Polk T15/R15 Review, Test, and Disassembly

Polk Audio T15 http://www.polkaudio.com/products/t15

Complete Disassembly pictures can be found here.

The first budget speaker from a huge name brand that I’ve picked to disassemble and review. The T15 can regularly be found for in the $50-$60 at Best Buy which is what prompted my purchase and review. (From what I can gather the T15 and R15 are the exact same speaker, at the very least they seem to share the same tweeter. With the former being a Best Buy exclusive.)

Right off the bat it was by far the best constructed speaker I’ve seen in this price range. Thicker and a bit denser looking fiberboard than either the Dayton B653, Monoprice 8250 or the Sony B1000, the front face is nicely finished with what looks like a smooth plastic top surface, and most impressively it has at basic but real cross over (just a basic high pass and low pass filter for each driver). There is also some slight corner bracing going on. I didn’t weight them, but the T15 is heavier than the Dayton B652 and fares better on the knuckle wrap test.   

So did all these seemingly clear and obvious bonuses translate into a better sounding speaker for the money?

For a quick answer; no they didn’t. At least not to my ears and at least not for music. I’ll get to theater use a bit later.

For the ABX comparisons I used the Dayton B652, generally considered one of the best $50 pair of bookshelf speakers out there, since the price points are the same I felt they made a good match to compare to. Starting from the bottom, or the bass one might say. The Polk T15 was adequate for a small bookshelf speaker; it actually had pretty decent extension into the 80hz range. However, as music moved out of the bass range and into everything else the speakers response became very peaky in room. Part of this is just the nature of my real world testing environment (I had some oddly flat outdoor measurements throughout the midrange and up into 3khz or so). The end result was something that sounded very much like many voices were being projected through a tube. Following this, is a huge drop off in treble response starting at 2.5khz and really lasting though the rest of the audio range. This was seen in both indoor listening environment testing and outdoor testing. The Polk T15 might as well be the bastard offspring of the Monoprice 8250 and the Sony B1000.

When it comes down to it, musically these speakers are just not good performers out of the box. So I decided to use these speakers as my first attempt to make my own EQ files using REW. After a few go arounds I feel like I actually got some decent sound out of them. They became much more musical, the tube like sound was gone and I started to enjoy them as much as I have some of the step up speakers I’ve been listening to. So they do have some potential if you take the time to take some room measurements and EQ as needed.

As a basic home theater speaker, I didn’t encounter any of the obvious issues I did with music. I watched plenty of TV and movies, with The Avengers being my final test. Now they didn’t blow my socks off or anything but they were a vast improvement form the Samsung F6300’s built in speakers. If you intend to us them in this application I think you could so worse. The Polk T15 would probably be a serviceable surround speaker for any of the other similar Polk products. 

One thing I did take away as a whole, was that with a little bit of time spend working on an EQ file, these speakers really did become pretty pleasant. I don’t think it would be worthwhile to spend much time on room treatments or anything like that. But once EQ’d (a good) bit these were not bad. However out of the box I would still pick the Dayton B652 without question. 

UPDATE

I'm updating this review to link it with a new review of the Polk R150's; a sister speaker of the T15/R15. Im also including an outdoor response graph (@ 1m, mic placed between the tweeter and woofer. Which might help explain the huge dip, and I used a far too wide response rage on the graph that visually smooths the response far too much) that I had taken shortly after this review was made. I have learned a lot since this time and believe we can refer to the new review of the R150's to be a more accurate technical view of this group of sister speakers. I do hope to take new close mic and 1m measurement of the T15 to bring additional updates.

Frequency Graph comparison: Polk T15 vs Dayton B652 vs Definitive Technology Studiomonitor 350

The Polk T15 is a small entry level book shelf that generally retails for $99.99. It has recently been on sale at Best Buy for $59.99 and can be found as low as $49.99 during Black Friday sales. It is a good looking well build inexpensive bookshelf speaker, but I haven't seen much in the way of reviews of it. So I thought I would give my hand at it.


Details on the above graph:

• Speaker test Polk T15, Dayton B652, Def Tech SM 350.
• All were tested with REW using a Dayton UMM-6 usb mic placed in the listening position pointed forward. 
• 1/6 octave smoothing.

I have been using them as my main set of speakers for the last few days, but have not been overly critical in my listening (critical listening and more detailed measurement are to follow). From my initial impression, they are not the most musical speaker, however they are better than the Monoprice 8250 and the Sony B1000. I did find them pretty enjoyable for TV, movies and games. 

This was just a quick comparison test between the 3 speakers and more detailed tests are to come, but I was again surprised by how comparatively flat the Daytons are. I enjoy the Def Techs the most, they are very nice speakers when found on sale/clearance they are almost unbeatable. 

Sony SS-B1000 Bookshelf speaker frequency response and disassembly

Disassembly Images 

I bought this bookshelf about a month ago with the intent to tests and compare it along with some other budget speakers (Dayton B652, Monoprice 8250, Infinity Primus P153). I wasn't really interested in posting anything in depth on it because after even a quick ABX against the Dayton, it was clear the Sony B1000 was not a very capable speaker.

However it has recently been featured on WOOT

http://tech.woot.com/offers/your-choice-of-sony-speakers

and on a few audio/HT posts on Reddit so I wanted to give my Average Joe input. To be short, this speaker sucks for $68.00 at Walmart it cost. It sucks at any sale price you can find it.

The hump between 80hz and 180hz has been common in all the speakers I've tested. I'm thinking its some sort of room resonance, or possibly characteristic of the cheap speakers. I will have a better understanding when I'm able to test the Primus 153 and Def Tech 350's I have. And in this respect it is not all that dissimilar from the popular Dayton B652. In my original listening comparison I noticed that all the highs just seemed to vanish. When I began the frequency response test it became very obvious as to why. There is a 5-10db drop starting at ~1.25khz and continuing until 6khz.. Thats huge! Now thankfully there isn't any huge peaks in higher registers that would make this speakers especially tiring to the ears.

You could probably EQ away some of this and find a better middle ground but for me it wasn't worth the experimenting.

On the plus side, they are constructed very well. Better materials than the Dayton's or Monoprice's as far as the enclosure is made. So they at least look OK.

The graph is an average of 4 measurements taken of the speaker. 1) Mic ~5 inches from speaker, pointed straight on and along the center plane of the speaker.  2) Mic ~3 feet from the speaker, pointed straight on and along the center plane of the speaker. 3) & 4) ~ 3 feet from the speaker and 25 degrees to the left or right pointed straight on and along the center plane of the speaker

Dayton B652, Monoprice 8250, Sony B1000 tested with REW software and Dayton UMM-6 mic

I've been trying to read some tutorials about how to best use REW software, so I'm still not sure I'm doing these tests completely correctly.

Test Equipment and set up

• Laptop with Behringer UCA202 DAC for output.
• Dayton UMM-6 USB Mic
• Sony STR DH130 2.0 receiver @ 40 setting of volume
• Medium Bedroom 2.0 set up with Mic at seating position at about ear level, pointed at line of site toward the center of speaker placement.
• Graphs are showing 1/6 octave smoothing

From my understanding of this combination I don't need to calibrate the sound card because I'm not using a sound card and the mic connected via USB and not XLR.

With this combination I also have not been able to figure out if I can/have to match levels. I may have to run these tests again, if I'm not doing something correct.

I believe you can see that there are some inherent room harmonics at play in the larger peaks and valleys in the frequency response here.

All 3 speakers have peaks at @ ~125 hz and again at about 1-1.25 khz and 8 khz

After seeing these graphs, it makes my listening impressions make more sense in a technical perspective. The Monoprices sounded very loud in the vocal range, and could be very over powering at times, that seems to make sense with the huge bump in the 100-200 hz range and again at 300.

The HUGE drop is high end frequency response by the Sony's seems to verify my opinion the the Sony's are very muddled and lacking A LOT of anything in the upper registers.

Another interesting happening was after I replaced the Daytons on their stands in what I thought was pretty much their original placement and the response after ~2k hz began to change pretty significantly as far as the graph shows. I'm not sure how much difference it would make for me in daily listening though.

Dayton B652 VS Monoprice 8250 Sound off

Dayton B652 VS Monoprice 8250 (3 inches away from the wall)

Laptop with Behringer UCA202 USB DAC

Speakers are powered by a Sony STR-DH130 (which at $75 refurbished on Newegg has worked out great)

No Sub is being used during any testing.

The Heavy – Short Change hero

Monoprice are much louder in the lower mid-range, not muddy but hallow sounding. Almost like its been ported to give a false idea of not needing a sub. All the bass notes seem to sound the same. Not a good start to the listening tests. Gunrzerking the Monoprices almost seems like a good idea.

Blue Man Group - PVC IV

The Monoprice actually sounded very good during the first 2 minutes of the song when its just the PVC pipes being played. Very similar to the Dayton in most respects. Again there is an increase in volume, probably from being slightly more efficient and ported. Makes me think that the driver itself isn't total garbage, but that box size and random porting isn't helping anything As the song gets musically more complicated as does the speakers character start to lessen. The mid-range one the Monoprice really seemed to drown out much of the higher registers of the electric guitar and remained hallow sounding.

Collective Soul – Precious Declaration

Again the Monoprice doesn't sound bad during the intro of the song, louder and noticeably different. I felt like there was better stereo separation on the daytons. After some repeated listening it sounded like the Monoprice didn't handle the heavy distortion on the guitar all the way.

Metallica - S&M Ecstasy of Gold

First thing I noticed is the horns in the intro sounded very similar. When trying to focus in on the horn, to my ears they were almost identical. Still the preserved increased volume from mid-range were still very clearly there. This maybe a song where the random port isn't too terrible, and gives the intro a rather pleasant sound. Particularly form the 2:00 to the end of the track. Strangely I may have preferred to Monoprice on this track. I think this is due the nature of the track itself and due to the Monoprice seeming to little fuller louder low end possibly because its ported.

Metallica S&M – Fuel

Immediately the Monoprices hollow and loud mid-range becomes apparent. James Hetfields lyrics are WAY in front of the rest of the music and in general sounds confused. Almost every other instrument seems to sit way behind the overall shallow sounding peak in the mid-range. Some noticeable issues with stereo separation.

Anberlin – Feel Good Drag Remix

Again notice some remarkable similarities to the high hat. Possibly the tweeters in each speaker are rather similar. Monoprice is again perceptively louder, probably to the porting. Another song that the Monoprices handled pretty well for the most part.

Anberlin – Feel Good Drag original

Vocals again stomp on on the rest of the music on the Monoprices. The generic Drop D electric is also way to pronounced through the Monoprice. I'm beginning to notice that I'm having a hard time getting sense for any specific tweeter distortion. I'm not sure, if its because of the driver or because the mid-range is so much louder that it is just over powering it. Though I am also playing at pretty moderate volumes.

Huey Lewis and the News – Power of love

Monoprice are holding their own again. Vocals are a little forward but not terribly so. Still a little on the hollow sounding side of things and not as crisp or controlled sounding as the Daytons, but still enjoyable despite the clear differences.. Attributing this to another not overly complicated song where a much of the music benefiting from the random porting.

Andrea Bocelli – The Power of love

Monoprice sound different but not necessarily better or worse than the Dayton.. Primarily a vocal track with some light synth pop backing. Probably not so much as playing to the strengths of the Monoprice but avoiding its weaknesses. The Monoprices are significantly louder and More full sounding as a result form the porting and midrange peak. I couldn’t detect any significant changes in the tonal quality of Bocelli's voice.

Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Daytons sound pretty good. A little lacking in the low end but nothing a sub wont cure. Monoprices immediately sound hallow, almost like listening though a tunnel. The first time the Monoprices very clearly sounded bad.

Justin Bieber – Boyfriend

I know I know I know, shut up. The lower bass sounded clean a tight on the Daytons, not distracting or insufficient. The Monoprice however just dogged it on the bass. Even ported, it didn't seem as low as the Daytons could go. Louder maybe, hollow and sloppy for sure. As far as the a what the Canadian douche bag actually sounds like, vocals were louder and are again well in front of the higher resisters, with the sloppy bass right behind that. Tonally it wasn't too terribly different than Daytons, it sounded like Bieber for better or worse.

Muse – Knights of Cydonia

At this point in time my ears and brain are starting to get fatigued with trying to listen critically and not for fun and enjoyment. Monoprices seem to be really inflating some of the echo in the track. During the vocal break down @ 3:20 the Monoprices seem to handle it just fine and equally enjoyable to the Daytons. I feel like I'm hearing a trend, that pure male vocals seem to sound ok. But once the music become full or complicated the vocals sit way to in font and on top of them.

THE VERDICT 

Overall the Daytons are still very much the winner. They don't seem to possess the artificially strong mid-range, they seem to image slightly better, stereo separation is better. The Monoprices do seem to be louder, probably do to the porting and some level of increased efficiency. I didn't do any high volume listening, but I believe the Daytons will get louder and sound better, the bump in the mid-range the Monoprices have I think will only get more noticeable as the volume goes up. Some song the Monoprice's handled very well, I can only attribute that to accident. I would like to listen to some EDM and Trance to get a comparison, I think that maybe some of the short comings might be less noticeable in different genres of music.

 If you really needed a cheap garage speaker the Monoprices wouldn't be bad, they will probably be louder and with vocals seeming to be a up font, sometimes boarderlining on overwhelming maybe they will cut through your band-saw and angle grinder better than others. But if you are making a budget 2.1 system the Daytons win hands down.

I'd also be curious to see what would happen if you switched the Monoprice tweeter into the Dayton. Form the little I could hear out of it, when not drowned out by the mid-range it seemed to be as good as the Daytons. Sealing up that port or making cheap skate frankinspeaker might be fun.

Dayton B625 disassembled

Dayton B625 Disassembled - Imgur
Obviously, its a basic speaker box and drivers. Disassembly was straight forward and easy. Midrange driver looks to be of solid build quality.
Looks like it might be this same driver

First group of bookshelf speakers coming in for your Average Joe Audio review! Sony SS-B1000, Dayton Audio B652‎ and Monoprice 8250

Many reviews of lower priced audio equipment seem to be made by Audiophiles with well developed aural palettes who see little value in budget speakers or by the Average Joe end user who doesn't have a lot of time to compare their speaker of choice with some of the many others available at similar price points. One of my hopes is to give decent advice and opinions while being able to actually compare many of these selections side by side. 

We might not find any hidden diamonds but with some luck and some fun, maybe we can find a nice little cubic zirconia that can satisfy our budget needs.

So first up will be the Sony SS-B1000 speakers which can be found for the low price of $67.70 @ /www.avalive.com/ OR at your local Walmart for $68.00

Next is a long time favorite the Dayton Audio B652. From the sounds of it there was some production issues over the last year that had lead to some quality control problems but from my understanding those have been sorted out. They can be found for under $40 at  www.parts-express.com OR Amazon

Last and lowest priced is the Monoprice 8250 bookself speaker. Monoprice has produced some excellent HTIB systems over the last few years so lets see how well these larger bookshelfs compare. They can be found for $30.94 at www.monoprice.com

Welcome to Average Joe Audiophile

I want to welcome any and all future readers to this new blog. 

Like many other Average Joe's out there, I don't have the disposable income to spend the big bucks on higher end audio components. As much as I love my music, my movies and my games; I love a lot of other stuff too. Spending big sums of money on awesome audio equipment isn't in the budget if I wanted to do all the other stupid things I'd like to spend my money on.

So this blog is for the Average Joe that wants to learn and discuss those more reasonably priced and entry level audio systems with other Average Joe's. We might not have the developed ears and hearing, or the budget of the real audiophiles out there; but that shouldn't stop us from enjoying our music and movies as best we can. 

As a soft guideline I've set out to keep the products and items reviewed to about $150 and less range, probably more on the less side as even cheap stuff will get expensive as the number of reviews increases. Items both new and used that fall in to that range will be fair game. 

Thanks for reading and I hope we have some fun.