speaker really took us by surprise -- we love it! Recommended.

I just wanted a cheap pair of speakers for bench testing vintage hi-fi amps and receivers, but not absolute junk. These seemed to fit the bill at $70 pair, shipped, as it would cost as much or more to repair the blown woofer on my prior test speakers. Well, these little speakers are the real deal. They have five-way speaker binding posts so you can plug in banana jacks or go old school with stripped wire. The grilles are removable, which is usually not seen at this price point. While I'm not usually a fan of black vinyl cabinets, these are executed tastefully and I have no problems with the looks at all. They have mounting holes on the backs so you can easily hang them on a wall. Let's cut to the chase! These sound fantastic! These are speakers you can listen to all day long, unlike some of the fancy stuff out there that has a long list of specs but doesn't quite make it in real life. You don't need a lot of power to play them, although I found that the better the amplification, the better they sounded. 1. Bass is very, very good for not only a small speaker but a speaker in this price category. It took several hours before they really started singing--most brand-new speakers need a break-in period--but I cannot get over the bass response. Now, if you play them side by side with a subwoofer-equipped system, they're not going to be able to compete; however, I cannot stop listening to them and I have a system with a subwoofer. 2. Overall sound is superb. I can hear plenty of details in my favorite music that I thought only expensive speakers could capture. There's a good sound stage, highs are not harsh or fatiguing, midrange sounds great to me. Am I an audiophile? Probably not, since I will never spend more than a mortgage payment on a piece of hi-fi gear and I use 12AWG Monoprice speaker cables, but I love music and I listen to it every day. 3. A comparison: I saved up for a pair of Wharfedale Dentons. These are not budget speakers. Originally retailing for $1,000 pr., they can often be had for $500 or less and are stunning, well-regarded speakers. The Polk Audio T15s sounder better. Yep. I'm sure a squad of hitmen from Stereophile (and Wharfedale) are prepping their weapons as I write this, but the Dentons cannot handle bass like the Polks do. Are the Dentons drop dead gorgeous in their veneered, bomb-proof cabinets? Yes! Do the Dentons sound good? Yes, again, but I cannot listen to the Dentons very long before I put something else in their place. They simply cannot deal with bass in a pleasing manner and yes, they've done as much breaking in as they're ever going to do. Please understand that I'm not knocking the Dentons; they are so well-made I want to cry, but the Polks are more enjoyable to listen to. 4. So, what's the deal? What's the catch? I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, so let's get it over with... There's no catch that I can see so far, except that these are mass-produced, black vinyl speakers. They are not exotic and I doubt Stereophile is going to review them any time soon. They aren't going to fill a concert hall with thundering bass because they're small bookshelf speakers. Some audio snob types are not going to even bother to listen to a pair because they don't cost enough. Well, their loss is our gain, my friends, because if I had known about these speakers before buying the damned Dentons (and some other fancy speakers) I could have saved $400. 5. Not enough bass for you? No problem. For $130 shipped, buy the Polk Audio PSW10 subwoofer. I am a card-carrying bass freak (every single amp and receiver I own has the bass knob maxed out and I usually have loudness engaged as well) and this thing is a damned marvel. It was easy to set up and yes, it will work with old amps and receivers. You can adjust how much or how little bass it puts out, and for once in my life I DO NOT have the bass turned all the way up--that's how powerful this thing is. You can set it on standby mode, where it's "asleep" until it senses a music signal, then it turns on and does it's thing. That said, the T15's sound so nice on their own I'd hold off on the sub and judge for yourself. I have heard many different speakers over the years, from Bose 901s to Martin Logan Prefaces to Polk Audio LSi9's, and these are absolutely the best value I've ever heard in speakers. They are cheap enough that you can buy two pairs and have a speaker in every corner of the room. Bass is handled very well and they sound good enough to be the main speakers in a two-channel hi-fi system. Look at how many people have given these speakers two thumbs up! I cannot stress how wonderful it is that Polk Audio has provided such an amazing, low-cost speaker to the general public. I highly recommend these speakers. Just remember to let them play for a few hours and the better the amplification, the better they'll sound.

Sounding good. Adequate for living room.

Great set of low end high bang for buck speakers... Remember to order two as they're sold seperately... Love the sound though recommending adjusting bass etcetera... Look pretty decent too. Enjoy.

So I moved to a new apartment and was setting up a home theater \ sound system in a relatively large room. Initially I decided to just go for a big mainstream brand Soundbar + Sub. Bad idea - the sound quality of these mainstream systems just really isn't great. Sound quality in movies was very ordinary with the vocals being drowned out by music and SFX and for the music it just sounded flat. So I returned that system and decided to do the sound properly - but still wanted to keep it on a budget. I picked up the Pioneer VSX-932 on a special and 2 of these babies and wow what a difference it made. Even just with a basic 2 speaker stereo setup - basically the same ball park price as the Soundbar I started with - the quality just insn't comparable. These have such a greater depth of sound and wider range. Watching movies now there are sounds I previously never even noticed show up clearly on these speakers. Dialogue is clear and they have stronger base then the previous setup - even without the addition of a sub. Clarity across the whole range is so much better and music also sounds much better - with a richness and warmth that was completely absent on the sound bar. For those on a budget - these really do the job! Will likely build mine out with sub and eventually the full Polk 5.1 setup. Highly recommend - you will struggle to find anything else with as good "Bang for buck"

I got them on sale and would buy another if they do, used them for side 7.1 speakers and worked great. Looks good as well and you don't need a mount/bracket. For us the notch in the back was good enough to hang on a screw. They look good and for the money do the job just fine.. Not having to buy a bracket was a bonus plus fits tighter to the wall. For rear channel I would get a pivot bracket or something...

Its super build quality and sound. Am really surprised