Post pic with the grills off please!! and you thoughts also would be nice.
Ok, about 5 hours in on them I will give you my impressions so far. My amp is a Yamaha 1200 and source has been my Marantz HD DAC 1 streaming Amazon HD and my own FLAC files from CD. My most recent reference was my JBL 570s which were a good bit forward and then in the mids. Sometimes depending on song and singer could get the talking into a trash can things horns can sometimes do.
These Polk are imaging masters and are not very fussy. Get your ears around tweeter level with a slight tow in. It does not take long or a lot of effort to get a good center image and they will get outside the speaker boundary. They are not just throwing stuff all around they keep with the recording and everything has it's place. They also have depth and height to the stage.
I did hook them up with my little Emotiva Flex amp for about an hour and the characteristics remained pretty much the same they do scale well with your electronics. They sound much more refined with the Yamaha with detail rivaling the JBLs and in some instances surpassing it.
They are very neutral nothing about them is boosted or forward in your face. They are a bit better with dynamics than I expected, but smoother with it and not as shouty as the JBLs. It would not be fair to call them laid back either because they are not. There is a smoothness, body and texture.
When I initially got started the bass was a little bloomy and too much boom but that smoothed out settled down within about 2 hours and Highs, mids and lows are well integrated. Bass has good responsiveness and is better done with more body than the 570s, but not as light or as agile but not a slouch either. Maybe just a touch of warmth here but nothing distracting. These things seem like they would pair well with a host of electronics and do well with all types of music even not the best recorded.
Mids are rich and textured and full bodies again maybe a touch of warmth/smoothness but this Yamaha has some fairly aggressive mids. This seems to take the edge of the attack on pianos and the like they Yamaha can produce without losing the detail. jacques loussier trio fugue in g minor is like Honey Butter for my ears. Rich, creamy, smooth and a touch of sweetness. Yet you can still nearly hear that drum stick splintering. It is clear now that Lionel Richie and Alan Jackson will be leading the choir in Heaven. Mids are very refined and very well done.
Highs are very detailed and airy but not forward or in your face. They are very smooth as well and plenty of extension and detail. You can listen to them all day and never be annoyed or fatigued by them.
If you made me summarize it in a paragraph. I would say these are fun engaging speakers that you could live with long time. They provide plenty of detail and insight and I can live with them long term. Do not be afraid to spend a little on your electronics because they will reward you for it. They are very refined for the price and not shouty or forward. They will handle any kind of music you throw at them from Cider House Rules Soundtrack, Classical, ACDC, Metallica, Donna Summer, County, and Beastie Boys. They are worth the asking price. In a few months I will think I should have waited for the sale but I will never regret my decision.
If you are a music lover that enjoys a variety of different kinds of music and looking for something fun and engaging while letting get the most out of your music they are definitely worth checking out. No need to let your equipment influence what you listen to with these.
They look darker in person than the first 2 pictures do. Those grey highlights are not as noticeable. Those grills though look very much like the earlier group of pictures.
