Polk Audio Signature Series S35 Center Channel Speaker - Perfect for Home Theater Setups

Comdet: I'm very pleased with all aspects of this center speaker. The sound quality is excellent. This replaces an old KEF center speaker and the difference can be clearly heard. The Polk has a crisp, clean sound that clarifies and enhances dialog but not at the expense of a nice solid bass (although I also have a subwoofer in the setup).

Aesthetically it's a simple, clean design. Normally I don't pay much attention to the look of a speaker but in this case, since it's a center speaker, it's in my line of sight all the time. It's about as unobtrusive you can get with a center speaker without compromising sound quality and performance. Polk did an excellent job with the design.

I looked at the new version of this (the ES35) and, while there are some small incremental improvements, I didn't consider them to be worth the extra $100 it costs. Plus, this was on a price dip for the differential between the two was $150, making this the clear choice.

While I have been partial to KEF in the past for speakers, the performance of this Polk has really wow'd me. At present I'm using this center speaker with KEF left and right front speakers, and KEF for surround. I've been so...

United States on Sep 12, 2021

steliosstelios: I have just moved places and I needed a slimline centre speaker under the TV much like a soundbar. Sounds good in the midrange which is what I thought it would to stand out as my floorstanding are just amazing amazon send me black or grey instead of brown but I don't mind the speaker works fine and I jave enough to worry about. I would say there are better sounding ones but not looking ones except maybe ones that cost a premium more than polk s35 in saying that the reviews look amazing for a reason. POLK is really stepping up their game with their speakers s10 s20 and all that at affordable prices.

Australia on Oct 18, 2020

Amazon Customer: The Polk S35 gets three stars for its sound quality and I get zero stars for not doing my research properly.
I keep turning off this speaker because lots of movies tend to play everything on the center channel and this speaker cannot keep up whith all the sounds it has to play, so sound effects get lost. For a long time I used a 4.1 setup only but hearing from everywhere that "the center speaker is the most important" I decided to buy the S35. I chose this one mainly because of its soundbar look (what pleases my other half) and also the reviews I read were good. I am not pleased with what I hear comming out from this speaker, sound is boxy and the highs get lost. It is possible that it is because my setup or my settings, I will continue to experiment with it but I recommend to everyone who has some decent towers to stick only to those, you will hear the people speaking and you will hear the background effects too. Or maybe try a speaker with bigger drives and better box material, I don't know... 4.1 is fine for me.

Canada on Feb 09, 2019

MadPB: I got this speaker to replace a JBL center speaker that had a distinct lack of treble. I finally got tired of the muddy sound and settled on this one. The before/after difference is huge - I can finally understand dialog without cranking up the volume and having to fiddle with the EQ.

My only gripe is in the quality of the front grill. I do like how it's magnetic and not the crummy plastic pins that some units use since those always seem to break, no matter how careful you are. However, Amazon messed up big time when delivering this: The outer Amazon box was perfectly fine, unblemished, no issues. However, the Polk speaker box inside had a huge gash in the middle of it on one side, which happened to be the side facing the front of the speaker.

How Amazon missed that when packing it, I'll never know. Lazy on their part. Well, with trepidation I took pictures and unboxed it, preparing to see a lot of damage... To my relief the only damage was on the detachable grill right over one of those magnets, and the plastic had actually broken just a bit.

I figured it'd be too much hassle to box and return for what was really some minor cosmetic damage, easily fixed. A...

United States on Dec 02, 2018

Enthus: Accurate sound! Very easy to drive this speaker, can be on low volume and I can still hear everything. Awesome for midnight mode when the kids are asleep or picky neighbors that share walls.

Update March 2023:

This is still a great center speaker. I have seen others talk about how its not a good speaker.
First off make sure you set the center low frequency cutoff at either 100hz or 90hz. A center channel is not supposed to output lower frequencies... you front L and R and subwoofer are supposed to take care of that. This center speaker is meant for midrange and dialogue! Configure this right and it will serve you well!

Canada on Feb 24, 2018

MX5FOR2: The frequency response of this center speaker is excellent and will handle nearly all requirements that an amplifier demand. Its main virtue though is its size as it fits under our wall mounted TV with no problem. Quality build is very evident in the unit, as is the case with most Polk audio products. It is not a lightweight unit, which again reflects on the quality of this center speaker.The purchase price had us a tad hesitant to purchase it. Considering the price it is not cheap to build a small unit which has 6 small polymer speakers enclosed within it along with the crossover frequency circuits to provide sound quality of this nature.In reality, a center speaker in a home theatre system does a good proportion of the work in reproducing vocal sounds. The surround channels and sub, provide the excitement. We had researched special sized center channel speakers and decided this was definitely a good product. We have not been disappointed. As an additional point of interest, we are driving this speaker through a Denon amplifier which can provide up to 200amps at 4 ohm.

Canada on Feb 16, 2018

joeytree: I'm not an audiophile, but I would say I have a good ear (multiple times in all-state and regional choirs each, continued in college in choir with the fine-arts majors). I have a good enough ear to name the people doing voices in cartoon movies (assuming I've seen them in other movies before), including people that my wife finds obscure. I enjoy all types of music, though I use my stereo system more for home theater than for music these days. This is just to give you background on my ear and preferences, since which speakers a person likes depends on these things.

That being said, what prompted me to get this speaker is that I didn't have room for my beloved center speaker anymore. I have a Yamaha RX-A1030 receiver (110 watts per channel), with a Yamaha NS-C444 center speaker (250 W max / 100 W nominal; 55 Hz - 35 kHz) and two Yamaha NS-777 towers (250 W max / 100 W nominal; 30 Hz - 35 kHz) for my main speakers. I use the surrounds that came built in to our house for full surround sound. I LOVE my front set up, which goes sufficiently low that I can physically feel explosions and never felt the need for a subwoofer. But we installed a fireplace, and there really is no...

United States on Jul 31, 2017

Alan D.: I have this paired with B&W floorstsnding speakers (yeah not 'supposed' to 'mix' - who cares) that I've had for years, and although the fittings etc. are not the same quality the sound is clear and precise which is what I wanted for movie dialogue. Before adding this speaker it wasn't as clear with just 2 speakers (theoretically they could have been adjusted, but even after that the effect of adding a center speaker was dramatic). I leave it on for music too, as the vocals, acoustic guitars, and other mid-rangey things come through so clearly.

Make sure you measure your space though and compare with the specs as it's still a pretty hefty speaker so didn't fit above the receiver (too wide for the shelf) nor in front of the TV (too tall, blocked the picture). I mounted it under the TV stand, which wouldn't have been possible with a regular sized centre channel speaker.

Canada on Dec 10, 2016