Introduction
Last time we took a look at the Polk AMR90 and found it to be an able budget 4.1 set that fell somewhat short of expectations with muffled upper end performance. Now Polk Audio, ever the perfectionists, have released their latest 4.1 speakers, the AMR150, which promises to deliver all the goods at the still comfy price of $149.99. Basically Polk looked at some of the lower points on the AMR90 set, addressed some of the issues that reviewers and Polks own engineers had raised, and literally tackled those problems to eliminate the flaws while keeping all the qualities of the previous systems. So how did they do? One heck of a job.
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| AMR 150 Box Shot & Box Contents |
The AMR150 have taken over as the flagship multimedia speakers from Polk, and they look and perform just as a flagship product should. When we opened up the box we were greeted with a very stylish set of speakers with a pretty cool silver-grey finish. The subwoofer retains its basic design, size and shape from the rest of the AMR series, but sports completely different electronics and a revamped rear port. The satellites are completely different larger, more aesthetically engaging, and designed to impress (both aurally and visually). Just look at those sexy front satellites in our pics, they positively scream style, and their swooping arched design doesnt just make them pretty, it gives them an edge in the sound quality department too.
As far as the satellites go, Polk took the route that I expect many others will soon adopt: the front satellites each house both a 3 midrange AND a 1 ½ tweeter, while the rear satellites only have a single 3 fullrange driver each. This emphasis on the front speakers results in extra clarity and a richer performance where it counts, while still keeping the costs relatively low. The result is sound quality that leaves behind nearly any other 4.1 surround speaker set using the 4x2.5" and 4x3 paradigm (eg: 4 identical satellites each housing a single 2.5 or 3 fullrange driver).
Did I mention that the speakers are also digital capable? Indeed, you can connect the speakers using analog connectors, or, if your sound card allows, you can connect the speakers digitally. The package comes with everything you need to set up the speakers with any number of sound cards. All analog sound cards are automatically supported. Sound cards with digital outputs either in the form of the SBLives DIN type output or coaxial type outputs can both connect to the speakers using supplied adapters. I was impressed with the versatility of the installation options. I paired the AMR150s with our Santa Cruz card, which can be set to push out digital output in its VersaJack, and used the supplied Y-splitter to connect digitally to the speakers.
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