Speaker Questions

YouTube reviewers like CheapAudioMan have extensive reviews of speakers in your price range. He’s found some real gems, you should check out his reviews.

Just to be clear - I have no affiliation with CheapAudioMan, I’m just a fan.

Just thought I volunteer my two cents worth as a newbie here. The polls are a nice set, I particularly like the rti series. I can see that from your post that you have a relatively good budget. Definitely check your local Facebook marketplace listings for speakers. I’ve had good luck with a few recently. This marketplace is also great for products if you can spend for shipping. The kind of speakers you want depends on your listing desires, ie rocker, heavy metal, classical, etc. My own preference is older Kef, especially reference series. Very efficient and if you don’t like them you can resell easily. Used is the ticket!! Stay away from the big box stores. Their only goal is to sell what they have in stock. Thanks and good luck.

In the reviews that Cheapaudioman did, the new lower end Polks did well. I came very close to buying their Reserve R700 last year when I found them on sale for $849 each (and I kick myself for not getting them).  Currently in my den I have a set of Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 paired with a modest Polk subwoofer, old JBL center channel, and small JBL surrounds.  I know for purists the sound tonality should be the same across all speakers, but it hasn't been a problem for me as I mostly do two channel listening anyway and only watch movies a few times a month. Anyway, be sure to check out the Crutchfield "Open Box" Outlet or even scratch and dent sales. You can find great buys there and still have a full mfg warranty. Good luck. 

Note that Crutchfield is showing the S50 as being a "discontinued" item, so maybe Polk had second thoughts about them. You might want to save up and get the ES50 instead. 

You might consider doing what my nephew did: Start out with a better two channel system and then every few months save up and add another speaker until you get the full surround setup you seem to want. 

Jamo S 809 I’ve had Polk (a few different models) and they are fine but I think you’ll find a more dynamic range / soundstage if you shop around a bit. Polk has very good midrange, but their bass can be mushy/boomy, not crisp. I was a skeptic but based on a reviewer’s recommendation, purchased a pair of Jamo S 803 for under $150.00 for a kitchen/work island application that met with the WAF. She didn’t mind them at all! I was shocked how good they performed. Jamo also offers center, sub... in the same family and style. Jamo also offers a tower S 809 in white for $375.00 a pair. Purchase via Amazon and you’ll have free returns. And you can get them in white, black, or walnut. You can also order direct from Jamo and they also offer a return but you may have to pay shipping. BTW, Klipsch acquired Jamo in 2005 so that may say something about their design and quality. Oh, and another BTW, they’ve got a clever design for Atmos (you mentioned that) expansion that’s looks impressive. So you could easily expand for a home theater.

I have not heard that particular model but I have owned 3 pairs of Polk speakers and I've been very happy with all of them - particularly for the price.

Polk is part of Harmon Group and the reason that's noteworthy is because they have extensive speaker engineering, design, and manufacturing capability. Polk is a value brand and the reviews nearly always say they punch way above their weight.

It looks like the S50 has been superseded by a new model which is the reason they are so discounted right now. I would jump all over this deal and get them ordered. This is a flaming good deal and I am very confident that you will be happy with them.

The only thing I would recommend is that once you get them set up you should save up for a subwoofer. It doesn't have to be a big fancy model. It will add the bottom octave and enhance your sound tremendously.

I am running a pair of older Infinity 360 speakers for my TV which have a similar design to the Polks. Like the Polks they got great reviews for such an inexpensive speaker. I added a Mirage 10" subwoofer (Omni S10) which was a huge improvement (I run the Infinities full range). [BTW, I have a full blown system upstairs with big Thiels and Krell gear.] My best audio buddy who has a world class system came to visit and when we watched a concert video he was blown away by how good that modest little system sounded. For TV, movies, and concert videos it does a heck of a job.

There are a lot of subwoofers on the used market for relatively cheap. A Mirage Omni S8 would probably do the job just fine for under 150 bucks. There are tons of used subwoofers on eBay. I would look for something closeby so you can pick it up and avoid the shipping.

My advice is to pull the trigger and don't look back.