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Initially we listened to the speakers in 4.1 mode and what struck us immediately was that this was a speaker set that most likely only used a single full-range driver in each satellite. Even before looking at the specs we could tell this because of the slightly muffled soundstage – a clear sign that you will hear on many single driver satellite speakers (Midiland’s S4 7100 for instance). Considering the price point of these speakers, it was an understandable trade-off. However, I was still hoping to find the center speaker to have a tweeter, in order to offset the disadvantages of a system based entirely on full-range 2.5” steallite drivers. Unfortunately, the center channel houses only a single driver, and even when we tried virtual 5.1 mode in music, the slightly muffled sound was still obvious.

Throughout our testing the lack of clarity nagged at us. Certain music genres demand a high level of detail, and here the AMR130 failed to deliver as we had hoped. Although the soundstage was solid and smooth across the front and rear, and in spite of good stereo separation and a neutral sounding mid range, the upper end clarity ended up compromising the enjoyment of music.

In spite of the above, the set was still appropriate for very casual listening. The subwoofer was the star of this set, and stole the show by providing an amazingly clean and solid bass presence in all material that we tested. I know well that many fellow reviewers writing for other publications have mentioned that Polk makes some of the most surprisingly powerful subwoofers on the market, and this holds true to the AMR130’s relatively small single-ported subwoofer enclosure, housing merely a 5 ¼”. Although the bass was tight and subtly powerful in the lower frequencies as more impressively built specimens, especially in the more challenging classical pieces, the AMR130 subwoofer manages to make its presence known without being overly aggressive and without distortion on even more demanding material.

Sound Quality – Movies

The AMR130 turned out to be a very suitable movie speaker set. Polk’s use of 5 identical speakers did indeed work well in terms of matching sounds that pan from front to rear, which contributed to a depth of immersion that was quite impressive. One advantages of close range 5.1 speakers is the intimacy of the listener with surround information that can otherwise be lost in a more traditional setup, and this was quite apparent with the AMR130. Its weakness with high end detail in music did nothing to hamper the quality of movie playback. We were pleasantly surprised by its deft handling of subtle sounds from various movies. On the other hand, with the explosive power of the subwoofer, it was no surprise that the speakers handled action movies with aplomb that will satisfy most computer movie enthusiasts.

Conclusion

The AMR130 retails for $169.95, which makes it one of the cheaper budget 5.1 solutions on the market compared to the likes of Midiland’s S4 7100 speakers. Although the AMR130 represents a respectable value, we were disappointed that the quality of music was below what we had experienced with the superb AMR150 set which had garnered our Editor’s Choice award previously. Obviously with such a low retail cost it’s hard to imagine Polk making all the front speakers multi-driver equipped, but I felt that if at least the center speaker or the left and right front speakers had proper tweeters, then sound quality could have been significantly improved.

As it is, the AMR130 is more of an all-round solution for users who have the need for 5.1 sound without the cost of purchasing one of the higher end solutions. Personally, I would recommend you stick with even a 4.1 solution that has more finesse and detail in music reproduction.

Overall Score: 73%