Lemme tell you, I have just been snatched up into this controversy.
I will explain to the OP the answer to his question.
The people here will not like polk unless it is broken down and reborn as a small fringe company (like it was back in the day when everyone LOVED them) again.
Keep in mind you are on a forum called "audioholics" full of self-proclaimed audiophiles and experts. Whether it is warranted or not, this environment attracts loud-mouthed people(it's what you do on a forum.... talk). This is true of any forum of this type. You must expect to meet people here who want nothing more than to make you feel wrong for not knowing enough or having bad tastes, though, and I think your original post was pretty much asking them to do just that.
Some of them are EXTREMELY insightful. Some are not. Is your sub good for the price? Yes. Do the same people telling you that you should save up also post in other threads for budget systems? Yes.
Try not to get so angry about it, as that is the true thing that is counterproductive.
Does polk make good speakers? Yes. Undeniably.
Are all the speakers Polk makes nice? Not really.
Are there better speakers out there? Yes.
Will you egregiously overpay for stuff from companies like Dynaudio? Yes.
However, look at some of the other brands we have here promoted by our fellow forum members. Bowers and Wilkens has underwhelmed me every single time I heard them. I thought they were supposed to be godsent and tweak-heads dreams. And yet, I find Best Buys populated almost solely by B&W stuff in magnolia sections.
So I would like to see a thread where some actual engineers get on here and give us some straight talk about the audio world and how subjective it is and how pointless it is to have all this fanboy arguing.
All of the answers to this thread can be found simply by reading on other sites and this one. When it comes to serious audiophile stuff, the only answer can be to listen and have a good, practiced ear. however in this case, saying the entire company of Polk sucks is simply wrong. The amount of ludacris trash i have seen... well... trashing polk... is crazy!
Some guy gave the 703's crap because they have bi-amp capability. How many people out there who spend 1500 bux on speakers would opt for NOT having biamp capability? Oh, but I'm sure in your infinite wisdom, you must know it was a marketing decision. So what? Polk is supposed to NOT include that capability for what reason? And yet, this same person who made this comment is giving other people crap about "trolling."
How old are we here, people?
Maybe remove this kind of illegitimate argument, and we can actually get down to brass tacs.
I thought this forum was about helping people, even beginners, not about mere elitism.
I mean it's not like I jump over people on here for liking stupid music, yet on music forums, plenty of people here would get trashed. No one here is perfect. Let's try to be a little less elitist.
And that marks the last time I will ever defend some company on this forum like that.
Just having a bad day, and tired of seeing the underdog get squashed.
Sorry for the rant guys.