Polk’s dubbed “Monitor” speakers actually date back over four decades, and their original iteration, which the company produced while it was still quite new, set the standard for HiFi home audio with speakers that sounded great and were affordable for residential consumers. The popular Monitor 60s were a continuation of that tradition released sometime in the early 2000s, but were since discontinued. Interestingly, second hand vendors who were originally selling off remaining stock continued to sell the Series I Monitor speakers enough that Polk created a Series II lineup, the only difference of which is a cosmetic upgrade. Though Polk doesn’t officially list the Monitor 60 in it’s lineup now, the Series II iteration of the speaker still remains one of the best selling floorstanding speakers on the market.
Important Specs Overview
Speaker type: passive, 3 way, ported
Nominal power handling: 60 watts (approximated*)
Peak power handling: 200 watts
Impedance: 8 ohms
Sensitivity: 90 dB/W/m
Frequency response range: 38 – 25000 Hz (+/- 3dB)
Unit weight: 31 lbs
Unit dimensions: 13 x 7 x 40 in (depth x width x height)
Warranty: 5 years
*When nominal/RMS power isn’t specified by manufacturer, we use an approximation of ~30% of the specified peak/dynamic power for comparison purposes.
Review and Discussion
The fact that Polk made a name for itself by bringing HiFi loudspeakers into the living room in the 70s, and that fact that there was enough demand to bring these and other Monitor series speakers out of retirement (and with a cosmetic makeover) says a lot for these speakers.
The power specs and build are quite good for the price – with ~60 W per of continuous power handling, a response floor less than 40 Hz, a sensitivity rating of 90, a pair of these is going to be plenty to fill most non-large home theater style setups. The major perk that the Monitor 60s have, though, is a 3 way design that dedicates a lower woofer with its own crossover – it’s a typically higher end feature that promotes good standalone bass, and isn’t common amongst budget-tier tower speakers.
The standard rectangle with the grill foam completely covering the cones is a bit dated, sure, but we expect people looking at value speakers like these don’t care too much about that. Polk speakers come standard with a 5 year warranty, which is top of the line, and particularly excellent for the price tier these reside in.
Our Take
Affordable, high quality home theater loudspeakers is how Polk made a name for itself, and as long as these speakers remain available – and they might not be for all that much longer – for how cheap we’ve seen them go, you really can’t go wrong here.
Get the Monitor 60 Series II on Amazon
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