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If you saw them at Best Buy, they can't be that nice.
Tin Bird
Active Member
Surely you've been in a Magnolia room before, yes? Not the be all end all or even close, but there are some nice speakers there: Martin Logan, Bowers and Wilkins, Def Tech and decent (Rotel, Pioneer Elite) electronics.. Either way, for entry level speakers, the Polks look pretty nice.
Tin Bird
Active Member
Just pulled this review of the Polk Audio S55 tower speaker form the Best Buy web site. Guy seems to really like them and know his stuff. Although I'm sure he is an idiot and you know much more about all things in speaker land...
This is my second set of Polk Audio speakers. The first set (2 towers, 2 surround, center and subwoofer) where purchased at least 15 years ago and still sound good. I have donated them to a friend. I purchased the complete Signature Series (S35, S15, S55) to replace the donated set. The look, the price and the sound make these an amazing set of speakers. My previous set sounded fine until I installed these. This set is the sound center for my home entertainment system. The center speaker brings the dialogue into the room. When listening to music, especially jazz or classical, I can close my eyes and feel that I am at a live performance. Play some Rock and you can make the whole house vibrate (without turning it up to its highest setting). Pink Floyd never sounded so good. A Denon receiver drives the speakers and after calibration created an excellent sound field that makes almost any seat an ideal listening position. I used 12 gauge (oxygen free) wire and installed banana clips on the ends for easy installation and conduction. This was an excellent purchase that has taken my home theater entertainment system to the next level.
Tin Bird
Active Member
Another review from an inferior "mid-fi" pretender taken from Amazon:
Very good speaker at a bargain price. Actually got mine at Fry's Electronics since they waived the sales tax to beat Amazon's price; the total I paid was $599. They definitely have that signature, non-offensive, Polk sound. Right out of the box they sounded good to my ears, but they did not blow me away either. Having owned a number of bookshelf and towers speakers from the makes of- JBL, Paradigm, Boston, Infinity, Polk, and Pioneer etc... over the years, these Polk S55 could easily compete against $1000 towers. I have had them a week now and will update my review if needed. I have had them paired with my HK 3490 stereo receiver, Onkyo TX SR604 AVR, and Yamaha RXV 673 AVR, and the S55's sound really good with all 3 receivers. It's too subjective to say which receiver they sound better with, but they are incredibly sensitive speakers and do not need a lot of amp power.
Using 1- 5 stars, I will quickly rate the Polk S55's in these categories for the price-
Build quality *****
Stereo separation ****
Imaging and transparency ****
Treble *****
Mid-range ****
Bass ****
Volume and power *****
My rating and comparisons were based on other $300 - $1200 dollar speaker sets.
Update 03/19/17:
Even more impressed after extensive music listening. I wanted to see just how magical these speakers were. So I went out to Fry's Electronics and bought a Yamaha Aventage RX-A1060 for $730 with a promo code, then used the $470 I saved and bought a NAD C316BEE integrated amp! I will admit, I'm a mid-fi audio nut. Both great amps geared toward different audiences, I went mental with the S55's, and witnessed impressive sound stage and tighter bass with more depth. Tested both with music and movies and fantastic sound considering the price and well beyond. I am not a bass freak, so these speakers are more than adequate for me without a sub. However, you will still have a crowd whom needs more bass.
If you're strictly a music purist, the NAD C316BEE is one wicked little amp that has really impressive dynamics with the S55's, more than my other amps. I would buy this amp, plus the Yamaha MusicCast WXC-50 as a preamp (lots of features) and not look back.
Very good speaker at a bargain price. Actually got mine at Fry's Electronics since they waived the sales tax to beat Amazon's price; the total I paid was $599. They definitely have that signature, non-offensive, Polk sound. Right out of the box they sounded good to my ears, but they did not blow me away either. Having owned a number of bookshelf and towers speakers from the makes of- JBL, Paradigm, Boston, Infinity, Polk, and Pioneer etc... over the years, these Polk S55 could easily compete against $1000 towers. I have had them a week now and will update my review if needed. I have had them paired with my HK 3490 stereo receiver, Onkyo TX SR604 AVR, and Yamaha RXV 673 AVR, and the S55's sound really good with all 3 receivers. It's too subjective to say which receiver they sound better with, but they are incredibly sensitive speakers and do not need a lot of amp power.
Using 1- 5 stars, I will quickly rate the Polk S55's in these categories for the price-
Build quality *****
Stereo separation ****
Imaging and transparency ****
Treble *****
Mid-range ****
Bass ****
Volume and power *****
My rating and comparisons were based on other $300 - $1200 dollar speaker sets.
Update 03/19/17:
Even more impressed after extensive music listening. I wanted to see just how magical these speakers were. So I went out to Fry's Electronics and bought a Yamaha Aventage RX-A1060 for $730 with a promo code, then used the $470 I saved and bought a NAD C316BEE integrated amp! I will admit, I'm a mid-fi audio nut. Both great amps geared toward different audiences, I went mental with the S55's, and witnessed impressive sound stage and tighter bass with more depth. Tested both with music and movies and fantastic sound considering the price and well beyond. I am not a bass freak, so these speakers are more than adequate for me without a sub. However, you will still have a crowd whom needs more bass.
If you're strictly a music purist, the NAD C316BEE is one wicked little amp that has really impressive dynamics with the S55's, more than my other amps. I would buy this amp, plus the Yamaha MusicCast WXC-50 as a preamp (lots of features) and not look back.
I just meant that if they are sold at BB, they are entry level speakers. They make better speakers further up the food chain.
I checked the Polk website and yes, they are entry level models. My entire HT are all Polk speakers from about 2000-2001. I don't use my HT for music, but I have used some of the Polks in a 2 channel system from time to time. I have nothing against Polk, but I don't shop at BB mostly because every time I've been in there, the salesperson knew very little about audio, and everything they had was entry level. I don't think the local BB has a Magnolia room.
there isn't a Fry's around here either. in fact, I've never been in a Fry's store.
I'm glad you like them. That's all that matters.
I checked the Polk website and yes, they are entry level models. My entire HT are all Polk speakers from about 2000-2001. I don't use my HT for music, but I have used some of the Polks in a 2 channel system from time to time. I have nothing against Polk, but I don't shop at BB mostly because every time I've been in there, the salesperson knew very little about audio, and everything they had was entry level. I don't think the local BB has a Magnolia room.
there isn't a Fry's around here either. in fact, I've never been in a Fry's store.
I'm glad you like them. That's all that matters.
Tin Bird
Active Member
Cool man...I actually have not heard them, but saw them and thought they looked really nice and was curious how they sounded. Absolutely BB is entry level...no doubt...that is pretty much where I reside financially so it is what it is. The Magnolia room is a step up...totally different from the typical sales floor stuff at BB...Bowers and Wilkins Diamond series, Martin Logan Motion Series, Rotel electronics...so a step (or two) up from the typical Pioneer BS22's and Klipsch stuff found on the sales floor. I appreciate your explanation and apologize for the smarmy/sarcastic overtones to my two recent posts.
No worries.
The local BB did have a Magnolia room a few years back. There was no 2 channel amps in there though. When I asked to hear a pair of speakers, They had them connected to an AVR. I asked to hear them with a 2 channel amp and they told me they didn't carry any stereo amps because multi channel is where it's at, and they sound better. WTF? The Magnolia room didn't last long here from what I was told. I haven't been in the local BB for at least 5 years and have no intention to go back. The last time I was there, I was looking for a laptop. I ended up buying it at Office Max and saved $200.
The local BB did have a Magnolia room a few years back. There was no 2 channel amps in there though. When I asked to hear a pair of speakers, They had them connected to an AVR. I asked to hear them with a 2 channel amp and they told me they didn't carry any stereo amps because multi channel is where it's at, and they sound better. WTF? The Magnolia room didn't last long here from what I was told. I haven't been in the local BB for at least 5 years and have no intention to go back. The last time I was there, I was looking for a laptop. I ended up buying it at Office Max and saved $200.
Tin Bird
Active Member
I agree that the "help" at BB is severely lacking in expertise. Esp. for computers... the typical response is, "this one is more awesomer than that one..." or something like that. Certainly does not instill confidence. I bought mine from Costco. The Magnolia room here at my local Va Beach Best Buy has been there for more than 10+ years...perhaps closer to 20 at this point. Most of the stuff in there is HT/multi-channel stuff. However, they do have the latest Rotel integrated along w the matching CD player...which I was super surprised to see... I was thinking who the heck is going to go into BB to buy a Rotel 2-channel integrated amp...? Then I thought, if I had the money..I would! 
The speaker selection is pretty good though..the B & W Diamonds are fantastic!
The speaker selection is pretty good though..the B & W Diamonds are fantastic!
rksingh1
New Member
I own Polk S55s for a while now. They are not the high end speakers, but for the price, they are great VFM. Used them a while in stereo setup. Right now, they form part of FL FR in my 5.1 setup. Have a very good low end punch and mid sounds good enough. Yet to understand what impact those power ports make thoug.
