Polk Audio OWM3 Wall and Bookshelf Speakers | The Most High-Performance Versatile Loudspeaker | Paintable Grilles (Pair, White)

I just bought a new A/V receiver and wanted to add surround sound to my living room. I thought about using in-ceiling speakers, but didn't want the hassle of cutting holes and running wires in the ceiling. So I bought these speakers because of all the favorable reviews and because of the unique design of these speakers allowing them to be mounted in many ways. I had to buy brackets to hold them to the wall and was worried about the weight of the speakers pulling the brackets out of the wall. No worries, these speakers are pretty light and so far, so good. I bought the white ones and ran speakers wire with a white outter coating on it on the top of the wall next to the ceiling. It turned out better then I had anticipated. You can barely notice the speaker wires in the corners of the walls. Now to the sound. I love these speakers, they sound so good. I have them match with a pair of Polk RT800i floorstanding speakers and a Polk center speaker for true surround sound. The first time I heard them, I was so impressed with the sound quality. Polk has been making these speakers for a long time and there is a reason why. They sound great, look great, are easy to hook up and they are not that expensive. If you're looking for a surrond speaker, I would highly recommend these speakers.

People have written endless reviews on these things about how well they work in 5.1 setups, or other surround sound configurations. Even the few I read that were using them alone were using them with a sub. I was frustrated with the lack of reviews on how well they would work in a nearfield configuration. In my case, by themselves with a Yamaha MOXF8 keyboard.I recently got rid of my standup piano in the main room and decided to migrate my MOXF8 in to replace it. To make it easy for the rest of the family to use it, I decided to set up dedicated speakers for it as well as to keep some headphones handy as an option. The speakers were to be set right behind the keyboard on the wall on either side, so they are only a few feet way from whoever is playing the keyboard.I've been using them for a while now, and I can say that they are really working out very well. The speakers do fine as nearfield speakers for this kind of application, and they really sound fantastic. There's no booming base to fill the room, but that's not what I bought them for. They are clean and clear sounding, and have impressed me in how good they make the keyboard sound. As nearfield speakers, there is enough base to realistically reproduce most of the keyboard output, and as a result I am very happy with my purchase. They are not "studio" speakers, but that's not what I bought them for.As a note: for those who are not familiar with them, studio speakers are not intended to sound fantastic. They are intended to very accurately represent the sound so that someone who is producing music for a wider audience can fine tune the sound. HiFi speakers actually color the output a bit in a way that is pleasing to the ear. These are not studio speakers. I just wanted to mention that as the MOXF8 is frequently used by people who would actually prefer studio speakers, but that is not what I have it set up for.

Better than expected sound quality for a small speaker. Compact size is unobtrusive, good for surround sound speakers.

4.5 stars.I purchased a pair of these in mid 2010 to use as "zone B" speakers in our bedroom, and they have worked very well. In fact, they worked so well that I decided to buy a 2nd and 3rd pair to use in our office and bathroom. And if we move someday, these could easily be re-used as surround or rear speakers in a 5.1 or 7.1 home theatre system. Here's what I like about them...STYLISH: the curved design is very modern and stylish. They are prominently displayed on the walls in our office and bedroom, but because they're attractive and white, they don't detract from the decor of the rooms. In fact in my opinion they add to it. This is unlike big black boxy speakers, which in my opinion, rarely look good when displayed in a room without being part of a home theatre system.My only complaint, and the reason for the 4 stars, is that they didn't design a notch in the back of the speaker for the speaker wire to run when mounting the speaker flat against a wall. Due to this, the speaker won't truly mount perfectly flat against a wall because of the wire being between the wall and it. You could get around this issue if you have the speaker wires protruding from the wall at a point BELOW the back base of the speaker. Since the front of the speaker is about twice as high top to bottom as the back base, you wouldn't see the speaker wire protruding from the wall when viewing the speakers from the front. You would however notice it when viewing the speakers from the side. This is why I decided that a less-than-pefectly-flat wall mount was the better option. This is a nitpicky critique, but one that could have easily been solved with a little more forethought by Polk Audio.FLEXIBLE: they put a lot of thought into the design of these speakers. they can be mounted flat to a wall, or in a 90-degree corner such as where two walls come together, or where the wall and the ceiling come together. There's also a stand on which you can place the speakers if you want to set them on a table or something.EASY INSTALL: The speaker wire connection points are easier to use than many of the speakers I've used in the past. And the instructions and hardware for mounting the speakers to the wall is very straight forward.SOUND: For the type, size, and cost, these speakers produce crisp, rich, and full sound, with decent bass. You shouldn't have illusions that these speakers can compete with a system that has built-in subwoofers; and I wouldn't use these as front speakers in a home theatre system. But for what I'm using them for, they're perfect.