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

displayname

Emlyn wrote: »

...using good tracks.

I was thinking I should go back and pull the tracks to make another playlist. Music suggestions are the part of YouTube reviews.

Emlyn

I still keep track of the really old "SDA playlist" for other speakers, but the tracks he's using there are real audiophile testers. Excellent, and I'll be doing the same.

displayname

10 out of 12 tracks isn't too bad: https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/d6a28819-bb12-4e8c-9dce-746ec0ea3e5b

nooshinjohn

Has anybody else noticed something peculiar about page 5 of the owner's manual?

https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.polkaudio.com/-/media/Files/DocumentMaster/POLK-US/Polk_Legend_Owners_Manual_English_L800_MP.pdf

F1nut

They are using a drawing showing the vintage SDA binding post plates with positive in the left, which contradicts the drawing of the L800 plates.

nooshinjohn

Not only that, they are original SDA, and don't even have the bi-amp configuration.

BlueBirdMusic

.... "more fun than a barrel of monkeys" ....

Some great tracks on the video, and I really enjoyed the review.

SIHAB

ok, who wanted to flick Ron in the ear?

hochpt21

Just got this email...

simm

LEGEND L800
POLK LEGEND SERIES PREMIUM FLOORSTANDING TOWER SPEAKER WITH PATENTED SDA-PRO TECHNOLOGY
Good for Benefits
Crisp & clear dialogue with VoiceAdjust®
Make virtually any TV sound incredible
Hi-Res music streaming with Chromecast
3 years warranty

When did the warranty drop to 3 years for these? I thought initially it was 5 years and then another 5 years for registering them..

pitdogg2

what in tarnation is voice adjust®? Hi-Res music streaming with Chromecast ? again what is this? just where do you plug this into on the speakers?

VR3

Polk marketing has no clue what they are selling

pitdogg2

Well that makes me feel warm and cuddly

mhardy6647

I'm just feelin' left out 'cause I didn't get the email!?
I used to get 'em -- wonder why I didn't get this one...

pitdogg2

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I'm just feelin' left out 'cause I didn't get the email!?
I used to get 'em -- wonder why I didn't get this one...

They know dang sure you are not marketable....😀

Emlyn

simm wrote: »

LEGEND L800
POLK LEGEND SERIES PREMIUM FLOORSTANDING TOWER SPEAKER WITH PATENTED SDA-PRO TECHNOLOGY
Good for Benefits
Crisp & clear dialogue with VoiceAdjust®
Make virtually any TV sound incredible
Hi-Res music streaming with Chromecast
3 years warranty

When did the warranty drop to 3 years for these? I thought initially it was 5 years and then another 5 years for registering them..

Another web site glitch. The description there is for a soundbar. Warranty is still 5 years or 10 with registration on passive speakers.

ken brydson

And 0% financing for a whole 3 months. Sign me up....

F1nut

I noticed they are listing their location as Carlsbad instead of Vista.

warren

warren wrote: »

show previous quotes

BlueFox wrote: »

Ambiguous pricing. Makes it look like $12K for a pair.

This is the post that squelched my buying the L800...

Polk is now offering no interest when you buy the L series !

warren

VR3 wrote: »

Polk marketing has no clue what they are selling

I remember when your mom drove you to the Polk meetings, you remodeled your home, went into business.. I’d call you astute . Now Polk is trying with this sales campaign, I hope they succeed as you did ..

txcoastal1

VR3 wrote: »

Polk marketing has no clue what they are selling

Polk should have never cut us installers off through dealer distribution...we were their the soldiers on the ground so the family, friends and neighbors could see what was new in HT and music

Emlyn

Rick88 wrote: »

Audioholics posted a review of the L800 a few days ago.

https://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/polk-legend-l800

Good review that acknowledges he didn't have the ideal room for the speakers at only 11 feet wide. Most people would not want to live with huge sound absorbing panels on either side of their speakers. Realistically, the L800s are going to need a front wall that's at least 15 feet wide without obstructions and preferably more when sitting around 8 to 10 feet away from the center point between the speakers. I had a pair of the big original SDA-SRS in a 10 x 10 foot room once and they still sounded good when pushed close to the side walls but they sounded way better in a bigger room.

The L600s would be a better choice for a narrow room.

audioluvr

Emlyn wrote: »

Good review that acknowledges he didn't have the ideal room for the speakers at only 11 feet wide.

True but at least he made the effort to set up the speakers and room treatments necessary to hear the SDA magic. I can't stand it when a component is reviewed in an inadequate situation.

mpitogo

So after living with my L800's since Nov 2019, I can say hands down the best speakers I have ever owned and so much fun! I made changes to the room orientation I used to have it on the wide wall of a 15'x25' room, I changed speaker placement, its now on the shorter 15' section of the wall and its even more amazing. I have in room response measurements from the main listening position and typical forward left/righ and rearward left/right from both original wide wall location and short wall location. The bass extension is now much deeper and flatter extending down to a reasonable 24hz and I can attest to feeling it in my back, even at low volumes.

I have a pretty decent set of cans but man the same source material on the L800 is just sublime. I started listening to the 2021 re-release of Radiohead KID A MNESIA, wow!!

Anyway, I am actually moving to a new house and hope to try to recreate that magic. It's a real PITA but thankfully I kept all the boxes for nearly everything except stuff like LSi25, DSW microPRO3000 era and older.

Mike Reeter

mpitogo wrote: »

So after living with my L800's since Nov 2019, I can say hands down the best speakers I have ever owned and so much fun! I made changes to the room orientation I used to have it on the wide wall of a 15'x25' room, I changed speaker placement, its now on the shorter 15' section of the wall and its even more amazing. I have in room response measurements from the main listening position and typical forward left/righ and rearward left/right from both original wide wall location and short wall location. The bass extension is now much deeper and flatter extending down to a reasonable 24hz and I can attest to feeling it in my back, even at low volumes.

I have a pretty decent set of cans but man the same source material on the L800 is just sublime. I started listening to the 2021 re-release of Radiohead KID A MNESIA, wow!!

Anyway, I am actually moving to a new house and hope to try to recreate that magic. It's a real PITA but thankfully I kept all the boxes for nearly everything except stuff like LSi25, DSW microPRO3000 era and older.

I would imagine the L800's are singing the praises of the accompanying gear you have ahead of them...WELL DONE

Emlyn

I am thinking the ideal room size for the L800s is 15 to 16 feet wide by 20 to 25 feet deep with solid walls without windows, doors, fireplaces, bookshelves, etc on either side. To me they benefit by having at least a couple feet behind them and a few feet behind the listening spot.

Thanks to mpitogo for sharing the early experience with these. It made it easier for me to justify purchasing mine when the price first dropped.

nooshinjohn

My room is 19’6” on the long wall, 15 feet on the short wall with 4 feet behind me.... should be a great fit.

mpitogo

Bring this back to life. I recently moved from NJ to TX and our new house has almost 2x the square footage. The new room its going into is technically 17W x 19L x 23H but its all open so much bigger, we'll see how it goes. Can't wait to set it up. We've been here 4 weeks.

pitdogg2

Congrats on moving to a "free" state...

Milito

Congrats and welcome to Texas!