Many people don't want big honkin' speakers crowding up their living room. I don't understand these people, but to each his own. The problem is, tiny speakers end up sounding like tiny speakers. Worse, most little speakers are poorly built, poorly designed, crap. Not so with Polk's new Blackstone Sub/Sat speakers.

The audio needs of the gamer are actually quite similar to the needs and wants of the average audiophile: detailed, non-fatiguing, accurate sound with powerful bass. TV speakers can't supply any of that. But there's no reason inexpensive speakers can't... if they're designed well; and Polk has been making excellent, well-designed speakers since the 70's.

The new Blackstones are the latest in a long line of tiny sub/sat (subwoofer/satellite) speakers from Polk. The least expensive of the bunch is the TL1s (available now), which have a 0.5-inch silk dome tweeter paired with a 2.5-inch composite cone midrange/woofer. Polk claims a frequency response of 120Hz to 22kHz. The TL1's are $80 each and come in black or white. You'll need to get a sub with them, though.

With any sub/sat system, there is going to be an area in the frequency response above where the subwoofer is proficient, but below where the sats can go. Setting your sub above 100 or 120 Hz is not advisable, as you'll start hearing voices come from your sub. So even with a good sub, there's going to be some upper bass missing. Such is the nature of the beast, really. Maybe you'll hear it, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll care, maybe you won't. Mostly this paragraph was just to point out there's no magic, there's a reason speakers are often large.

Back to the TL's. If you want to go for surround sound, there's a center channel in this line called the TL1 Center. At $100 it has two of the "woofers" from the TL1 and the same tweeter. Frequency response is a claimed 95Hz to 22kHz. If you want to save a bit of money you can buy packages. The TL150 package combines four TL1s with a TL1 Center for $400. The TL1600 package is $500 and adds a 50-watt subwoofer with an 8-inch driver.

At a recent Polk event I was able to take a listen to a 2.1 channel system. I was surprised at how big the sound was coming from such small speakers. The treble was detailed, and the sub was more than capable of filling the rather large room we were in.

Later in the year, Polk will roll out the TL2 and TL3 models. The TL2 has a 0.75-inch silk dome tweeter and a 3.25-inch composite midrange/woofer. Four plus a center will be $500 (TL250). The same with a powered sub will be $750 (TL2600). The TL3 is the top of the line and has a 0.75-inch ring radiator tweeter, the same as what is found in Polk's high-end LSi line. The woofer is a 3.25-inch aerated polypropylene cone. Four TL3's with the TL3c center channel will be $750 (TL350). Polk is pairing the TL350 with their wireless-ready DSWPro 550wi subwoofer ($559.00).

Personally, out of this bunch I'd probably give the most in-depth tryout to the TL3's, as the ring radiator tweeter is a wonder. For the money, though, the TL1 is mighty impressive.

PolkAudio.com