Home > Consumer Reviews > Polk Audio Monitor 50 2-Way Floorstanding Speaker (Single, Cherry)

Let me start by saying that I was looking for a pair of speakers to replace my Bose 701's. I love my Bose, but I felt that they were lacking in clarity on the higher end of the sound spectrum. So I decided to make them the front speakers of my home theater system, where the lack of high end sound clarity isn't as noticeable as when you are just sitting down listening to your favorite CD's. After much research I went to my local electronics store with a particular speaker in mind. I had decided on the Infinity Primus250. I was pleased with the highs that the Infinity's delivered, but before leaving I decided to listen to the Polk Monitor 50's because they were in the same price range and I know that Polk makes a quality product. After alternating listening to both speakers with a variety of music styles I was torn. Both speakers would have been a welcome addition to any home system, but the Polk speakers seemed to offer just a little more clarity on the higher end. The vocals and instumentation of the music seemed just a bit more alive with the Polks. I was right. When I got them home and hooked them up they sounded as good as they did in the store. So although I would not have been wrong if I had bought the Infinity's, I'm glad that I decided on the Polks. I hope this review has been helpful.

These speakers produce a beautiful sound for a very beautiful price. I just bought a pair of Monitor 50's to go with my sound system and home theater. The high end is crisp and clear, and the bass is clean, with no "booming" distortion. I compared these speakers to comparable floor-standing, 2-way Sonys, and the Polks outdo the competition with clarity and immaculate sound. The price at ABC Warehouse beats the cost quoted on Amazon, as I paid $175 for each one. Don't waste your time looking around. If this is your price point, these are your speakers.

I paid $99 each for these speakers shipped. For this price, they are really great. I have them bi-wired with some overpriced monster cable speaker wire I had to buy at the local AV chain store because that's all they sell now. I did most of my listening through a panasonic blu-ray disc player, outputting the sound via an optical cable to my Onkyo old school 5.1 DTS receiver for the decoding. I've watched about a dozen movies and listened to many albums. I also do some listening with the old ipod.

These speakers will satisfy all but the most discerning ears. The treble is clear and I think it is just right. Some speakers have a brighter treble that some listeners really desire (klipsch speakers for example), these are more neutral sounding which I feel is more natural. The treble is in no way muted or muffled, it's just right. They are ported, which means certain bass frequencies will be accentuated and there will be a slight loss of detail as compared to most completely sealed cabinets. This port helps to make the speakers sound more full for home theater, but I find it undesirable for music as it over-accentuates certain lower frequencies. Certain bass notes will really resonant, while others taper off quite a bit. The frequency range is just low enough to vibrate your couch just a bit, but definitely lacking for any music that is bass heavy. They almost will work for rock, but if you like your kick drums to shake your walls, you will need a sub. In fact most people will want a sub. If your idea of rocking the house is turning up a beatles track, they will do just fine. I would guess the sound level tapers off heavily at about 70hz. They do say they go down to 56hz I believe, but I doubt they are pushing much air at all at 56hz. The mid-range is good. Vocals have above average air and presence while piano and guitar sounds good, but mid-bass lacks punch and dynamics. They seem to image fairly well, but it's hard for me to tell in my current residence because my room is an odd shape. Though the manufacturer describes these speakers as requiring only small amplification, I think they really benefit from high quality amplification. My Onkyo receiver is certainly not a high-end amp, but I definitely think these speakers will sound better with amps that can drive them more dynamically and at louder levels. Watching Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds live on blu-ray was quite a treat. There's very little low bass in this show, as it is all acoustic guitars. Vocals were great and the guitars sounded very nice (I play guitar and know what a guitar should sound like live). You could easily discern the different guitars and point them out in the soundstage. Dave's voice sounded really great through these speakers. Treble was just a touch bright on this recording for me. Note that I was listening to this disc in 2 channel mode, not in surround sound, so as to really hear only the sound of the front speakers.

So, to summarize: These are GREAT for movies, but you will want a sub. For Music, they are just above average, but when you factor in how little they cost, they are very nice for the price. They have a neutral natural treble and mid-range, with a mib-bass that I wished was more dynamic, and bass response that accentuated certain lower frequencies and wasn't as clear and low as I would like, but that's what you get with ported speakers. I really think these speakers will reveal a crappy source (crappy ipod, or cheapo cd player, or your typical receiver you will find in best buy that is just average).

I think if you want to noticeably do better than these speakers, you are looking at spending at least about $500 a speaker. So yeah, when you factor in the price, these are a home run.

and then some. They really bring the home theater experience to life. To me sound has always been the bigger part of movies. A great visual display can only do so much, even on the big screen in a "real" theater, but when you feel the thunder in your belly, that's something else again.
They are clear on the high end and can handle the low ends just fine!
I'd recommend a pair of these to anyone looking to upgrade.
BTW for some reason I had to buy these on a per item basis, I did buy two, would have been silly to buy just one, unless of course I was into Sunflowers.

The Polk website lists these babies at a whopping four hundred sixty bucks MSRP...now if you're paying anywhere near that, I'd say you're nuts because there's far better speakers available at that pricepoint. Luckily the street prices on the Polk Monitor line keep dropping, perhaps due to fierce competition from both high-quality Internet-direct manufacturers like av123, Ascend, SVS, Hsu, etc. and as more speakers are now produced in cut-rate China, such as the Usher Audio S-520. At the one hundred thirty bucks shipped each price that Amazon currently has them at, however, this is an excellent value---mainly because these being floorstanding rather than bookshelf speakers, you don't have to spend any money on speaker stands, which would start at around eighty to a hundred bucks and negate any price advantage of bookshelf speakers.

The Monitor 50 is basically identical to the Monitor 40 in terms of not only having the same two 5.25" mid-woofers and 1" silk tweeter, but surprisingly the much larger cabinet of the 50 does not seem to give you any extra bass extension: both the 40 and the 50 are listed by Polk as going down to 57Hz, which means that having a powered subwoofer is highly recommended, especially if you are using these speakers for home theater (DVDs)---and particularly if you watch a lot of big-budget action flicks where the subwoofer really makes or breaks your system, particularly in a large open space.

For critical music listening, the Polk Monitor is decent, but hardly anything to write home about. That's "critical music listening"---wherein one sits in front of the speakers and listens intently to the nuances, details, balance and tonality of the musical output, in contrast to casual listening where you're perhaps preparing a meal in the kitchen at the same time, or dusting the furniture, etc. Critical music listeners, look elsewhere, and be prepared to spend at least two hundred fifty to four hundred dollars for a truly good pair of bookshelf speakers such as the Infinity Beta 20s or Ascend CBM-170s.

For everyone else, meaning those who mainly watch DVDs, TV, and play video games, the Monitor series will be plenty adequate. The silk tweeters give you decent detail, the 89db sensitivity means that you don't need some massive super-powerful amp to drive these, and the double-woofer d'Apollito (midwoof-tweeter-midwoof) design of the Monitor 50 and 40 will give you a nice full midrange and room-filling output.