Nice tweeter, plays loud, price

lousy imaging, LONG break in, bi-amping a must for good sound, so-so midrange

My college roommate purchased these speakers at the beginning of this year as part of the RT-55i + PSW250 deal. He upgraded to the PSW350 for a few extra dollars. The speakers are hooked up to my Technics AX-7N reciever. (very nice for only $200)

When we first got these speakers we were just happy to have them and played them loud with little attention to clarity or real sound quality. We were both just excited to have speakers hooked to my amp. (had just an amp for nearly a month) With time I began to begin to really listen to them and wasn't at all impressed. My mother's 30 year old Sony system sounded better than these speakers. The mids seemed almost muffled and the speakers seemed very tight and unmusical. I thought they sounded like the speakers they play too loud in any random bar. This could have been to due to the fact that they were wired with scraps of small guage wire we had laying around, but even then the 20 year old speakers I also had hooked to the amp sounded better. With time we upgraded the wire to copper 12 guage from Radio Shack (hey, we're college students) and the gold banana plugs. In addition we decided to try out the bi-amp feature on my reciever. Immidiate improvement in the performance of the speakers was detectable after that, but they were still very substandard in my opinion. After nearly 3 months of playing, I'm noticing the speakers seem to have relaxed a little and play much more clearly and naturally now. Jazz no longer sounds so cold and rigid. The speakers seem much more musical. Either I've gotten used to them or they took a hell of a long time to break in. I'm guessing the latter because I constantly listen to other systems. The moral of this review is this: If you're a Polk finatic, have bi-amp capability, and buy good cables from the start, go ahead with these speakers but be prepared to wait for acceptable performance. If you are just looking for some good speakers in that price range, I think Paradigm Monitor Series (or Reference) speakers sound much sweeter, though out of the box they need some time to adjust, too. (Not 4 months, though) I give these a 4 on value since they came with the sub (which sounds pretty good after hours of knob playing) and a 3 for an overall rating. I find them acceptable at best. They're no real gem in my opinion.

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Paradigm, Pioneer, Sony, other mid-price speaker companies.

Great highs, and midrange. Good sound-staging for a speaker in its price range

none really...bass could be more boomy, but its a bookshelf speaker...thats where a subwoofer comes in!

Well I was set on getting some B&W 602s as I went to an audio store near me. I listened to the B&W 602s, and i thought i was going to buy them for sure, then the salesman put on these RT55i...and WOW! they blew the 602s away. i did a few tests. first with Eric Johnson's "cliffs of dover" song. the RT55i's just completely demolished the 602s in terms of sound staging, and the highs were much more crips and vivid. also i demoed a few DVDs, and again the RT55i won hands down. Great speaker for the price! i have them bi-wired and they are being powered by a Denon 2801 receiever. I am still in the break-in process.

Similar Products Used:

klipsch sf2, B&W 602s

Clear Highs decent bass responce. and i personally like the looks.

Kinda Heavy hard to position to get the best sound

When i first purchased these speakers i almost sent them back they sounded so flat and boxy but i happened to read somewhere where they really were a speaker that needed to break in. SO i did from classical to Metallica (early metallica)I am sure i drove the nieghbors crazy but what a difference it made to the speakers i really reccomend breaking them in before judging them i think they would get a higher rating if everybody did. I am pretty happy with them now....

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None

I purchased a pair of RT7s through CitiShopper for $319. only to be informed several weeks later they (RT7s) were discontinued and were giving me the RT55 as a replacement.
Overall, I'm extemely pleased with the sound and finish quality. They reproduce sound in very clean and smooth manner which I consider "full" at just about any volume level. I especially appreciate the fine highs they produce and although the low range is adequate for bookshelf speaker, I have an Infinity BU-120 sub to add a bit more "feel" at lower levels. Both components seem to work well together. I must admit that after reading the review made by Sean Kim, I too noticed that these speakers in some respects have a tendency to push back some lead instuments that should be up front, however I do not consider this to be frustrating.

I would not recommend purchasing these "bookshelf" speakers if you plan on putting them on a bookshelf. I have not yet seen a bookshelf that can accomodate them, they are quite large and heavy and speaker stands are recommended. My wife gave me a hard time initially when the box arrived because of the size but warmed up to them as soon as she heard them.

I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND these speakers. Connect these up with a sub and I think you will find them to be better or at least on par with any other speaker regardless of price.

I have always been a Bose fan until now. I heard the Polk speakers and fell in love with them . They have an "attitude",depth and character. It easy to forget that these speakers are only bookshelf speakers because of the sound that they are able to reproduce. I have a pair of the rt55s and a pair of the psw120 powered subs and with this combination I would compare this set up with any set-up on the market regardless of price, and i just about have! They can't be matched!

These little puppies sound great: clean treble, smooth midrange, and solid thumping bass. They are a bit bigger than what most people would consider bookshelf speakers, and they are very heavy. Despite their small/medium size, they sound as good as some of the large floor-standing models from Polk. I auditioned various Polks, JBLs, and Infinitys before going with the Polk RT55. The JBLs had poor low-end response, and the Infinitys all sounded muddy (poor high-end). I spent a bit more than I had originally planned ($500 for a pair of display models), but I have no regrets. The only thing I have to do now is build some speaker stands for these gems.

Clarity, versitility in music and movies, huge sound for such a small size

lacks bass

I love the speakers, hooked up with a good sub, you can't find a better bookshelf speaker to also use for mains too without paying over twice the price

Similar Products Used:

Polk RT15, CS175, JBL

These Speakers cover both Movies and Music very well. Very clear sounding speakers

NONE

This is on the RT55i only the new model of the RT55
I have only had these speakers for a week but I can tell they are one of the best I have heard. They are very responsive on every plain.

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ADS

These Speakers cover both Movies and Music very well. Very clear sounding speakers

NONE

This is on the RT55i only the new model of the RT55
I have only had these speakers for a week but I can tell they are one of the best I have heard. They are very responsive on every plain.

Similar Products Used:

ADS

These Speakers cover both Movies and Music very well. Very clear sounding speakers

NONE

This is on the RT55i only the new model of the RT55
I have only had these speakers for a week but I can tell they are one of the best I have heard. They are very responsive on every plain.

Similar Products Used:

ADS