I bought the beautiful cherry veneered version or the M10. These speakers make good rear channels for my Pioneer VSX-99 amp which is plenty powerful enough to drive them. They are a fantastic buy. If $ is taken out of the equation and they are judged strictly on their sonic quality then they lack bass and the imaging is just so so. But hey, they are well worth the flapjacks you'll spend and you can't go wrong for springing for the cherry finish.

Decent sound once broken in. Certainly much better than any computer or cheap home theatre system speaker. Build quality is pretty good and the connectors are 3-way binding posts. Good value for money.

Not quite an audiophile grade speaker. I think Polk Audio has done better before, but this speaker is more suited for the rear channels of a home theatre system than a music stereo system. If your friends want a very inexpensive entry-level speaker with no aspirations of being the basis for an audiophile grade music system, then this is okay.

Sometimes a friend asks me what I would recommend for speakers on the cheap. So I bought a pair of these during a post-Christmas sale and thought if they're good, I would use them for my home theatre afterwards. These are less than 1/10th the price of my regular music system stereo speakers and I didn't expect them to be giant killers. But they are good enough to recommend for home theatre or entry level stereo systems for your non-audiophile friends. At $68 per pair, they are heads and shoulders over any computer or "iPod dock" speaker.

Out of the box, they sounded awful. But took about 10 hours to break in and they image half decently after that, treble and bass become less muffled and noticeably clearer and more extended. Bass extension is pretty good for a speaker this size, but I couldn't help but think there may be a bit of a mid-base bloat to the overall sound. That may clear out as the speaker wears in more. Music I was using was some old 70's and 80's rock, Pink Floyd, The Who, Elton John to some jazz and then some classical. Resolution isn't quite as good as my other speakers. But for the price, they were fine and I enjoyed my music.

Would I recommend these to a non-discerning friend? If they don't want to spend more, then yes.

Customer Service

At $68, I don't expect a lot. However, I did register the warranty online at Polk's website and took opportunity to ask a question regarding break-in period. That was last week. I have not received a reply yet.

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