This is hilarious. I trust Audioholics' opinions and I was highly amused to see that BIC America RtR-EV15 on the list.
Whole bunch of sleek modern towers, and then...
"What the hell is that thing doing there?" I thought. Looks like a big monkey coffin speaker from the 1970s, complete with a big Cerwin-Vega-esque "look at me!" painted 15" woofer that's bigger than most peoples' subwoofers. And it's selling for $175ea at Wal-Mart with free shipping? "Oh, this could be fun..."
Read some reviews around the web. Not many reviews but people really like these things. Hmm. Praise from some home theater types. 95db efficiency!? Damn, I need (want) some speakers for the garage and outdoor parties. I already have lots of fancy bookshelf speakers. "Let's try something new," I thought.
So I pulled the trigger. Holy crap, these are the most hilarious and fun speakers ever. I have them sitting atop stereo subwoofers in my garage and they are literally physically intimidating, like a pair of linebackers.
The SPL these put out is ridiculous. Sound is completely not bad at all! Smooth and natural. Nothing overhyped. Dynamics are incredible; lots of tactile midbass. Are they as detailed as my KEF Q100s or my (DIY build) Speedsters? No, but they are not an embarrassment either.
While these do play very deep... you may still want a subwoofer or two if you really want *punch* in your deep bass. Those big 15" woofers are big and move a lot of air, but excursion is pretty modest. That may change if you use a more powerful amp than me; I'm using a HK3390 amp that puts out a very honest 80wpc into these guys. However, they are rated to take up to 225 continuous watts, so... these guys have potential I haven't heard yet.
One thing to note that's not obvious from the WalMart product photo: they do come with a removable black cloth grill cover, and it completely hides that big red woofer. That's nice because without a grill cover these look like something that should reside in the back of a 1993 Honda Civic. With grill covers on these can look acceptable in an adult living room, if you're okay with the size. (Though personally, mine will stay in the garage)
Really made me reconsider "modern" speakers. We do all this crazy stuff to get powerful sound from tiny 3", 4", 5" drivers. Little high-tech marvels with cones made from futuristic materials with insane levels of excursion. It's impressive, but maybe the "old ways" weren't so bad -- if you're willing to be low tech you can just use a giant 72-pound cabinet and pull off things that tiny modern speakers struggle with.