Looking forward to L800 but have concerns, what are your thoughts?

mhardy6647

pglbook wrote: »

mpitogo, now that you have a correct pair of L-R speakers, please let us all know your impressions of the L800s when you take a listening break.

Congrats on the new SDA speakers!

[emphasis added]

Artist's conception:

mpitogo

Part 1. Room setup 25’x15’

Taken from the owners manual

There are several distances to consider when placing your speakers:
X = Listener distance from speaker
Y = Speaker distance from rear wall
Z = Speaker distance from each other
S = Speaker distance from side wall

*By decreasing distance “Y” you will increase bass response. By increasing that distance you will experience less bass. Your speakers will generally sound best when placed close to the back wall. Also, the front baffles should be at least 2” forward of any obstructions, such as cabinets.
*Distance “Z” should be at least 4’, while 6’ to 8’ is optimum
in most listening rooms. In a “live” room (lots of hard surfaces, not too many curtains, cushions or sound absorbing materials), SDA speakers often sound best placed close together. Remember, experiment!
*Distance “X” should be greater than or equal to
distance “Z.”
*Distance “S” should be AT LEAST 3’. Placement closer to sidewalls will interfere with three-dimensional imaging. “If you can absorb the sidewall reflection, closer placements the wall may be possible.

I played with room positioning and settled on the following
X = 10’
Y = 10”
Z = 7’ 5”
S = 5’ 11” (right) 9’ 5” (left)

Equipment: McIntosh C47, MC452 sources laptop iTunes (Apple Music) via USB DAC, Airport Express optical for Airplay and Denon Dp-2500 with a DL-110.

I played pretty much every genre I am into and I am on the whole very impressed.



To be continued...

mpitogo

Part 2. Break in

tratliff

So tell us what you think of the sound.

voltz

mpitogo wrote: »

Part 2. Break in

Polk could use this in a add to sell them.. you Daughter just stole the show! Rock on!

vcwatkins

Excellent shots.

Interesting, a bit "taller" triangle than I would have predicted.

I don't know McIntosh gear - does it serve as your DAC and phono pre here? Also curious as to what app you use to stream.

Have fun and take all the time you need to evaluate.

Just kidding, you have 2 hours.

mpitogo

@tratliff they sound great but the only reference I have are to standard speakers without SDA. Sitting in front of them, these are the best sounding speakers in my house.

I’ve been mostly playing them in the background with various streams to break in. Some speakers have a break in period printed in the manual, these don’t so I’m just aiming for ~100 hours of play.

vcwatkins wrote: »

Excellent shots.

Interesting, a bit "taller" triangle than I would have predicted.

I don't know McIntosh gear - does it serve as your DAC and phono pre here? Also curious as to what app you use to stream.

Have fun and take all the time you need to evaluate.

Just kidding, you have 2 hours.

“Taller” - Its based on the manual see below. I don’t have experience with SDA so it mainly reading and trying. Should I try shorter? Make it 8’x8’?

Yes, the DAC and Phono pre are built into the McIntosh preamp.

Experimentation with speaker-to-speaker and listener-to- speaker distance is necessary to find the best combination
for a listener and the listening space. A recommended 6-8’ speaker-to-speaker placement and 10’-12’ speaker-to-listener placement is a good place to start. Find the combination where apparent stage width, timbral accuracy and direct-to-reflected ratio is the best. Keep side wall reflections as far away as possible, or absorbed if necessary, for maximum performance. Follow the below directions to ensure optimal sound performance.

vcwatkins

mpitogo wrote: »

@tratliff they sound great but the only reference I have are to standard speakers without SDA. Sitting in front of them, these are the best sounding speakers in my house.

I’ve been mostly playing them in the background with various streams to break in. Some speakers have a break in period printed in the manual, these don’t so I’m just aiming for ~100 hours of play.

vcwatkins wrote: »

Excellent shots.

Interesting, a bit "taller" triangle than I would have predicted.

I don't know McIntosh gear - does it serve as your DAC and phono pre here? Also curious as to what app you use to stream.

Have fun and take all the time you need to evaluate.

Just kidding, you have 2 hours.

“Taller” - Its based on the manual see below. I don’t have experience with SDA so it mainly reading and trying. Should I try shorter? Make it 8’x8’?

Yes, the DAC and Phono pre are built into the McIntosh preamp.

Experimentation with speaker-to-speaker and listener-to- speaker distance is necessary to find the best combination
for a listener and the listening space. A recommended 6-8’ speaker-to-speaker placement and 10’-12’ speaker-to-listener placement is a good place to start. Find the combination where apparent stage width, timbral accuracy and direct-to-reflected ratio is the best. Keep side wall reflections as far away as possible, or absorbed if necessary, for maximum performance. Follow the below directions to ensure optimal sound performance.

Don't read anything into my comment regarding spacing - I had no idea what was recommended in the manual - just that my preference with the 1.2's is a bit closer to an equilateral triangle. And the positioning of my CRS+'s when I heard the most exaggerated wrap-around SDA was equilateral within a few inches (and very close to me). I tend to move them around a lot, trial & error, when setting up after changes have been made to the room or gear.
Hope they're sounding good during break in!

motorstereo

Thanks for the review mpitogo. It's nice to hear a positive review of the L800's and hopefully they improve even more for you after 100 hours

BlueBirdMusic

@mpitogo congratulations on the new L800's.

I'm green with envy; I imagined the reddish LEDs along the floor being green. How did you do the lighting?

It's really great to have a Polkie with the newest!

pitdogg2

BlueBirdMusic wrote: »

I'm green with envy; I imagined the reddish LEDs along the floor being green. How did you do the lighting?

Are you referring to the laser level to check square ?

TennMan

mpitogo wrote: »

@tratliff they sound great but the only reference I have are to standard speakers without SDA. Sitting in front of them, these are the best sounding speakers in my house.
I’ve been mostly playing them in the background with various streams to break in. Some speakers have a break in period printed in the manual, these don’t so I’m just aiming for ~100 hours of play.
“Taller” - Its based on the manual see below. I don’t have experience with SDA so it mainly reading and trying. Should I try shorter? Make it 8’x8’?
Yes, the DAC and Phono pre are built into the McIntosh preamp.

I saw Part-1 & Part-2 of the review. Is this Part-3 of the review or did I miss something?

BlueBirdMusic

pitdogg2 wrote: »

BlueBirdMusic wrote: »

I'm green with envy; I imagined the reddish LEDs along the floor being green. How did you do the lighting?

Are you referring to the laser level to check square ?

I guess I am. I didn’t realize it was for speaker placement.

gudnoyez

I wonder if a shop in Chicago has some L800s set up to listen to, if so I would go as I plan on making a trip to Saturday Audio Exchange this winter once cabin fever sets in and I need a new preamp and some gear to trade in. I would go out of my way to demo those L800s congratulations to the OP on the purchase of yours.

mpitogo

@bluecomet LOL @pitdogg2 got it right, laser level for setup, just being slightly OCD for imaging.

@TennMan no Part 3 yet, hosting holiday festivities and life outside of music ate up a bit of time. Every chance I get, I put some play time to the break in hours.

vmaxer

mpitogo wrote: »

@bluecomet LOL @pitdogg2 got it right, laser level for setup, just being slightly OCD for imaging.

@TennMan no Part 3 yet, hosting holiday festivities and life outside of music ate up a bit of time. Every chance I get, I put some play time to the break in hours.

Any updates @mpitogo

mpitogo

We’re getting there! I found playing a 30Hz test tone can show a 3V AC drop on my Panamax regulator. I normally see anywhere from 122-125V. Earlier today it was at 122V and dipped to 119V playing that 30Hz sine wave. It went right back up to 122 after it stopped. I played the entire Test CD from 20Hz to 20khz. All the rest was ok.

And also been reading.
http://www.gr-research.com/burnin.htm

BlueFox

How about some music reviews? You can always add to it as they burn in.

audioluvr

Awesome! We're all coming over!

mpitogo

Listen to album, Explorations in Space and Time.

mpitogo

Hope everyone had a great holiday and a happy new year to come. I took a bit of a break from critical listening but still put enjoyable play time on them.

One thing I’m exploring is a front end change from the McIntosh C47/MC452 combo. I’m not getting as much of the SDA effects as experienced at demos. Based on some feedback, I’m putting in a Marantz PM-10 and a Denafrips Aries II DAC.

I did a quick comparison in my master bedroom between the MA-5200 and PM-10 on Totem Hawks and noticed increased clarity, sparkle and bass playing the same song. But that may also be the DAC as the MA-5200 has one built-in while I had to use an external DAC for the PM-10 so this change may also be attributable to the DAC. Further testing needed.

soupbone

Crickets

tonyb

soupbone wrote: »

Crickets

Probably sound pretty awesome on the L800's. Crickets all around you, pretty cool.

mpitogo

Part 3.

How do they sound?

Cross posting. Verdict

I believe I have mine dialed in to resolve the balanced differential amplifier issue. I have my McIntosh C47 preamp bi-amp feeding both an MC450 bass and an MA5200 treble. The integrated was taken from my master bedroom which I’ve setup with HT-PassThrough on BAL1. BAL Output 1 and Trigger 1 goes to the MC452 and BAL Output 2 and Trigger 2 goes to the MA5200. Even though the input is Balanced the topology of the MA5200 is not fully balanced through to the output stage so the signal going to the mid/high has the full signal for improved SDA. I also compared the sonic qualities with my Rotel RA-1570 which also exhibited improved SDA imaging. The fully balanced output of the McIntosh MC452 and Marantz PM-10 did not provide the same effect as I heard in Polk’s demos (It was there but very subtle). I used John Rutters Requiem Pie Jesu from 1993 by Turtle Creek Chorale. The soundstage opens up when the whole choir comes in and you feel surrounded as the hall comes alive.

As far as the non SDA aspect. The L800 are more similar to the LSiM707 than they are to my Martin Logan Motion 40 and Totem Hawks. The latter is always surprising, how they get the balance between the metal dome tweeter and doped paper cone woofer and how artfully they are melded together to create such sweet warm sounding combo which disappear. The hawks excel at providing great detail but will not rock very hard. They are best played at low to moderate volume but what you get is smooth silky midrange, capable bass without the need for a sub and a treble which is present but not as annoying (fatiguing) as what’s in my KEF L100. The Martin Logan’s are for my ears more dry, cold and in need of a sub. They can be played at high volumes but become harsh the folded motion tweeter can really move air but for me are bright and fatiguing. I currently have them in boxes but when I had them setup, they were in my 16x15 office setup using the Ken Ishiwata placement method and worked well.

So how does the L800 compare, the plastic drivers are basically the middle ground between metal and paper, between cold and warm. Playing Melody Gardot Currency of Man album from cover to cover you get a very delicate presentation. Switch it up to more modern pop recordings Halsey, Taylor Swift, The Chainsmokers and you get a very energetic and full soundstage across a very wide band which you can push assuming you have good clean power. For my taste no subs are needed. I like the presence of deep bass but don’t need it ball shakingly overwhelming. Moving to classical, I played three version’s of Beethoven’s 9th symphony and pretty amazed at each recording and what instruments they pickup and reproduced playing through the L800s. The recordings still got too crowded/compressed when there’s alot going on, its as close to a concert but not quite like being there. I am going to see the NJSO perform at NJPAC this Saturday for Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Figaro so I‘ll have fresh material to compare, experientially.

Mankite

So can you run room correction like audyssey XT32 with these speakers or is it recommend just to address the sub with correction?

F1nut

Mankite wrote: »

So can you run room correction like audyssey XT32 with these speakers or is it recommend just to address the sub with correction?

It'll likely tell you the speakers are out of phase, but that happens with standard speakers as well.

Clipdat

mpitogo wrote: »

@mpitogo, are you running all of your equipment through the Panamax?

mpitogo

As as said earlier, wow! So I recently went to see NJSO and no comparison but home reproduction has usually been a compromise.

The real wow was from playing the LP of The Flaming Lips Oczy Mlody - One Night While Hunting for Faeries.

Clipdat

@mpitogo so is that a yes/no on the Panamax powering everything?

mpitogo

Hi @Clipdat no. The model I have is a PM-5400. Are there better? Probably but I'm not really into power cables, power plants etc. I don't hear much of a difference between the wall and with a power conditioner. I bought different power cables but did not notice any beneficial gain.

I hear more differences in amps, speakers, sources, DACs than in cables and power but that's just me. I did some testing between AQ Mackenzie XLR vs Monoprice Premium XLR and maybe my system is not high end enough for me tell the difference.