Will polk ever bring out high end speakers

dorokusai

This company HAS vision xcapri79, you can bet your stones on it. I think that comment is a bit too insulting personally. The lineup and model line progression of this loudspeaker company wouldn't be where it was at all if it wasn't for some serious VISION. The subwoofer 180-degree from being marginal to pretty darn good is because of VISION. I'm sure someone of your caliber must certainly be an industry professional and can understand that correct? You have some real gall to say something like that about this company, on a home forum you frequent and supposedly respects.

Zitro

Regardless of how much potential profits involved and how much market share it could actually steal, Matt Polk has had a tremendous audio career and should cap it off with a statement speaker. Gather a small group of Polk engineers and build his dream speaker. It doesn't even need to be mass produced, just build something to be proud of, something that flexes Polk's engineering muscles. At the very least, you get some good press, expand the Polk name further and Mr. Polk can go out in style.

And if such a speaker were to be made, I will find a way to try and get it in my listening room

heiney9

doro wrote:

This company HAS vision xcapri79, you can bet your stones on it. I think that comment is a bit too insulting personally. The lineup and model line progression of this loudspeaker company wouldn't be where it was at all if it wasn't for some serious VISION. The subwoofer 180-degree from being marginal to pretty darn good is because of VISION. I'm sure someone of your caliber must certainly be an industry professional and can understand that correct? You have some real gall to say something like that about this company, on a home forum you frequent and supposedly respects.

I will admit at PF '08 the most surprising thing I heard were the new Micro Pro Subs........leaps and bounds better than the old PSW line. Wouldn;t even have believed it was the same company. Next and literally a tie was the Surround Bar 360*. An amazing piece of hardware and ingenuity. IIRC, Al said it took 7 years for Matt and another engineer to write the algorithums for the software. They literally invented the DSP codes for it as they went along.

So I'd say, YES the company has vision and integrity to try to keep all their products on the leading edge without making the customer having to take out a second mortgage to own the products.

H9

dorokusai

If you only knew how many seriously cool prototypes I've seen over the years....this has and will always be happening at Polk Audio. Sure, DEI owns them now but more new product has been released since then, than ever before. Kinda goes against the grain huh? Maybe they have some vision.....I know I believe they do.

heiney9

One word that comes to mind when I think Polk is consistency. They always maintain the same consistency within each product line year after year. There are not many mass produced products in the audio world you can truly say that about. The market has changed tremendously in the past 15-20 years but Polk, while shifting their focus, has remained consistent to it's core values. I'm not sure many really understand what an achievement that is in this environment.

H9

dubradio

Prototypes are indeed fun and demonstrait the kind of vision and genius we have working at Polk Audio.

Is polk audio the same company it was back in 1980, even 1990???

Yes and No, Polk Audio has grown substantially over the last 2 and 3 decades. Yet we still maintain a level of quality and "soul" to both our products and to our company that not to many others can claim.

Polk will always and continue developing new and exciting technologies and advancements in the Audio world. Although said T and A (no pun intended) is very differant when compared to T and A of yesteryear.

But to make mention, how many other companies can talk to its loyal fans this candidly. I am a person, you are a person. And the only way to keep a company going and growing is to support our loyalest fans along with our growning population of new customers.

dkg999

The LSi soundbar with the cross-over mounted on the big piece of plywood was to me a statement of the creative thinking and R&D going on at Polk Audio. The fact that it sounded good wasn't the inspiring part of seeing it. The inspiring part was that the kind of creativity and playing around that results in new products was happening at Polk Audio. No ground-breaking new product was ever in a 3 yr plan! They result from creativity and encouragement to play.

tonyb

Ok Kyle,you running for governor or what?

....but I do agree.

Zitro

Speaking of Polks great quality to $$ ratio, I've been trying to find a Hitmaster to demo in stores and have had no luck. Are they online only?

dubradio

Nope :P, I hate politics. But we need to settle this back down. This is a forum, and this thread has had tons of good/bad/neutral feedback, which is what we want. Lets just keep it civil. This is as mentioned before a Polk Audio owned entity, and I would prefer to not close this thread.



Zitro,

Not available in stores yet. Unless independent retailers pick them up from distributors.

halo71

Maybe a dumb observation. But how cool would it be to see pictures of all the prototypes from over the years. :cool: Is that something that is doable Kyle? Is there a vault at Polk somewhere where these are housed? Are they destroyed? Sent to Area 51 maybe?

Jstas

dkg999 wrote: »

The LSi soundbar with the cross-over mounted on the big piece of plywood was to me a statement of the creative thinking and R&D going on at Polk Audio.

The thing about that was that it wasn't a "show and tell" presentable prototype. It was a cobbled together thought process that laid everything out in a way that the designers could see it and easily tweak it.

That was the engineering process.

We got to see the "vision" in action and the "visionary" behind it stood there and geeked out about it with the rest of us. He even took shots at short comings of the setup he was wanting to revisit and improve.

That wasn't the only place we saw that kind of stuff either. The prototyping machines and the CAD environments were demoed and even some all new products were shown. The testing environments, the customer service department, even the car audio install bay before it was shutdown was shown.

There's lots of vision at Polk Audio. It may not always agree with the vision we see but it's there.

hearingimpared

heiney9 wrote: »

I will admit at PF '08 the most surprising thing I heard were the new Micro Pro Subs........leaps and bounds better than the old PSW line. Wouldn;t even have believed it was the same company. Next and literally a tie was the Surround Bar 360*. An amazing piece of hardware and ingenuity. IIRC, Al said it took 7 years for Matt and another engineer to write the algorithums for the software. They literally invented the DSP codes for it as they went along.

So I'd say, YES the company has vision and integrity to try to keep all their products on the leading edge without making the customer having to take out a second mortgage to own the products.

H9

+1 on all points!

hearingimpared

Jstas wrote: »

The thing about that was that it wasn't a "show and tell" presentable prototype. It was a cobbled together thought process that laid everything out in a way that the designers could see it and easily tweak it.

That was the engineering process.

We got to see the "vision" in action and the "visionary" behind it stood there and geeked out about it with the rest of us. He even took shots at short comings of the setup he was wanting to revisit and improve.

That wasn't the only place we saw that kind of stuff either. The prototyping machines and the CAD environments were demoed and even some all new products were shown. The testing environments, the customer service department, even the car audio install bay before it was shutdown was shown.

There's lots of vision at Polk Audio. It may not always agree with the vision we see but it's there.

I don't see where "vision" is even an issue or even being discussed. Polk always had vision that why they are where they are today and continue to make money and great products. Where did this vision "issue" come from?

dorokusai

Yea Kyle, let's post all the cool stuff that Polk has researched and spent so much money on, just because......I'm sure trademarks and patents don't matter, lol. Sorry gang, sometimes you just have to be around at the right time. There are many Polkies here that have seen stuff that never made it out, made it off or made it period......usually the older, angrier Polkies or the ones that stopped posting.

YES, they get destroyed....their are a few classic photos that were posted a long time ago.

maximillian

Doesn't Polk announce something new every year at CES? That's what it seems like to me. They are hardly sitting around doing nothing. I have also seen a few photos of cool prototypes, and don't forget this article...

http://www.soundadviceblog.com/features/inside-polk-audio-a-visit-to-polk-audios-headquarters-in-baltimore-maryland/

unc2701

Unfortunately, I'm going to bring this back around to a car metaphor, but here goes:

Polk seems to have a high-end image problem. I was auditioning a Musical Fidelity KW500 at a place that carried B&W, ML, Wilson, etc. The sales person asked what my speakers were and I said Polk LSi's and he instantly turned into a total ****. He came around a little once I told him they were polk's flagship and I had Brystons on them, but pretty much escorted me away from the Wilsons and down to the room with the B&W 803's.

So maybe polk needs to take a cue from the Japanese automakers: Put a different name on their high-end.

Jstas

dorokusai wrote: »

Yea Kyle, let's post all the cool stuff that Polk has researched and spent so much money on, just because......I'm sure trademarks and patents don't matter, lol. Sorry gang, sometimes you just have to be around at the right time. There are many Polkies here that have seen stuff that never made it out, made it off or made it period......usually the older, angrier Polkies or the ones that stopped posting.

YES, they get destroyed....their are a few classic photos that were posted a long time ago.

I actually have a set of speakers that were part of a very small production demo run for HP. They are computer speakers that Polk cranked out a couple dozen examples of for HP to use in it's Pavilion series of PCs. The Polkasaurus perused these speakers at the 2005 Polkfest and verified that they were legitimate Polk items and that they were part of a failed venture with HP because HP never followed through. Seems to have left a bad taste in Polk Audio's mouth.

I also have another rare set of speakers from Polk Audio that have a Silicon Graphics branding on them. They were not available to the general public and you could only get them if you ordered a certain development package from SGI. I have 2 pairs in my possession and they are probably the best computer speakers I have ever heard.

How did I get them? Well, I was around at the right time.

Maybe they will make an appearance at Polkfest this year?

TECHNOKID

Zitro wrote: »

Speaking of Polks great quality to $$ ratio, I've been trying to find a Hitmaster to demo in stores and have had no luck. Are they online only?

Same here, can't see a single HM in any store yet.

KyleShufelt wrote: »

Nope :P, I hate politics. But we need to settle this back down. This is a forum, and this thread has had tons of good/bad/neutral feedback, which is what we want. Lets just keep it civil. This is as mentioned before a Polk Audio owned entity, and I would prefer to not close this thread.



Zitro,

Not available in stores yet. Unless independent retailers pick them up from distributors.

What is then the way to acquire them?

halo71 wrote: »

Maybe a dumb observation. But how cool would it be to see pictures of all the prototypes from over the years. :cool: Is that something that is doable Kyle? Is there a vault at Polk somewhere where these are housed? Are they destroyed? Sent to Area 51 maybe?

dorokusai wrote: »

Yea Kyle, let's post all the cool stuff that Polk has researched and spent so much money on, just because......I'm sure trademarks and patents don't matter, lol. Sorry gang, sometimes you just have to be around at the right time. There are many Polkies here that have seen stuff that never made it out, made it off or made it period......usually the older, angrier Polkies or the ones that stopped posting.

YES, they get destroyed....their are a few classic photos that were posted a long time ago.

Agreed, it would be very disastrous for Polk (or any other company) to provide pics on line (worldwide) of prototypes of potential products even if the never made it to production :eek:.

Cheers!
TK

halo71

dorokusai wrote: »

Yea Kyle, let's post all the cool stuff that Polk has researched and spent so much money on, just because......I'm sure trademarks and patents don't matter, lol. Sorry gang, sometimes you just have to be around at the right time. There are many Polkies here that have seen stuff that never made it out, made it off or made it period......usually the older, angrier Polkies or the ones that stopped posting.

YES, they get destroyed....their are a few classic photos that were posted a long time ago.

Well, I did say it might be a dumb observation...on my part!

dubradio

The Hitmaster can only be ordered direct from Polk Audio at this time.

Zitro

KyleShufelt wrote: »

The Hitmaster can only be ordered direct from Polk Audio at this time.

Hopefully this changes soon. I tend to avoid purchasing anything audio I can't listen to first. If the HitMaster is good enough, hopefully I can pick it up and relieve my 2 channel system of game/movie duty.

dubradio

Zitro,

99$ free shipping, no tax, and we pay for the shipping back if you dont like it within 30 days just a little FYI

cfrizz

hearingimpared wrote: »

I don't see where "vision" is even an issue or even being discussed. Polk always had vision that why they are where they are today and continue to make money and great products. Where did this vision "issue" come from?

It comes from the guys who are stuck in the past & won't let go of the SDA's should make a come back. It comes from the ones who are bored with consistancy, great quality, and reasonable pricing. they want a shiny EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE new toy to play with.

They need to look elsewhere for it.

So long as Polk continues to create & sell GREAT sounding gear, that doesn't cost an arm & a leg, and has TERRIFIC customer service, I, and thousands like me will continue to be supporters, fans, & buyers of Polk products!

hearingimpared

cfrizz wrote: »

It comes from the guys who are stuck in the past & won't let go of the SDA's should make a come back. It comes from the ones who are bored with consistancy, great quality, and reasonable pricing. they want a shiny EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE new toy to play with.

They need to look elsewhere for it.

So long as Polk continues to create & sell GREAT sounding gear, that doesn't cost an arm & a leg, and has TERRIFIC customer service, I, and thousands like me will continue to be supporters, fans, & buyers of Polk products!

I think it just came from someone who just didn't know what he was talking about.:eek:

Zitro

cfrizz wrote: »

So long as Polk continues to create & sell GREAT sounding gear, that doesn't cost an arm & a leg, and has TERRIFIC customer service, I, and thousands like me will continue to be supporters, fans, & buyers of Polk products!

These are the points that keep me coming back, especially the CS part. Any company that cares about its customers enough to be so helpful and prompt, to provide its customers with a forum to share our knowledge and experiences, and still supplies parts and help with their vintage speakers is ok in my book. It just shows that while Polk is a business first, they actually do care about all of their customers and their products.

Kyle,

I did not know that, thanks for the heads up! A 30 day trial is a really nice way to make up for a lack of in-store demo. No better place to demo than your own home! Might order one soon.

TECHNOKID

KyleShufelt wrote: »

The Hitmaster can only be ordered direct from Polk Audio at this time.

You omit to mention this applies to US citizen only. I received an invitation from Polk (with your name on this) to acquire them at an introductory price but couldn't go any further when actually trying to order since the offer was only in the US. I don't know exactly what law stops Polk to sell directly to Canadians but can tell you that it would be advantageous for Polk to be able to deal directly with their Canadian clients. Stores only care about profit margins and I can tell you that you see less and less Polk speakers in my area but rather see more and more HTIB and other high profit margin speakers (not mentionning brands here but I am convinved eveyone realises which brand I am talking about). Sorry, this is derailing from the OP which is high end speakers but I tought with you (Ken) on this discussion that it would be usefull that Polk be aware of this.

Zitro wrote: »

These are the points that keep me coming back, especially the CS part. Any company that cares about its customers enough to be so helpful and prompt, to provide its customers with a forum to share our knowledge and experiences, and still supplies parts and help with their vintage speakers is ok in my book. It just shows that while Polk is a business first, they actually do care about all of their customers and their products.

Kyle,

I did not know that, thanks for the heads up! A 30 day trial is a really nice way to make up for a lack of in-store demo. No better place to demo than your own home! Might order one soon.

I definitely agree with you Zitro, the Polk CS experience is adding to the product experience. I however wish that Polk on line producrs be at at least available all over North America, not only the US and same should apply for the Polk ebay store.


Cheers!
TK

DarqueKnight

cfrizz wrote: »

It comes from the guys who are stuck in the past & won't let go of the SDA's should make a come back.

You have *us* all wrong. Don't be so hard on us. Always remember that we mean well.:)

SDA cultists are not bored with consistency, great quality and reasonable pricing. In addition to the sonic attributes, all of the aforementioned are reasons we love SDA's. There must be a few folks at Polk who are "stuck in the past" as evidenced by the fact that Polk still supports a product line that was discontinued 19 years ago.;)

cfrizz wrote: »

they want a shiny EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE new toy to play with.

Uh no, not exactly. We do like shiny and new toys. We do not like expensive toys and we certainly don't like EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE toys. A certain level of realistic sound quality and performance costs money. If we could get that sound from a $100 boom box, we would. It would be more accurate to say that we like high performance toys that just happen to be expensive. I've never met an SDA cultist, online or in person, who wanted to spend one penny more than he had to to get the sound quality that he wanted. Don't confuse us with the clueless, carriage trade audio snobs who buy gear solely on price.

cfrizz wrote: »

They need to look elsewhere for it.

Where else would we look for "TRUE STEREO"? Even if another company did offer a similar product, they might not have the customer service and quality that we are accustomed to. Hence, we would rather get what we want from Polk rather than risk disappointment elsewhere.

cfrizz wrote: »

So long as Polk continues to create & sell GREAT sounding gear, that doesn't cost an arm & a leg, and has TERRIFIC customer service, I, and thousands like me will continue to be supporters, fans, & buyers of Polk products!

I don't think anyone here is bashing Polk or complaining...just engaging in wishful thinking out loud. I see the same types of wishful thinking on automotive and photography forums.

Sincerely,

TRUE STEREO Fanatic

dubradio

TECHNOKID wrote: »

You omit to mention this applies to US citizen only. I received an invitation from Polk (with your name on this) to acquire them at an introductory price but couldn't go any further when actually trying to order since the offer was only in the US. I don't know exactly what law stops Polk to sell directly to Canadians but can tell you that it would be advantageous for Polk to be able to deal directly with their Canadian clients. Stores only care about profit margins and I can tell you that you see less and less Polk speakers in my area but rather see more and more HTIB and other high profit margin speakers (not mentionning brands here but I am convinved eveyone realises which brand I am talking about). Sorry, this is derailing from the OP which is high end speakers but I tought with you (Ken) on this discussion that it would be usefull that Polk be aware of this.

I definitely agree with you Zitro, the Polk CS experience is adding to the product experience. I however wish that Polk on line producrs be at at least available all over North America, not only the US and same should apply for the Polk ebay store.


Cheers!
TK

TK,

Your points are 100% valid. And i have tried and done what i can to convince our sales department to find a better way to offer product to Canadian customers. However you are not the only one who has made this comment to me, and perhaps now that i have some more posts/emails i can send them to some of our higher ups so that they can look into better ways of NA distribution via direct sales.

nooshinjohn

I must say that with few exceptions, this thread has been an awesome display of partnership between the members of this forum and the support personnel at Polk. This thread is the essence of all that is good about this forum. A truly great thread and dialog...

Thanks to Polkfarmboy for having the courage to post it, and to Polk for participating.