Polk T15 Bookshelf Speaker Review

[Blumlein 88]

Yeah! My living conditions have varied quite a bit as well and I’ve still got very good friends that would probably be quite happy with these. Honestly, though, they would never go to the trouble to hang them on a wall or even make sure they are symmetrically placed reference to the extended “sweet spot” they prefer that stretches from the couch to the recliner. More likely, they would be placed on diagonal corners of the room or actually, GASP, PLACED ON BOOKSHELVES as advertised. They think I am STUPID when I lie and tell them my stuff cost 10% of what it did... To each his own!! As for the frequency response, anybody remember how EVERY graphic equalizer you’ve ever seen was set? Or how the tone controls on your car stereo had been changed back when your car spent days in the shop and NOBODY EVER CALLED OR EMAILED YOU WITH A SATISFACTION SURVEY? Some people would rock out with these until they blew up and then buy new ones once they noticed it.

The solution in the 1970's was the Jensen Triaxial 6x9s. They didn't sound all that good, but they were damn hard to blow up. I seem to recall they were water resistant or something too when they came out with the blue coned Triax II.

 

[restorer-john]

PS. Billy-Bob wasn't much good at maths. He had to stay on the wagon for a bit over three years to buy the Revels, but it was worth it.

 

[restorer-john]

The solution in the 1970's was the Jensen Triaxial 6x9s. They didn't sound all that good, but they were damn hard to blow up. I seem to recall they were water resistant or something too when they came out with the blue coned Triax II.

Roll surround looks to be in great condition. "NIB Jensen Triaxials. Never used or installed. Original vintage condition. Rare."

 

[laudio]

Thread is kind of redirecting.... my last comment.

Minimus 7's were what $100 a pair 40 years ago (on sale)? The Polks probably perform much better but will never last as long. I had them in my car at one time.

I'd love to see amir toss one on his Spinorama and get some measurements.

 

[restorer-john]

Minimus 7's were what $100 a pair 40 years ago (on sale)? The Polks probably perform much better but will never last as long. I had them in my car at one time.

I'd love to see amir toss one on his Spinorama and get some measurements.

The largest selling speaker in HiFi history. Everyone has several lurking in their cupboards, sheds or basements. They appear at every thrift store or garage sale. I have no idea how many I sold (when running a Tandy back the late 80s) but I always kept at least 10 pairs in stock and 30-40 pairs when on sale. The 7W was nice (walnut) and I have a pair of silver ones too- the last ones out of Japan before they went to Korean manufacture.

A bunch of Gold plated Minimus 7s were handed out around the world by RS when the first million had been sold.

They have no bass to speak of, but were great for shops, outdoor dining establishments, caravans and even some people bought the pivoting brackets and screwed them to their parcel shelves. Goodness knows how many people were killed by a Minimus 7 in an accident- they are solid little chunks of metal.

 

[laudio]

The largest selling speaker in HiFi history.

Have no reason to doubt that - and if true need a measurement here. Think I have a set of the white aluminum ones around, and another walnut set with upgraded tweets. Never realized there was a gold plated version.

Edit: Yes - no bass whats over and the System 7 (11?) amp was equalized to make them sound good. These days with subs another story. If you ran a Tandy you got my respect.

 

[Dimitri]

the last ones out of Japan before they went to Korean manufacture

..or Malaysia, like mine

 

[Blumlein 88]

The RS Pro LX5 with linaeum tweeter was measured by stereophile.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/radioshack-optimus-pro-lx5-loudspeaker-measurements
This is with drinking straws damping the port (an essential modification) in the lower trace.

I'm afraid they'll fall down off axis however.

 

[bobbooo]

We shall see in the next episode of Cheap-Ass BOTL Speakers that, shock-horror, measure poorly.

In a genius twist by the scriptwriters, Jethro spots a review on a website called ASR that shows he can actually get a good speaker for just a few dollars more than his Polks, and that the Polks actually sound ok as rear surrounds on top of his bookshelf due to their acoustic axis being below the tweeter (although dyslexic, he's actually a fast learner, no-one believed in him at school though, hung around with the wrong crowd, suffered from depression, turned to drinking...).

Meanwhile, Billy-Bob has decided to get a second pair of speakers for his bedroom and invites his brother round to show off his snazzy new KEF LS50s. Jethro has a good listen, says 'Yeah they're alright mate', and on the way back to his place bursts out laughing because he realises his little $100 'Poverty Pioneers' as his brother called them sound better than a pair of $1500 KEFs.

Hmm...the scriptwriters might need to change the name of the show.

 

[Wombat]

Roll surround looks to be in great condition. "NIB Jensen Triaxials. Never used or installed. Original vintage condition. Rare."

Not exposed to steamy in-car high school sex.

 

[AudioTodd]

In a genius twist by the scriptwriters, Jethro spots a review on a website called ASR that shows he can actually get a good speaker for just a few dollars more than his Polks, and that the Polks actually sound ok as rear surrounds on top of his bookshelf due to their acoustic axis being below the tweeter (although dyslexic, he's actually a fast learner, no-one believed in him at school though, hung around with the wrong crowd, suffered from depression, turned to drinking...).

Meanwhile, Billy-Bob has decided to get a second pair of speakers for his bedroom and invites his brother round to show off his snazzy new KEF LS50s. Jethro has a good listen, says 'Yeah they're alright mate', and on the way back to his place bursts out laughing because he realises his little $100 'Poverty Pioneers' as his brother called them sound better than a pair of $1500 KEFs.

Hmm...the scriptwriters might need to change the name of the show.

Now considering that I am friends with these kinda guys, I need to correct this (and my earlier post): Billy does not have bookshelves, but has a liquor cabinet and several sets of shelves for his Native American artifact and beer can collections and motorcycle and race car (dirt track modified mainly) memorabilia and that is where the speakers reside!

Mine had Formula 1 and vintage sports car stuff, especially from Italy and the UK...

 

[cheatingboy]

Better than polk t15, Micca RB42 has no pink panda head. I do not understand.
Even considering the price does not make sense.

Polk Audio T15 100 Watt Home Theater Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) - Premium Sound at a Great Value | Dolby and DTS Surround | Wall-Mountable
$99.00 $119.00
Get it as soon as Fri, Feb 28
FREE Shipping by Amazon

Micca RB42 Reference Bookshelf Speaker with 4-Inch Woofer and Silk Tweeter (Dark Walnut, Pair)
$149.99
Get it as soon as Fri, Feb 28
FREE Shipping by Amazon

The difference is only $ 50.

Even if polk t15 is 10 $, the pink panda's head should fly.

 

[Haint]

Better than polk t50, Micca RB42 has no pink panda head. I do not understand

I think the panthers also consider price, build quality, and his listening impressions. IIRC his Micca had glue on the woofers and/or cabinets, are $150, and don't outperform the cheaper Pioneers. These Polks are less than half the price, and his listening impression suggest he was wittingly or unwittingly hearing something closer to the "adjusted" frequency response MZKM pointed out.

 

[StevenEleven]

Relax. No one is going to decapitate the pink panda. Now, reset, calm down, and we can talk through this.

 

[bigx5murf]

The solution in the 1970's was the Jensen Triaxial 6x9s. They didn't sound all that good, but they were damn hard to blow up. I seem to recall they were water resistant or something too when they came out with the blue coned Triax II.

View attachment 51911

View attachment 51910

Man, and I was happy to find a pair of NOS vintage car speakers from 1989 last week

 

[ROOSKIE]

Is it cheaper to produce speakers with these odd off-axis characteristics that somehow, somewhat correct on-axis performance? IIRC Audioholics has pointed out similar behavior in some budget Dayton's. Are they really, purposefully producing bad speakers based solely on the assumption Joe Sixpack's going to use them wildly off axis, or is that just a convenient dumb luck excuse?

I don't think very many people buying these speakers (or the Daytons) are using them out on monitor stands at ear height. These are for actual book shelves and table tops and other completely non-audiophile installs. (or as stated previously - as surrounds mounted the way many novices will mount them, flat against the wall up high with a nail)
Many very high quality speakers would not measure well if used in these non-audiophile conditions. They are made to be used only on axis and thus sound good that way, however with vertical changes & large horizontal changes many measure very poorly.
Seriously with all the different players involved who need to make money, and the shipping and the raw materials and the R&D any speaker under $100 is a miracle. These seem decent to me.

 

[mac]

I think the proper design axis needs to be determined prior to measuring any speaker. It's not always on the tweeter axis or exactly in between it and the woofer.

 

[ROOSKIE]

I think the proper design axis needs to be determined prior to measuring any speaker. It's not always on the tweeter axis or exactly in between it and the woofer.

I agree. There is a lot of variation. I wonder how these particular speakers measure with the tweeter at ear height but the unit is angled back to place the system 15-20 degrees off axis. Probably not worth remeasuring but on another similar speaker in future that could be interesting.

 

[maty]

https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/polk-t15

Crossover

Optimized and...

PS: you can see thin MDF.

[ The Polk T15s are not tremendously complex speakers, but few bookshelf speakers in this price range are. That is OK, because complexity doesn’t guarantee good results, and simplicity does not forbid good results either. The Polk T15s are vented, 2-way bookshelf speakers using a 5.25” woofer and 0.75” tweeter. As mentioned, the unflared port is mounted on the front of the speaker. The front-mounted 3.5cm port combined with a keyhole mount on the rear make the T15s easy to mount directly on a wall.

The cabinet construction is in line with what would be expected at this price point, with ½” MDF paneling except for the front baffle which uses ¾”-thick MDF. There is wedge-bracing along the internal edges of the cabinet and a layer of stuffing at the back of the cabinet. Five-way binding posts are used to connect to the speaker wire. The T15 comes with rubber pad stickers that the user can apply as the speaker’s feet if they wish which Polk has thankfully made optional... ]

 

[Prana Ferox]

A disappointing performance and I'm not buying the 'these are meant to be used off-axis' line - even if people mount them on the wall they tend to point them at the listening area.

But they're 35$ speakers with two-piece crossovers and there's only so much magic that can be done without adding crossover parts and cost. The tweeter maybe should have been offset and slid down to pull the driver center-to-center closer, it looks way too far apart for the crossover frequency. But that probably would get veto'd by the marketing folks for looking funny with the port, and there's not really anywhere else to put the port except where the keyhole mount is. A sealed box probably would've been fine for surround duty but would've sounded terrible on the store shelf. Basically a pile of compromises.

I ran a slightly less cheap pair of Polks (Monitor 40s, IIRC) for years and they sounded fine to me, on appropriate height stands. I've since gone vintage and still enjoy the Polk sound.