Why I appreciate Polk audio

Litz

...and some heritage Klipsch, and Arnie Nudell ribbon Infinity speakers of the past...

It's not just because they were popular during that oh-so critical phase of my teens and twenties.

They represented then (and still do) a product line music lovers can enjoy without going broke. "High end sound, without the price" especially Polk.

Back in the 80's, there were choices of way too many Japanese tissue boxes, and overly ear-drilling (or beamy and even too polite) western speakers. Companies like Polk helped change this. The actually engineered speakers- not just threw drivers in a box. I remember the reviews that showed Polk speakers acoustically passing a recognizable square wave. While this is only one aspect of impressive performance I found Polk to be the antidote for beamy/harsh/muddy and boxy speakers. Believe it or not, dynamic polks also represented less compromises in areas I find critical than electrostats or planars. (Namely bass impact and I prefer point, to line source.) And don't get me started on the direct/reflecting gimmicks of...(I can't even say it...but it rhymes with "Blows". ).

Polk became even more important to me in the late 80's when companies like Wilson audio foisted the idea that no pricetag is too high. Suddenly, prices for some hi-fi went from expensive to OBSCENE. It still makes me sick to see small two-way speakers for $13,000 a pair! The one sentence that still resonates with me to this day from Boston Acoustics: (paraphrasing) "Making a great speaker is no big deal when cost is no object."

To this day, early Polk designs still work and sound great! As far as I am concerned, the new LSi series carries on that original philosopy of high end without the price. The LSi9's are better than plenty of high end speakers thier size costing many times as much. I know, I used to own endless types of high end speakers. Quantum leaps in price tag rarely, if ever provide anything more than a very small refinement. Often I find the refinement is grossly exaggerated by the high end press (and thus, the owners.)

I find Polk then and now without the extended-pinky pretense and chest-thumping snobbery. I am hearing music come out of them that some people pay as much as a car to achieve. Polk had a good thing using the litzwire tweeters (Peerless) then, and the ring radiator now. The Litz tweeters sang to 23khz...plenty of top end! And unlike the grossly overhyped Focal tioxid tweeter, didn't have a NASTY oil can resonance within it's audible response range. And the ring tweeter does more for me on many levels than certain overhyped diamond tweeters costing $2,500 a pair retail. IOW: I believe in true function and reject the audiosnob hype. Of course JBL gave us the beamy cone tweeters of the L100 and the obnoxious tin-ear titanium tweeter of the T series. For a company that could makes some devine midrange and woofer drivers (aquaplas) they could sure make some evil tweeters and boxy sounding speakers.

I look to the LSi9 as the modern equivalent to my Monitor 5's. Almost absurdly great performance from a small speaker with a very reasonable price.

That's my .02 cents at 5 am.

YMMV.

Litz

heiney9 wrote: »

Just an observation, again you preach like a know it all, and know it all's generally don't view their preaching as opinion, but as fact.

H9

I have asked the mod to nuke this thread except for the first post. Note my new signature.

After this point: I will not entertain the subject, or post about pricing or snobbery...it's never been my focus, just a pet peeve.

Litz

Let me state... I am *DEEPLY* interested in people's projects to refurbish and modify classic Polk speakers. It doesn't just referesh a great speaker, it elevates the speakers capabilities beyond the original.

Keep Polk heritage alive!

Fongolio

I have a pair of SDA-1C's that have been super-modded. I take zero credit for the work. That all goes to Geoff727 in Seattle. He did an amazing job and I believe they are just about the finest 1C's anywhere. Following is a list of work done:

-all new drivers both regular and dimensional (original passives)
-all new RDO tweeters
-all mounting holes (including passives) drilled and inserts added
-t-bolts with allen heads in all speakers
-mortite on all mounting flanges
-sound deadening on all speaker baskets
-rewired internals with "monster" speaker wire
-air tight cabinet built around tweeters to negate effect of drivers on tweeters
-internal bracing added
-all walls lined with insulation and interior poly filled to 70%
-full crossover upgrade with sonicaps and mills
-speaker wire connectors upgraded to Cardas
-custom sda terminal with cardas interconnect
-re-clothed front and side panels
-side and front panels made removable for easy cleaning
-new end caps made from African padouk
-original feet replaced with adjustable brass spikes
-anti-dispersion felt around tweeters

Result? What are probably two of the best looking, best sounding, most lovingly restored SDA-1C's on the planet. Cost to me last July...$625.00 plus fuel for Geoff to bring them from Seattle to Abbotsford BC. Oh and a small hit by customs. I still feel like a thief for the price I paid which was Geoff's asking price. You would have to pay many thousands more for an equivalent new speaker. Yes Polk's are extreme value and worth the money to restore/upgrade.

Kelvin

yepimonfire

lol thats not even a polk anymore!

Litz

It is hard to call them Polks exactly... "Polkensteins" maybe, but I agree with your sentiments overall. Geoff has supercharged classics, sold them at a fair price for his efforts and given you a set of keepers! I'd think they would be like SDA-1C++'s. or SDA1CMMIX's Cool!

I didn't seem to notice a photo... >poke< >poke<

Also: I intend to compile my own POLK mods.

cnh

I appreciate the opening sentiments and mostly agree except for the JBL T tweeter....that's all about 'proper' amplification. I've heard that tweeter actually sound refined and mellower on some gear and its ability to resolve detail surpasses any current Polk tweeter--exempting, perhaps the Vifa in the LSi series. lol

Lots of people dislike JBL (the West Coast sound...and that's OK but TONS of money went into R & D for that titanium tweeter in the 80s). And low and behold.....Def Tech., Focal, KEF, Tannoy, some B & Ws, Energy, Klipsch Reference series, and many others sport some kind of metallic tweeter..some alloys, some titanium??

My current favorite mid-fi tweeter is the Focal inverted alum mag dome tweeter....out-performs any current offering by Polk IMO. A bit pricier though.

In general though, I agree: for the money spent Polk offers the most return on sound!!

cnh

Litz

cnh wrote: »

I appreciate the opening sentiments and mostly agree except for the JBL T tweeter....that's all about 'proper' amplification. I've heard that tweeter actually sound refined and mellower on some gear and its ability to resolve detail surpasses any current Polk tweeter--exempting, perhaps the Vifa in the LSi series. lol

Lots of people dislike JBL (the West Coast sound...and that's OK but TONS of money went into R & D for that titanium tweeter). And low and behold.....Def Tech., Focal, some B & Ws, Energy, Klipsch Reference series, and many others sport some kind of metallic tweeter..some alloys, some titanium??

cnh

I had the following: JBL 4312A, JBL l-80T and L-100t. The best overall was the L-100T (Much lower bass than the 4312A). With a carver M-200T amp and C-11 pre, the sound was quite good, especially the very transparent midrange. Like Klipsch (and energy veritas) CAREFUL selection of a front end helped a LOT. The Ti tweeter was VERY rigid and pistonic, and simply hated some electronics. The Ti tweet (like a Klipsch horn tweet) pumped out a LOT of treble energy. For a ported design, the L-100T had TIGHT and deep bass. It could sound boxy without proper placement.

Later down the road, companies that employed the aluminum vifa done would use a damping/phase plug on them...or tweak the xover to smooth them out.

cnh

I think we're pretty much in agreement here. I've heard the L-80T and the L-100T (both decent speakers with the right gear). The tweeters are temperamental and can be harsh but if you find the right combo they reveal..oh so much. And the 100T just had great weight and authority. It was designed to reproduce 1st generation recording sources..the 'good' and the 'bad' with lots of SPLs. The main problem with that was very very 'picky' room placement. It took forever to find the 'right' place to put them...how far apart..how far from the wall...toe in or no toe in and so on.

cnh

Litz

cnh wrote: »

I think we're pretty much in agreement here. I've heard the L-80T and the L-100T (both decent speakers with the right gear). The tweeters are temperamental and can be harsh but if you find the right combo they reveal..oh so much. And the 100T just had great weight and authority. The main problem with that was very very 'picky' room placement. It took forever to find the 'right' place to put them...how far apart..how far from the wall...toe in or no toe in and so on.

cnh

Exactly... and a salient point here: The L-100T had enough bass authority to balance the power of the tweeter. Klipsch forte's are much the same idea. if you move to the 4312A's or the heresy, you lose all bass below 60hz, and therefore have a MUCH more pronounced tweeter energy that dominates, but doesn't balance. I remember at one point lusting after the L-250T towers.

cnh

I remember those. I bet they can still hold their own against a lot of newer speakers. Look at the magnet assemblies on the sub-driver and the midrange...over 18 lbs and over 6lbs...that's heavier than a lot of HT dedicated subs under 1000 dollars? Talk about LOWS!!

cnh

Litz

cnh wrote: »

I remember those. I bet they can still hold their own against a lot of newer speakers. Look at the magnet assemblies on the sub-driver and the midrange...over 18 lbs and over 6lbs...that's heavier than a lot of HT dedicated subs under 1000 dollars? Talk about LOWS!!

cnh

I remember them using the roof as an anechoic chamber to test drivers. The aquaplas drivers were well engineered. I know JBl developed a symmetrical magnet assembly for a better linear throw way back when. I can't remember the model, but there was an L-100T look-alike that had a 14", not 12" woofer.

ESavinon

Is it a record? Banned in 6 days? I really wanted to see what he was going to sell...

cnh

Litz has only been on since May 4th...I'm in China....so that's either 2 days or 1.5 days....your time? Over 50 posts a day. I think you've 'called' it!!

Don't understand why he went ballistic in the other thread, things 'seemed' OK both there and here??

cnh

F1nut

It doesn't matter and we're walking.......

ben62670

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That's all I have to add.

Face

I'm surprised it took him so long to show his true Kolors.

FTGV

I assume there was some infraction other than in this thread that earned him the lovely red letters?

hearingimpared

SpecK made his return engagement?

FTGV

hearingimpared wrote: »

He went ballistic in this thread too. It was all removed.

Ah Ok thanks Joe, I guess I missed the show.He did seem like a chatty young fellow.:D

hearingimpared

cnh wrote: »

Litz has only been on since May 4th...I'm in China....so that's either 2 days or 1.5 days....your time? Over 50 posts a day. I think you've 'called' it!!

Don't understand why he went ballistic in the other thread, things 'seemed' OK both there and here??

cnh

He went ballistic in this thread too. I disagreed with him and he went on a tirade hurling insults and belittling. It was all removed according to him, at his request.

hearingimpared

FTGV wrote: »

Ah Ok thanks Joe, I guess I missed the show.He did seem like a chatty young fellow.:D

LMAO!!! Very, very chatty!

heiney9

Now that he went ballistic there's little doubt it was our old friend KA7NIQ (aka Special K). Too bad, he started out so well but eventually the true colors and agenda comes through.

H9

dorokusai

True enough Brock....it was spotted and talked about behind the scenes thanks to some keen forum eyeballs.

RuSsMaN

This one was out of Virginia, regardless, it's done and over with.