Polk Audio Blackstone™ TL3

The Blackstone TL3 is an excellent speaker. The speaker is surprisingly sturdy for its size. I am particularly impressed with the Blackstone's clarity. I paired the Blackstones with the comparable center channel speaker and added an 8-inch subwoofer. The system operates in a relatively small room. I am thoroughly satisfied.

Pros: Sturdy, excellent value for price point. Paired with a comparable center and sub the result is outstanding.

Cons: none

Excellent, much better than the Bose 520 speakers I had. I did have to get a polk w10 sub which blew away the bose 520 sub. Much happier now, thanks to the Crutchfield advisors.

Pros: Full audio response from small speakers.

Cons: None

The quality of the housing unit and speaker waffles are great. Sound quality is good. Con: The mounts seem too weak to support these heavy surround speakers. I didn't even chance using them. I bought sturdier mounts.

Pros: Quality construction

Cons: Mounting brackets seem too fragile.

The sound quality is as good as I expected.

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Clean mids and highs that are never fatiguing, yet are bright and open.

Pros: Small size and high end tweeters

Cons: The trade off for small form factor... No bass

Great product all around and recommend purchasing if looking for compact, robust and stylish speaker system. I purchased for apartment front L and R stereo speakers for audio playback. Very pleased with sound quality.

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Still breaking them in, ut so far, very pleased with these speakers. Am using them as the main front (left and right) speakers in my living/den area. And yes, with the right equipment driving them, they sound "big" enough to do handle this. In all honesty though, for a well rounded sound, they need to be accompanied by a subwoofer. Other than the low end (sub 160 Hz) frequencies, they are superb.

Pros: Excellent Sound, Excellent Sound, and Excellent Sound, Oh.....and Compact Size

Cons: None yet and don't expect to have any.

I am no expert on sound quality but these speakers sound good. I'd buy them again. I'm still 'breaking them in' but they are good.

Pros: Small,look great,sound good.

Cons: None at this time.

I bought these satellites to replace some Polk RM 5000 satellites that I've had for more than twenty years. At first it didn't seem to be much of an upgrade or even one at all, but I realized my old passive subwoofer wasn't a good match for these satellites. Once I also ordered a new Polk powered subwoofer I really started to hear what I was hoping for. Great sound for all kinds of music and nice sounding atmosphere used in home theater watching. Big upgrade from what I had before.

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I have several of these speakers and recent added two more to my system, for me at this price, there excellent

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Cons: Small, GREAT SOUND

I will grant that if you buy these speakers primarily to listen to jazz or classical music then these are probably not the speakers for you. I would say that if your ultimate goal is to set up a system to listen to that sort of music then you probably want to spend more money and keep shopping. However, if you want to have an incredible movie experience, without the stereo blowing out the windows to hear the movie effects then these speakers are the Bomb for the price. Honestly, I have them hooked up to an old Sony 5.1 receiver that I got from my brother. I'm sure with a newer and better receiver they would sound better, but boy oh boy have these speakers improved the sound over the old speakers. I have 4 of them wall mounted and I have no regrets. Now, if you buy these speakers to watch movies, and listen to music in the background well then you won't be disappointed. I do listen to classical, jazz, rock, alternative, and actually a variety of music. These are good speakers for that. However, I would not use these speakers Primarily for that. Overall I would say that these are a very, very, very good bang for the buck!

Pros: Enhanced movie experience Decent for music listening Overall good bang for the buck

Cons: Not First go to speaker for music listening, but music listening is still good!

I love these speakers. They are fabulous, I love the way they sound. I don't know anything about speakers as to how they are made so all I can say is I LOVE THE SOUND!!!

Pros: None

Cons: Fabulous!

The speakers seem to do a great job for surround sound. I do like the high polish black.

Pros: Ease of connection

Cons: None

I wanted to get a high end sound for a computer. I am using a large Harmon Kardon reciever and a large powered subwoofer so I just needed great highs and mids. I was using Polk RM3000 satellites that are awesome but they were well over 20 years old and the foam gaskets needed to be replaced. These Polk TL3's were perfect for that and also the white matches my computer case. I also use Polk for my television and i also have Polk for my vehicles and have used Polk since the 1970's. If you want a great sounding speaker that also looks awesome these are certainly worth considering. They are like Stevie Nicks. Sweet to look at and sweet to listen to.

Pros: Super Sound, Excellent Quality, Great Price, LONG LASTING and the White is gorgeous! The black is gorgeous too. I always got piano black in the past but the white matches my computer case and i am using them for my computer because i process video and audio and need super sound.

Cons: Never a con about Polk Audio products from me since the 1970's

Awesome sound. Just what we needed to round out our system.

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These are fantastic front speakers, when used with a sub, for my small living room (12 ' front wall to back wall). I couldn't be happier with the crispness and depth of the sound. They obviously perfectly blend in with my Blackstone TL3 center speaker. I mounted these to the wall using the included mounting adapters, which worked fine for my situation. I only wish the included mounts could swivel up/down, like they can swivel left/right.

Pros: Attractive design, compact size, excellent sound quality.

Cons: Included wall mounts don't provide flexible mounting options.

I purchased the blackstone TL3 satellite and center and received a free PSW-111 subwoofer, which was a great deal from Crutchfield! The speakers are amazing, both in sound and in design. They are small (and thus a subwoofer is a must) and slick, so you almost don't feel the exist in the room, especially since the TV itself nowadays is much larger. The sound is awesome and I am very satisfied with it!

Pros: Amazing design Small speakers Great sound

Cons: Not so cheap, but worth the money

These tl3 speakers blend in well as back surround speakers in my setup.I have fronts two Polk monitor series 2-12 ,center boston and Enrgy is my sub .Driven by 110 watt 3802 Denon avr receiver.The Tl3 replaced two boston surrounds they only had only one 4 1/2" speaker in them they had a small range of sound.I was very pleased with my upgrade to these tl3's.They have full range of sound from great high's to very good range and blending with mid level and bass response .I just can't get over how they can blend in with my two front Polk speakers just, awesome!.My system may be old but I'm proud to have friend's over to listen to what I have. Movies are the best.

Pros: have good range with my setup

Cons: none

Reviews I read lead me to purchase these but sound is no better than a $40 pair of desktop PC speakers. The design/appearance is nice- the glossy housing helps resist dust accumulation- especially when the speakers are up on wall mounts. We don't want a heavy base response and the reviews I read indicated these speakers were great at the upper end frequencies. Listinging to jass or classical you want to hear the cymbals, violins being plucked, or a classical voice's upper range sharp like tapping a fork against a wine glass. However, even driven by a solid Niles amp and the EQ settings with treble all the way up, it still sounds like the speakers are covered by a layer of foam- very muffled sound. Best response is barely in the midrange. I tried a direct CD input, tried SONOS, and even ran a local classical station's HD transmitted programming into these and it's muffled. I wish I would've bought Bose cube speakers. We have other Polks and they are fine. At the price level- I expected more on these TL3B's. Also, while these are made for bookshelf and wall mount placement, you cannot remove the large rubber 'shoe' on the back- you don't konw that until you get them. It should be removable as it's a big chunk of plastic and rubber that looks like a strap on high-heel shoe. Polk should reassess these speakers or charge about $75-100 less per pair. Seriously.

Pros: Easy mounting and adapst to most all ball mounting systems. Speaker wire connections out of sight, glossy housing helps repel dust.

Cons: Muffled sound no better than cheap desktop speakers you can buy even at other retailers. Speakers have extremely poor mid to upper range response. Cymbal crash for examples sounds like crunching tissue paper instead of crystal clear despite Polk's marketing information. Plastic/rubber support 'foot' on back of speaker cannot be removed for wall mounting purposes- makes the speakers look clunky and as if they were never meant for wall mounting despite the wallmount attachment hardware.

I replaced older Yamaha full range 4' tall monsters used for my 5.1 surround system fronts. These little guys "Rocked" immediately and sound awesome. I can't even notice the difference in sound overall at all levels for music and movies. I originally was going to purchase the TL2, but after speaking to a Crutchfield tech, I was convinced to go with the TL3 for my particular set-up. Excellent advice from a knowledgeable expert. I highly recommend these hot looking bookshelf speakers!!

Pros: Great appearance, excellent range and sound...even produces noticeable bass. Small size fits just about anywhere. Includes wall mounting brackets.

Cons: Perhaps priced a bit on the higher side but worth it. Otherwise, no cons.

Very clear nice sound from these small speakers, (I have a polk sub to get the bass needed). Blends in well with my system and look good.

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I could have given a 5 star rating but I may have underestimated what they would do in a very long, open room area. I may still keep them but am considering an upgrade option

Pros: These speakers sound very good but may be a bit small for the size of my room

Cons: None

this speaker sound so good i love it.

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Sounds great .... great as rear channel speakers for surround sound system.

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I installed a Sonos amp in my bathroom recently and liked it so much that I decided to put one in my master bedroom as well. I love the Sonos system but I find the Play 3 and Play 5 lacking in sound quality. In any case, I knew my wife would not be too keen on large speakers, and I really didn't want to install ceiling speakers (as I did in my bathroom) so I decided on small bookshelf speakers. After doing some homework and considering aesthetics I decided on a somewhat different approach; a pair of TL3 satellites and the Polk PSW111 subwoofer. These satellites are HEAVY! I am very impressed by just how solid these speakers for their size. I knew going into this that the speakers would have essentially no bass to speak of so I hooked up the Polk PSW111 ( a very compact subwoofer) to the Sonos Amp (it has a sub out connection) and I couldn't be happier. The TL3s even have ring radiator tweeters which is impressive.

Pros: Nice piano black finish Extremely well built Impressive tweeter

Cons: No bass so plan using as surrounds in a home theater setup or with a subwoofer. This isn't really a con as they weren't designed to really deliver bass.

Sound so good I constantly get up to answer my phone every time one on TV rings.

Pros: Excellent Sound Quality

Cons: None

Bought these to plug into the height/wide channels of ny new Marantz SR7500. Have a bit of a Frankenstein speaker system with Boston mains & Mirage surrounds but these blended quite well - not sure how much was the Audessy setup vs the natural timbre of the speakers but I'm very happy with ther overall effect. Put Super 8 on Blu-Ray into the DVD and the effect during the train wreck was simply amazing. Wouldn't heditate to use these for all channels along with a good sub.

Pros: Well built. Great Piano Black finish & exceptional frequency response from such a small speaker.

Cons: Nuthin!

I use these in a modest home theater system purchased here, where their performance is limited by the modest gear they're connected to. In a bookshelf configuration, they perform admirably, throwing a large stage and giving great "movie" effects up, out and behind the speakers. For grins, I connected them to my 20k two-channel system, adjusted the dual subs, and waited for a laugher. Well...no laugher. The treble on these things is delicate, detailed, and nicely rendered, and the mids are neutral and with good harmonics. Bass was MIA but who would run these without a sub or two? Okay, I understand that people won't match $300 sats with $5,000 worth of subs and 15k of gear, but the point is made: get these and spend the money you save on a better pre/pro or receiver and/or a nice sub. These things will respond to better gear accordingly. Just a terrific little speaker, and crazy good for this money.

Pros: Accurate, delicate, non-etchy treble way beyong this price point; neutral mids with good (not great, but good) detail retrieval. They look clean and neat and unobtrusive (in my opinion) in a home theater set up. Nice speaker terminals for this price.

Cons: No bass. Surprise. Not as refined as pricier gear, but I doubt you'd be able to tell in most home theater setups.

I was originally going to get something bigger for my surrounds but my wife talked me into these. They sound great, look sleek and were very easy to mount on the walls. Great sound and they got here quick. Perfect addition to my Polk home theater system.

Pros: Sound great, look good.

Cons: None

Decided it was time to replace my mammoth 1987 Kenwood speakers (which still work great) with these compact speakers. Was worried about the plastic housing, but.... they sound great.

Pros: Compact, looks and sounds great.

Cons: Plastic, only time will tell if this is really a con.

If you are thinking about upgrading your current surround sound system-as I was-for some new technology it is well worth the expense. Especially if your system is several years old like mine was. I previosly had the Polk RM6901's for fronts, RM7302 as my center, and the RM6801's as my surrounds. My new system which includes 5 TL350's-the 5 Pack-out performs my RM series speakers easily. The Vocals are crystal clear and the instumentals are Phenominal. It sounds just like you were in the front row of a concert hall or in the sweet spot. Therefore, in my mind it is a no brainer when it comes to spending the extra money on these speakers whether you buy 2 or 5.

Pros: Wall mounting bracket is the perfect size and makes it a snap to mount. Took me just a few minutes to set up and mount. Sound of speaker is phenominal.Voices come out crystal clear. Instrumentals sound positively like your sitting in the front row of a concert. The finish of the speaker is flawless and the pedistal the speaker sits on is very ingenious.

Cons: Nothing

These speakers are replacing some older larger speakers and are truly AWESOME - - they provide a clear crisp sound. For a small speaker, they really throw a punch. I cannot thank CRUTCHFIELD enough for the recommendation. They are everything they claim to be and more !!!

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I purchased these to use with my polk lsi theater system as extra surrounds, thinking they would be timber matched ( or very close ) because of the ring radiator tweeters and 88db sens.rating. They do blend well, and while not as power hungry, They seem to have no problem with the 125 watts of high current power they are getting......and are doing a great job!. This was cheaper then getting a second pair of lsi-fx speakers ( 1,000.00 a pair ) and they blend with the system very well !!!.

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