Polk Audio R50 Main / Stereo Speaker

Pros: Price, Design, Sound Quality
Cons: Carpet Spikes

I have slowly but surely built up my home theater system. It started out small and gradually got bigger. At the time of purchase i had a decent setup but i came across a deal that i could not refuse. Fry's had these on sale for just $50 each! An absolute ...

Pros: Clean styling, sturdy construction, surprising bass
Cons: Movie watchers may need a separate subwoofer, lousy carpet spikes

I see these speakers selling for under $300 a pair...maybe Polk Audio likes losing money? Or maybe they've just figured out a few secrets in giving you good sound at an affordable price. Read on to find out. The R50 is another component of the ...

Pros: Cheap, good sounding, quality speaker, that looks much more expensive
Cons: bass is not fantastic

As many people have done I came across these at a steal of a deal from Fry’s Electronics. I honestly did not do very much research on these speakers before I made my purchase which is definitely not the norm for me. I have been extremely happy with the ...

Pros: The clarity -- the absolute, jaw-dropping clarity and crispness, while still delivering powerful bass.
Cons: Not much...the price, maybe?

This is the year. We made that decision when we finally became fed up with the slow succession of department-store bookshelf stereos we were using up. This is the year we would upgrade to a real component stereo system. We bought our electronics from ...

Pros: Price. Good bass. Very flat response.
Cons: Matching components (surround, center channel) can cost more than the speakers themselves.

I picked up my pair of R50s for $99 each from Fry's. When I saw the ad, I was amazed. When I listened to them, I knew I had to have a pair. I've only heard one pair of speakers I liked more, but those were $650 each. Nothing at this price even comes close to the sound quality.

I like bass, and these speakers don't disappoint. I bought a Velodyne CHT-10 sub and a matching Polk csi30 center channel on eBay. They all sound great together. I usually don't even turn on the sub since these speakers sound great by themselves and I don't want to disturb the neighbors.

One thing to be aware of is that when you buy good quality speakers like these, there might be a break-in period. For the first two weeks that I owned these speakers, the "s" sounds when people were speaking sounded horrible. After the break-in period, that went away and I couldn't be happier.

Pros: Great clarity, look great priced to sell.
Cons: Get a powered subwoofer

For their going price, you can't find a better speaker! I have them hooked up to my Onkyo TX-SR502 and couldn't be happier.

Pros: -Look nicer in person than in pictures. -Sound much nicer than expected.
Cons: Vinyl finish. Most speakers less than $500 do anyways. There's really nothing to complain about.

Ok, these can be had for less than $100/speaker. That said, these are unmatched at that price. These speakers have a nice full sound. They dip well below the 50Hz,-3dB point. I tested them down to 30Hz with not much of a dropoff in SPL (sound pressure level). I just made sure that my receiver was set for large speakers. The R50s seem to be sensitive to the settings on your receiver as far as bass is concerned. I've found that they offer plenty of punch when set right; you could almost go without a sub. They're great for music (non fatiguing) and Home Theater. Don't let online audiophiles turn you away from these- they're just trying to justify the hundreds or thousands they spent for similar sound.