Today we are having a speaker royal rumble as we look at the Jamo S809 and Polk T50. These are two fantastic floor standing speakers that are very popular and quite comparable in many ways. I thought it would be a fun matchup and I did manage to watch quite a few movies and listen to a lot of music with these things and I wanted to share my thoughts on both the Jamo S809 and the Polk T50 speakers. I am a guy that just loves his movies and music so I will be giving my hand on heart, honest opinion on which one of these I think is better!
The Price
We have to start our Jamo S809 and Polk T50 contest off today by looking at how much you can expect to pay for these things. These are some of the more reasonably priced high-quality floor standing speakers on the market right now in my humble opinion.
Jamo S809:
As I write this you can get a pair of Jamo S809 speakers on Amazon right now for the price of $399. I think that the asking price is more than fair, to be honest with you I am not sure I would go to the 500 bucks mark for these, but at around 200 bucks per speaker, I do not think that the asking price (as I write this of course) is out of line at all if I am being honest with you. However, on eBay, there are deals aplenty for these speakers! You can get a new set for as little as $250 on there, but you will of course have to pay shipping. It is well worth your time shopping around for these that is for sure! I do want to add that Amazon are offering a package of Jamo Studio Series S809 Floorstanding Speaker Pair (Black) & Jamo S 8 ATM Black which turns these into Dolby Atmos speakers for the asking price of $478 which is a fantastic deal.
Polk T50:
On Amazon right now (well as I write this, not as you read it!) they only have a single Polk T50 speaker for sale. They do have a pair listed, but it says they are out of stock. The price for just one of these on Amazon at the moment is $249 so you are looking at 500 bucks for a pair. To be real with you, for Polk, that is more than a fair price. On eBay, the price for these speakers is all over the place! You can get a used one for under 100 bucks, but then you have sellers asking even more than what Amazon are! Be sure to do some real looking around before pulling the trigger on these as there are some great deals out there.
The Verdict: Tough one to call here, clearly you can get the Jamo S809 speakers a bit cheaper and if you get the package that comes with the Jamo S 8 ATM speakers, it is truly a fantastic deal! However, the Polk T50 are a great set of speakers too so this is a hard one to call. If I am being honest, my love for Dolby Atmos would probably make me go for the pack that comes with the S 8 ATMs.
The Design
If you have a cool set of floor standing speakers like the ones, we are looking at in this Jamo S809 and Polk T50 battle, the design is a pretty big deal! These are going to be out on full display so you want to make sure that they look great!
Jamo S809: I really think that the Jamo S809 speakers have a cool vibe about them. I suggest you have a look at this Jamo S809 Review! | Affordable Tower Speakers! if you want to see them in a more up close and personal manner. These are available in both black and white, but it is the black version I am specifically talking about today. Let’s start with the dimensions which are 44.25 x 19.75 x 14 inches and around 30 pounds in the weight department. The first thing I want to touch on is the grille, look, we know what the purpose of the grille is, but I have to be honest and say that I feel these speakers look way better without it! Granted, if you have kids, you would not want to take it off. However, I think the fact the grille does not go all the way to the bottom makes it stick out like a sore thumb. Without the grille, you get to see the magic that makes this speaker work.
What I like about this is that the soft dome tweeter at the top has a woodgrain effect to it which goes with the bottom of the speakers really well. It is a small touch, but one that I think gives these speakers a ton of personality. The three woofers that make up the majority of the front of the speaker are all well made and look great! On the top of the speaker are special mounting holes for those that want to connect the Jamo S 8 ATM Black speakers to these which will then make these Dolby Atmos capable speakers! On the back, we have our connection ports and these are very high-quality just like the rest of the speakers. To be honest, with the grille on, these speakers do not do anything for me, but without the grille, they have a real sexiness about them that I love. The wood they have used has a really solid feel about it that gives the speakers a real “premium” kind of feeling.
Polk T50: You know, I have looked at many different Polk products over the years and I have never been disappointed by what they offer. These Polk T50 speakers are no different and they have that same class, sophistication, and a cool factor that their products always have. These speakers come in at an impressive, 8.75 x 7.75 x 36.25 inches so they are a fair bit smaller than the Jamo offering so that may make or break these for you depending on how much room you have to display these. The first thing I have to say I love is that the grille goes all the way from the top to the bottom and this is a style that I really do like. They have a slight curviness to them as well which gives these some really cool vibes going on and I would truly have these sitting next to the screen in my home theatre and be more than happy with the way that they look. The base that they stand on is very stylish looking too and gives them a more “movie theatre” kind of vibe in my opinion.
Without the grill on, you have your three larger tweeters right in the middle, but they are in the same kind of black as the actual wood of the speaker so they blend in like a ninja in the night. The smaller tweeter at the top is done in this same kind of style too. To be honest with you, I think that these speakers actually look better with the grille on and that would be the way I would display them. Polk always makes very solid and sturdy speakers and these are no different and they have a very high-quality feel to them. The connection ports on the back are “gold plated” which will give you a more solid connection and in theory give you a better overall sound. In all, these are a truly cool and awesome looking set of speakers that I really do like. If you have seen Polk Audio products before, then you can see right away that they have that “Polk” style about them in every regard.
The Verdict: This is a very hard round to call as I like the design of both speakers. However, if we are talking with the grille on, The Polk T50 takes this one with a first-round knockout! But, for me personally, I would say that I like the style of the Jamo S809 slightly more if it has the grille off so I am going to pick that as the winner of this round.
The Sound
Of course, the most important aspect of a set of speakers is how good they sound! That is why the third and final category of our contest today is going to be looking at how these speakers sound. I had the pleasure of watching quite a few of my favorite movies with each of these so I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you.
Jamo S809: You have no idea how much I wish I could talk to you about the sound capabilities of the Jamo Studio Series S809 Floorstanding Speaker Pair (Black) & Jamo S 8 ATM Black set. However, the Jamo S809 that I had the pleasure of playing around with for the better part of a week was the standard version. These sound pretty damn good, given their size and build, I was expecting some punchy bass and that is exactly what I got. I want to give a special mention to the movie Independence Day as that, in particular, shook my room (kind of like Boom, Shake the Room!). You could probably have these without a dedicated subwoofer in a regular sized room and be more than ok with it as they do have a nice amount of raw power. I think that Jamo have managed to really bring their A game with these speakers and overall, I think they are good enough to make most people think that they are getting a cinema like experience at home.
While having punchy bass and a loud sound profile is great. I do have to say that the Jamo S809 also sounds great in other regards. I think that there is a well balanced sound here and even something that is more dialogue heavy like the fantastic The Way, Way Back are great when pumped through these speakers. I do have to say that overall, these are quite an impressive set of speakers. I really wish that I had the chance to check these out with their Dolby Atmos speakers attached as at the price range, these could turn out to be incredible value for money for a home theatre. At the price these are currently being sold, especially if you can get them in that sweet 250 to 300 bucks range, these are amazing value for money.
Polk T50: I have yet to be let down by Polk when it comes to the audio department and that sentiment rings true for the Polk T50 speakers. I recommend looking at video reviews like this Polk Audio T50 Review! to get a better idea of how these things are. Right out of the box, the set that I got to test out impressed the hell out of me. Even though these are not quite as large as the Jamo S809, I think that these did offer slightly more kick and bass if I am being honest with you guys. Take a movie like Deadpool for example, you have all this craziness and loud action going on, but then everything else also slots in around it and it sounds near perfect. The Dolly 9 to 5 scene in particular was fantastic when played through these speakers. I have no doubt that those who want to bring the cinema experience home could do that with these speakers!
The main reason that I say that is because these have a very clever design and that results in you getting this very balanced sound. If you matched these up with their Polk Audio T30 100 Watt Home Theater Center Channel Speaker and their Polk Audio T15 100 Watt Home Theater Bookshelf Speakers I imagine the effect would be fantastic! I truly do think that Polk has gone above and beyond to bring a cinema like experience home with these speakers and do it at a more wallet friendly price too. I have to say that I was very, very impressed with these and I have tested out more expensive floor standing speakers that I do not think can match what these are offering.
The Verdict: I am pretty sure that if the Jamo S809 speakers I had to test out had included the Dolby Atmos speakers that those would have taken them over the top and seen them take this round. However, I do have to say that in my humble movie loving opinion, I felt that the Polk T50 offers you a better and slightly more punchy balanced sound.
Which Is The Better Speaker?
So, we come to the end of our Jamo S809 and Polk T50 contest and I have to say this was a lot of fun to do. I liked both of these speakers and I am sure that anyone who has either of these is very, very happy with them. As standalone speakers, I am going to say that I am picking the Polk T50 speakers as my winner today. For my personal taste, they just offered a bit more of a balanced sound. However, if you can get the Jamo S809 speakers and the Jamo S 8 ATM Black speakers to make them Dolby Atmos speakers, I think that is the route I would go. If you shop around you can actually find them for near enough the same price as the Polk T50 speakers are going for on their own!
