Upgrading from Polks?

BC6

I'm experiencing a dilemma and I'm hoping for some help/feedback. I've been constantly upgrading my system (faster than I can remember to change my forum signature), most recently with a PS Audio DirectStream DAC, and now I'm starting to worry that the weak spot of my system is my SDA 2.3TLs (upgraded with Clarity CMR caps). I still think they sound fantastic, but my plan has been to upgrade the weakest part of the system to get the most bang for the buck. I love these speakers and hesitate to move away from them. Plus, I'd need to sell them to fund new speakers and the most I could expect is $1500. They're better than any $1500 speakers I've ever heard.

The dealer I frequent is going to let me test Atohm speakers, which honestly look like they'd fit the space I have and sound better overall - my room is realistically way too small for the Polks. I have them sitting 5 feet apart with one of them 1.5 feet away from a side wall. The other is next to an open kitchen area. But I'm not sure if I want to do it. The Atohms are expensive, but I've collected enough gear to be able to fund most of it by selling stuff (not here yet because I'm not verbose enough to hit 100 posts. I'm working on it.)

I know some of you would never move on from Polks, and I thought I was one of those people, but now I'm waffling. How many of you have moved up? Have you regretted it? How much of an upgrade would it have to be for you to consider it? Which speakers would you suggest? I'm definitely going to try the Atohms, but maybe something else would be better. I see a lot of love for Ushers here, for example.

Thanks!

BC6

Atoll IN300 integrated amp (it's in the shop, but I expect it back this week - I hope), PS Audio DirectStream DAC, SotM sMS-200 streamer with the SotM sPS-500 power supply, and a homemade infinite baffle subwoofer that's clean and packs a punch. I also have Transparent MusicLink ICs and MusicWave biwire speaker cables. I run Roon with a Small Green Computer SonicTransporter i7 server. I haven't ventured into power management yet, but that's also in the plans for the future.

gmcman

Have you upgraded your internal chassis wire yet?

pitdogg2

I'd do what i could to hang on to them 2.3tl's. You get rid of them and like most you'll want them back.

BC6

gmcman wrote: »

Have you upgraded your internal chassis wire yet?

I haven’t yet. I thought about what you said when you did yours. I should do it, but I’d still wonder if there’s an upper limit to how good I can get the SDAs and when I’d want a ‘better’ speaker. I have Spring Break next week. Maybe this should be my project.

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I'd do what i could to hang on to them 2.3tl's. You get rid of them and like most you'll want them back.

That’s what my gut is telling me, which is why I’m asking, but I’ve got upgrade-itis and some cash...

erniejade

Are you doing an in home trial so you can hear them side by side?

BC6

erniejade wrote: »

Are you doing an in home trial so you can hear them side by side?

Luckily, once I get the IN300 back, yes. It’s been in for repair since November and every time I talk to the distributor who has it, he says it’ll be soon. Grr. The dealer at the audio store that I enjoy spending my money at (different person than who has the amp for repair) says the synergy between Atoll and Atohm is amazing and he doesn’t want me to make a decision until I’ve heard them together. Maybe I’m putting the horse before the cart, but I’m expecting to like the new speakers and will have a decision to make between my head and my heart. I’ve had Polks since 1986 and it feels like cheating on them to even consider changing speakers.

Schurkey

http://www.atohm.com/en.html

WHICH Atohm speakers?

"I" would have a very hard time buying French speakers, paying the freight, paying the currency-exchange value, paying the retailer, USA distributor, AND manufacturer profit margins. And after all that, I don't see "Made in France" on the web site--so you might be getting Chinese crap inside the box when paying for French culture.

BC6

Schurkey wrote: »

http://www.atohm.com/en.html

WHICH Atohm speakers?

"I" would have a very hard time buying French speakers, paying the freight, paying the currency-exchange value, paying the retailer, USA distributor, AND manufacturer profit margins. And after all that, I don't see "Made in France" on the web site--so you might be getting Chinese crap inside the box when paying for French culture.

I’ll definitely look into that. They seem to be highly regarded with audiophile sites, but there’s not a lot out there. They’re like my Atoll amp, which is also from France and much more popular in Europe than in the US. I probably wouldn’t look at them if it weren’t for the local dealer here who I have a lot of respect for. He’s given me a lot of advice and never steered me wrong.

I’m thinking it will be the GT-1 because my subwoofer is pretty good and the price is lower, but maybe the GT-2. I can’t afford the GT-3.

BC6

Thank you Skip! The Volterra is intriguing. From what I read, I think you're right that it would be better overall, but my space is wonky and I'm searching for that elusive synergy that I still don't fully understand.

I wish I could go to Axpona. The distributor for Atoll and Atohm will also be there. I could bounce back and forth from the rooms, but I'm in Colorado and can't swing the time and money to get there. Any money I spend to travel would take away from the budget for upgrades.

I noticed the plethora of speakers in your signature. Do you use them all? Do you switch between speakers or do you have them set up in different rooms? Or a little of both? An option I'm considering is buying new speakers while keeping the Polks.

pitdogg2

Well then go to the RMAF, well worth the effort. It is 3/4 of the Axpona and comes up in October. Fun times i went 3 yrs. ago.

BC6

I've gone the last three years because it's close. Last year I didn't have much time so I stuck to the big companies and speakers under 10K, but the only speakers I heard that outclassed the 2.3TLs were some Focals in a heavily treated room and I suspect the treatment had more to do with it than the speakers. I also bought some Gaia II's for a significant discount and they're amazing. They moved it to September this year, and I'll go again, but I'm way too impatient to wait that long to buy stuff.

BC6

I thought I'd update that I just answered my own question. It took all of 15 minutes of hearing the Atohm GT-1 speakers in my home to decide it was time to explore the non-Polk world. They're stunning. They don't move as much air as the Polks, but for jazz and classical music there's no contest. I heard timbres in instruments I'd never heard before. I'm currently trying to figure out how to convince my wife that we need two sets of speakers, but it's not going well.

Updating another thread (https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/183975/blown-amp#latest), I finally received the Atoll IN300 back after four months. I was told the giant silver box protects the relays. I don't really know what that means, but I nodded and made generic 'hm' noises to pretend that it made sense. The amp sounded great, but distorted in one channel after warming up. I'm really tired of waiting for it to be fixed so I decided to write it off as a loss and buy a new amp. I took the broken amp to the store I bought it from to see if they'd take it in trade for a new one, and they gave me full retail price towards a new amp! I was blown away. I should be receiving a shiny new Atoll IN400 in a couple weeks. Greatest store ever. If you are in Denver or passing though, you really should visit Crescendo Fine Audio in Wheat Ridge.

I'm at 97 posts, so I have to think of three more things to say so I can start liquidating gear to finance the upgrades...

Schurkey

BC6 wrote: »

...once I get the IN300 back, yes. It’s been in for repair since November and every time I talk to the distributor who has it, he says it’ll be soon. Grr.

BC6 wrote: »

I finally received the Atoll IN300 back after four months... ...The amp sounded great, but distorted in one channel after warming up. I'm really tired of waiting for it to be fixed

You have a defective, apparently non-fixable amplifier, and the distributor is giving you lousy service. So you got rid of it by trading-up for another amp from the same company that made the defective, non-fixable one?

BC6

Yes, because I was the one that broke it originally by being a moron and not turning it off before changing speakers. It’s not a design flaw. It’s an amazing amp. The problem was that they didn’t fix it right. I’m assuming they would have eventually got it, but I didn’t want to ship it back and wait again. My plan is to stop being stupid and blowing up amps.

K_M

BC6 wrote: »

I thought I'd update that I just answered my own question. It took all of 15 minutes of hearing the Atohm GT-1 speakers in my home to decide it was time to explore the non-Polk world. They're stunning. They don't move as much air as the Polks, but for jazz and classical music there's no contest. I heard timbres in instruments I'd never heard before. I'm currently trying to figure out how to convince my wife that we need two sets of speakers, but it's not going well.

Updating another thread (https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/183975/blown-amp#latest), I finally received the Atoll IN300 back after four months. I was told the giant silver box protects the relays. I don't really know what that means, but I nodded and made generic 'hm' noises to pretend that it made sense. The amp sounded great, but distorted in one channel after warming up. I'm really tired of waiting for it to be fixed so I decided to write it off as a loss and buy a new amp. I took the broken amp to the store I bought it from to see if they'd take it in trade for a new one, and they gave me full retail price towards a new amp! I was blown away. I should be receiving a shiny new Atoll IN400 in a couple weeks. Greatest store ever. If you are in Denver or passing though, you really should visit Crescendo Fine Audio in Wheat Ridge.

I'm at 97 posts, so I have to think of three more things to say so I can start liquidating gear to finance the upgrades...

If one owns a speaker for a long time, and becomes used to the sound, it can often be hard to upgrade or change, and everything is compared to the current speaker, and of course everything will sound different.
We had the same issue years ago, and finally after auditioning many speakers from other companies, we found qualities lacking in the ones we were "Used to".

We still love and like our Big SDA speakers, but simply found attributes in newer speakers they do not have.

Thing is, we have room for pretty much all our speakers and rarely get rid of any...lol

BC6

Well said! This has been a difficult but interesting process. I wish I had the room to keep them.

kharp1

Not to be nosey, but, what is your target price range for new speakers? I know you stated you could get $1500 for your Polk's, are you planning on adding to that by adding from your other equipment liquidation? Forgive me if I missed that somewhere. If so, what I'd your target range? That helps when making suggestions. Also, what kind of room dimensions are we looking at?

You mentioned you listen to a lot of jazz, is that thr bulk of your listening?

How are you liking the Direct Stream?

BC6

I don't mind nosey! I've learned a lot from everyone's advice since joining here. I'm always open to input. In this case however, It's too late for advice because I pulled the trigger on the Atohms. I have a smallish room, basically 12' x 18' with an open side to the kitchen. Squeezing the Polks along the 12' wall was difficult because one had a wall next to it and the other didn't, and they were too close together to do them justice. I tried the 18' wall, but that was met with vehement opposition from my wife. The Atohms match perfectly with my infinite baffle subwoofer and fit along the wall easily. I've thought a lot about synergy lately, and immediately recognized it with the amp (before it overheated and distorted), speakers, and subwoofer. It was more than I budgeted, but that just means selling more stuff.

I'll listen to any kind of music that sounds good, but mostly jazz. I love classical music too, being a classical clarinetist from way back in the day, but I stopped listening because I nitpicked the recordings too much. It never sounded live enough. Since I have the Atohms, I'm drawn back to it. The instruments just come alive in the room.

I love the DirectStream! I'll admit up front that I don't have a lot of experience with DACs though. It replaced a Pro Ject Pre Box S2 Digital (which I still really like - it's a great DAC for the money and an Ifi Micro iDSD Black Label (which I'm not a fan of - it sounds ok, but most of the buttons have fallen off, and it's difficult to connect to other equipment). The DirectStream obviously blows them both away because it costs so much more. Everything sounds natural and musical. I suppose if I had more to compare it to, I'd have a different opinion, but I can't hear any weaknesses.

BMF35

Load your gear up and go see dskip. He can let you hear some special speakers with your existing electronics after he can use his trained ears to hear what your stuff is all about. Then you can go to the original Six Flags park a few minutes from his place if your timing is right.

verb

Interesting thread @BC6 ! I'm no where near toward supplanting my SRS's yet. Had em for about 5 months now, swapped out the tweeters, eventually will do the fully monty upgrade!

It's a long journey for sure!

audioluvr

verb wrote: »

Interesting thread @BC6 ! I'm no where near toward supplanting my SRS's yet. Had em for about 5 months now, swapped out the tweeters, eventually will do the fully monty upgrade!

Yea sure... We've heard that before.

verb

audioluvr wrote: »

verb wrote: »

Interesting thread @BC6 ! I'm no where near toward supplanting my SRS's yet. Had em for about 5 months now, swapped out the tweeters, eventually will do the fully monty upgrade!

Yea sure... We've heard that before.

I hear ya!