Grabbed a pair of ES20's

heiney9

The first night I couldn't get things to work. I brought a DVDp over (since we're not fully moved in) it only has a coax digital out and HDMI. I hooked the coax out to the coax in on the Marantz and no sound. I forgot the DVDp remote at home. So, I coudn't bring up the menu on the TV.

Not internet yet as we still have to activate service. So no streaming capabilities yet.

Last night I brought the DVDp remote and hooked it up (via HDMI to work the menus) and viola it worked. I played a couple cd's and a couple dvd concerts.

Right out of the box they sound sweet, open and smooth. Very little bass. These are just out of the box impressions. They need to break in. Also, my MIT AVt3 speaker cables are brand new as well. They will need to break in.

My only concern is these are 3-3.5' from the back wall. I hope that's not too far to produce the proper amount of bass. Not interested in a sub. I don't need deep bass, but some is needed to realistically make things sound fuller.

I haven't packed up the R200's from my office rig yet, but I'll put them in when I do and see how those sound.

I know the ES20's and AVt3's need to break in.

For those that have these, what's you recommended distance from the back wall. I don't think Polk specifies.

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mhardy6647

The S20s here are far from the back wall (probably 6 feet or more), FWIW.
Of course, their speaker stands are a pair of Altec Santiagos, so there's that.

heiney9

mhardy6647 wrote: »

The S20s here are far from the back wall (probably 6 feet or more), FWIW.
Of course, their speaker stands are a pair of Altec Santiagos, so there's that.

How's the bass?

H9

mhardy6647

heiney9 wrote: »

mhardy6647 wrote: »

The S20s here are far from the back wall (probably 6 feet or more), FWIW.
Of course, their speaker stands are a pair of Altec Santiagos, so there's that.

How's the bass?

H9

Again, these are S20s. Not bad in quantity. Quality is a little thick. I believe @F1nut described 'em (or quoted descriptions of 'em) as wooly, and I think that's a fair assessment. Perfectly listenable, though!

billbillw

Are you open to the idea of adding a small sealed sub to the mix? With movies and TV, it is almost a requirement when using bookshelf speakers. I've been very happy with the addition of a ML sealed 10" to my R200. It isn't intrusive and really only kicks in with the explosions or otherwise deep LFE track sounds.
Shop the used FB marketplace and you'll be surprised what is available for under $200.

heiney9

At this time no, simply because I haven't and won't spend much time with it until we are fully moved n and staying there. In the future I'd be open to it. But honestly if the ES20's don't have enough low end to at least make things sound fuller, then I know the R200's will.

By all accounts the reviews, both user and professional, say they have plenty of bass. Because of how things are set-up they need to be 3-3.5' off the back wall, so I thought maybe that might present an issue. But again reading, many users have them 3' from the back wall and have no issues with fuller bass.

This is an experiment and it will take awhile to see how it works out.

Or I would just get a pair of floor standers like the ES500.

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P.s. each time we are spending time there I am playing music to hasten the break in. We have the luxury of moving 5-6 boxes of stuff over and putting it all away and then repeat, repeat. Probably be another 2-3 weeks of this type of moving. We bought a lot of new furnishings so those have all been delivered so we are moving in slowly and trying not to let 40 boxes pile up. Move and put away as you go.

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heiney9

I'll post some pics later. We're loading up stuff to head over there shortly.

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heiney9

I took a couple cdr demo discs I made years ago. A great variety of music on each disc. I am very happy with the way they sound. The only disc I played last time was a rock disc and it appears it wasn't a great recording.

The ES 20's sound much fuller and actually have some bass. We spent the afternoon there putzing around doing stuff all the while the stereo going. I'd stop and sit in the sweet spot at times. I think these are going to be excellent for this purpose. Marantz, Polk and MIT seem to go together well..........so far.

Some quick pics.



You can see the in wall speaker in the background. My Dad had them all hooked up at one time for music in almost every room. They are not "audiophile".



Just a bare bones setup to make sure things work. No internet or cable yet.



Girlfriend is going to fill the gap with lots of plants. We left this space to open the blinds and to fill vegetation. Not sure how I feel about that big gap. The only time anyone will really see it is going out on the deck. I'm pretty much taking the photo in front of the sliding door. I can tell you the space makes it 100 times easier to hook things up....lol

The network boxes seem to be stressing the wire to the spade. Does anyone have a solution for supporting the network boxes, these are light compared to the some others.



One with the grills on

Anyway, this is a work in progress.

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F1nut

I've had the network boxes hanging off my office speakers for longer than I can remember, no problem at all. I am using the banana plugs.

You and Bluefox have similar tastes in carpet.

Edit: you could Velcro the boxes to the stands.

heiney9

Great idea, Jesse. I think for these, Velcro would be a good solution. These are AVt3's and are not the same quality build as the Shotguns. Probably won't have an issue, but I'd rather err on the side of caution.

2nd initial impression with very familiar demo material, these are pretty dang nice sounding. Of course these are for a much less critical use. I'm surprised how easy they are to drive. If they continue to get better, I'd say Polk has another winner. Still a long way to go for full evaluation, but within my expectation and the price point.......I'm getting a positive impression. Lot of bang for the buck.

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ken brydson

Zip ties would be another option....

heiney9

These are sounding pretty dang good. Still breaking them in. No critical listening at this point. Just running in the background as we work/move in to the new place. I don't detect any "wooliness" at this point. I casually will sit in the sweet spot for a song and they sound really good, especially for the $$$.

I have to say the Marantz sounds very good as well. So far, it's been a great choice for what is needed. Even the GF is a bit excited and she usually rolls her eyes when I buy or talk about audio gear.

This is the streamer I'll be adding. It's on the way, got a great introductory deal. Just released and gets great reviews.

https://www.fiio.com/sr11

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rooftop59

Glad you're enjoying the new set up!

Where'd ya order the streamer?

heiney9

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807348900061.html?src=google&src=google&albch=shopping&acnt=708-803-3821&slnk=&plac=&mtctp=&albbt=Google_7_shopping&gclsrc=aw.ds&albagn=888888&ds_e_adid=&ds_e_matchtype=&ds_e_device=c&ds_e_network=x&ds_e_product_group_id=&ds_e_product_id=en3256807348900061&ds_e_product_merchant_id=107779214&ds_e_product_country=US&ds_e_product_language=en&ds_e_product_channel=online&ds_e_product_store_id=&ds_url_v=2&albcp=20268592310&albag=&isSmbAutoCall=false&needSmbHouyi=false&gad_source=1&aff_fcid=1ddad46b64624934b0e02e19c33192cf-1724435341943-08597-UneMJZVf&aff_fsk=UneMJZVf&aff_platform=aaf&sk=UneMJZVf&aff_trace_key=1ddad46b64624934b0e02e19c33192cf-1724435341943-08597-UneMJZVf&terminal_id=ccab8fba6bfe496ab5a4167732d9e4a0&afSmartRedirect=n&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

Black or Silver. $99 intro price. Most are selling for $119. Haven't seen a supplier in the US yet selling this model. I believe it was released in June of this year. But, do a little research. It's getting very high marks for quality build, parts, streaming and audio quality.

I'll be using it with Roon otherwise this 1st offering is a bit sparse. You can talk with the distributor and they have a Beta for DLNA. It will also run 1st gen Airplay. With more to come.......

FiiO has a great rep, so when they say they will be releasing firmware updates as the product grows, I have no doubt. They are not a flyby night company. This appealed to me because I don't need the dac portion that almost all others/competitors include. For me, that adds unnecessarily to the cost.

I wanted something high quality, reasonably priced and with good support behind it that was just a high quality streaming device. I specifically bought the Marantz integrated with (3) digital inputs to keep connections and components simple.

H9

P.S. as soon as I got wind of the Node Nano, I thought that would be a good choice. But it has the dac built in and at $299 and maybe $249 discounted.....that was overkill for my application. I have no doubt it's a great product. I have a Node 3. But $99 vs $299..........

heiney9

I might mess around and bring the 5B's into this rig over the weekend and see how they sound. If the GF approves and they sound great, maybe they will stay....lol.

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billbillw

Look at all the tracking info in that link...everything after the .html

heiney9

billbillw wrote: »

Look at all the tracking info in that link...everything after the .html

I changed it to "non-tracking", don't know if that did anything. It's on AliExpress if you don't want to click the link.

Clipdat

This is the link: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807348900061.html

VR3

Looks nice for a hundy

billbillw

heiney9 wrote: »

billbillw wrote: »

Look at all the tracking info in that link...everything after the .html

I changed it to "non-tracking", don't know if that did anything. It's on AliExpress if you don't want to click the link.

It is still there. The trick is to manually delete everything after the .html
Not really afraid of clicking anything, but it does take up a lot of screen space, especially on a mobile device...

heiney9

The streamer was a bust. I've had good luck with Ali Express in the past. But there was a shipment error and the unit was returned to the seller (w/no explanation). My $$$ is in the process of being refunded. In this case I'd rather have the product. There are other outlets to buy from. I am not really ready yet. I just jumped on it because of the good price. Other places are selling it for $109 or $119. I can wait

On the ES20's, they are pretty impressive for their size and price. Probably 5-8 hours on them now. Dare I say they are perfect for my application. They really don't do anything wrong. Even sitting and half assed critically listening. They have great presence, they are open and present a decent sound stage, depth and height is limited. Vocals are clear and mostly uncolored. The tweeter is detailed, crisp and smooth, no raspiness. The presentation is very even and well integrated. With the right recordings they can even disappear.

So far, they are a very impressive speaker for the $$$. I'll say they have exceeded my expectations and lived up to the very positive reviews. I don;t know what Mojo Polk has had the past 5-6 years but they are putting a consistently great product at each price point for every budget to enjoy without feeling like they overspent for a mediocre product.

I especially like the rounded cabinets. They look more modern and expensive.

These are my impressions so far.

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Clipdat

Nice, when are you upgrading the crossovers?

heiney9

LOL.....I've thought about it. But I should do the R200's first....lol.

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heiney9

Little update....

Finally moved in and staying at the new place. My TV rig is the Marantz PM6007 integrated amp, Polk Signature Elite ES20's, Rockville stands, MIT AVt S3 speaker cables. It's 100% for TV listening/non-cd quality streaming. I did some streaming this weekend through the TV (Amazon Music app). It sounded better than I though it would.

This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for. A simple system for the GF to run that sounds much better than it should. No super critical listening. No crappy TV speakers. The room is less (much less) than optimal for surround sound and the GF could care less anyway.

Marantz and Polk are a very good combo. I have the optical out of the TV going to the optical in on the Marantz and it sounds great. Even streaming less than cd quality music. We were jamming while unpacking, organizing, cleaning, etc.

The Sig Elites are an excellent speaker for the money. Non-fatiguing, but still lots of detail and clarity. No wooliness to my ears, pretty good bass for a very large room with very high ceilings. Using Comcast X1 cable box and remote and paired all 3 devices (Marantz, TV and cable box). Only 1 remote to do most things is soooooo much better.

This worked out much better than I had hoped. Plus everything looks so nice and clean. Minimal wires, cables, etc. While the speakers aren't exotic looking, they don't exude cheapness either. The black finish looks nice and other than the seam on the bottom of each speaker the faux laminate looks nice. Love the rounded corners.

Overall, I'm glad I went with the less expensive line. For this purpose I don't think the R200's would have added anything to this type of use other than a lighter wallet. The R200's would have been over-kill for this specific situation.

I was worried about the ES20's being fatiguing, or nasally or woolly. But the vocals sound very, very good. Bass is good for their size and I didn't want a bass monster anyway. I have the big rig for that. Clarity is excellent, they sound "full". Still getting all the sounds and separation from a movie.

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heiney9

I have to say these have worked out spectacularly. If anyone is looking for an even more budget friendly pair of speakers than the R200's, these are it. The articulation and soundstage is excellent. Sometimes on movies I swear I hear sounds coming from around me. Kind of like SDA but obviously a lot more subtle.

The Marantz PM6007 integrated has been great as well. I run the audio out of the tv via toslink to the internal dac. Hard to believe this little "TV" system which also does some Spotify streaming duty for background music cost around $1k. I'm sure the MIT AVt speaker cables help a bit as well.

It has worked out much better and performed much better than anticipated. My GF loves the simplicity of using one remote (cable TV box) to run everything. I did put my APC HT15 power conditioner into the rig as well.

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H9