Polk Audio T15 Home Theater and Stereo Bookshelf Speakers Deep Bass Response Dolby and DTS Surround Wall-Mountable Pair

Compact, and decent sound at an affordable price. I feel they are better quality sound that what more sound bars can offer. Fits well upon the fireplace mantle. Using very standard no-frills amplifier. Read more

For the price, these are excellent speakers. They sound super-clear with accurate full-range reproduction and even a bit of bass. i got them at a sale price which made them somewhat of a no-brainer, although i considered Yamaha and Sony 3-way bookshelf speakers and the Polk tsi100 which is almost functionally the same except it has an active crossover, which these lack. However for my purposes, that didn't matter -- i am using them as surrounds in a 5.1 system, all Polk, with a Sony receiver. You could pay more for surrounds, but why? Sound quality is excellent, and they handle transitions between complex passages to more isolated ones faithfully. They also do well with both acoustic and electronic musical elements. If i had to describe the soundstage, it's present, with clear separation between frequencies. They are maybe a little on the crisp side but not shrill, in terms of tonality, though that will also depend on what music you play through them. (EDIT: It's been a few years now, and I've listened to lotta of music and movies through these speakers. As long as you know their limitations and strengths, you'll be fine with these.) I havent done extensive testing yet, nor put them through their paces with a home theater audio source, but their performance with music raises no expectation that they wouldn't handle typical movie audio as well. They are only rated to 50w continuous/100w peak, so that is something to consider if you are thinking of using them as mains. (EDIT: in engineering these, Polk chose to emphasize sound fidelity. These aren't going to have bass like a 3-way speaker. They have a max. volume rating which may preclude use as mains in larger rooms. But they are under $100 for a pair and sound fantastic for what they are.) I would say they are perfect as surrounds in a 5.1 system, which places lower power demands on rear speakers so the wattage rating doesn't matter. But i could see going with 4 of these in a home theater set-up, or 4 plus a subwoofer, for a small room. The freq. response only goes down to 60khz, so you are not going to get deep bass from these. But you will hear some bass, which sounds surprisingly clean on sound selections where low-end is isolated and "ripples" through all channels. I personally chose the Monitor 60s as my mains because I listen to a lot of music. But honestly, those might be overkill in some regards because it doesn't take a lot of volume to fill the room they are in, which is around 15' x 20'. Anyway, the M60s sound great paired with the T15s and PSW10 and could easily work as a main system in a larger, living room space. i would also have no reservations about swapping the T15s with my Yamaha surrounds on the main system, except they are just a bit larger and bulkier. They do have a keyhole opening on the back if you want to wall-mount or secure them. The cabinet itself is very well-made and these look impressive without grilles. Overall, very pleased with my purchase, so far they have performed flawlessly and are exactly what i expected. if you want bigger bass from a bookshelf speaker, your options become at least2x-3x more expensive, but will also be limited by physical space. For example, the Yamaha 3-way advertised as a bookshelf speaker packs a largeish woofer into a midsize cabinet, where it can potentially overpower the treble and mids. maybe that's an option for mains if you dont have room or budget for a subwoofer and/or floor-standing speakers, but also probably overkill for surrounds in a 5.1 setup. The T15s, on the other hand, aren't trying to give you floor-speaker performance in a smaller package, but they do compare favorably with more expensive 2-way bookshelf speakers. At this price point, they are something of an engineering/design marvel, and as long as you have realistic expectations, they will meet or exceed those expectations. Read more

I purchased these Polk T15 bookshelf speakers to upgrade my sound in my home office/gaming setup. I must say that these little bookshelf speakers punch well above their weight class. They being powered by a Fosi Audio M331 tube amp that puts out about 100 watts per channel. The sound profile is a more of a U shape which is great for a variety of music. In movies, dialogue is a little muffled when listening at low volumes. While the frequency response goes down to 50hz, it's not going to rattle the pictures off the wall. In most cases, the bass is just fine for a 5.25" driver. If you need booming bass you can add a subwoofer to the setup. I was able to purchase these speakers on sale. For the price, they are worth every penny. However, if they were closer to MSRP, I would pass on them (purchased for $120usd). Overall, I am happy with my purchase. The work well in a small room. Their size allows them to work as desktop speakers. If you can find them on sale, it would be worth the purchase. Pros: Great sounding, big sound from a small package. Crispy highs, tame mids, and solid bass. Allows for the use of banana plugs. Classic aesthetics and compact design. Great value if you can find them on sale. Cons: Struggles with frequency under 60hz. Dialogue gets lost at low volumes. Grills are not magnetic. Vinyl wrap looks cheap. Read more

I thought I was paying 75 bucks for these, when I bought them thru amazon, however somehow the price increased to 100 bucks without my noticing and I did not find this out until after they had shipped. These are actually pretty decent speakers, at 75 bucks a good deal, at 100 well that is about what they are really worth - I would not pay more than that. These are 'high efficiency' speakers, meaning that they are louder in comparison at the same volume knob setting than mid and low efficiency speakers. These speakers share the characteristics of other 'high efficiency' speakers in that they sound better at lower volume settings. However, these speakers can get quite loud, but at higher volumes they start to lose definition (meaning that they start to sound a little muddy and lose their crispness). All that being said, I should tell you how I am using them. I am playing them with a Pioneer SX-450 receiver, which is rated at 15 watts a side (but this receiver is somehow louder than modern receivers rated at two or three times the watts). I am also using and old BSR 15" subwoofer for this setup. This setup sounds GREAT for low to mid volume level classical music, jazz, and rock. At higher volumes (when the volume knob on the SX-450 goes past 1/3) these speakers can clearly handle it, but they start losing their nice tight mid range definition, that they had at lower volume levels. For people that just like sheer volume and do not particularly care about hi-fi, these speakers can get VERY loud, you could probably give yourself ear damage before you blew them up. A general advantage of high efficiency speakers, an advantage that these speakers have, is that they sound crisp and tight under low volume settings. I really like the way these speakers sound at lower sound levels and with the sub-woofer. In conclusion, if you are interested in hi-fi, I would NOT try to use these as primary front speakers without also using a sub woofer. These speakers are rated at 100 watts but they will not be hi-fi if fed with more than 20 watts or so. 20 watts of clean un-distorted power is actually quite loud, though. These speakers are a steal at 50 bucks, a good deal at 75, and you got what you paid for at 100. I give these a four star rating because WTF happened, was I not paying enough attention, between purchasing them for 75 bucks on amazon and then somehow I was billed 100 bucks for them - I clearly missed something which may have been completely my fault. I hope this does not happen to you. Read more