The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy gift card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free. All opinions about the immersive audio experience I had with the Polk Signature series speakers are 100% my own.
Over the years I may have become a little jaded when it comes to speakers. Always looking for an immersive audio experience. After all, the current mainstream push seems to be going towards smaller soundbars with a subwoofer.
I’ve gotten pretty decent audio performance from this arrangement and liked what I’ve heard. But that is changing, thanks to the Polk Signature Series Speakers.
Let me back up a little here and explain how I got to this point. In the old days, everyone had a home stereo with a pair of speakers. Some of the better setups had speakers with a driver strong enough to pump out the bass, or they used a separate subwoofer. It worked well enough for the time.
Eventually, we all moved to a surround sound setup. This gives a wonderful positional separation for the media to be experienced, and to be honest this setup also serves to fix some of the shortcomings found in the earlier equipment.
That is, many of the components were not properly balanced for the sounds they needed to produce, and on its own, it wreaked havoc on stereo imaging. Having the separate speakers allowed one to force imaging out of a speaker setup, albeit sometimes poorly.
Some hardware of the day designed for improved spatial imaging made it better, but not always ideal. Plus, such solutions often left you with a very narrow listening zone.
But thankfully we can fast forward to today, and appreciate what design and craftsmanship coupled with technology can give us when it comes to a set of speakers. With the right balance and power drivers, along with a quality amplifier, I firmly believe that a pair of speakers can deliver an immersive audio experience.
An Immersive Audio Experience with Polk Signature Series Speakers
How do I know this? Let’s do a test – count the number of ears you have on your head. If you are like most people, you have two. That’s it. Now, count how many units there are in a pair of high-quality speakers?
Yes, once again we have two. I think you see where this is going. Yes, a pair of speakers can deliver the goods. I have tried to make this happen in the past. But now I have found what is needed to do the job properly – the Polk Signature Series Speakers.
Compact in Size, Huge in Audio Performance
The Polk Signature S15 compact bookshelf speakers are one of the best-balanced speaker systems I have run across. And it’s perfect for almost any use, whether you are looking for a 2-channel starter system, want to upgrade your TV sound or have it be one of the components in a 5.1 system (either the front stage or rear surrounds). Properly set up, you may find that the pair offers audio bliss for a reasonably sized listening area.
For my use, it was to replace an existing soundbar and subwoofer setup in my office. My office doubles as a media room in the off hours, so I always welcome a quality audio hardware upgrade. But from the size, I did not expect the audio performance the speakers gave.
I paired the speakers with a head (amplifier) that properly supported spatial imaging through its setup. I had used other speakers with this unit and found the immersive experience lacking. But with the Polk Signature S15 speakers, the subtleties in sound location really shined.
The speakers feature a Hi-Res audio certification, and it shows. Constructed with a new Dynamic Balance designed acoustic array and precision cross-overs, everything ends up exactly where it should be with no distortion.
The anti-diffraction grille serves to make sure that everything is still pointed in the right direction without the need to pull the covers – although the speakers look great with or without them, thanks to modern cabinet styling.
The exclusive Power Port bass enhancing technology really pumps out the bass, filling the room with pulse-pounding deep tones that you can feel.
These speakers are equally adept at movies and simple music listening, but it would be a crime not to pair these with an amp that is designed to make the most of their sound shaping abilities.
I’m going back and listening to old albums, almost like I am exploring them again for the first time. Four words – Pink Floyd Sonic Holography.
The tagline is Polk—expect great sound. With the Polk Signature S15 compact bookshelf speakers from Best Buy, you will be pleasantly surprised. Expect it.