This speaker reproduces acoustic guitars better than any speaker in its class and maybe even a step up. I grew up with my dad playing his guitar any chance he had so that is what I use to rate speakers. I think the bass is good enough since it is a bookshelf speaker.

To SLIM!!! Binding posts could be better.

opps my summary is up in strengths. One thing you must do to make them sound there best is bi-wire these babies. You will be pleasently suprised at how much more bright they will be.

Tight hard hitting Bass, sweet highs.

None, i wish i knew how to biwire these puppies

These are some pretty impressive speakers they are so dope, the bass is superb and the price is super, wow is all i really have to say. I think this is my best purchase all year long. they match perfectly with my cs400 center, rt35 rears and psw 450 subwoofer. buy them now.

Similar Products Used:

B&W

I bought Polk RT 55's a few weeks ago and am pretty happy with them - particularly when the volume's cranked up a little. I have a Nakamichi AV receiver running them that's rated at 120 watts per channel normal and 160 watts/channel peak. They have replaced my old Mission 707's, which took an errant finger through them by a little 3 year-old brat. I originally bought Bose 301's and returned them after a few days because they didn't seem to like that much power. The Polks seem much more willing to handle being cranked. At lower volumes, speaker placement seems to be pretty critical to really be able to enjoy the sound they produce. One of the other reviewers listed above complained about the bass - I think they have very good bass - maybe she doesn't have them positioned close enough to a wall - I have the backs pointed at a corners of my room and they certainly don't lack bass!

The RT55 is a very good bookshelf speaker. If you always thought bookshelf speakers were too lightweight and boxy
sounding, one listen to the RT55 will change your mind

I listen to very diverse types of music. I took three representative CDs from my collection: John Williams Star Wars, Tennessee Ernie Ford's Capital Collection, and Tears for Fears Greatest Hits to three speaker dealers for Paradigm, B&W, and Polk. I compared the Mini Monitor 3, & Reference 20 from Paradigm, 602 & 603 from B&W, and Polk RT55 and RT35. I have a Paradigm PDR10 sub, and value the opinion of my local dealer who carries B&W. Each speaker had their strengths. I liked the B&W 603's handling of Tennessee Ernie's vocals from the old mono recordings. The Paradigm Reference 20 did the best on the Star Wars orchestra music. However, the RT55's did the best with all three of my representative CDs. On one of the Tears for Fears tracks, there is a cowbell. Having grown up on a farm, I know what a cowbell sounds like. The Polk RT55s were the only speakers that produced a sound like a real cowbell. Needless to say I bought the RT55s.
I have the RT55s mounted horizontally high on the front wall using a set of GEM Pivotelli pivoting TV monitor mounts that I got from the Bracket Company in Canada at www.brackets.ca/ They tilt forward and pivot. I put a piece of foam between the bracket and the RT55 and then used a "endless tiedown strap" with a small rachet to keep the speaker from shaking off. The speakers are pointed slightly down and towards the middle of the room with the tweeters on the outside. I bi-amped the speakers using Liberty UltraCap 12 gauge 4 conductor THX wire and the A & B speaker connectors on my Yamaha RX-V995 receiver. The bi-amping and the quality of the wire improved the RT55's handling of the Star Wars stuff, and Tennessee Ernie came a little more alive too. Excellent soundstand and detail for a bookshelf. Solid bass which blends nicely with the Paradigm PDR10 subwoofer. I think it'll be several years and several thousands of dollars in the bank (and the kids through college) before I'll be ready to upgrade.

Build quality, midrange punch, upper bass tightness

Bright treble, slightly muddy lower bass (B/T 50 - 70 Hz) when listening to music

I love the look of this speaker. This speaker blows away the RT7s. I've found that setting the front speaker setting on your preamp to small will greatly increase tightness when playing music. These speakers cannot run full range when playing music really loud. I would recommend a high quality subwoofer for any frequencies below 80 Hz. At high volume levels, the treble is excruciatingly bright. Your ears will ring. This brightness may be due to my amplifier (Adcom GFA6000). However, they are also bright when hooked up to my receiver (Yamaha R-V1103). The build quality is excellent, they weight around 30+ lbs. each. I thought the speaker is slightly overpriced at $275 each. These speakers work great for home theater. They are crystal clear on the sound effects such as bullet shots.

System:
Sony 35" TV
Yamaha R-V1103
4 Polk RT55s (bi-amped with high frequencies coming from the Yamaha)
Polk CS 400 (bi-amped also)
Adcom GFA-6000
Sony DVP-S300
Sony SLV-778HF

Similar Products Used:

Polk RT7, JBL TLX 121, Advent Baby 2s

I recently upgraded from my RT7's to the new model, RT55. The tweeters are the same so the upper range is simular. The single 7.5" mid/woof is replaced with two 6.5"s. The RT55's are actually the top half of the RT3000p's (@$3600pr), according to a Polk rep. The RT55's detail and accuracy are simular to the RT7's but the mid and low range is fuller and offers a better soundfield for home theater. The low range is somewhat deeper due to the rear "Power Port" as I had to turn my subwoofers gain down for the 55's. I always felt that for audio the RT7's were great speakers for the money but lacked the depth I look for in home theater. The new RT55's have succeded here. I have matched them with the Definitive Technology PF15TL subwoofer and feel they work very well together. For under $600 ($560) I have to give them a...

None to my ears

Auditioned Infinity IL 10's with my favorite CDs at Circuit City. The sales rep switched over to the Polk RT55 set, and WHOA !!!!!!!!! No comparison whatsoever. The RT55's were way, way, way , way (a gazillion times) better.
From the midrange to highs - cleaner, crisper sound. And the base range was far superior, to the point that they beat Infinity hands down, to an absolute pulp.

They were powered by a high-end receiver amp - HK I believe.
Still haven't purchased anything yet but if I was to buy today, it would be the Polks.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity IL

Bass could be clearer

I had a very modest setup. Bose 401 speakers, inexpensive Phillips CD player and Sony receiver. My wife and I starting acquiring numerous classical cds and decided to upgrade our system. Put in the RT55s and we could hear the difference immediately. In particular, piano and violin pieces were well defined and rich sounding. Kept reading comments on this site and decided that I needed to upgrade my other components to really upgrade my "sound". Bought a Rotel RCC 940AX cd player (used) and a Rotel RX 975 receiver (used) and biwired the speakers. I have - in my opinion and I am not an audiophile - a great system for classical music. Have eliminated slight boxiness I heard originally with the speakers though it may have gone away with exended use. Great midrange, transparency, imaging, etc. The sound compares favorably with B&W603S2 which I listened to. A lot of bang for the buck at 289.00. Finally, I bet a audiophile would tell you or me that the biwiring triggered the overall great sound.

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned B&W603 and a variety of Klipsch speakers

Electronic music

Most everything else

I bought these when I was building out my home theatre. I thought they sounded about as good as anything else at Circuit City and they were considerably cheaper. I played a few cds through them and a dvd or two and was sold. In the year I've owned these I've been to some local hifi shops and cried. I'm currently an audio hobbiest and have made lots of purchases of different speakers and components and switched and traded and tickled myself pink on how incredible sounds can be. I've listened to all of the cds I've ever owned over and over again each time I buy something new. Watching movies is a blast. I compare my experience to when I got eyeglasses after not seeing well for 3 years. "The trees have leaves" It is a very spiritual thing.
These polk speakers don't produce any feelings like that at all. They suck. No magic no sex no dazzle. Flat flat flat flat sound.
However, after auditioning lots of high-end speakers ranging from $300 a pair to $13,000 a pair at hifi shops I realized these speakers do one thing very well. Dance music. Electronic dance music always sounds a bit off on high-end speakers. All that texture and dpeth simply doesn't belong. I used to rave all the time and the Polks do a much much better job of recreating the 'live sound' of electronic music.
While this for some may be a joke it isn't for me. As electronic music is gaining ground questions about its reproduction are going to come up. Contemporary speakers have worked very hard to recreate sound in a way that it sounds 'real'. Which really means, better than it is actually recorded. I don't buy the conventional logic however, that this method which works great for string and brass instruments holds true for synths. The sound never was 'real' and in most cases isn't trying to sound 'real'. Thus using speakers that are flat or too weighty in the his and lows might not be such a bad thing for electronic music.
All that being said, the only thing worse than these that I've heard for normal music reproduction are Bose.

Similar Products Used:

B&W's Paradigms, similar only in price