Polk R700 Polarity & other issues
Comments
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Yeah I definitely find it hard to try speakers out. Most places you have to pay to return speakers if you end up not liking them..which can be a little bit of money with towers and paying insurance. I had a large retailer give me crap recently cause I was wanting to return an item, and I had already returned 3 items in a year and a half time..but I had also bought other things and kept. Not my fault reviewers give glowing reviews to just about everything, but then turns out to be garbage.
I can't return the Polk's, I had a 30 day window but and wasted about 3 weeks of it not even using them. I'm good with them right now, enjoying them. Certain tracks are blah but others are great. I normally don't keep speakers that long anyway, same with gear.
I was able to listen to music all day today and it was quite enjoyable..and that's what it's all about. I took a video today I'll see if I can figure out how to post it. You can see how my back wall is set back which seems to effect every speaker differently. What I noticed today with the R700's is the woofers barely move at all. Sound comes out of them but they just kinda vibrate lol, they aren't pushing big air. -
The air comes out of the port.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
That's why they call it an airhole2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
In the few instances I've needed a video, I just uploaded to YouTube and posted the link here. You can make it private if you don't want to become a huge media influencer.
Wow, so you've barely used the R700s so far then? You may have mentioned this. If so, that nugget didn't register (there's only so much room up there these days).
I've found every new speaker to require break-in and burn-in time. Every Polk speaker I've had exhibited thin, restrained sound for the first few hours, started to fill out a tad within 5hrs, then a period of sounding good and sounding pretty crappy. Rule of thumb is running them in for a minimum of 200hrs. I would say *at least* that, and have also experienced continuing improvements beyond.
I've only had two speakers sound good out of the box, and one of those was an open box deal on Wharfedale EVO4.2 bookshelf, which may have been used a fair amount of time.I disabled signatures. -
Airhole 😃
The speakers sat a couple weeks but they have some hours on them, even if I'm not listening to music I have the TV running thru them..I didn't even turn them off last night. I doubt they are at 200 hours though. They do seem to get better with time, or my ear & brain are adjusting to them.
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I tried to post a link..tried like 3 or 4 times. Then I realized it said it had to be approved..so it might load up 3 or 4 times 😂.
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Airhole 😃
The speakers sat a couple weeks but they have some hours on them, even if I'm not listening to music I have the TV running thru them..I didn't even turn them off last night. I doubt they are at 200 hours though. They do seem to get better with time, or my ear & brain are adjusting to them.
There’s a story behind every airhole…
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/42762/should-i-have-an-airhole/p1
2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
That thread is a gift that keeps on giving!
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That thread was pretty funny..all I have to do is think of the word Airhole now and it brings a smile to my face.
I will say, I've never seen a cardboard enclosure. -
Nice, man, rockin'.
So what do you think?I noticed significant improvements with the L800s when I cleared at least 1ft around them. Currently at least 1.5ft.
Much better bass detail, where it was congested and smeared before.
How much room to the wall? I'd also be interested to see hear how things sound for you at various distances. 6", 8", 12-15", and just for giggles, an extreme at 24-36".
If you clear the baffles to where they're forward of all other furniture, clarity and separation should improve, which should also provide easily noticeable improvement in imaging and stereo play presentation. It can and should be like a wall of sound that you can follow with your eyes if you were able to see the notes you're hearing.
Do you have them toed? With various placement adjustments, try sitting in your listening triangle with them toed to cross just behind your head for starters.I disabled signatures. -
There’s a story behind every airhole…
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/42762/should-i-have-an-airhole/p1
That was hilarious! I cant believe I missed that thread until now!____________________________________________________________
polkaudio Fully Modded SDA SRS 1.2TLs + Dreadnaught, LSiM706c, 4 X Polk Surrounds + 4 X ATMOS, SVS PB13 Ultra X 2, Pass Labs X1, Marantz 7704, Bob Carver Crimson Beauty 350 Tube Mono Blocks, Carver Sunfire Signature Cinema Grande 400x5, ADCOM GFA 7807, Panasonic UB420, Moon 380D DAC, EPSON Pro Cinema 6050 -
I've been much happier with them. If I would have thought to record anything when I first had them you would have been able to hear the softness or tone of the bass.
As far as placement and axis there is more I can still try. I felt they sounded a little better when I pushed them back a hair into that rear cutout. Initially I pulled the TV and the speakers out way further than normal, but found myself inching back for a fuller sound. The TV stand was a hair in front of the speaker baffle, good eye picking up on that. I've been pushing and pulling on everything so much I lost track of it. At the moment if you were to imagine on-axis being straight forward the speakers are only slightly toe'ed in. One difference between these and the R200's is the 700's disappear nicely when sitting in the center position, it's definitely a shining point of the towers.
With some treatment and carpet/rugs they obviously would perform better in my opinion. I also think they would be better suited for a larger room, large rectangle room. Kinda is
what it is though. Tweeters are about 8 feet apart, couch is 8 feet away.
Since adding some EQ I've been running the one sub cut off around 55hz and I've been content. I'll experiment more with that, see how going higher works out. Same with positioning, I'm not set on that perfect spot yet..but I'm also a little limited on
how wide and how far I can come out due to wife
constraints and layout of room. -
I think they sound quite good given the placement constraints which is not uncommon.
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out of curiosity what state do you live in?
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
The state of confusion.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Constant state of confusion...but my home is in Florida
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Now I know you said a lil bit ago that they weren't producing as much bass as you were expecting...
That's a LOT of bass for a full range tower speaker. I've heard some bassy towers but those are outputting quite a damn bit. Honest to God I think you fixed the initial wiring issue and just realized that a flat tune wasn't it for you.
It's not it for me either though, I like a nice boost of bass. Glad to see you're liking them more.
Remember that EQ is always an option too! -
@ChrisD06 yes, my lower bass is more than adequate now. Especially if I run the subwoofer. I feel like the 700's have even improved over the last week or so..as I've been runnin' these sucka's about 18 hours a day. I can assure you they sounded nothing like they do now.. before switching the upper and lower post wiring, adjusting the EQ, and putting some real hours on them. I do feel the lower mid bass could use some tweaking, seems a bit recessed compared to the low bass and very clear midrange, maybe when I get a chance I'll record some tracks that highlight what I'm talking about..although I'm hoping this issue will improve with more time played on the
speakers. I think I'm going to hook up a dedicated preamp (tube) in this system instead of running off the dac/pre, that should make some overall improvements as well. I've been pretty happy with the speakers, they've turned out much better than what I initially thought. -
@HalfOhm sounds like your placement, fixing the polarity, and allowing the woofer spider and surrounds to loosen up has all come together for you! I'm really happy to hear that.
Everyone getting R700s is making me want to upgrade from my RT3000p, but it's too expensive and they're my babies.
Maybe when the R700s are 20 years old and I'm 37 😂 -
Thanks for sharing as I really enjoyed the tune and it sounds Great on my R700's!!!Home Theater 5.1.2: Marantz SR5012 receiver, Polk R700 and R400 across the front and Klipsch CDT-5650-C II In-Wall/Ceiling surrounds, SVS SB2000 sub, Epson 5050 projector, Apple TV 4K
Family Room 2.0: Yamaha RX-V373 receiver, Polk RTi A9 speakers, TCL 4K TV, Apple TV 4K, Squeezebox Duet
Office 2.1: Rotel RA-11 Integrated amp, GoldenEar Aon3 speakers, SVS SB2000 sub, TCL 4K TV, Apple TV 4K, Squeezebox Duet
Master Bedroom 2.0: JVC RX-318 receiver, Polk R15, Squeezebox Duet -
I disabled signatures.
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You've gotta catch me up to speed on this one, is this another inside joke? -
Using an equalizer is considered an excommunicatable sin to many on this forum.____________________________________________________________
polkaudio Fully Modded SDA SRS 1.2TLs + Dreadnaught, LSiM706c, 4 X Polk Surrounds + 4 X ATMOS, SVS PB13 Ultra X 2, Pass Labs X1, Marantz 7704, Bob Carver Crimson Beauty 350 Tube Mono Blocks, Carver Sunfire Signature Cinema Grande 400x5, ADCOM GFA 7807, Panasonic UB420, Moon 380D DAC, EPSON Pro Cinema 6050 -
Is there a good reason for it, or is it just one of those audiophile things?
I suppose if you're using some crappy software EQ it could degrade sound quality, but... -
Is there a good reason for it, or is it just one of those audiophile things?
I suppose if you're using some crappy software EQ it could degrade sound quality, but...
Most all the EQ's I've used in the chain of gear introduced more noise. None was software, all were stand alone Equalizers as in Kenwood, Yamaha, ADC, BSR etc.
If that is your jam so be it. Most of us have moved on from that.
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I've read that a big part of successful EQ is to only go negative with it and not try to bump frequencies above the input.
I don't have a ton of experience using standalone EQ so I can't say how true it is. -
Is there a good reason for it, or is it just one of those audiophile things?
I suppose if you're using some crappy software EQ it could degrade sound quality, but...
Most all the EQ's I've used in the chain of gear introduced more noise. None was software, all were stand alone Equalizers as in Kenwood, Yamaha, ADC, BSR etc.
If that is your jam so be it. Most of us have moved on from that.
I've used some hardware EQ and software EQ and found software EQ made well can prevent sound degradation but hardware EQ generally should be more of a "fix spikes or dips" bandaid rather than "up the treble and bass" or something. It can cause clipping if you go too hard with it. -
chrispyfur wrote: »I've read that a big part of successful EQ is to only go negative with it and not try to bump frequencies above the input.
I don't have a ton of experience using standalone EQ so I can't say how true it is.
Yeah generally "go negative" is a good rule as it's actually easier to fix a dip by lower all other frequencies than it is to actually up the frequency area the dip occurs at. Spikes are fixable with EQ depending on the severity.
Headphones are usually EQ'd with software which I do have experience with, should clarify I meant standalone as hardware. Speakers are similar but you need to take into account room acoustics. That's where my knowledge on this subject comes from -
Yeah, it's a joke. More specifically, at least for me, speaking to extreme use of tone controls or hardware EQs to boost or cut frequencies to correct deficiencies.
I'm not talking about calibration or room correction tools on subs or 2ch integrateds or preamp/processors. Some of my gear has it, some doesn't.
In instances where I've used tone control, it's usually been because the speaker was not a good fit, and tone control adjustments didn't fix it anyway. It'd take the edge off a harsh speaker a bit, but was too broad in effect, and affected other frequencies too much, as well.
That said, the first perspective I heard re: not using tone controls or equalizers was because it's "changing what the sound engineer/artist intends", and you're just a poseur if you do that. Paraphrasing, but something along those lines.
I disabled signatures.
https://youtu.be/yP6ldb7KJmo
