Retro-izing a new polk line

LittleCar_w/12s

Well... as I was randomly picking thread numbers today... I found this old one from home audio:
http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=528
Maybe we should raise some issues like this. Why NOT make a high-end line remeniscent of old subs, with nostalgic styling, that uses the tech. advances of todays top-of-the-lines??
I am sure there are lots of us out here that just want the best, and would gladly pay for it. I'd dig up some cash for older DB components if they were offered (and I had cash...), just as I'd pay a little more for better components NIB.
I say...

• Bring back the plain, sleek look of the older drivers.
• Bring back the quality and dependability.

There is no doubt that old and new customers of Polk would love to see this... It may rewrite what people in the car-audio market think of Polk.

--Jerry

Systems

Originally posted by LittleCar_w/12s
Well... as I was randomly picking thread numbers today... I found this old one from home audio:
http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=528
Maybe we should raise some issues like this. Why NOT make a high-end line remeniscent of old subs, with nostalgic styling, that uses the tech. advances of todays top-of-the-lines??
I am sure there are lots of us out here that just want the best, and would gladly pay for it. I'd dig up some cash for older DB components if they were offered (and I had cash...), just as I'd pay a little more for better components NIB.
I say...

• Bring back the plain, sleek look of the older drivers.
• Bring back the quality and dependability.

There is no doubt that old and new customers of Polk would love to see this... It may rewrite what people in the car-audio market think of Polk.

--Jerry

The sad thing is that many people buy subs buy looks. Xplods....young kids are drawn in by the "red", even polk uses the momo name to sell........its just business, its all about the money........sadly

exalted512

if polk were to ever make a high end car audio speaker, i would hope they would come out like that...as in looking like the original DBs
I can understand that they cant do this with a speaker in the price range of the momo--because the momos are in the price range of the younger buying crowd, and so they need to have the flash and such to attract a crowd
im not saying id rather have a flashly looking speaker, cuz i wouldnt, but i know they have to to compete with companies like audiobahn, sony, or bazooka...and im not comparing polk to them, because polk is better, but you have to compare them in looks because lets face it...most of the people out there with MOMO subs are kids
plain and simple
but i do hope that if they do come out with a new high end speaker line, theyll look less like the momos and more like the original DBs
-Cody

MacLeod

I dont mind speakers having a cool look. I think the Momo line looks great and thats part of why I like em. Now the speaker has to perform equally well or its worthless.

Thats why the Momo line is so cool. It look really sharp and it just happens to be the best sounding speaker on the market under $400, so it can back up the looks! Cant beat that!

exalted512

Originally posted by MacLeod

Thats why the Momo line is so cool. It look really sharp and it just happens to be the best sounding speaker on the market under $400, so it can back up the looks! Cant beat that!

the brahmas are under $400...
now for $180 in an enclosure....the mm12s are impossible to beat....
-Cody

MacLeod

Well I was mainly talking about the speakers. Im more of a speaker junkie than anything else and arent into subs that much.

To me subs are like amps, as long as you get one from a quality name brand and not some cheap-o outfit like Pyle or something, it will sound just fine.

LittleCar_w/12s

. . Well I would say that the Momo series is a great buy and performance for the money and market they reside in. It would be a good idea of the company to have two lines, though... I know the car-audiophile market is slimmer, but let's consider how it will affect the ratings of the Polk Lines in total.
. . If one goes to buy a paper bag for $1, for example, and sees there's a bag with rope handles for a mere $1.20, then they'd buy the better ones, after all, what's a little more money for better quality and dependability?
. . Same goes for speakers. Just think of all of us who like the momo line. "well look here, for a mere 30% more, you could get this one..." wouldn't you? If you weren't in it for the looks.
I liked the sony 6x9's I had because they were free, but If I had spent the money on them, they wouldn't have been my choice.
. . In short, why not have BOTH lines... a great mid-quality series for basic listeners, and the younger crowd; then a high-end line for the audio-enthusiast, or the young crowd if they can be talked into it... and BELIEVE ME... they can! I used to work at a radioshack. People came in looking at the crappy pro series line they stock... I tell them it's worth getting them from my friend's shop... they came back... all of them... and told me it was the best (hundreds of dollars) they've spent.
We spend more on audio cables for better quality, same with amps, and everything else we use.. why not spend more on POLK? All we need is the chance.
-Jerry

exalted512

Originally posted by LittleCar_w/12s
. . Well I would say that the Momo series is a great buy and performance for the money and market they reside in. It would be a good idea of the company to have two lines, though... I know the car-audiophile market is slimmer, but let's consider how it will affect the ratings of the Polk Lines in total.
. . If one goes to buy a paper bag for $1, for example, and sees there's a bag with rope handles for a mere $1.20, then they'd buy the better ones, after all, what's a little more money for better quality and dependability?
. . Same goes for speakers. Just think of all of us who like the momo line. "well look here, for a mere 30% more, you could get this one..." wouldn't you? If you weren't in it for the looks.
I liked the sony 6x9's I had because they were free, but If I had spent the money on them, they wouldn't have been my choice.
. . In short, why not have BOTH lines... a great mid-quality series for basic listeners, and the younger crowd; then a high-end line for the audio-enthusiast, or the young crowd if they can be talked into it... and BELIEVE ME... they can! I used to work at a radioshack. People came in looking at the crappy pro series line they stock... I tell them it's worth getting them from my friend's shop... they came back... all of them... and told me it was the best (hundreds of dollars) they've spent.
We spend more on audio cables for better quality, same with amps, and everything else we use.. why not spend more on POLK? All we need is the chance.
-Jerry

amen:D
-Cody

MacLeod

I think it would be great for Polk to come out with a Focal caliber speaker. Kicker has done it with the SS line and JL is coming out with the ZR line which it their ultra premium offering. The problem is that both sets are around $800!!! They might as well be $8,000,000! Even if I could afford them I have real problems putting $800 speakers in a car. Too many things can happen like theft, wrecks, fires ect and $800 is an awful lot of money to watch go up in flames! So I hope that if Polk does come out with an Uberspeaker that they would keep it in the sub $500 range.

To me, $400 is the most Im willing to pay for a car speaker and thats why I like the Momo line so much. My only **** about them is you have to have a million watts to make them work their best and that gets expensive as well. But then Im a loser and broke so...:(

exalted512

Originally posted by MacLeod
But then Im a loser and broke so...:(

tell us your problems
your brothers here at club polk can help:)
unless it has to do with buying JL or giving out money...:D
-Cody

MacLeod

Well it actually has to do with a lot of available credit, a lack of spending discipline, especially for electronic gadgets, and a so-so income!

Needless to say Im up to my eyeballs and I think Citi Cards has actually taken a contract out one me!!

exalted512

ahh yes
credit cards are the devil:mad:
-Cody

MacLeod

Yeah, but 'F' em! Im going to continue to send them minimum payments and save for my system!! As you can see I have my priorities straight!!

I just cant help it! Ive always had bad **** systems in my trucks! The last one was in my '00 Ram regular cab which consisted of MB Quart components, 2 JL Audio 8's and Precision Power amps! Thats a long damn way from my budget system Ive got now. Dont get me wrong it sounds pretty good considering what it is but once youve had a high end system its damn hard to go back to budget!

I want my imaging!
I want my powerful bass!
I want to be able to turn it up without it sounding thin!!

I want my MTX!!!

neomagus00

mac - what happened to the old stuff???

jerry - your bag example may have been skewed. $1.20 for the advanced bag is 20% more than your basic bag. tacking on another 20% to, say, the mm6's shoves them from $349.95 to $419.94, a $70 increase. i don't know about you, but $70 seems like a bigger increase on that 350 than the 20 cents does on the dollar. you see my point? i for one tend to walk into a shop with a set price limit and simply cannot go over that (making sure that my price limit is sufficiently high to buy what i want beforehand ), so a scheme like this tends to not work on me. am i abnormal in this respect?

exalted512

lol...i always go over my "set" budget...
-Cody

AustinKP

I'm a lot like Cody...
I'll go in with a firm price that I don't want to go over...I'll look at everything in that "range", but if there's something that sounds a lot better for just a titch more (are there usually is something) then I'm willing to spend a little more for it.

neomagus00

you guys don't plan this stuff out beforehand? wow, i guess i'm really strange... i pester the salespeople at my shop for weeks before a purchase; i get quotes, suggestions, etc. so i know exactly what i'm getting when i walk in.

i get what you mean though austin, i do that in my planning stage - i mean, why not? if it sounds better, i can spend a few more bucks to get it...

MacLeod

Originally posted by neomagus00
mac - what happened to the old stuff???

Well, my old Coustics have been handed down to friends and relatives save one Coustic 160A that is very underrated at 35x2 (more like 60x2) that I keep around for a spare. I also have an old Pioneer Premier amp that is also a 35x2 I used for a while back around '97. I kept it because its gorgeous and has a THD of .004%!!! Plus I wanted to hold on to it because Pioneer doesnt make amps under the Premier badge anymore which I think sucks.

The Quarts I left in my '00 Ram when I traded it in on my '02 Ram along with one of the PPI amps because the guy told me hed give me an extra $500 on the trade in if I left it in. I realize he was ripping me off but I am lazy and didnt want to rip all that **** out and stick the stock stuff back in.

I did keep the other PPI and the 2 JL 8s. I sold the PPI to a friend a year or so ago and I still have the 8's in their box sitting in my living room looking like a bad **** sub system for my home stereo!!

exalted512

i swore I saw Pioneer Premier amps when i went to look at some Focal and Diamond comps. the other day...are you sure they dont make them anymore?
-Cody

MacLeod

Pretty sure. When I first set up my present "budget" system I looked for Premier amps but couldnt find any.

I liked my old one so much (looks and sound) that I wanted to get some more but I couldnt find them and none of the specialty shops around here carry Pioneer so they wouldnt be able to tell me. I also tried their website and they list Premier products but no amps.

LittleCar_w/12s

Well in getting back to the post after not visiting for a few days...

.. Yes, I understand that when i say $1 vs $1.20 is only 20c and it's not $70.. BUT!!!
Say you get 300 of those bags... that's $300 for bags that will last a few days or $360 for bags that will last for at least weeks. I know that only deals with dependability, but that applies to everything I buy.

When I go in to buy something... I will go over my limit by USUALLY a percentage, not a set dollar amount, which is why i used 30% in my example for better speakers... I'd go 50% over my amount for that matter.

Cody: Remember the thread about the processor for your computer... you said you'd get the better processor now and get other extras later, simply because it's an expensive part. --- why spend say... $200 on something, when you can buy the $240 one and not have to worry about throwing away the lesser thing later. If you did that, you'd buy $440 of that something, but only end up with the same result.

So, what's to say that even the "kids" wouldn't like to benefit from the better polk line (if created) I remember the flashy subs that were out a few years ago... but JL subs were plain black subs. WHY?? Quality was important.. Same with Old DB Polks. I know for a damn fact that many saved up for those JL's not blew what they had on kickers... etc...

So I say why not go for a top-line Polk?? It won't be as hard to sell as they think, and it will make the company more respected... We talk about focals highly... why not polk too?
-Jerry

rskarvan

Hey... That was a thread I started. My thinking hasn't changed regarding Home Audio. I hadn't considered that the same thoughts can be applied to car audio. Hmmmm. Thanks for reading my "old" thread.

- Ron

neomagus00

Originally posted by LittleCar_w/12s
Well in getting back to the post after not visiting for a few days...

.. Yes, I understand that when i say $1 vs $1.20 is only 20c and it's not $70.. BUT!!!
Say you get 300 of those bags... that's $300 for bags that will last a few days or $360 for bags that will last for at least weeks. I know that only deals with dependability, but that applies to everything I buy.

When I go in to buy something... I will go over my limit by USUALLY a percentage, not a set dollar amount, which is why i used 30% in my example for better speakers... I'd go 50% over my amount for that matter.

Cody: Remember the thread about the processor for your computer... you said you'd get the better processor now and get other extras later, simply because it's an expensive part. --- why spend say... $200 on something, when you can buy the $240 one and not have to worry about throwing away the lesser thing later. If you did that, you'd buy $440 of that something, but only end up with the same result.

i think that your processor example illustrates my point rather well. cody's choice of processor was between really good and really good. was it worth $40 extra? probably, because while it doesn't make a substantial difference today, programs of tomorrow will be able to use the full potential of that system on a regular basis.

now, you said that you'd spend 30%-50% more on speakers for better quality. my issue is that, once you hit a certain level, the price-quality relationship is no longer linear; at least it seems that way to me. for example, consider eclipse subs. on acaraudio.com, the aluminium 10 is $249, and the titanium is $349, an increase of ~40%. is the sound ~40% better?? i personally can't justify that. or, the focal k2 11" for $429, vs. the utopia 11 for $569, a mere 33% increase. if you walked into the store with the desire for a k2, a preset limit of $430, and a set over-limit of 35% (fitting our situation perfectly), would you still shovel over another $140 on that $430? i couldn't do that, not unless the utopias sound a world better than the k2... and in that league, a 33% quality increase would put it into the otherworldly category...

i do understand your durability concerns. again, though, above a certain point, this shouldn't be a concern. besides, what are you gonna do with 300 bags?

LittleCar_w/12s

geeze it's been a long time since i posted....

Well I really have no need for 300 bags....
And I know quality to price increase isn't linear, and I truly agree with you NeoMagus00.

Also -Ron It was a lucky stab at a number, but yes your concerns are echoed through all of the audio community.

-Jerry

exalted512

whats the latest on the car/break in/new speakers Jerry?
-Cody

LittleCar_w/12s

Well... (typing amidst boxes) I am moving to a new apt right now.. at least that takes caare of the threat of new breakins, but as for right now, I have to take him to court, and I still probably wont get anything... sad, cause my inerior on that side is literally falling down now.
-Jerry

exalted512

nothing at all even if the cop saw it?
thats some BS
what about insurance??
-Cody