Andrew S Ybarra

Amazing little speakers

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.Ver más

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E. K. Arnold

27 de enero de 2018

Bang for the bookshelf buck

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.Ver más

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NorhLoudspeaker

23 de noviembre de 2017

Snap them up when they are on sale. Great value

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.

Burt

Decent Bookshelf Speaker They are priced fairly.

Don’t worry about this speaker not having enough bass. Over all good sound. I have to trust my own 18 years of working in retail consumer electronics (although many years back) along with years of playing the cello in school. I was listening to internet radio (WLNG Sag Harbor NY where I went to school) ‘Welcome to the Hotel California’ on an old SA1000 100W RMS per channel .09THD no intermod spec. And no that’s .09 not 9%.) The rock music is bassy but not the classical so most likely WLNG is processing it. I’m some days the booth cam is on the dj, may catch a glimpse of that mixing boards equlizer if it’s not all digital now. There are far worse speakers out there, I know because I’ve sold them.Ver más

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Poetic Heretic

17 de enero de 2018

A complete and total mutiny of the senses

These speakers are a complete and total mutiny of the senses. For the price they absolutely surpassed my expectations. They are not perfect, but they come close.For both music and home theater use, they must be paired with a subwoofer (or multiple subwoofers) to get good sound. However if you're not that picky they sound quite good even without a sub. Their highs are bright, their mid-range is solid, and their lows have a surprising amount of power considering the size of the speakers. The very high treble is particularly emphasized with these, something I personally love, as it tends to give everything a very high quality sound. However keep in mind that these will only reproduce the quality of audio fed into them. If you send them a mediocre-quality signal, you will get very mediocre sound. If you send them a high quality signal (via HDMI, coaxial, etc.) you will get a very high quality output. Even video games that I play using an old fiber optic cable sound incredible with these speakers (especially Skyrim!)For the best sound proper speaker placement is essential. The tweeter should be at ear level, or as close to ear level as possible. If this is not possible, the tweeter should at least be below ear level, never above (unless you are using them as surrounds, in which case it should always be above ear level). I have used these speakers extensively for my front speakers over the past month and a half, and I can confidently confirm that when the tweeter is at (or at least close to) ear level, the sound improves dramatically. I originally had them up too high, which did still sound fairly good but not great. The speakers must also be placed sufficiently apart (22 - 30 degrees to the left and right of the listening position for the left and right speaker, respectively).While these sound great with their grills on, I eventually ended up taking the grills off and like the sound much better that way. Your preference might vary, however. The imaging capability of these speakers is magnificent, especially with the grills off.But yes it is true, they do have some minor flaws, the main one being that every once in a while a certain type of sound will be sent to them that they struggle to play. This only seems to happen with lower-quality signals, however, such as playing music directly from my phone to my receiver, so it is not really an issue for me. When this happens though it results in some brief hiss / static. I have watched about a dozen movies with these and I believe it only happened once during one movie for a split second.The other potential issue is that the mid-range / woofer driver on them can only handle so much, unless you don't need a lot of volume. This is another reason that I recommend pairing them with a subwoofer and setting the speaker size for them on your receiver to small. I have these in my bedroom and they can get very loud with no problem with the conditions just mentioned. However if the room you use them in is large and you need a lot of volume they may not be loud enough. 100 watts RMS per channel is substantial for a small room but only goes so far for anything bigger.My experience using a graphic equalizer with them has had me not boosting the treble much at all because it is already nice and clear, lowering the mid-range slightly (perhaps a matter of personal taste), and boosting the bass somewhat significantly (again I advise only doing this when paired with a subwoofer).Despite some of the minor imperfections, I still give these 5 stars because truthfully, I do love them. The sound quality is outstanding for the price, especially when they go on sale for $50. In fact they sound so good with the rest of my setup that for weeks it was hard to tear myself away from listening to them. I went from smaller satellite speakers to these as my fronts and they definitely have more "oomph" to them, and movies sound so much more theatrical than they did before. The sound is improved so much that I plan on getting the T30 center channel that goes with them, as well as another pair of these for my surrounds in the near future.Overall these speakers are somewhat sensitive while simultaneously being robust. As long as you take the time to set them up correctly, "protect" them with a subwoofer and the right settings on your AVR, they are capable of producing sound that is loud and powerful when needed, as well as soft and gentle when quieter moments arise, all the while having a deliciously high quality sound to them. Set them up correctly, and they really, really shine.

Robert M

9 de agosto de 2026

Polk Audio AT15 speakers

Very nice speakers for the money. I connected them to a FOSI BT30D Pro amp and a passive subwoofer. The sound is very good. No distortion. A great setup for my garage.