Polk Audio5.1 Channel Home Theater System with Powered Subwoofer |Two (2) T15 Bookshelf, One (1) T30 Center Channel, Two (2) T50 Tower Speakers, PSW10 Sub | Alexa + HEOS

I am very experienced at listening to loudspeakers as I designed and manufactured the nOrh brand of loudspeakers a few years ago. One of the speakers that we marketed was the nOrh 3.0 which sold for less than $100 a pair. It had a full range driver and could produce sound above 80 Hz. There is no end to the uses a small/low-cost loudspeaker can serve. Whether it is for a low-cost system to put in a garage, rear speakers for an AV system or desktop speakers for a computer system, small, low-cost loudspeakers have many applications.I wanted to do an experiment to produce a low-cost system that sounded good. I bought a Mo-Gu 50W Class D amplifier for about $30.00. I bought a larger power supply than what was furnished for another $12.00 or so. I then found the Polk T15s on sale for $50.00. I had not heard these speakers before but at $50.00, I knew they would be good enough for my experiment.When the speakers came in, I wired up the pair of speakers and connected the system to the Amazon Dot that I bought on sale for $29.00. I could have also used the Google Audiocaster but that would require me to always have my phone to control the system.For less than $100.00, the Polk T15, Mo-Gu amplifier, and power supply could produce sound is quite respectable for less money than the many Bluetooth boxes that are sold for more than $200.00. Combining the system with the Amazon dot, pushed to the total cost to just over $100.00 but greatly increased the functionality. For less than I had paid for my Grace Internet Radio, I now had a voice-controlled music system capable of playing Internet Radio or streaming music from a variety of sources. The Mo-Gu amplifier also features Bluetooth.At first play, the Polk Audio T15 sounded a bit shrill and constrained. I recognized this as meaning the speakers needed to be broken in. After 100 hours of breaking in, the Polk Audio T15s have lost all their shrillness.On the good side, the Pold Audio T15s play loud and confidently. They are tonally balanced and don't have any bad characteristics. I still find them a bit bright but not offensively so. Obviously, there is no deep bass. I would suspect that the speakers roll off about 70Hz. The bass that is produced is clean. The T15s don't suffer from trying to overdo what they are capable of.The Polk T15s are capable of filling a room with pleasant sound from the modest Class D amplifier I was using. I didn't push them very hard and the small amplifier was more than enough to fill my room. I asked Alexia to play all sorts of music. I listened to lots of jazz, folk and blues. I spent over an hour listening to the Persuasions.The Pok T15s never blew me away but they never offended me either. The stereo effect was very good but there was no imaging what so ever. The sounds were either coming from the right or the left. While many audiophiles would not like this description, having left and right information clearly presented is much better than what many people listen to with so many sound systems jamming lots of speakers in a small box where there is no separation at all.The little Polks tried to produce sound that comes outside the box but never managed to extend its sound field more than a foot or two from the box itself. The Polk Audio T15s always sounded like a box speaker but got an E for effort trying.The Polk T15s would be great for rear speakers. They are loud, clear and balanced. The port is in the front making it easy to hang on the wall. They look very good for their price.For about $100 when the T15s are on sale, you can put together a system much cheaper than what it costs to buy a Sonus. The Sony Play5 does have better bass but you could mate the T15s to a low-cost subwoofer and blow away the Sonus Play3s or Play5s.The Polk Audio T15 is a very good choice for a low-cost over achiever.

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.