Polk Signature Elite ES60

Sources split into two clusters. The two lab tests lead the first. Amir at ASR heard 'rather bright' treble that was too much for him until he cut a 550 Hz resonance and shelved the top end down. AUDIO's Andrzej Kisiel measured and heard boosted bass and treble around a lowered midrange, which he calls a 'commercial' response that will impress many listeners. Three owners sit with them: one on Polk's forum found the pair 'too metallic' on classical music through a 40 W valve amp, an ASR owner says you 'can't listen to music to relax', and a Japanese owner coming from B&W calls the sound sharp and short on warmth. The second cluster hears no such tilt. OldTrades calls it the more balanced, refined successor to the Signature S60, though he still trims the treble a notch. AV Watch hears a modern sound that keeps some warmth, a Japanese dealer calls the range well balanced and natural, and kakaku owners on Denon receivers describe it as mild or slightly warm and never tiring.

The clearest point of agreement: all nineteen sources that discuss the bass praise it. Amir heard 'deep and clean bass' with authority no standmount can match. Kisiel calls it strong, low and spacious without boom. AV Watch found it tighter than the cheaper Monitor XT70, and a Japanese dealer was surprised it can carry surround sound without a subwoofer. Owners on ASR, Reddit and kakaku say the same, and several skip the subwoofer. The caveats depend on setup. One owner with the towers 4 inches from the wall in a 12 × 21 ft room found the bass overwhelming until he moved them and cut the bass 5 dB. A kakaku owner on a Denon receiver heard the low end as hazy until he bi-wired and put the speakers on boards, and another says the bass strains if you push the volume.

“Deep and clean bass, even more so than I expected!”

Amir, Audio Science Review (Klippel NFS, single speaker)

“Nie rozlewa się, nie utwardza, nie dudni, działa swobodnie i wszechstronnie.”

Andrzej Kisiel, AUDIO (Polish: 'It doesn't spill, doesn't harden, doesn't boom; it works freely and across the board')

“しかし引きずり感・ぼやけ感は全く無く、音程が正確でビシッと引き締まった低音です。”

Saint Bernard, kakaku.com owner review (Japanese: 'No dragging or blur at all — bass that is accurate in pitch and firmly tight'; bi-amped from two TEAC AP-505s)

“I have a subwoofer but I feel like the towers can definitely get by without one.”

eno_one, r/BudgetAudiophile (owner, two Fosi V3 amps)

Sources split. The larger share of weight, again led by the lab tests, describes a midrange that sits behind the bass and treble. Kisiel hears it as recessed, clear and cool, with voices brightened enough to expose sibilants. Amir measured more midrange distortion relative to the lowered level there and a 550 Hz resonance that he removed with EQ. The forum owner who found the pair metallic says violins sound terrible. A kakaku owner calls the mids subdued, though pleasant once he adjusted his amp. The other camp hears clear, complete mids: an ASR owner who moved up from the ES20 finds more there and no mud, a Reddit owner says film dialogue became much clearer than on his Elac bookshelves, and a kakaku owner praises natural voices in Beethoven's Ninth.

Sources split, and most of the weight is on the bright side. Amir found the treble detailed but too much for his ears and suspects a showroom tuning. Kisiel calls it forward and detailed but short on precision and refinement, and adds that it avoids ringing and a metallic edge. OldTrades sometimes heard a little too much tweeter and found that one or two notches off the treble control fixed it. One forum owner found it unbearable on violins, and a kakaku owner calls it sharp and mechanical next to his old B&W. The other camp hears a smooth, extended top end: AV Watch says it never turns over-sharp, Phile-web enjoyed brilliant cymbals, two kakaku owners call it mild and never piercing, and an ASR owner finds his pair less hot than the Klipsch RP-600M.

Consistently described as big and wide. Amir heard 'almost life-sized' images and a large halo of sound even from a single speaker. OldTrades walked around his room and found it wide from 15 feet off to the side. Owners call it holographic, one says two speakers gave him almost surround sound, and a kakaku owner compares the scale of a full orchestra to sitting in the hall.

“Images are almost life-sized which I really appreciate (compared to miniatures with bookshelves).”

Amir, Audio Science Review

“the sound stage overall is pretty wide it's a pretty wide sounding speaker”

OldTrades, YouTube (auto-captioned speech)

“almost “surround sound” from just two speakers”

Nxtinventor, r/BudgetAudiophile (owner, Rotel RB-1050)

Praised by the two sources that address it. Phile-web heard precise placement and solid, sharply drawn images on a live jazz trio recording, and Amir notes the bright treble helps imaging. Few others say anything specific about image placement, as opposed to the size of the sound.

“鮮明な定位と音像描写のソリッドな音楽を生んでいる”

Shintaro Ohashi, Phile-web / Audio Accessory (Japanese: 'it produces solid music with sharp placement and image drawing')

“This has the usual effect of helping with imaging”

Amir, Audio Science Review, on the bright treble

Clear and detailed for the money. AV Watch heard more resolution across the whole range than the cheaper Monitor XT70, OldTrades never had to strain to hear anything, and a kakaku owner could follow hall reverberation fading out. Amir points out that some of the sense of resolution comes from the raised treble, and Kisiel calls the top end detailed but not refined. The Polk forum's regulars steer buyers who want critical two-channel listening to the Reserve R200 instead.

“低域から高域まで、全体の解像度が上がり、細かな音がより聴き取れるようになる。”

Kentaro Yamazaki, AV Watch, vs the Monitor XT70 (Japanese: 'From bass to treble the overall resolution goes up and fine sounds become easier to hear')

“i never felt like i was struggling to hear anything”

OldTrades, YouTube (auto-captioned speech)

Plays loud and stays clean. Amir swept it to 105 dB with only a slight rise in audible distortion, then drove it from a 400 W amplifier and 'got scared before the speaker did'. Kisiel calls the sound powerful and unforced, suited to big living rooms, and also good at low volume, where the boosted extremes act like a loudness control. Phile-web praises the dynamic range of a drum solo. One kakaku owner disagrees on a point: with 6.5-inch drivers, he finds the bass strains when the volume goes up.

“It kept getting louder and sounding nicer and nicer.”

Amir, Audio Science Review (single speaker, 400 W amplifier)

“Potężne, swobodne, z obfitym, niskim basem i wyrazistą, błyszczącą górą.”

Andrzej Kisiel, AUDIO (Polish: 'Powerful, unforced, with abundant low bass and a vivid, shining top end')

“あと、低音はユニットが大きくないので音量を上げると無理があります。”

makoto16, kakaku.com owner review (Japanese: 'Also, the drivers aren't large, so the bass strains when you raise the volume')

It needs room, in three ways. First, it is big: 44.5 inches tall, nearly 16 inches deep and 52 pounds. Japanese owners and a South African reviewer warn about the size and weight, and OldTrades wouldn't put it in a small room. Second, the down-firing port doesn't make it wall-friendly. An ASR owner keeps his pair at least 3 feet from the wall, and an owner with them 4 inches out in a 12 × 21 ft room found the bass overwhelming until he moved them. Third, aim matters. Amir measured impressively even horizontal dispersion, but an uneven vertical response and a floor-bounce dip, so he suggests ear-height tweeters and a thick rug. Kisiel suggests little or no toe-in to calm the treble. Amir would not use it for near-field listening.

“Directivity is impressively good in horizontal axis”

Amir, Audio Science Review (Klippel NFS)

“I still prefer my pair no closer than 3 feet from the wall behind them.”

Power Pop 23, Audio Science Review forum (owner)

“i wouldn't put this into a small room”

OldTrades, YouTube (auto-captioned speech; he suggests rooms of 15 × 20 ft and up)

“スピーカー自体はかなり大きいので、設置場所のスペースは要確認！”

AAsbd, kakaku.com owner review (Japanese: 'The speaker itself is quite large, so check the space where it will go!')

Sensitive and easy to get loud, but a 4-ohm load. Both labs confirm Polk's sensitivity claim within about 1 dB. OldTrades found a 120 W receiver enough, and Reddit owners run it happily from small class-D amps and old receivers. Both labs also measure an impedance around 4 ohms. Kisiel says that is not a difficult load and advises leaving Denon and Marantz receivers in their 8-ohm mode so they keep their full power. One kakaku owner says it needs a good amplifier to show its best, and another found that bi-amping from a receiver made the tweeter too loud.

“it sounded good with 120 watts to be honest”

OldTrades, YouTube (Onkyo TX-RZ840; auto-captioned speech)

“Impedance is around 4 ohm and stays there for good bit of the frequency response”

Amir, Audio Science Review

“they all ran them fine and sounded decent”

Dervon, r/BudgetAudiophile (owner; Aiyima T9, an older Pioneer receiver and a Technics integrated)

Solid cabinets with a budget skin. Amir puts it in a different class from other budget towers for weight, fit and finish. OldTrades, ASR owners and a kakaku owner all call the cabinets solid, and AV Watch notes the rounded corners and raised baffle. The finish is vinyl in every colour. One buyer of several Signature Elite models found gaps in the vinyl at the seams on all of them, from different retailers, while a kakaku owner thinks the wrap doesn't look cheap and is easy to clean. OldTrades calls the plastic binding posts 'not the greatest'. The feet have rubber pads and take no spikes.

“The ES60 is in entirely different class than other budget towers with good bit more weight and fit and finish.”

Amir, Audio Science Review

“I found the quality of the vinyl laminate (the fake wooden texture) quite disappointing.”

Gabbo2084, Polk Audio forum (owner of ES15, ES20 and ES60 pairs)

“the binding posts are plastic so they're not you know they're not the greatest but they work”

OldTrades, YouTube (auto-captioned speech)

Widely seen as strong value, and the price paid matters. Amir judged it at $511 each and said it easily separates itself from other budget towers. OldTrades called it very hard to beat at $550 each and predicted the sales that followed. Reddit owners who paid about $700 a pair are delighted, and Japanese reviewers and owners call it remarkable for the money. Kisiel is more measured: fair for the price, given what it sets out to do. ASR's member poll is cooler than the review, with about a third voting 'poor' or 'not terrible'. Polk forum regulars and some Reddit advice point to the Reserve R200 or R500 as the better-sounding buy at the full list price.

“For probably $200 more, the ES60 easily separates itself from rest of the competition in budget tower speaker category.”

Amir, Audio Science Review (at $511 each)

“this speaker i think at 550 dollars is going to be very hard to beat”

OldTrades, YouTube (per speaker; auto-captioned speech)

“コストパフォーマンスはピカイチだ。”

Kentaro Yamazaki, AV Watch (Japanese: 'The value for money is outstanding'; about ¥165,000 a pair)

“Idk if I could have gotten better speakers for the same price.”

Nxtinventor, r/BudgetAudiophile (owner; $699 a pair from Accessories4Less)