P&PP-Polk and Paul's Post
JayCee
Posts: 1,500
A few of us on CP are members of the PS Audio forum and subscribe to Paul's Post. Today, Polk makes a guest appearance in the daily email:
"Paul's Post : Appearances
Appearances
When my friend, Sandy Gross was responsible for marketing Polk Audio in the late 70s and early 80s one of the challenges he faced was acceptance of the brand as a serious contender.
It was a tough challenge. Their competitors were pretty serious people including Dr. Amar Bose, Edgar Villchur, Dr. Sydney Harman, and Henry Kloss to mention just a few.
Matthew Polk had studied marine biology at Johns Hopkins.
What to do to get Polk taken seriously by the stereo buyers of the day?
Dress him up in a white lab coat.
Matt is an excellent loudspeaker designer who pioneered a number of innovations still used today.
What he lacked at the time was credibility.
Status.
Can you think of anything around us that doesn’t fight for status?
Would you buy the world’s best sounding power amplifier if it were dressed up in a metal garbage pail?
Like it or not we judge books, equipment, and people by their appearance.
Maybe I should buy myself a lab coat.
Paul McGowan"
"Paul's Post : Appearances
Appearances
When my friend, Sandy Gross was responsible for marketing Polk Audio in the late 70s and early 80s one of the challenges he faced was acceptance of the brand as a serious contender.
It was a tough challenge. Their competitors were pretty serious people including Dr. Amar Bose, Edgar Villchur, Dr. Sydney Harman, and Henry Kloss to mention just a few.
Matthew Polk had studied marine biology at Johns Hopkins.
What to do to get Polk taken seriously by the stereo buyers of the day?
Dress him up in a white lab coat.
Matt is an excellent loudspeaker designer who pioneered a number of innovations still used today.
What he lacked at the time was credibility.
Status.
Can you think of anything around us that doesn’t fight for status?
Would you buy the world’s best sounding power amplifier if it were dressed up in a metal garbage pail?
Like it or not we judge books, equipment, and people by their appearance.
Maybe I should buy myself a lab coat.
Paul McGowan"
➀Speakers: Polk1.2tl's (Uber Mods) ➁Pre/Amp/DAC: PS Audio BHK Signature & 250, DirectStream ➂Cables/IC's: MIT S1Bi-Wire/S1 Balanced +Avel Lindberg 1000VA "Dreadnought" ➃Power Conditioner: PS Audio P15 Power Plant ➄Power Cords: Core Power Technologies Gold, DH Labs Power Plus DIY w/Neotech NC-P301 & P311ends ➅Streaming: Roon ROCK on wifi'd NUC, TP-Link WAP, & Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark, Emperor Double Crown Clock, Black Modernize LPS, PS Audio AirLens⟿Ω☯☥☮⟿🔊♩♪♫♬♩♪♫♬♩♪♫♬
Comments
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Well it worked!
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Matt hated the idea if I recall lol- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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I can tell you that by the mid 1970s, Matthew Polk had status around JHU.
I'll defer comment on McGowan.
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A biologist with a penchant for speaker tinkerin'.
My kinda guy.Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists. -
I don't think a lab coat for hawking speakers or anything audio related was ever a good idea. It's also likely most audio designers, with some exceptions, aren't necessarily camera friendly.
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I can tell you first hand that this marketing definitely worked. My dad was somewhat into audio, had a klipsch and Yamaha setup. When I started to ask questions, I asked about Polk. His exact words to me was, they had a more scientific approach 😅- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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Well... you know... if you ask me, Polk missed the boat with the lab coat.
A slightly different tack, and Polk would be today's... umm... KEF. Or Cerwin-Vega, maybe.
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I think Polk has always achieved its mission goals... Bringing good sound to the masses.
Where else can you buy half way decent sounding speakers for a hundred bucks- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
I think Paul maybe running out of material, he's getting repetitive.
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