New Ultrafocus 8000 owner

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JoeBlow74
JoeBlow74 Posts: 5
edited February 2014 in Headphones
I just purchased the Ultrafocus 8000 yesterday and I already love them. First off, I would like to give kudos to Polk for making the headband out of carbon fiber. In my search for the perfect headphone, I have come to a realization that most headphones that sound good are made of cheap plastic. I hope these 8000?s last a while for the amount of money I just paid for them. Polk, you had better not let me down. I spent my hard earned money on your product, so I would expect to get many years of use from these cans. OK? I also want to give kudos to Polk for having a nice display setup in the store where I purchased them from. Not many companies? setup displays so people can touch, feel, and listen to headphones. In my search for the perfect headphone, I have been disappointed by many of the selections of headphones on the market. You either have....well....Beats....Bose.....and the rest of the market. I am talking about having a display setup for us consumers to actually listen and feel the product. I wish more headphone makers would have some sort of display setup for consumers and really show off the capability of their headphones. It does not take that much money compared to the price they charge. Polk, your display is the reason why I spent my hard earned money on your product. Really!

This morning, I exercised the noise cancellation while I boarded my bus. The bus just disappeared after I put these cans on my head. I actually could listen to my music on my way into Portland. I heard the words Paula Abdul was singing and the bass the song was producing. I was in heaven. I have only listened to these for a total of 1 hour, but this hour has been epic. Good job Polk, you have won my heart and wallet for future headphone purchases.


Cheers
Jesse
Post edited by JoeBlow74 on
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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,722
    edited August 2012
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    I guess the question I have is why anyone would listen to Paula Abdul...

    They're a very good headphone and very well made, and if you ever ended up with an issue Polk will take care of you. Although I prefer the sound of my PSB cans slightly, the Polk are better made using better materials.
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  • JoeBlow74
    JoeBlow74 Posts: 5
    edited August 2012
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    AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »
    I guess the question I have is why anyone would listen to Paula Abdul...

    They're a very good headphone and very well made, and if you ever ended up with an issue Polk will take care of you. Although I prefer the sound of my PSB cans slightly, the Polk are better made using better materials.



    Hey! Paula Abdule was cool back in her prime. I still like to listen. Nothing wrong with listening to a little old school hip-hop. I looked and listened to PSB, but I found they were made very cheap. They reminded me of Beats and how the headband was made of glossy plastic. Don't get me wrong, they have an amp built into the cans. But, do they really expect me to spend money on a product that I will only get a few months of use from before they break. Every pair of Beats I have seen have been broken at the headband. The pair in the show room at Best Buy was even broke. PSB looks like they use the same style of headband with the same cheap plastic the Beats uses.
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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,722
    edited August 2012
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    The PSB are fairly new so we don't know how long they'll hold up, but they've got a 2 year warranty on them which helps, and they've already ackowledged the headband issue and have stated publically that they'll cover any headband issue for the life of the product vs just the 2 years.

    I wouldn't call the PSB 'very cheap', but they are not as well built as the Polk. You made a good choice on the Polk, they are a very well built and great sounding headphone.
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  • JoeBlow74
    JoeBlow74 Posts: 5
    edited August 2012
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    One thing I noticed while listening to my 8000?s is there is a very slight and random popping noise coming through my headphones. I did a little investigative work and plugged my 8000?s into my Onkyo receiver and the popping noise went away. I did some more investigating and I found many threads on many forums saying the headphone jack on the Iphone 4s is noisy causing overly sensitive headphones to reproduce this popping. I have been using some cheap Sony headphones and Phillips ear buds and I have never heard this popping noise until I plugged in my 8000?s. My Polk?s did come with an attenuator with a -10db rating. I plugged this into my Iphone4s along with my 8000?s and I did not hear the popping noise. I wonder if Polk knows about this issue or has plans to provide something to filter out this popping noise. Or is that what the attenuator is for. I do not plan to take back the 8000's. I will still keep them for my daily bus ride into work.


    Here are links to forums talking about noisy headphone jacks on Iphone 4s.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3416807?start=0&tstart=0


    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1273667
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited August 2012
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    I wouldn't expect Polk to do something to fix the noisy iPhone headphone jack. It seems like there are lots of issues with the headphone jacks on smartphones of all brands. I know the Motorola phones have had issues with the headphone jacks just pulling out of the phone because they weren't well fastened into the housing.

    I like the look of the Polk headphones!
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 1,394
    edited August 2012
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    Congrats on the purchase. I will be writing a review for both the Ultrafocus 8000s and 6000s soon. For now though, I could say the first thing anyone may notice is the bass.

    Halen
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  • JoeBlow74
    JoeBlow74 Posts: 5
    edited August 2012
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    I just want to say that I really love the headphones. I use these on my daily commute to and from work. I usually sit in the back of the bus next to the return air intake for the heating and cooling. In addition, the engine is behind the back seat making a very loud noise. My ears usually ring after arriving at work due to the bus making all sorts of noise. Now that I have my Polk?s, I put on my headphones and relax without hurting my hearing. The noise cancellation works very good. I can actually hear my music without having to turn the volume up on my Iphone. The ear muffs are so very comfortable and the whole head-set is ultra light on my head due to the carbon fiber headband. I live in the Pacific NW. It rains all the time in this corner of the country. The wind and cold temps during the winter are brutal, to say the least. My ears usually freeze while I am going to and from work. Not now, I have a feeling that my ears are going to be nice and warm, now that I have my new headphones. Polk, you did an outstanding job designing these headphones.
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  • jaf09
    jaf09 Posts: 48
    edited September 2012
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    Hi i also love the sound and look of my 8000's, a total keepers in my opinion, enjoy them!!:cool:
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  • szozolawin
    szozolawin Posts: 3
    edited February 2014
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    Hey JoeBlow 74...watch out with cold temps with these cans...they are not listed for extreme temperatures...
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