overall performance

nothing serious

Stereophile was right. These are great little speakers. I just got these a couple of days ago for my bedroom. I auditioned a few jbl's and infinity's and the polk rt25i's were definitely the best of the bunch. They're really strong down to about 60hz or so and sound really clean not harsh or anything. Like most quality head sized speakers they are dead on at reproducing the human voice which to me is the most important attribute of a speaker. I have a pair of concerto's (sonus faber) in the living room and while the polk's can't quite match their detail or convey the emotion that they can they come as close as can reasonably be expected. Don't forget the concerto's cost two thousand bucks. But for the price these could be some of the best speakers out there. If you are in the market for a new pair of speakers (and hopefully you are if you're sitting here reading speaker reviews) THE POLK RT25i GETS MY COMPLETE RECOMENDATION. And if you are new to mid/hi-fi wait until you get these home they will probably sound better than anything you've heard before. The reason I'm only giving them 4 stars is because there are cost-no-option speakers out there but unless you are willing to drop 5 to 10 grand on an audiophile 2 channel set-up (which unfortunately I hear about from the Mrs. every couple of days) then for all intents and purposes consider these 5 star speakers. GET 'EM NOW!

Similar Products Used:

klipsch, mirage, bose, sonus faber

clear sound from a small bookshelf speaker. clear highs and midrange.

little low on the bass, but what do you expect from a speaker that isnt even a foot tall.

these are excellent speakers for the price. the sounds is very clear and the response is smooth. it is amazing what sound comes out of such small speakers. i recommend this as surround speakers but can easily be used as front speakers. with a subwoofer, these speakers are practically unbeatable.

Similar Products Used:

wharfedale, jbl, bose

Very musical. Sweet midrange. Surprising amount of bass. Work well with a variety of musical styles/recordings.

I am really surprised how much I like this inexpensive little guy. This is a very musical bookshelf. It compares very favorably to most comparably sized speakers on the market. Since I don't usually buy audio equipment from electronic superstores (e.g. Circuit City), I didn't expect to expeience this much enjoyment from a Polk Audio speaker.

I find the RT25i to have a warm, full, and involving sound on most recordings. No, it does not have tons of detail, ambience, high end, or bass. However, it's midrange is very, very sweet. Particularly good on vocals. Imaging and soundstaging are surprisingly good. This speaker is more than acceptable for use in a home theater environment. The matching center speaker is quite good. Works well with a subwoofer.

I originally auditioned them in my family living room with mid-fi electronics and very good cables/interconnects. I am currently using these in a small study with cheap cable and they sound fantastic. These speakers are definitely worth an audition. Shortly after I bought these, the latest edition of Stereophile magazine had a very positive review of this speaker. Check it out.

I Like these Small Speakers at a moderate Price. I almost bought Bose until I read some reviews and actually listened to them, myself. I wanted a second stereo for some music and TV viewing. So, I got a Dennon Receiver and These Semi-small Speakers, they sound great for my little Living room. Da best bookshelf speaker I Could find.

These are terrific little bookshelf speakers, and you have to keep in mind that they are only about a foot tall when you evaluate their performance. I use them in my system as rear speakers, and they are great for that.
They are capable of putting out decent bass, though nothing earth shattering. Again, these are small speakers. The highs are rich and warm, and they go perfect with my RT35s and CS345 in front. (Read my review of the RT35s and CS245)

I will rate these for what I use them as, rear speakers: Five *'s.

Very good stereo imaging and excellent timbre matching with the CS245 center cannel.

I use these as my main speakers with a Velodyne 10" powered subwoofer. I am very pleased with my purchase.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity RS-1's

Multi-use FR/FL or RS/LS..Little Peg legs on back...
Power-Port Hanging is nice and simple

Great little Speakers....Compared to last years model (RT3)
this little guy blows his older brother away all frequencies are much tigher and fuller....

Great Speaker for ~$250

Similar Products Used:

Polk RT3's POlK CS245

Low cost, Imaging, neutrality.

Limited low frequency response - not bad however considering the size of the Mid-Woofer.

This is a great little speaker - you cannot beat it for the price. Excellent clarity, imaging. Best bang for the buck.
Great way to build a home theater system using these for the front and/or rear speakers along with a subwoofer. After using Bose AM5 and AM3 systems for home theater, listening to these little speakers was and eye-opener. I did not realize how much I had been missing. Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Bose AM5, AM3

Great sound for cheap. I took awhile to get the optimum placement, but it was worth it. Soundstage was fairly deep. Imaging was decent. Bass was a little squashed, especially acoustic bass (but what do you expect from small speakers). I bought them (2 sets), plus a CS245 center channel and a SW140 sub for my bedroom home theater. I highly recommend these for people on a budget, or who need unobtrusive speakers for a cramped area. (You may also want to look into Paradigm and PSB---what is it with the "P"'s and inexpensive good sound?)

Solid bass (considering the size), and reasonable clarity

High range

I purchased the RT-25i speakers to replace an aging pair of Infinity speakers that were on my wife's Technics SA-80 receiver (yeah... it's old stuff). I haven't tried them with my Denon, so I can't comment on their capabilities with a sub, etc. We're using the RT-25i's as stand-alone stereo speakers with both CD/radio music and VCR in a 15' x 15' room.

I've read most of the reviews of this product and agree with most of the product reviews...
- They belt out awesome bass for the size & price.
- They pick up mid-range sounds reasonably well.

However, I have not had much luck with the high end. This could very well be a by-product of using the Technics receiver (a decade old? Maybe more?). In fact, I've found them to be musically flat on high-pitched instrumentals.

For our music tests, we used a Metallica CD, a 1950's Big Band NY jazz CD, Tchaichovsky's 1812 Overture, and some mozart. For the vcr, we watched The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi. The vcr sounds were clear & vibrant. Metallica sounded great, but the jazz & classical were average (some of the high-end clarity I hear on my Denon in the other room's setup just wasn't there). The cannons of the 1812 Overature rumbled the room nicely, but some of the softer instrumentals were just plain missing compared to the other system.

As I mentioned earlier, it's probably unfair to compare the sounds heard from the Technics-Polk setup to my beefier setup across the hall. However, I thought someone might be interested in hearing an answer to "What do they sound like when adapted to older equipment?"

Overall... Good speakers for the price paid, but I wouldn't call them outstanding (the old Infinty speakers were just as good). The RT-25i speakers met my expectations of being solid performing all-around speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics, Infinity