Polk Audio TL250 5-pack Compact, High Performance Home Theater System (5-pack, Black)

I don't normally write reviews but I'm happy enough with this product to write a few comments. First of all, the 5 stars is based on price. I don't think rating things absolutely makes much sense because someone could think $500 speakers are the best thing they've ever heard AND YET they might think they're still too expensive while the next person might think that $500 speakers are cheap junk. I had a dedicated home theater that didn't get used so I decided to set up a surround system in my family room (not the same thing by the way, but that's a different story). I couldn't just move my home theater into the other room due to space constraints. My home theater was Gallo Reference 3.1s, a Reference AV Center, and A'Diva Ti surrounds. The mains and center were just too large and my TV is in a built in nook so there wasn't room for ANY floor-standing speakers. Not to mention I was using an infinite baffle subwoofer with four 15" drivers in the home theater, so it couldn't even be moved.So I needed a little sub/sat system. I looked around online and read reviews and found a couple to listen to locally including the lower model of these speakers, the Polk Blackstone TL-1 as well as the Definitive Technology CinemaPro 1000 (although I was looking at the CinemaPro 600). The CinemaPro speakers were FAR too bright for my tastes and I doubted that the lower level model I was considering would somehow be better.So I finally settled on the Polk Blackstone TL-2 which I bought from Amazon as the 5-pack with 4 identical satellites and a wider center channel employing the same drivers but with two woofers instead of one. These speakers were much better balanced, being neither bright nor dull/muddy.I hooked the speakers up to my Onkyo receiver along with a Polk PSWi225 wireless subwoofer and calibrated everything. I have been EXTREMELY impressed with the performance. Dialog is very clear and musical score really comes out in full force. Even though these speakers are not large and do not play very low, they do go just low enough to blend reasonably with a sub without having to up the subwoofer's crossover to boomy, localizable levels.The subwoofer itself is also impressive for the price. It is a smallish 8" subwoofer but it has a high excursion driver and it can really crank out when called upon. Of course it needs to be used in a small room to be effective, but I could also see two of the subs working very well in a medium to large room.The wireless feature of the sub works very nicely as well. Plug it in and pick a channel on the sub and transmitter and voila, it works.Overall this is a great, reasonably priced surround system for a family room. The speakers are of very high quality both audibly and from a fit and finish perspective and paired with a moderate subwoofer they are a huge upgrade over built-in TV speakers for someone wanting something more but not wanting to go completely overboard.

This is my 2nd go around with using polk audio as my speakers for my home theater system. My original setup from polk was a years ago. It was a 5.1 package i picked up at Fry's Electronics. It was simply amazing. Over the years i lost the use of 1 of my rear channels as the speaker started to sound distorted or blown. The speakers were out of warranty so I decided it was time to upgrade to a newer speakers.I purchased the TL250 Speaker set and it was an overall improvement over my original purchase. I have enjoyed the sound quality of these speakers.But my only issue is that 1 of the rear channels is again starting to sound distorted. It isn't the same position as the previous setup. I checked my connections, checked the cable, ran a new cable, and switched it to different positions within the setup. Still the problem exists.Overall I have been happy with the sound quality they have produced. Sadly I cannot give it a full 5 start rating because this is the 2nd issue with losing a rear speaker.

(I'm using these with an Onkyo SR706 receiver)Build quality is good, and they are relatively stylish I suppose.Overall clarity and mid/high frequencies are pretty good, but the bass response is absolutely horrible. I know these aren't big speakers and you can't expect much, but the bass is almost nonexistent. I would have returned them had I realized this in time; I have them paired with a 12" sub and overall, the sound is solid. When I had to use the sub for something else and just had these up ... I mean I think the built-in TV speakers put out more thump.Bottom line: if you can get a deal on these, go ahead, but you absolutely have to have a sub or else they are definitely insufficient.(I've been using these speakers for over one year now)

I spent almost a year researching and trying to decide which speakers to buy for my surround sound system. The Polk speakers always had good reviews and were highly reccomended. These had the requirements I was looking for. Small size, power rating, sound quality, a center speaker that would make movie dialogue clear and distinct (Polk's web site reccomends the TL250 over the TLl50 series for clearer enhanced dialogue from the center speker), and a modern look. Hooked up to my Pioneer receiver w/7 channel surround sound these speakers are GREAT!!!!!!! I really can tell the difference in the dialogue coming thru the center channel speaker now. These speakers replaced an old Cerwin Vega 5 speaker surround sound set I had. I highly reccomend this system to anyone looking to buy speakers and if they can afford it, buy the TL 250's. You'll be glad you did!

When the wife and I decided to down-size our home when I retired, we had to give up our dedicated home theater. In our new home, our living room doubles as our home theater so there was really no room for free standing speakers like we had in our dedicated home theater. The reviews of the Polk TL250s were very encouraging. They combine small size with great sound. So we purchased the five speaker set and combined it with a Polk PSW111 8" subwoofer and we couldn't be happier. We found that small size does not always mean small sound. The TL250s along with the PSW111 sub give us room filling sound without breaking the bank. This combination of Polk speakers definitely "fills the bill" for us. I would highly recommend the TL250s for someone looking for reasonably good sound in a compact size that will not break the bank.