Polk Audio LF14 subwoofer (Dorokusai et al.)

mhardy6647

Snapped some photos of my purchased-new (ca. 1979; don't hold me to that unless I can find the receipt!) Polk Audio model LF-14 mono/stereo subwoofer. S/N 01023, in the charming :-) rosewood vinyl finish. Since these aren't terribly common, I thought I'd share the photos of it, as-is and FWIW.







It is essentially the bottom of a Monitor 12 (or is it RTA-12?) - presumably the XO is different for subwoofer application.




The crepe-like foam on the PR has, not surprisingly, deteriorated with time - but the box is still air tight.



The Dagmars :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_bumpers



The crossover plate; this single subwoofer was used for mono and (still) has the appropriate jumper cable installed.



The Rules :-)

punk-roc

super cool!

halo71

I have always wanted one of those just for the coolness factor.:cool:

leroyjr1

Owned one myself but the performance wasn't worth me keeping the unit. So I gutted it and sold the mw drivers.

Slinger182

Were there very many companies making sub woofers (or low frequency speakers) back then?

mhardy6647

They were enjoying a surge in popularity thanks primarily to the Visonik "David" minispeaker/ M&K "Goliath" subwoofer pairing that had become popular in the second half of the 1970s. Not exactly sure why Polk chose to make one; I bought one to fatten up the LF of my Monitor 7As (which it did) - not necessarily an "audiophile" pursuit :-)

The concept of the subwoofer, even in consumer hifi, was hardly new, though. Heathkit (to name just one mfgr.) had a sub/satellite system in the 1950s. Indeed, the Heathkit SS-1B subwoofer , in those mono days, also added a supertweeter to augment the HF extension of the Jensen RP-103 horn in the "satellite" SS-1 speaker.

SS-1B:


http://www.heathkit-museum.com/hifi/hvmss-1b.shtml

SS-1:


http://www.heathkit-museum.com/hifi/hvmss-1.shtml

dorokusai

Thanks Mark. This will be a great addition to the Polk museum in Baltimore.

Big Dawg

Always thought those were cool. Would love to hear one someday.

Slinger182

Pretty cool. Thanks for the info mhardy.

wayne3burk

If i see one of thems for sail - I'll jump in it

vlad

hoosier21

wayne3burk wrote: »

If i see one of thems for sail - I'll jump in it

vlad

bon voyage

Ricardo

he he he...

dorokusai

I just met up with Mark and his lovely wife Susan to pick up the LF14 that he's donating to the Polk Audio Speaker Museum. It's in great shape and its rarity will be a nice addition to the collection they have up there already.

Almost every speaker up there is from a member or members, who have taken it upon themselves to give something back to the company. A big thanks to Mark for the speaker and enjoy your trip and mini-vacation.

mhardy6647

De nada.
Nice to meet Mark and his buddy yesterday in lovely Westminster, MD... nice of them to schlepp up to get the LF14.

Oldfatdogs

I didn't know there was a Polk Audio Speaker Museum.Nice of you to make a donation MR.mhardy6647.I did a google search and didn't come up with anything.Is there a link that I can see whats in the Museum? Thanks Dan

dorokusai

Oldfatdogs wrote: »

I didn't know there was a Polk Audio Speaker Museum.Nice of you to make a donation MR.mhardy6647.I did a google search and didn't come up with anything.Is there a link that I can see whats in the Museum? Thanks Dan

No there's no formal link. Just some pics around the forum. I'll get some pics of everything next time I go up.

Oldfatdogs

Thanks dorokusai