Joined on 07/19/08
Great Center Channel Speaker
Pros: Excellent sound and voice production, crisp clear vocals and a lot more bass than you will get from other center channel speakers. Matches my 75T speakers really well. I compared this to my Martin Logan Motion 8 Center Channel that costs 2-3 times what the 25C costs and they sound extremely close, but the Polk is more full bodied sound, it just depends on what you are looking for in a center. The 25C is a "full sound spectrum" whereas other centers may be more mids and highs only. I tested it in my 20 x 20 family room with Polk Tower 75Ts (from Newegg) and did not have to turn it up very much, the projection in the room was great at all volumes. Got it in about 3-4 days from Newegg in perfect condition. Love it so far.
Cons: None at this point. It is very large so you need to make sure you have the space. It fits very well on a table below my screen in my media room.
Overall Review: As compared to other centers, I think this has a much wider sound spectrum due to the 2 6 1/2 inch woofers and the rear port. It has a high quality feel to it and weighs almost 20 pounds, representative of quality construction for a solid and deep overall sound.
Burned out in first 10 minutes
Pros: none
Cons: Speaker blew out 10 minutes after plugging it in. I almost burned my hand on the metal plate where all the plugs are in the back of the speaker. I plugged my other subwoofer in and it works like a charm in same outlets. Poor quality control.
Nice receiver but poor Yamaha Support, limited sound programs
Pros: Good connectivity Quality picture and sound Easy setup Two zone operation
Cons: Sound programs are not very diverse, you only end up using a select few. No support for Spotify,Rdio or other popular music services. Only Pandora Rhapsody and Sirius and their own radio. They recently updated software for next series of receivers to include spotify but excluded this receiver, poor after sale support from Yamaha. I inquired with Yamaha and they said no even though this is one month old and supports wifi and Ethernet for easy software upgrades. Won't buy Yamaha again, going with Onkyo who does better job with better sound programs with THX.
Excellent Value and Quality
Pros: Full range speakers, excellent highs, mids and base. Great sound separation and range at all volume levels. Great deep sound Polk is known for. Some say they are big and heavy, but I like the tower look and the construction is solid.
Cons: The "Cherry" is a very light tone, not a deeper cherry like mahogany so if you are matching up colors, it is more like scandanavian teak than cherry. I would have gone with the black if I had seen them before ordering online.
Overall Review: I bought these just before xmas, they came in two days, New Egg upgraded shipping for free and they were a great price. One leg came damaged, no problem, Newegg sent me one overnight and I got it next day (Xmas eve!!), great service. My setup is a Yamaha 773 7.1 receiver, Martin Logan Center, Polk 75T fronts(not beamed) , and Cambridge Audio in wall rear speakers in a large two story family room. Well, after hooking them up and playing them for all kinds of music, TV and movies, I have to say I really enjoy them. I listen to a wide variety of music from Maroon 5 to James Taylor to classical and country. They have a full spectrum of sound, crystal clear highs from the tweeter, mids and vocals are great, base is excellent as well. Strings and guitar are crisp and clear, very well isolated, kids are rich and base is full where needed. I used the YPAO setup from Yamaha and it adjusts all of the levels to the listening area in about 3 minutes, a really great feature. I've played them at moderate levels initially, then really cranked them up, zero distortion and a very full spectrum of sound, more than enough for a 20 x 30 room. After a few weeks of break in I did notice that I could play them at a much lower level on the receiver and get more output, so it appears they do break in over a few weeks of playing them. Unless you have over $1K to spend on B&W or other really high end brands, I can't imaging getting more for your money at this price.
Work well, easy setup
Pros: Easy setup, plug them in, hit the reset buttons and they work. Price was great on sale at $19.99
Cons: Only generate 49MBPS, not 200 but that is pretty much understood. Don't work for MAC but that is not my application.
Overall Review: I am using them to connect an Onkyo network receiver that does not have Wifi capability. It works fine, I can stream Pandora, Onkyo radio and other services without any quality issues.
Good Product
Works well so far. Both ports are 1A. Comes with 6 inch charging cable that works best. Would be better if it came with wall plug and another charging cable. A little heavy. For the money it is a great value though.