About 16 years ago I went all out as far as my budget would take me and purchased a pair of Monitor 50's, Monitor 40's, a PSW10 and a CS1 center channel to go with my new plasma TV. (Honestly I am probably still paying off that credit card). I really liked the 5.1 setup, but for me the best listening experience was using my old NAD 3030 or my Onkyo TX-SR502 AV receiver in stereo mode with or without the sub. The 50's needed the sub for the lower end but I really liked them for the mid and uppers and classical music listening. The 40s weren't bad either. I did a lot of listening to friend's systems, and habitually demo'd high end stuff, but I always realized I had to spend a lot more money to get anything much better. I came across the Monitor 70 II's this past black Friday looking for something else. These were my dream speakers back in the day so I jumped at the deal and now have them set up with the 50's as the rears in a 5.1, contemplating the 40's to fill out a 7.1 system. In any case, I have been listening to these 70's in stereo for over a month and am loving the full, warm sound that seems to keep a lot of detail and impart no fatigue in long sessions. Honestly, I don't even think I need the center for this, they are pinpoint accurate and have an amazing soundstage. I finally have a system that reveals the differences between 256, and straight up lossless audio. The lows on this are just right and I really only need the sub for movie explosions. I can't believe how much great sound comes out of these for the price. Compared to the 50's they sound much richer, full and detailed. I guess they sound good like the 50's, only more so in every way. Much more satisfying overall. Once again, I will likely have to spend a lot more money to get noticeably better. From my subjective ears, the highs are complete and not tinny or harsh. Strings sound really good and do not break up unless really pushed, which I blame digital encoding and my amp on, because it doesn't happen on analogue sources. Acoustic guitar (Rodrigo and Gabriella, 9 Dead Alive) reveals amazing detail, percussion is sharp, detailed and subtleties are revealed (Antonio Sanchez, Birdman soundtrack, and vocals are intimate and detailed (Johnny Cash, American V, "If you could read my mind" will make you cry). These recordings I mentioned feel like they are literally in the room. The stage is wide, and much more enveloping and personal. I can't wait to get these on a better amp. I measured the response of these with a calibrated mic and they are very flat and drop off quickly below 40Hz, so that where a sub will come in handy for home theater use and some music genres. For analog output I EQ'd them through a MiniDSP 2x4 processor using REW software, bypassing the HT receiver processing, and they are even more amazing, but that is for geeks and not totally necessary for basic enjoyment. I go with the basic 5.1 digital output for movies and TV. Anyway, as many have said, you'd have to spend a lot more money to get better sound and these will max out most basic home sound systems unless you are using very high end gear. If you want a reasonable upgrade, don't hesitate on these.Update: I've upgraded my home theater amp to a Yamaha RX-V685 and on direct mode with just the two 70's upfront the sound is great. Honestly, for watching movies or TV, I can barely justify using the CS2 center channel and cold probably do without it. With just the two fronts going in stereo/direct mode, music is a joy to listen to. Details like fingers moving on strings, vocalists inhaling, bumping equipment, spaciousness in some recordings, impact on piano keys. All very pleasant to listen to and makes music listening more personal and human. I geeked out and have explored audio tuning with REW equalization software a bit more. There are some bumps and resonances in the response mainly due to the room configuration and things like wood floors and furniture. So I got the miniDSP DDRC-24 with the Dirac Live software. I used that to create a custom crossover point for the subwoofer around 50Hz, some equalizing filters for the speakers, and applied the DIRAC impulse correction. Holy Moly these 70's come alive! The speakers sound really good with nothing, but when corrected like this they are amazing. Hard to imagine how much I would have to spend to get noticeably better. So now two years in, not a moment of regret with these speakers. They just keep surprising me. Also, I ended up using my old monitor 40's in a garage TV setup and they work great for that. They have enough mid-low to make the TV sound much better than the canned internal speakers. Paired with a sub they would be great. So I am happy they found a good use as well.

Gran sonido

First, let me say I was impressed with how fast these arrived here in northern Michigan. Really, I expected more than a week for delivery, but they arrived in mere days, very impressive. Secondly, I was fortunate that these did not come damaged, even though one of the speaker boxes got punched in on the side with a 2 foot gash. So I lucked out that not so much as a corner got crumbled, nor the finish scratched, so I consider myself very lucky. As with other reviewers, the boxing could be a tad more robust for as heavy as these are (about 50 Lbs each). Also, do pay attention to which end of the box to open first, follow the directions printed on the end of the carton, it will make getting your speakers out of the carton and standing on their feet properly, that much easier. Now, as for the sound...Can I say WOW? I've been a practicing audio engineer for broadcast and TV for decades, so I know a little bit about how sound systems should perform. While these are not the top drawer of speakers, I believe these are the best bang for the buck that a working stiff is ever going to get when it comes to getting close to that elusive showroom Hi-Fi sound. I just purchased the Yamaha RX-V6A home theater amp with 100 Watts per channel RMS to pair with these Polks and they light up the room! I've been playing them nearly every day and can't get enough of the great bass and clear presence these speakers exude in the upper mid-range. I find today's modern music, when played through my Roku Ultra on YouTube, is dynamic and full and rich when played through the Monitor 70 II's. I don't think most homes will even need a sub-woofer with a pair of these. I saw the Polk specs took it down to 40 Hz on the normal roll-off curve, which is where my ancient RCA 3 way speakers pretty much ended, and I thought they were decent, but, these Polks are another dimension for me. It made me realize my 20 year old speakers were passe technology. After first hooking them up to the new amp, the bass end started out tight and I needed my amp's bass control boosted up to +5.5 dB, but now, I'm able to start backing off after about a week of use for about 5 hours a day. I'm currently down to +4.5 dB on the bass setting, with the treble left at flat 0 dB. The bass sounds just as good now as it did when I was pushing it harder with the speakers new out of the box. I listened with awe as I played "Senorita" by Camilla Cabello and the basement notes in that song just manage to pop out of the front bass ports of these speakers with the amp's volume settings at -25 dB. The bass specs severely roll off around 30 cycles, according to Polk's specs on their website, but that's about a 3 dB per octave roll-off, so at 30 to 40 Hz, they are still audible, just not as forceful, you just begin to get a hint of the bass you can "feel" in your chest, to me, it's very adequate, it easily scares the cats ;). I am impressed with their performance without a sub in my system. The mid-range is smooth and the highs clear and not too frigid. At first I thought the highs were going to be overwhelming, but I only had one speaker hooked up with one of my RCA's at the time and the bass was sucky and the highs were just too annoying, but once I got both speakers on left and right, the whole complexion of the sound transformed into something unexpectedly pleasant with good presence, tonal balance and depth. With a bass boost, it's just as good as anything I've heard in the small theaters around here, perhaps better. Most small theaters have underrated systems and they push them into distortion, so my theater experience at home actually is superior to many of the actual theaters out there, especially with this new system. Overall, this speaker is a tremendous value, and I hope they serve as long as my RCA's have, they are well worth the money, to me they sound better than my buddy's vintage Klipsch Heresy series speakers and that's saying something. I have yet to have him listen and blow him away with the sound of these things. I paired them up with a pair of Fluance Elite bookshelf speakers for surround, and they are a good balance with each other. I haven't even bothered with Surround Presence (height) speakers yet, nor a sub, because I'm so happy with the sound of the 4 channel system by itself. The finish is black Ash, so the wood is not going to be Yamaha's piano black finish, but I'm not terribly picky about that, in my opinion, they are still sharp. I didn't think I would like the shape of the rubber feet, but they've grown on me and they have a tremendously good damping effect on the floor, there's no transfer through the floor direct through the cabinet, only what the floor will pick up in micro-phonics from the air movement in the room. I'm not running them bi-amped, I just left the shorting bars in place and are running them as a single three-way speaker. By the way, don't waste your money on special speaker cable, a good quality 16 or 18 gauge brown zip cord will be plenty tough enough to handle 100 Watts of sound power, you will never actually use that much power continuously in a sound system for actual listening, that power is for production of fidelity and transients, but you could never listen to 100 Watts RMS continuously, your ears would bleed, so don't spend a lot on speaker cable, just try to make sure they are all the same length to accommodate the damping factor of the amplifier (you can look that one up yourself). I can only imagine how the Polks will sound bi-amped. My new RX-V6A can do it, because it has a 7.1 amplifier, so I might have to experiment with that and see if I like the sound, But, for now, I'm spoiled enough. For the average Joe, these are a better than an average speaker and there are many Amazon reviews to confirm that assertion. The average working guy making $18 an hour should be able to afford a pair of these and be very happy with the purchase. My hope is they last many years. I've seen reviews from 2014 where the speakers are still going strong for this model, so I have hope. Get them, they are worthy of any decent system that can handle down to 6 Ohms impedance. Most good sounding speakers will have a lower impedance because they will draw more amplifier current than their 8 Ohm, 12 Ohm or 16 Ohm cousins, therefore improving fidelity, just be sure your amp can handle 6 Ohm speakers before buying these.

I bought these when upgrading my entire system in January, and run them on a NAD 31cBEE Amp.These Polk Monitor 70's are extremely powerful. They give a solid, blunt sound,. The bass is tight with incredible punch even at low volumes,. The Imaging is detailed and complex.The only drawback I have found is that the highs could be a little brighter. As driving as the bass is, the highs are that laid back,. Still, for the price--it is incredible how much Polk can do for so low a price--this is head and shoulders the best deal out there

Long-haul review updated after owning for 5 years in 2022*. These are excellent speakers at an outstanding price. I am not sure if I'd pay twice as much as I did for these speakers (paid $300 for the pair in 2017), but I do think it is absolutely impossible to beat the sound and value of these Monitor 70 speakers anywhere. After a lot of research and reading a lot of online reviews, I decided to take a leap and buy these, and I can honestly say that I have absolutely no regrets. Let's face it, anytime you purchase speakers without hearing them in the store is a giant leap of faith.These speakers produce a very natural and superbly balanced sound for the price point they compete in; which is to say that these speakers are a big notch above entry-level budget speakers. I added these monitors to a 5.1 setup - replacing the small front channel speakers - so that I could listen to music in plain stereo. These are Bi-Amped to my 100-watt per channel Yamaha receiver; so they get driven by plenty of power. In my opinion, the bi-amping did make a slightly noticeable sound difference, especially with opening up the high-end frequency range.One interesting engineering note - these speakers are 2.5-way or cascaded design. Some might wonder how or why a speaker with only a single cross-over point can be 2.5-way, but if you see the wiring diagram for these speakers (thanks Google) you will notice that the bottom two speakers are wired differently than the top-two drivers; such that the bottom two drivers get more of the low-end sound while the upper two get more of the mid-range - this is unique to this model and might help explain why they have a nicely balanced low to mid-range sound.So after 5 years, here is the report:1) Sound imaging and detail reproduction: B+/A-. Very impressive, natural, and warm.2) Clarity and presence: A-.3) Highs: B+/A-. I listen to a lot of jazz and classical, and the highs are bright, quick, and balanced.4) Midrange: A-. Surprisingly good midrange and probably explained by their 2.5-way design. Well blended with no noticeable drop-off.5) Sensitivity: A-. Very efficient design allows great sound at moderate volumes.6) Construction, Fit, and finish= B+. Let's be real... if you are looking for audiophile high gloss piano finish furniture you will pay a lot more. But these monitors look just fine to me and I am very satisfied with their construction and quality. I will note, that while these monitors do have the bare minimum amount of internal insulation and bracing, I have never noticed or heard any sort of sound resonance, distortion, or vibration - which I would not have expected at this price. There is nothing audiophile or high-grade about the parts used, but the sum of the parts and design add up to a great sound that punches above its price point.7) Bass: B+. I say this because I have a separate subwoofer and everything (especially movies) just sounds better with the sub in play than without it. For music (in a pure stereo 2.0 mode), the bass these monitors produce is bright, clean, and solid, but just a bit underwhelming without the sub engaged. For movies, the bass these speakers produce (in 2.0 stereo) lacks the solid impact that you come to expect from having a separate sub - hence a B grade. But, when the sub is engaged and everything calibrated on the receiver, for either music or movies, these speakers deliver a well-blended sound.How they sound: These speakers really shine when listening to music in the stereo configuration (with the subwoofer turned off). They deliver a very natural, balanced, and blended sound with plenty of bass to satisfy an old metal head and bright highs for a jazz fan. Doubtless, there are few speakers that can deliver authoritative low-frequency effects in home theater mode, which is why I think these pair perfectly with a sub for that situation. For inquiring minds - I use the RSL (Rogers Sound Labs) Speedwoofer sub in this setup. It is not available on Amazon, but Google it and buy it factory direct, and you won't be sorry.All-in-all, these speakers are a fantastic value for the quality true hi-fi stereo sound that they deliver. At this price point ($300 for the pair), I think these might be the very best floor-standing speakers you can buy. It is worth noting, that these are really budget speakers that acoustically punch well above their price point; making them a surprising value for any listener who wants better sound without breaking the bank.Since I purchased these speakers in 2017, I have been absolutely delighted with their sound and feel that you might have to pay two or three times more to find a better set of speakers anywhere.Lastly, in the 5-years I have owned them, these speakers still look and sound as good as the day they arrived new. In a world of a lot of disposable junk, these speakers have proven to be a throwback to something better and more permanent.So if you are looking to break into better speakers on a budget, these are definitely worth your consideration.All the best!

I like these speakers a lot. They sound very good for what I use them for, a 2 channel stereo set-up in my family room. I had been using KEF Q300's paired with a 10 year old Orb audio 8" sub. When the sub died, I decided to try something bigger, and when the price on these dropped to $149 each, I pulled the trigger. I already liked the Polk sound, having used a pair of Polk RTiA1's in the past - to me Polks have smooth mids and the highs aren't over-blown, shrill or edgy. Of course, they needed about 10-20 hours of break-in time and then were sounding very good indeed. The first thing I noticed was my 20 year old NAD 35 watt/channel receiver wasn't quite up to the task. I tried several other amps including a Yamaha AS-501 integrated @85 w/channel. It had the muscle to push the Polks, but I didn't like the overly bright sound of the Yamaha. So I bought a NAD C356 BEE integrated @ 80w/c. Now I have enough power and the warmer NAD sound I grew accustomed to over the years. I think 100 or 150 watts per channel would be ideal for these larger Polks, but I have a limited budget for audio stuff. Next, I replaced my speaker cables with 12 ga wire and also replaced the flat metal jumpers on the speaker wire terminals on the back of the cabinets with 12 ga wire (see photo). Replacing the jumpers noticeably opened up the sound, increasing the clarity and presence. A nice and cheap improvement. I listen to old school acoustic jazz, chamber music, classical, world, reggae, and rock. I listen at sane volume levels, sometimes cranking it (when my wife is gone). All genres of music sound good, but they really shine playing jazz and classical. Acoustic instruments like violins and horns sound more realistic. Even though the bass is not as deep as a sub, it does sound tight and clean, upright jazz bass sounds great. I miss the sub (barely) on the reggae and other bass-heavy music, but for the acoustic stuff, these are all I need. Are these the best speakers in the world? Of course not, but you'd be hard pressed to find anything better at $300/pair.PROS:smooth clean mids and highsenough bass for most musicfills the room with rich, full soundsmall footprintfront firing bass port (can put against wall or corner)CONS:bad recordings are revealed for what they arebass not super deep like a subUpdate: August 2017:I've been using these now for more than 6 months and love them. What I noticed is at normal listening levels the individual drivers are hardly working, so they are very clean and clear sounding. Even when cranked they still maintain their composure. Also they sound much better with the front grill covers off.