What got you hooked on Polk

EndersShadow

You never said which ones they are

oldrocker

1986 sda srs, they have 13 drivers in each, they weigh a ton. kinda rough exteriors but fixable.

EndersShadow

oldrocker wrote: »

1986 sda srs, they have 13 drivers in each, they weigh a ton. kinda rough exteriors but fixable.

I now hate you, 50 bucks is beyond a steal for those. Now just drop a bunch more cash to make em sound their best and you will be beyond ecstatic.

snake1

Started many years ago by adding speakers to my old 3 disc changer when I was a kid. More speakers meant louder in my mind! Moved on to a HTiB and it worked well but I knew I wanted to move on to some real towers so i started shopping. I knew PA was a good name so when i searched them and found the RTi12s, read the specs, and I was hooked! Bought them and hooked them up and I was amazed to say the least. Had NO idea of the music and detail I was missing. Since then I've read and learned as much as I can and haven't looked back. Aside from a subwoofer, all my other speakers are Polks! Looking forward to even more!

Syndil

Started in the '90's auditioning speakers from Polk and several competitors at home and decided the RT12s were the best I could do at the time. Really fell in love with a pair of Martin Logan electrostats, but they were beyond my budget back then. Still like my RT12s; still have them. Would have liked to have auditioned Polk's LS70s or LS90s which I had heard so much about, but they were out of production at the time, and I decided the RT12s were the closest thing Polk had. Could have gone with an RT16 but l liked the sound of the RT12 better despite being cheaper/smaller. Not sure how closely the RT12 stacks up to an LS70 but I am very happy with it regardless. Still wouldn't sneeze at a deal on an LS50, LS70 or LS90 if I could find a pair in excellent condition just to compare, although I have to say I like the aesthetics of the RT12 much better.

But I wouldn't say I'm a Polkie. I happen to currently own Polks, but I am not brand loyal at all. My next set of speakers (whenever that will be) will not be Polks. Still lusting after some electrostats, and really curious about Tekton Designs.

Clipdat

I was first exposed to Polk through their highly regarded car audio products. I believe it was the MOMO branded speakers that I first heard and was thoroughly impressed but never got any of their gear for myself.

Then earlier this year I was in the market for some inexpensive, but good sounding bookshelf speakers. Since I had the positive experience with Polk in the past, their name stuck with me as a company who makes quality products. After reading lots of different speaker reviews on Amazon, I decided to go with the Tsi100s for my modest setup.

badchad

I hate to admit it, but I loved the "look" of the RTiA3 cherry finish.

A coworker of mine is in to home theater and hi-fi audio. I approached him and asked for recommendations for speakers in the 1k range. He responded with: "Oh, so you're just looking into a lo-fi system, check out Polk". I borrowed a set of Rti4's for a bit and decided to move ahead with it.

Hopefully I can finally get the whole theater mounted up and installed in the next month or so. It's been a fun process collecting the gear thus far.

zingo

polkrt3000p wrote: »

What made your mind up and said those are the speakers I'm getting.

Music

pitdogg2

polkrt3000p wrote: »

What made your mind up and said those are the speakers I'm getting.

My ears did it for me.

Devlon

There used to be a Hollywood Video here. They had Polks hanging from the ceiling, and always had'm rockin'. Great sound!

hewlew1

Years ago (20+) I was eating in a pizza hut. There were 4 polk audio speakers hung on the wall in the dining area I thought to myself how good they sounded. Over the years I had seen many ads in magazines for polks and said to myself I would like to try a pair of these one day. 2 years ago I bought a pair of 1C's and now I have at least 10 pairs of polks, including the big boys sda-srs.

deronb1

1988...stationed in Germany. Went to the BX to listen to some speakers. They had a huge room filled with all sorts of cool speakers. Must have listened to them all and settled on Polk RTA 8T. Best sound for the money and I still have em!

Dawgfish

It started for me in the early 90s when I was building a car system. The owner of the local car audio shop recommended a set of polk tear-drop tweeters and mids with crossovers. They sounded really sweet. Anybody that heard that system always complimented on how clean it sounded.

My introduction to Polk home audio products came several years later when I finished college and moved back to my home town to start my career. I needed a place to stay and a friend of mine who had recently got divorced needed a roommate. He worked at Circuit City in college and had a complete Polk/Onkyo 5.1 system. He later moved out, but I stayed at the house. I didn't realize that I had become addicted to his HT system. Soon after he moved out I knew I had to do something. I bought a Yamaha reciever, Polk R50 fronts and matching center, two sets of R30s for side and rear sorrounds, and a Polk sub. I've been a diehard Polkie since. I've owned many other brands of speakers since then, but I always own a set of Polks. Currently I own a pair of LSiM-703s, modded SRS 2s, CRSs, and original Monitor 10s with the Peerless tweets.

jon1redleg

deronb1 wrote: »

1988...stationed in Germany. Went to the BX to listen to some speakers. They had a huge room filled with all sorts of cool speakers. Must have listened to them all and settled on Polk RTA 8T. Best sound for the money and I still have em!

ME TOO!!! Was also stationed in Germany from 88-91. Everybody was spending bonus checks on big systems. I went to a PX and listen too them all one day but at time they didn't have POLK, I bought a pair of Infinity 150's (?).
Two weeks later they had a pair of RTA15TL speakers that some one had ordered but didn't want so I listened to them
and sold Infinity set and bought polks. I had hooked up to a Carver power amp and control amp.

Still have them hooked up !

obieone

Tweeter Etc. My 1st setup was an RM10 system for $540, which was $200 off. Next came a pr. of T20e's, to replace the front's. Then came a pair of T90e's, a PSW303, and some TC615i's for the master bath.

indyhawg

Conradicles wrote: »

Monitor 10B

Same here. As others have mentioned the white lab coats added to the coolness.

trav0810

I had an uncle that used to give me his old equipment when he would get newer stuff. He gave me a Yamaha R-1000 and a set of Monitor 7's. I had those speakers for several years until I went to college and bought 4 RT600's. Then I went to work for Circuit City. We had a discount with Polk and could order at 60% off retail. I ordered my first "surround' system. 2 RTi12's, 2 RTi8's, a CSi5 and a PSW100. Then I moved to a house with a living room the size of a bathrom and got rid of the RTi set-up and bought and RM7600 surround package. I still use it today. I bought another set of RTi8's off of CL a few weeks ago for $75 and have them in my bedroom with an HK stereo receiver. In my man cave I have my Monitor 12's Running off a Carver Mk2 and a set of SRS 1.2's awaiting restoration! I am a Polk addict and it all goes back to that first pair of Monitor 7's!

drumminman

In 1984 I decided to upgrade from my ADS L-700's. I liked their sound, but wanted something cleaner, with deeper bass. This was back in the day when you still went to brick and mortar stores to audition stuff. Listened to the RTA 12C's and was hooked. Couldn't afford the SDA's and these were the top of the monitor line. Much better bass the the ADS, warmer mid range and cleaner, clearer highs, all of which the ADS was known for.

I eventually replaced the 12C's with some Def Tech BP 30's. Rebuilt the Xovers on those and had 'em in the two channel rig for 7-8 years. Several years ago I decided to pull the 12's out of storage and sell them. I began looking on this forum to see if there was a market for them, how much they were worth, etc. One thing led to another and I decided to rebuild the Xovers, do a few other tweaks and use them as the front L-R mains in my HT.

They still sound great.

In the process of researching mods for the 12C's, I kept coming across references to various models of SDA's. I was aware of SDA'sin general, but had never given much thought to owning them as they required serious electronics and space, and were expensive. So I started looking, just to see what was out there :loneranger: Found a deal on some pristine 2.3TL's.

Bought 'em, put a whole bunch more money into 'em, and now they're in my two channel rig.

agfrost

Guy in the dorm room next door had a bunch of cool music, a stack of Kenwood, and Monitor 4's. We got an apartment together for the next year and when I moved in I had picked up a pair of 5jr+/Series 2 (had to one-up him!).

Since then, modded RTA-11TLs and just recently a set of SDA 2Bs, all set to be TL'd. I've certainly been enjoying the music!

madmax

I walked into my local hifi shop one day and there they were, the SDA-SRS 1.2s. I knew the second I saw them that I was in love, still am. Since then I've had most all of the SDAs, LSis and plenty of car systems. Still have my original 1.2s.

oldrocker

EndersShadow wrote: »

I now hate you, 50 bucks is beyond a steal for those. Now just drop a bunch more cash to make em sound their best and you will be beyond ecstatic.

In the process, gotta get the 2 tweeters in, fix the grill covers, do the the 6 dust covers and refinish the exteriors. awork in progress...

oldrocker

EndersShadow wrote: »

I now hate you, 50 bucks is beyond a steal for those. Now just drop a bunch more cash to make em sound their best and you will be beyond ecstatic.

I just realized your in Indy.. I'm in West Lafayette. hope you know alot about these speakers, I might have some questions for you.

mhardy6647

late-1976 - a visit to Soundscape in Baltimore, listening to a Polk Audio Monitor Series Model 10s and Model 7s via a Yamaha integrated amplifier (e.g., CA-600), Philips GA-212 turntable (the "starving student's Thorens" of its place and time) equipped with a very high compliance (rather picky, actually) Sonus Blue Label cartridge and David Grisman's The David Grisman Quintet's emponymous album.

This showed off Polk's "High Definition Loudspeakers" to very great effect. Still does.



I finally scraped together enough scratch to buy a (demo) pair of Model 7As almost two years later. Still have 'em, still like 'em.

doctor r

Had my entire dynaco system (kits I had built), turntable, and speakers stolen from the house I lived at in college circa 1980. Surprisingly my father's homeowners insurance paid for the systems factory built retail value and I had a check in my hand a few months later while I was spending the summer in Boston working. I toured many audio shops in the Cambridge/Harvard area and found one that set me up with my Monitor 7b pair, NAD 3020, and an Optonica RP3636 TT (granite composite plith) with a Signet 7 cartridge. I listened to that system for 25 years. Still have the Polks and the TT. The NAD sadly went on to greener pastures.

agfrost

Love that photo, Mark.

DaveHo

Had a small local hi-fi shop in the 80's that carried a number of brands including Polk. Bought a pair of model 10Bs with my part time grocery store job money when I was 16. Don't have them anymore, but have acquired 2 other pair of vintage Polks the last few years.

Moose68Bash

Through the 1970s I listened to an AR turntable, Sony integrated amp, and AR 3a speakers. In 1982, I blew out one of the drivers in one of the AR 3as, went shopping for another set of speakers, and ended up with a pair of Allison 6s, which I used till 1989, when I moved to California and decided I wanted a much, MUCH better system. My wife and I went to a hifi store in Mountain View, California, where a salesman demo'd several electronics/speaker set ups for us -- none of which really got my attention.

Then, I laid eyes on the biggest pair of speakers I'd ever seen, hooked up to the biggest amplifier I'd ever seen. The speakers were SDA SRS (don't know which version), and the preamp and amp were a Perreaux SA33 preamp and PMF5550 power amp. I loved them. The sound was phenomenal!!! But my wife (rightly) said that we did not have room for either the speakers or the electronics.

So, the sales guy demo'd for us a pair of SDA 1Cs with the Perreaux SA33 preamp and a Perreaux PMF2350 power amp. This combination was great, and we walked out of the store having bought them. I loved the 1Cs and the Perreaux electronics for over 20 years, but I never forgot the sound of those SDA SRSs!!!

In December 2011, my Perreaux PMF2350 developed a hum, which I thought was a sign that it was on its last legs. This turned out to be wrong, but nevertheless launched me on a quest to get those SDA SRSs for which I had hankered for 20+ years and a better Perreaux amp to drive them.

I found a pair of SRSs for sale in Florida on eBay, bought them, and had them shipped to New Hampshire. I found a Perreaux PMF3150 for sale on eBay, and bought it. The SRSs deserved even better electronics, however, and I embarked on a path that led me (eventually) to purchase new Perreaux Prisma 750 monoblocks and a Prisma SM6 MKII preamp. When I connected the monoblocks with the SRSs, I learned the reason that SDAs require common ground amps.

I then learned from Perreaux about the Polk Club and Forum and about DarqueKnight's Dreadnought solution for the non-common ground problem my monoblocks presented, and I began the long journey down the SDA SRS and SDA 1C modification path! And I love it! I just can't wait to get all the mods done and listen to these Polk masterpieces -- updated!

mhardy6647

agfrost wrote: »

Love that photo, Mark.

Inspired by Wallace Stevens' poem Anecdote of the Jar :-)

I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.

The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.

It took dominion every where.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.

Other than the fact it's speakers, not a jar, and there are two of 'em, and it's New Hampshire, not Tennessee...

tonyb

For me......it was seeing a pic of Mark and Russ in assless chaps that did it. Who doesn't want to be part of that ? :cheesygrin:

Sci-fi Polk Guy

I first got hooked on Polk speakers back in the spring of 1981. I was a college student in Washington, D.C. I went to Audiokrafters one Saturday afternoon to audition speakers. I heard a pair of Monitor 10's, and I was hooked. I never heard a speaker with such a clear midrange and tight bass. I never owned a pair of the 10's, but years later, I owned a pair of RTiA4's, a pair of Monitor 50's, and I currently own a pair of RTi6's. I also owned a PSW 505. I was pleased with all of them, especially my RTi6's. I hope to upgrade soon to a pair RTiA5's or RTiA7's.