These little speakers are the real deal. They have five-way speaker binding posts so you can plug in banana jacks or go old school with stripped wire. The grilles are removable, which is usually not seen at this price point. While I'm not usually a fan of black vinyl cabinets, these are executed tastefully and I have no problems with the looks at all. They have mounting holes on the backs so you can easily hang them on a wall.
Let's cut to the chase! These sound fantastic! These are speakers you can listen to all day long, and you don't need a lot of power to play them, although I found that the better the amplification, the better they sounded. They took just about all the bass the Hitachi SR-1100 receiver threw at it and reproduced it shockingly well.
1. Bass is very, very good for not only a small speaker but a speaker in this price category. It took several hours before they really started singing----but I cannot get over the bass response. Now, if you play them side by side with a subwoofer-equipped system, they're not going to be able to compete; however, I cannot stop listening to them and I have a system with a subwoofer.
2. Overall sound is superb. I can hear plenty of details in my favorite music that I thought only expensive speakers could capture. There's a good sound stage, highs are not harsh or fatiguing, midrange sounds great to me. Am I an audiophile? Probably not, since I will never spend more than a mortgage payment on a piece of hi-fi gear and I use 12AWG Monoprice speaker cables, but I love music and I listen to it every day.
3. A comparison: I saved up for a pair of Wharfedale Dentons. These are not budget speakers. Originally retailing for $1,000 pr., they can often be had for $500 or less and are stunning, well-regarded speakers. The Polk Audio T15s sounder better. Yep. I'm sure a squad of hitmen from Stereophile (and Wharfedale) are prepping their weapons as I write this, but the Dentons cannot handle bass like the Polks do. Are the Dentons drop dead gorgeous in their veneered, bomb-proof cabinets? Yes! Do the Dentons sound good? Yes, again, but I cannot listen to the Dentons very long before I put something else in their place. They simply cannot deal with bass in a pleasing manner and yes, they've done as much breaking in as they're ever going to do. Please understand that I'm not knocking the Dentons; they are so well-made I want to cry, but the Polks are more enjoyable to listen to. And if the Polks get scratched I'm not going to cry myself to sleep.
4. "So, what's the deal? What's the catch? I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, so let's get it over with..."
There's no catch, except that these are mass-produced, black vinyl speakers (FYI, the Dentons are also made in China). They are not exotic and I doubt Stereophile is going to review them any time soon. They aren't going to fill a concert hall with thundering bass because they're small bookshelf speakers. Some people are not going to even listen to a pair because they don't cost enough.
5. Not enough bass for you? No problem. For $130 shipped, buy the Polk Audio PSW10 subwoofer. I am a card-carrying bass freak and this thing is a damned marvel. It was easy to set up and yes, it will work with old amps and receivers. You can adjust how much or how little bass it puts out, and for once in my life I DO NOT have the bass turned all the way up--that's how powerful this thing is. You can set it on standby mode, where it's "asleep" until it senses a music signal, then it turns on and does it's thing. That said, the T15's sound so nice on their own I'd hold off on the sub and judge for yourself.
I have heard many different speakers over the years, from Bose 901s to Martin Logan Prefaces to Polk Audio LSi9's, and these are absolutely the best value I've ever heard in speakers. They are cheap enough that you can buy two pairs and have a speaker in every corner of the room. Bass is handled very well and they sound good enough to be the main speakers in a two-channel hi-fi system. I could be crazy, but listen for yourself and report in. They're now
$64 a pairon Amazon.
