Polk Audio OWM3 Wall and Passive Bookshelf Speakers | The Most High-Performance Versatile Loudspeaker | Paintable Grilles (Home Speakers Pair, Black)

I purchased these to use as surround speakers in my "home theater" which is just a smallish 12'x12' living room. Because my couch is up against the back wall and I have some other furniture and room layout constraints I was looking for speakers that came with a variety of mounting options, which is how I found these. When I saw tons of reviews online and YouTube singing this speaker's praises as not only versatile and flexible but also as having excellent sound I decided to pull the trigger. Pros: Excellent sound quality for the money Detailed but not fatiguing Easy to mount in so many different positions Simple and unobtrusive design style If your setup requires a "go anywhere, do anything" workhorse speaker these are perfect Cons: Not much bass - these CAN function as front speakers but you will definitely need a subwoofer. I think these speakers are perfect for someone who wants to add surrounds or height channels or who is dealing with a tricky space and needs a speaker they can place just about anywhere. They wouldn't get the job done for ME personally as the fronts in a system for stereo music listening; they're a bit thin and not incredibly nuanced, but for immersion and ambience to pull you into a sonic landscape, these speakers most definitely punch above their weight class.

I love the Polk Audio OWM3 speaker for my use-case which is Home Theater surround and ATMOS. They sound great but I also love how versatile they are. They are only 4 inches deep with multiple mounting options. You can mount in a corner of the wall or wall/ceiling or flat on the wall or mount on a ¼-20 threaded speaker mount. I use 4 of them for ATMOS heights, 2 more for side-surrounds, and 2 more for back surrounds. I cross them over at 80Hz and they handle it with no problems. (Mains are towers + a 10” powered subwoofer). The OWM3 sound is smooth and clear with good dispersion. They put out plenty of volume without distortion and can handle a reasonable output without issues. The OWM3 is not for bass thunder. You need a subwoofer that’s just a fact. That’s true for any bookshelf speaker. Sound aside, the best part the OWM3 is so easy to mount in so many ways. You have key-hole mounts on the back and end plus a ¼-20 threaded mounting hole. I use all these options in different locations. I bought my 1st pair of OWM3’s back in 2019 and recently added several more to complete my ATMOS 7.1.4 setup. No regrets. I would buy more if I had a need for them.

They look and sound great. Got them as front surround speakers on a Sony 7.1 system. When I picked up the box and it had decent weight to it, that was my first indication of some quality. After I got them wired up, we'll I am sold.

Since I use these speakers only as L/R Surround speakers in a 7+2 surround-sound setup, I can only say how it sounds as part of the whole setup, not for what they do by themselves! I use a speaker setup wizard in my receiver to adjust the volumes of individual speakers for 3 to 6 listening areas where we sit to watch TV. From the Amazon customer reviews, I knew these speakers were decent as Surround-sound speakers, but weak in the base. I picked them up this October to replace two KLH main speakers with 9" woofer and 4.5" mid-range which I was using as Left/Right Surround-sound speakers. There was nothing wrong with the KLH speakers, but it's base overwhelmed the main speakers and was so large my wife complained it made our entertainment room look like a used-speaker warehouse. As mediocre as some reviewers feel these OWM3 are, they do this job better than misused L/R main speakers! Our 7+2 setup sounded nice but not noticeably better than 5+1 when we played "Pearl Harbor" and "Avatar" from DVD & Blue-ray disks with only 5+1 Surround-sound audio tracks. Over Thanksgiving, we rented the Sci-fie movie "Pacific Rim" that actually contains a 7+1 Surround-sound track and I was never so captivated by an Sci-fi action movie. My son who has a Onkyo 5+1 Surround Sound system really like how the audio came out of my audio system. He also liked the way this Polk Audio speakers come across as L/R Surround Speakers, and the way they look. My 7+2 stereo system consist of a mix of well-received equipment built from a low-to-midprice equipment. It consists of: Receiver: Onkyo TX-NR626 7.2-Channel A/V Receiver Main Speakers: a pair of really old ADC L/R floor-standing speakers with 10" woofers and 3 3/4" tweeters. They are encased in walnut and are heavy. Center Speaker: KLH with Dual 4.5" mid-range speakers (from a 5+1 Surround-sound speaker set). Only press-board case painted black. L/R Surround: Polk Audio OWM3 L/R Rear Surround: KLH L/R Surround speakers from same old 5+1 Surround-sound system Right Subwoofer: Sony SA WM-250 with a 4.75 star customer review on Amazon Left Subwoofer: The Subwoofer from a Logitech Z-4 2.1 Speaker System with a 4.5 star customer review on Amazon. (This has a deeper base but does not sound as dynamic as the Sony subwoofer.) While our equipment is not audiophile stuff, it works quite well with the Polk Audio OWM3. I have the Polk Audio speakers mounted on the wall about level with the top of a French door. With action movies, we can hear the special effect sounds from them. I can say it works well with my setup, but I can't say it stands out. I set up my receiver to play music in "Surround-sound compatible mode" which sends sound to all 7+2 speakers. I usually turn of my Left Subwoofer when I play music or I'd get too much base. My setup wraps me in sound, and the Polk speakers pulls it weight in delivery thoroughly enjoyable music that includes pop, jazz, country, new age and musical, mostly from Pandora, Spotify and Slacker Radio.

I needed speakers I could tuck into a ceiling corner inside my boat. These worked out perfectly and look great. I did need to buy mounting brackets. The sound is really good. There is plenty of range and surprisingly very good base. They are plenty loud even though these are 8 ohm speakers installed on a 4 ohm Garmin marine sound system. I use them mostly for music, but I do blue tooth my TV to the sound system sometimes.

great sound

I have never had a Polk product I didn't like. Starting in 1994 with my first pair of car speakers and tweeters I started to see a difference in sound quality and I have noticed that quality continue. I used everything from Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, and the like and usually found Polk to be just about as solid as any of those if not more so. These OWM3 speakers are no exception. It is mind boggling to me how these sound so good. The picture makes them look tiny, but they are not tiny. The size is about 10 or 11" tall Id guess and about 7" wide. They are heavy... They are designed to be mounted in a lot of different positions and they come with great stands if you don't want to hang them. For surround, these speakers are amazing. The quality is great. I was scared with some of the critical reviews saying they were tinny and lacked bass, etc... Well let me say that they sound great to me for one, and for another, surround speakers aren't for bass anyway. These would be good bookshelf speakers for a small system as well. The parts are quality and these can take a lot of power and abuse. I know you aren't supposed to put speakers near other sensitive electronics, but mine are right by my router, roku, wii u, computer monitor, tv and blu ray player and they all work just fine. Not sure if these are shielded or not, but its nice to have things play nice with other things. For a surround system, these are perfect. I run 5.1 system and these are my surrounds. The sound from my system pairs beautifully with these.

My wife got me these speakers for Christmas; simply AMAZING. Not sure why there have been bad reviews; maybe those folks didn't have a great receiver or did not install properly? I am using these as my 2 rear surround speakers and are mounted from a 13 foot ceiling. I have a high end Denon AVR receiver and set my rear surround speakers as large to get the most juice out of them. They sound ridiculous. I was looking at either Definitive ($149 each), B&W ($249 each) or the Polk OWM3($99 for the pair). You definitely get the best sound with a high end receiver because my brother in law has Bose speakers coming off a 10 year old JBL or Pioneer receiver and is not doing the speakers any justice. Any high end speaker you place on an old/cheap/low quality receiver will not get the best sound quality; it's like placing 22 inch chrome Momos on a Saturn...just doesn't make any sense. I have no complaints and love my speakers for the price. Also keep in mind, YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET THE SAME SPEAKERS FOR YOUR HOME THEATRE!!! Best Buy and other electronic stores just try and sell that to you. I have the Bose 161 for my front, Definitive for my center ($199 during Black Friday 2009), Polk sub ($99 during black Friday 2009), and Polk OWM3 ($99 pair from Amazon) for my rear surrounds. All work amazingly flawless coming from my Denon AVR receiver; I set my front (Bose 161) and rear surrounds (Polk OWM3) speakers to large from my receiver setting. I went as cheap as I could on home theatre speakers but sought the best quality for price. However, I went all out on my receiver a few years ago with my Denon AVR; I think it was around $799 or $899 at the time. As long as you have a good enough receiver that can push out enough power, you will definitely be satisfied with these Polk OWM3 speakers!!!