Напольная акустика — Polk Audio Signature Elite ES55

The Signature Elite ES55 is a floorstanding loudspeaker from Polk Audio's Signature Elite series, priced at USD 449 per speaker and offered in black, white and brown. It sits between the smaller ES50 and the larger ES60 towers, and it combines a Terylene dome tweeter with two 6.5-inch woofers in a 2.5-way layout that works with 4 or 8 ohm amplifiers.

Key specs that matter

Polk combines a 1-inch Terylene Hi-Res dome tweeter and two 6.5-inch (165 mm) Dynamic Balance woofers with mica-reinforced polypropylene cones in a 2.5-way cascaded array. The response is 33 Hz to 40 kHz, sensitivity is 89 dB at 2.83 V, the crossover is at 2.4 kHz and the amplifier range is 40 to 200 W. The cabinet uses a Power Port and dual gold-plated 5-way binding posts. It measures 1,054 mm high, 216 mm wide and 318 mm deep, or 297 mm wide including the base, and weighs 20 kg.

Engineering and use context

The 2.5-way cascade means both cones work in the bass, but just one of them covers the midrange as well, up to the tweeter crossover. Mica reinforcement stiffens the polypropylene cones, and the woofers carry Polk's Dynamic Balance designation. Terylene is a polyester fabric, and Polk labels the tweeter Hi-Res. The Power Port is Polk's port design, shaped to reduce turbulence and air noise. Polk describes the cabinet as critically braced and low-resistance. Compared with the ES50, which uses two 5.25-inch drivers in a 950 mm cabinet, the ES55 moves to larger woofers, and in price it sits between the USD 374 ES50 and the USD 599 ES60 in price. Compatibility with 4 or 8 ohm amplifiers means the speaker can be used with most AV receivers, which often specify their power into 8 ohms.

Pairing

The ES55 suits AV receivers and stereo integrated amplifiers. For home cinema a pair works with a Signature Elite centre and the ES12 or ES10 subwoofer, the ES12 using a 12-inch driver and a 300 W amplifier to reach 22 Hz. The ES55 can be bi-wired through its two pairs of posts. With its deep bass extension, it fills rooms of about 20 m2 without a subwoofer for music.

Alternatives

The Polk Audio Signature Elite ES60 is the larger tower of the series, using three 6.5-inch drivers in a 1,130 mm cabinet.