Believe me, I'm not bashing Polk

[mpdhrd]

I've noticed that the "official Polk Audio Thread" is by far the most popular in the speakers section here on the forums. It also seems that most people on this site have polks in their setup. Does this mean Polk is the best speaker (per dollar), the most popular (per number of owners), or simply the most available (being pushed at places that everyone goes to like Best Buy)? Dont get me wrong because I own two pairs of Polk RTi25 bookshelves that I use as surrounds now and were at one time the fronts in my office setup. I enjoy them a lot and for the dollar they are nice.

But why is Polk so popular here? Do you like the look of the towers (skinny and black like everything else). Do you like the sound - does it beat out similarly priced speakers you have listened to? If given the chance to re-purchase or upgrade, would you go with Polk again?

I like mine and if I were to build a budget system or help a friend with his first HT setup, I'd probably go with Polk. But for myself, now that I'm a little older and like to think my tastes have matured, I'd be willing to drop a little more cash on something with a more refined look and more refined sound. What do you think?

Matt