Polk Audio UltraFit3000

Polk Audio is a familiar brand name when it comes to speakers, but recently, the company launched its first line of headphones, and interestingly, they are all exercise-focused models. At $99.95 (direct), the Polk Audio UltraFit3000 is affordable, offering respectable audio performance and the secure fit required for gym earphones. Its design features a twistable, moldable "SecureFit" over-the-ear support piece and a wide assortment of differently-shaped and sized eartips, as well as iPhone controls built into the cable. With generous bass response, given its cost and size, the UltraFit3000 offers a generally solid audio performance, but at maximum volume, expect a very slight-but-forgivable amount of distortion on deep bass songs. While the fit is secure, there is an issue with ear-to-ear consistency that ultimately holds the UltraFit3000 back a bit.

Design
The Polk Audio UltraFit3000 is offered in three color schemes: white-and-orange, black-and-red, and the color scheme of our test unit, white-and-gray. The aforementioned "SecureFit" ear piece extends from the eartip that enters your canal and goes over the top ridge of your outer ear, tucking behind it. The cable extends from the end of the support tip and terminates at?about mid-chest. You have three cable options to attach at this termination point, the primary option is a longer (41-inch), flat-style cable (think: linguini) similar to the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Tour High Resolution In-Ear Headphones ($149.95, 4 stars) cable. This cable comes with the built-in Apple three-button controls that operate playback, volume, menu navigation, and call answering. The second cable is a mere 14-inches, and is designed for minimal slack when using an MP3 player tucked into a shirt pocket or attached using a shirt clip. And a third cable is roughly 5-inches long and intended for tiny, shirt collar-attached players. Also included with the UltraFit3000: seven differently-sized and shaped eartip pairs, a shirt clip, and a soft zip-up pouch. The overall fit of the earphones is quite secure and excellent for the gym, but there are some inconsistency issues, from ear-to-ear, that we'll address in the next section.

Performance
On tracks with deep bass, as noted earlier, the UltraFit3000 sounds great at moderate-to-loud volumes, but begins to distort slightly at maximum volume when using an iPhone or laptop as your sound source. For instance, the Knife's "Silent Shout," a song with very deep bass, made the UltraFit3000 distort slightly at max volume, though not enough to really knock the earphones for. At reasonable volumes, on tracks with deep bass or not, the Ultrafit300 sounds fantastic, especially given the price. If you're the type to exercise to orchestral music?congratulations on your originality, by the way?you'll find the UltraFit3000's response rewarding, adding a nice resonance to the lower frequencies of the percussion and stringed instruments, while maintaining clarity in the mids and highs, in James Horner's?Star Trek II?film score. Bill Callahan's guitar work on?Apocalypse?sounds bright without being invasive, and the same treble presence lends itself nicely to the gravelly edge of his rich baritone vocals.?

One gripe: The moldable fit makes it possible to favor one ear over the other in terms of volume. The fit was always secure, for sure, but the over-ear support piece can press the driver of one ear more intensely against and into your canal than the other. It can be a bit difficult to achieve consistent fit from ear-to-ear, regardless of how incredibly secure the fit is, and this can mess with the stereo images by making one ear appear to be receiving more volume than the other. After some fiddling, this issue can be resolved, but not everyone will enjoy fiddling with them while jogging.

If absolute secure fit is your number one priority, the UltraFit3000 is not a bad option, but if you have a little more money to spend, the Editors' Choice Bowers & Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones ($179.95, 4.5 stars), though not specifically designed for exercise, are the most secure-fitting earphones we've ever tested, and they sound fantastic too.? In the realm of exercise earphones, another Editors' Choice, Sennheiser's CX 680 (now $89.95, 4 stars) is, at this point, an old standby in the category?the sweat-proof and secure-fitting result of a partnership with Adidas. They also happen to be washable?you can rinse them in running water?and they sound pretty excellent, especially for their price, which was lowered substantially recently. In short, the UltraFit3000 is an affordable earphone option, ideal for exercise?especially if you use an iPhone or iPod while you workout, but its minor fit and distortion issues hold it back from a slightly higher rating.

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