Polk--I have problems with my mm6

exalted512

So I was driving today going on a "car audio field trip"
on a side note, i went to two shops
one was a really nice shop, had focal, diamond audio, other high quality stuff
brought my trusty collective soul cd with me
guy let me demo it in his ford truck
he had em in q-logic kick panels
sound stage was a little low, so i can effectively say that my kick panel idea is a no go
he had some focal comps. though, he said they were 1100, dont remember what they were exactly, but they sounded really good, def. better than my momos...
anyway
also went to a shop that sold USAmps
well
that shop was crap
it really was a POS
they dont carry them in stock anymore, they had no speakers there to demo
the customer space was limited to like 50 sq ft
really ****
asked them for a price on the USamps b/c they said they can still get them
went to the back room
5 minutes later they came back
"sorry, we dont know where the paper is"
so i left...not pleased at all
oo
and thanks to our friend neo for finding both these shops for me online:)
ANYWAY
back to my complaint against polk
well, while i was going on my little car audio field trip, my drivers side mid bass started cutting out, then stopped playing all together
WONDERFUL
kick the door a few times, hit the crossover a few times, wiggle the wires on the crossover a few times
nothing
get home
take it out
well
conclusion is something is wrong with the ground wire IN the speaker
you have the little screw connector where you put the speaker wire in
that becomes like a little spade
where the wire is connected to the little spade is loose or something
i barely touch it and it works
problem is im kind of scared to solder it
this is a mid woofer, not a sub, theres not a whole lot of room
im thinking about just electrical taping it and seeing what that does
egh
well ill decide tonite
i just wanted to vent, thanks for listening
and no its not under warranty
-Cody

exalted512

on 2nd thought, after further examination, i have no idea what i need to do
the leads are all covered with some type of black sealant--i guess to prevent rust
so im not sure if soldering would help
anybody know?
electrical tape...no, it wouldnt last...
any suggestions?
i called polk but they were already closed...
-Cody

MacLeod

I told you those Focals were sweet. In my humble opinion they are the best sounding speakers on the planet.

If they were $1100 then they were the Utopia series which is their top of the line. Hell their bargain basement model is $320! Im looking to get the sophomore offering (Polyglass series) for a mere $425.

Kick panels by themselves do pull the stage down a bit but you can correct by using tweeters strategically placed higher in the vehicle. The trick is that you not only have to attenuate them but you also should cross them over rather high like say 6500 Hz and up. Thats the reason I dont like em (other than taking up leg room) they are kind of a pain in the **** to get right and Im way too lazy to mess with anything thats a hassle.

exalted512

my next truck has the speakers set up with a 6.5" in the door along with the tweeter, about a foot from the bottom of the door
figure ill cut out the tweeter hole and put a 4" and put the tweeter in the sail panel
perfect:D
still pissed about my damn mid
-Cody

MacLeod

That does suck. I have the Momo 6x9s and these things appear to be built like a tank. I wouldve thought they would hold up a little better.

Well I guess this is your excuse to go snag those CDTs youve been wanting! Darn the luck!! ..... oh sorry I meant

exalted512

lol, nah, not yet, i dont have the money
im not sure about CDT yet
it might be diamond, focal, or dynaudio
-Cody

MacLeod

Shhh...listen you can hear them calling you...Focaaaaaaaal.....Focaaaaaaaaal

exalted512

but 100 watts rms...
thats focals down fall
i need more power
*insert Tim Allen grunt here*
-Cody

MacLeod

Thats the beauty of these things, they are effeceint as hell and wont take nearly as much juice as youd expect.

Also, dont sell em short. I gotta feeling they will handle a lot more. The dude that ran the shop in Texas I went to had Focals (not sure which series) and claimed to be running them off a PPI PCX1252 which is 125 rms of underrated power per channel and they ran fine.

exalted512

yeah but im going to need a good 200 at least to match up with the 3000 watts coming from the subs
hell yeah:D
-Cody

exalted512

well, after talking to vince a little i think im just going to solder over the black sealant stuff
i dont have the gun at the house so im not going to do it tonite
ill call polk as well tomorrow and see if thats what i should do
egh this sucks
-Cody

neomagus00

Originally posted by exalted512
yeah but im going to need a good 200 at least to match up with the 3000 watts coming from the subs
hell yeah:D
-Cody

just get a few of the utopia 3-way sets, it'll balance out. trutech tubes to power and you're set. excepting the second mortgage, that is.

Originally posted by MacLeod
Shhh...listen you can hear them calling you...Focaaaaaaaal.....Focaaaaaaaaal

lol

exalted512

nah, i couldnt fit 2 sets of 3 ways in the front at the 2.5k price tag that goes with it
cant go tube amps either
im off road a lot of the time and id break something inside a tube amp fairly easily
plus i dont want to go through the hassle of replacing the tubes
USAmps all the way:D
-Cody

neomagus00

booyah for solid-state! lucky you, you get to offroad. i've tried rallying in my car, it just doesn't work out. too much money to repaint after you're done :mad:. way way way too much... on the plus side, i'm in the process of building a dune buggy from scratch, so when im done i'll drive it to corpus and we'll race .

exalted512

lol
we can race, but we both have to be carrying trailers full of rocks
i love my 3/4 ton:D
but itll only be for a while, next summer i will have my beloved Z71
oo, and just to add something, the guy i was talking to that let me demo his truck...has never heard of adire
-Cody

neomagus00

we'll compromise and do a hill climb

i suppose the year-long delay makes the continued installation in your current ride make sense. i had been confused about this earlier.

adire - yeah, most of the people i talked to on my CAFT (car audio field trip) hadn't hear of em either. huh.

exalted512

yeah, im going to get a couple of 10" brahmas later this year and put a box together and put em under the back seat
not going to swtich amps
theres going to be about 7k put into my new truck (not counting cost of the truck) before i upgrade my amp to a USA-3000 for the subs
3-ways come after that
good thing is, by summer of 06 i should have pretty much finished what i want to do with the new truck
its going to be one sweet **** truck
cant wait
-Cody

neomagus00

wow... next time i'm in texas (probably in 06, actually) i may have to make the jaunt out to hear it.

exalted512

ill be MORE than glad to let you hear it
im pretty stoked about it
but still...all these plans and no truck...
dont forget your ladder
itll be on 35s:D
-Cody

neomagus00

haha... you'd be able to run over me and never tell; maybe i'll wear a strobe neon outfit so you can't miss me.

still want to let me hear it?

hey, your plans are at least more concrete than my plans. mine are organized thus:
1) i want subs
2) i want more stuff

exalted512

yeah, i have a list of stuff that fills up a piece of college-ruled notebook paper of upgrades totaling about 15k(guestimate)
-Cody

neomagus00

are they cumulative (save and get 2 amazing subs, wait and save some more for 2 amazing components), or replacements (like first you get 2 way polks, then good subs, then 3 way cdts, then better amps, then 3 way utopias etc...)

exalted512

well, i have the mm124s now, they will be sold to the highest bidder and ill get the brahmas, dont plan on upgrading subs after that
at that time ill have the mm6 comps installed in the factory locations, since the newer chevy's come with tweeters, so no heavy modification
and they will be directly replaced with whatever i decide to get, and will not be replaced again...until they die
-Cody

[Deleted User]

Originally posted by exalted512

he had some focal comps. though, he said they were 1100, dont remember what they were exactly, but they sounded really good, def. better than my momos...

Focals: $1100
MM6: $349.95

You can't compare apples to oranges.
Call Kim in customer service as soon as possible. He should know how to help.

neomagus00

Originally posted by Josh
Focals: $1100
MM6: $349.95

You can't compare apples to oranges.

i see it as more of a rose comparison. there's your basic red rose, a standard speaker from, say, pioneer. you've got your rarer apple rose, the mm6s. then there's the Admired Miranda, for example, that is very rare and much desired, like focal utopias. all roses, but different levels.

i don't believe that the intention was to put polk down in any way, they are a phenomenal product for the price. focal's just in a different league. not a bad thing, just an is thing.

[Deleted User]

I agree. I was just making the point that you can't do an A-B comparison between those speakers. They are just in different leagues. Just like you can't compare B&W's to a (insert cheap brand here) Home Theater in a Box (not that MM6's vs. Focal is that extreme of a difference-just an example). I really hope we can produce something at that price point. We just need to convince Mr. Klopfer that we will be able to make a profit off them. What would you guys like to see in a high-end component set from us?

AustinKP

Originally posted by Josh
I really hope we can produce something at that price point. We just need to convince Mr. Klopfer that we will be able to make a profit off them. What would you guys like to see in a high-end component set from us?

Well, I don't think I'll ever be willing to throw down a thousand bucks for a pair of speakers, but I know what cody would say: "i need more power
*insert Tim Allen grunt here*"

neomagus00

Originally posted by Josh
What would you guys like to see in a high-end component set from us?

i like the 6-3/4 mids of the mm6. maybe a 3-way set; a tweeter, a midrange, and a dedicated midbass (since this seems to be the most common mm6 complaint). for that setup, with an equivalent quality a little higher than mm6, i'd pay... oh, maybe 7-800 USD. i think an important part is to keep the powerhandling up. some of the recent discussion on the utopias has been centered around their low power ratings. clean is good. loud and clean is better ::Tim Allen grunt::. maybe offer a 2-way so non-customizers can get at it too.

something less radical - you could sell just parts of sets, like just one mm6 midrange, or one tweeter. for custom stuff.

and a monoblock that matches with the subs you sell a little better. or maybe 2.

exalted512

egh, im sorry about comparing the 2
i just assumed everyone knew that it wasnt a fair comparison
but what i can say, i would RATHER have mm6s than utopias in all honesty
why?
im dropping 200+ watts on them crosed over at 55 Hz
thats AWESOME
im pretty sure i cannot do that with the focals
i would love for polk to make a high end speaker!
i would love to see the same size tweeter, a 4", and a 6.5" set
that would be sweet
a 200 watt RMS rating
nice, adjustable crossovers
id buy em
-Cody

PoweredByDodge

Josh, in response to your post -- I don't know man... I mean, I'm no fan of 3 ways... if you guys could some how come up with a 2 way that was up in the league of an Alpine X, Focal Utopia, or the such and still keep it around say "$699" msrp, then that would be more appealing in my opinion.

I'll never spend 1k on a pair of fronts... I think i've gotten past that stage of my life... and most of us who really buy this stuff on a daily basis dont have THAT much to drop. but say it was 699 retai.. it'll probably go in the stores for $649, buy oneline for $599... or find on ebay for $399... which is very do-able.

I don't think you'll sell a shitload of them, and in fact my suggestion would be to hand make them mostly and sell them straight from the polk customer service center... then you could only make as many as you needed... besides.. anyone who's gonna buy that expensive of a set isn't gonna care if they have to wait 2 - 4 weeks for shipment. nobody "rush installs" that expensive of a piece.

at this point in my life i'm more happy with the kind of stuff i've had / have... the polk DX components i had were stellar... i beat the **** out of them for years and they finally gave out... no big deal... they still sounded "ok", but no where near new... after like 2 years of 180 - 220 wrms per channel... i coudln't believe they held up... i smoked a tweeter or two and one midbass.. but... eh.. no biggie.

i like the rich full sound of polk audio highs, which i have found is yet to be matched by anything else even remotely in its class... i think polk bridges the gap between "way high end" and "affordable high end" but still keeps the prices within my reach.. and i like that.

Jstas

What would I like to see in a high end speaker from Polk Audio? I'd like to see less flash and emphasis on looks and much more emphasis on getting a set of speakers to sound flat out incredible for the price. That's what Polk Audio does best.

I would like to see a set of speakers based off of the same great home audio components. Most of the stuff that Polk has now is but it's removed from it. It's not quite the same. Things like "casket baskets" and PVC dust caps to add rigidity to the cone like the original dB series had. The orginal dB series looked like beefed up drivers from an RT55. Give it more power handling. I'd like to see the 100 watt RMS speakers in the 5.25 inch range, not in a 6x9. I'd like to see more odd shaped speakers like 5x7/6x8, 4x6 or 6x9 to have components in plates, not oval speakers.

I don't want to say that I'd like to see something like a Focal Utopia or a set of Rainbow components because if I wanted that, I'd just buy it from them. I want Polk Audio to get thier creative juices flowing and build a speaker that is a Polk Audio X-line of speakers and see what Polk Audio considers totally kick-**** speakers. Show me what Polk Audio can do and then I will tell you what I would like to see.

As a reference, go find an old set of original dB's and build on that. They are spectacular speakers already and bettering them will give you the top-of-the-line speakers you are looking for.