Polk LS-70?

cortico

Came across a nice pair, the price is right, $135. Could you describe me the way they sound? Would this be a good partner to the Parasound HCA2200ii?

Thanks

ken brydson

At that price give them a try. Imo, the bigger drivers in the 70's sound a bit bloated compared to the smaller ones in the 50's and 90's. YMMV

dromunds

Most people have told me they preferred the 50's and 90's. Depending on where you are located I bought a buddy of mine a mint pair of light oak 50's for a hundy not long ago.

dolbyd

I have owned all of the LS series. Ken is right about the bloat. Look for a pair of 50/90s. I have seen a lot of them lately.

cortico

Thanks guys, I would love to listen the 50/90s but this LS are just a few blocks away! I think it will be a step up from the Jennings Research contrata I currently own... when you mention bloated, you mean in low frequency/ mid range?

cortico

Pulled the trigger, I’m thinking that I ended up doing a good deal. It should sound good in my rig. Now need some bi-wire cables!

simm

The LS-70’s were my first serious speaker purchase when I graduated from college. I remember really liking them and am sure you will enjoy their sound.

xschop

Pull the drivers, dynamat, sonic barrier strips behind them. Recap and enjoy.

cortico

Yes, will do. The crossovers are quite simple, a 8.6uF cap and a resitor.

It’s funy, I was reading an article about the HCA 2200II power amp on and old 1993 audio magazine and bumped into a Polk ad, the monitor series and SDA are pretty much covered everywhere but “I” never have heard about the LS before. Did a quick look up and found a pair near me... I dig the cabinet shape.

xschop

Be careful of the tweeters. They like dropping their magnets out the back also because the plastic tabs get old and are under pressure from an O-ring between the bezel and magnet...

Tony M

I love my LS90's sound and you can put art work or other things on top of them too.
Bad picture of mine, but you get the idea I'm sure.

ken brydson

cortico wrote: »

Pulled the trigger, I’m thinking that I ended up doing a good deal. It should sound good in my rig. Now need some bi-wire cables!

I have a PDF of the manual I can post if you want it.

cortico

Yes, please! Thanks

ken brydson

cortico wrote: »

Yes, please! Thanks

Here ya go!

cortico

Thanks, man! appreciate it!

cortico

Tony M wrote: »

I love my LS90's sound and you can put art work or other things on top of them too.
Bad picture of mine, but you get the idea I'm sure.

Very cool space, looks great!

Tony M

Thanks. Every time I go out there, those LS90s get turned on from the receiver at my door.

cortico

Got Them, great looks. I’m not convinced in the voice yet!

Stereo imaging is very pleasant, highs are detailed and mellow, midrange a bit forward but is smooth. The low freq sounds off. I find the bass drums sound tight and shallow, no impact in comparison with my 3 way Jennings.

I am wondering, all drivers seem good, left and right sound exactly the same. I see polyfill close to the port, could it have been dislodged inside and collapsed to the bottom?

Not a bad sound at all! Probably, I’m still getting adjusted to the new sound, also the speakers have not been used for awhile...

55LS70

I recapped mine with Sonicaps and it made a world of difference. Almost made them entirely different sounding speakers. I also have mine setting on 3 3/4" thick myrtlewood blocks anchored to the floor with brass spikes. If the drivers are original, they could indeed have issues. Mine did and I replaced them, as well as the tweeters, about 15 years ago. I know that pictures can be deceiving, but yours look fairly close to the wall. I had mine initially placed that way and I noticed the mids/upper lows seemed to be undefined and muddy. I moved them about six inches further away, as far as I could move them until they were in the way, and a lot of that muddiness cleaned up. When I first got my Cary amp, the lower mids/upper bass seemed really scooped and the soundstage seemed compressed. I had the Cary's coupling caps replaced and that went away. Now the mids are out in front and the bass is clear and defined. The soundstage is very good also. With a good source/recording it can be pretty impressive.

My main issue with these speakers, and it's not really a bad one as far as I'm concerned, is that the highs are somewhat edgy. A lot of that went away when I replaced my Carver M1 with tube amps, but I feel there's still room for improvement concerning the highs. I have to admit, a lot of that could be my ears. Over the years, I've abused them quite a bit. Loud cars, loud music, loud aircraft (I was in the airborne) and many other habits/occupations that weren't kind to my hearing. Strum und drang!!!!

Now, like I said, it's been about 15 years since I reworked these speakers and I think that my time with them will soon come to a close. They could probably be recapped again but instead of doing that, I'll probably move on to something different. If I do that though, it'll be with something similar (i.e. 2 1/2 way towers.) With the space I have the work with and the equipment I'm using, that seems like the best way to go.


FWIW, I keep my Fender tweed case on the back wall. Just by the amp.


Anyway, it looks like you got yourself a good score and I wish you the best of luck with them. Enjoy!!

dromunds

Good looking series always liked that look.

cortico

Thanks 55SL70 for sharing your experience.

I have listened for several hours today. Soundstage is really good, they sound clean and more neutral than my other set which is somewhat colored.

A recap is defenily a must, just a few parts. Easy and inexpensive... Sonicaps and mills will be a good fit. I have good speaker cables coming in...also want to try with another amp so the equation will change a bit

Ps. Guitar case is always in sight and under reach!

cortico

Starting to getting use to it. Move the speakers away from the wall and towed himself bit, big improvement and the sound became even more focused. Also whatcha a movie and the lows seemed totally fine and go quite deep.

cortico

Update, I looked inside and noticed that 3 woofers are MW8100 as per schematic and one is MW8103, it has a big magnet shield and apparently was donnented from a RT16... I believe they have specs, could anyone confirm?

Wiring seems good, black leads from + and white from -

As I expected, the polyfill was out of place and collapsed.

tlainhart

I owned the LS70s, and sold them to get LSi15s.

I didn't modify them. My recollection is that the polyfill will shift, and that the drivers are unshielded such that they can affect (e.g.) a CRT if placed too close.

I really liked the sound of them, but never compared to the 50s or 90s. Thought that they were easy to drive as well.

cortico

My opinion changed quite a bit.

Polk provided two 1” thick rigid open fiber boards to keep the polyfill in place behind the drivers, it should be placed on top of cabinet bracing bellow tweeter and woofers. Otherwise polyfill collapses to the bottom affecting the sound big time!!

I also think that the speakers were unused for a looong time, I noticed improvements with continued use... they are actually pretty good sounding speakers period correct with my rig and in my opinion look fantastic!