Polk Audio Monitor 50 2-Way Floorstanding Speaker (Single, Cherry)

Not enough bass.

I purchased these Polk Monitor 50's as front speakers to go along with a Polk CS1 center channel, and R150 surround speakers. I also purchased the Sony SA-W3000 sub locally because of the amazing price at a local retail outlet. When put all together with my Onkyo TX-SR606 receiver, I was immediately blown away from the clarity and detail these speakers were capable of reproducing.My old setup had consisted of Logitech's Z-5500 series of speakers. That was an extreme budget setup, but for what you pay for that, it was a decent setup that has gotten me by for a few years now. Fast-forward to the end of 2008 and things have changed since then. HDMI has gotten HUGE, and along with blu-ray really picking up now, I decided it was time to invest some well-spent money and step up to take advantage of this present technology at hand.The first thing I tested these speakers out on was the IMAX prologue on the Batman Begins blu-ray which shows the first 6 minutes or so of the Imax production-shot movie, The Dark Knight. Put simply, I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the amazing clarity and detail I could make out in this scene. Everything was perfect. The glass shattering out of the building that the crooks broke out at the beginning was stunning. The noise the gun made when prepping it for a shot was dead-on. The sound of the cable being shot out across the air and onto the neighboring building... all great stuff. The tense music and the gunshots were also perfectly recreated. This was like watching the movie for the very first time again.Not only movies, but games also were like an entirely new experience on these speakers. I just re-played the first couple hours of Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Playstation 3 this thanksgiving weekend, and WOW what a completely different experience. I never noticed the insane amount of attention to the sound that Konami has incorporated into this game. I mean, it sounded great on the Z-5500's I used to use, but on this new setup, and especially the Monitor 50's and CS1 center channel, the detail came to life. I still can't get over the punctual, realistic notes you hear from all the different assault rifles and submachine guns. The sounds of the bullet casings falling out all over the concrete ground were unbelievably awesome. I found myself wasting away clips of ammo just to hear this over and over again. I've never heard such great high's coming from a set of speakers before.Music also sounds great on these. One of my favorite soundtracks was from the game Final Fantasy VIII, which I still think, to this day, is the single best video game soundtrack available. Listening to the last couple movements of the ending theme really brought out the amazing quality and clarity that these speakers are capable of producing. The ending theme is one of my all-time favorite instrumental selections and these speakers remind me of why that is. It simply must be heard to be believed. Beautiful music to the ears.Over this thanksgiving weekend, I had my brother over and he wanted to see a blu-ray on my new surround sound/tv setup. He picked out the Earth documentary (not Planet Earth, but another BBC production feature) and we watched that. This blu-ray was only putting out standard Dolby audio, no DolbyHD or DTS-HD. Just standard Dolby. The first thing he commented on was the awesome quality of the sound. He has a Sony receiver with Sony speakers at his place so this comment coming from him suggested the difference in brands was very noticable.To wrap it all up, for the price I paid for these and the sound that they produce, I am very happy with the purchase and would not look back at any other brand. My future purchases will always include Polk, because I have never heard better.

The speakers are very nice for the price. For some reason, I can hear some static and popping fairly often. I'm new to this, so I can't tell if it is the cables/input/speakers etc. I will say that it was obvious that my speakers were dropped on a corner somewhere along the way. The cabinet smashed the edge of the speaker a little, but I doubt it damaged the sound capability. That is really more of a problem when buying on-line rather than a problem with the quality of the speaker. I'd return them, but it's way too much trouble due to size.

UPDATE 2: When I originally reviewed these I noted below they have a strong midrange presence. I have since optimized my Mac output, set at 96kHz, which my amp understands and uses different A/D converters for; needless to say the sound was much better in that there was a better lower mid/upper bass presence. I notice that these are no longer available and their replacement is quite different: it is a sealed cabinet, whereas these are ported. The seal would probably reduce the 'peakiness' I noticed, though again with good amp the strong mids come across more as the speaker's 'character'. The Polk 10" sub (the cheap one) works well with these for the price but there is a hole where the sub doesn't go high enough and these don't go low enough. But their imaging and vocal character are excellent for the $99 each I paid. I replaced these with Dr. Hsu's HB1 MK2 bookshelf speakers and sub.UPDATE: original review is below. Having owned these for some time I couldn't deal with what seemed to be a pronounced and peaky midrange. Oddly, 5.1 mixes sounded good, but standard stereo 2 ch (like iTunes, running from my Mac with optical output) were way too midrangey. Certain vocals sounded excellent, the projection of voice and detail were more than one would expect from $100 speakers. So, for their price I still say they are excellent, especially if you like music with vocals and acoustic accompaniment. But I just rec'd some HSU HB-1 MK2s and they blow these Polks away for midrange and lower midrange, and imaging. They mate better to Polk's own subwoofer (only need 1, now) and finally I don't have the listening fatigue that I had with these Polks. Think of these speakers as loud and crystal clear, and you'll be fine.[original review]These speakers surprised me as they seemed so lacking in bass. But the projection and midrange and high-end detail of these things is truly, for the price, astounding. But if you want the whole scene, you will have to get a subwoofer. However, the sheer presence of these things is so much closer to being at a live show than any speakers I have heard of. And they're so balanced; yes, they have a very powerful midrange, but there is no distortion. And the stereo separation is so clean. For $300, I have never heard anything near them. Still, I would reccomend getting a subwoofer as I was surprised by their lack of bass; however, the bass they present is totally accurate-- it's just not big; but it's accurate. I really love these speakers, even without a subwoofer, and that's what sold me-- eventually I'll get a sub, but even without it, I just love their sound.

Plenty of boring mid range, but no highs and no lows...wish I had waited till I could afford better. Save yourself some disappointment...