Polk Audio TSi100 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair, Cherry)

May 5th 2016 I Received these today so a brief review. I will update as they break in. I hooked them up as mains on my HK AVR 146. I listened to some Yo-Yo Ma and I am impressed. Right out of the box they sounded pretty good though somewhat harsh in the highs. I do believe they will come together more as they rack up hours. Mids are great and lows are as expected; you can't expect deep bass from bookshelf speakers. Equipment and recording make a big difference. I'm listening to streaming Motown at the moment on Pandora and its harsh. I have a Hitsville USA box set that I will play on the same system and see how different they sound. Update May 8th, 2016 I'm about 20 hours into the break in period and I'm hearing some nice changes in the sound of these speakers. I've been listening to a variety of music genres from classical to hard rock to jazz to Celtic to Middle Eastern plus a couple of movies. The speakers are starting to open up and the harshness I was hearing before is disappearing. Also, I removed the grilles. I'm not crazy about the design. I think they mask the sound and may also vibrate against the speaker face. Has anyone else noticed this? The TSi 100 speakers are well worth the $150 I paid for them; very clear and becoming more musical the more I play them. I like them better than the RTi A1s I have. Update May 13th, 2016 About 50 hours in and they sound a lot better than when I first hooked them up. I still have them hooked up to my H/K and listening to music in two channel mode. Movies are heard in 5.1 surround; The TSi100s are the mains of course and they are currently paired with Boston Acoustics CR57s as surrounds and a Yamaha NS-AC143 center I just picked up in a thrift store for $8. For the lows I have two old but still very viable JBL SW1000 subs and a Velodyne CHT-8 sub dialed back enough to give the low mids a nudge. My listening source is a PS3. This is not my primary system but the "man cave" surround system. The TSi100s perform very well, very clear and precise and they play well with the Bostons and the Yamaha. For music they are opening up nicely, but I am a bit partial to my Jamo E 825s on a separate 2 channel system I have in the same room. I will switch them soon and see how they compare on different systems. Update May 26th, 2016 These speakers have really mellowed after many hours of playing music and the occasional movie. Very good speakers. They sound much cleaner than when I first hooked them up. I have not put them on another system yet; I've been liking them a lot where they are. The only other change to the system I have made is I have replaced the Velodyne sub with an Energy Encore 8 sub. Cleaner sound that better accentuates the lower mids without as much boom that I was getting from the Velodyne which is a good sub but not in this application but I digress. The TSi100 speakers are well worth the money with nice, warm and clear sound. They look great too!

I have not bought passive speakers for a very long time (1997?), so I did a ton of window shopping before deciding to buy these based on a youtube review. The fact that they have so many 5 star reviews here on Amazon was also a major factor. They also perfectly match the color of my floors, but that's just a bonus. What you need to know is how they sound. They sound beautiful. Most people will review speakers based on their sound without an equalizer but I think that is stupid. My review is based off of how they sound through an under powered amp and my computer's sound card (a Soundblaster Z series) and how they compare to studio monitor headphone with a frequency response of 10-30,000Hz. It sounds like a dumb comparison but bear with me. These speakers have a range of 61-24,000 Hz. On the high end of their frequency response, there is no difference between the two. High notes are crisp and clear. With the right tweaks on the equalizer, high piano notes, synthesized strings, real strings, etc are all right where they should be. In the mid range, such as bass guitar, it took a bit of extra dialing in, but you can get it to be where it should be, clear and distinct but still in the background. The bass is what surprised me the most. There is a bit of low rumble coming through that I thought I would miss entirely. Of course with the low end maxed out there is distortion. At proper levels though, there's nearly enough bass to be satisfying with no distortion. A decent powered subwoofer is all the help these speakers will need. As far as distortion goes, I couldn't tell you at the moment. I'm using a cheap Lepy amp that is probably pushing 30-40 amps per channel. When I crank the volume high enough it starts dropping off before it has a chance to distort. Under powered as my amp is, they still fill a decently sized living room with plenty of sound. Also if you're considering these over bluetooth enabled powered speakers, I'd say go with these. You can buy a decent bluetooth receiver for around $20 and plug it into your stereo receiver or amp. The only bluetooth speaker I've heard that sounds as great as these was a Harmon Kardon that cost $600.

Getting back into home audio after many years & just needed decent sound for not much, but wanted a quantum leap above computer speakers. Probably have to thank the home-theater industry for fostering such great speakers in a small package. These are solid, well-made, come well-packaged AND they really deliver in terms of audio range. They ARE solid & heavier than cheapo bookshelf speakers. They come with a heavy duty hanging bracket in the back but I wouldn't do that into anything but a stud. Attention to the little things is evidenced by the standoff bumper at the bottom of the back in line with the bracket so the speaker stays at a correct angle if wall-mounted. At any level above "faint" I don't need the loudness button on the Marantz; the EQ knobs for can stay flat for the upstairs bedroom they sit in. They can also take power enough for mixing with backing tracks to compete with my Fender amp played loud enough to gig a small club with - and the audio breadth remains. Test tracks were done with re-mastered Beach Boys stuff. It's all there & more.

nice sound and look, quality product.