3.1tl Review.... LONG
Tour2ma
Posts: 10,177
Life with 3.1tls
by Tour2ma
I put these little SDAs through their paces over the past couple weeks, but before I get into that
I want to thank Joey for selling them, and Brett and Jesse for deciding they did not want them. Thanks also go to the Mrs., who green-lighted their taking up residence here. I believe Id cry, if I had to part with them.
The set up
Slipped these in front and inside of my SRSs, the front stage of my HT rig. I borrowed my SRSs MW feed from my Sunfires voltage output to power them with a mere 400 wpc.
As no SDA IC came with them, and my SRSs blade-blade was not compatible, I rigged one from some old 16-ga lamp cord that was lying around. The simple cut, strip, twist and push into the Pin-Blade approach was aided by dual banana plugs on the speaker wire runs straddling the IC. Worked rather well
Leveling was an easy one-man job, as was aligning them, thanks to the grid provided by a ceramic tile floor. The split was roughly 5 from inside edge to inside edge.
And were off
The test material
I threw all my stock demo stuff at them: Flim and the BBs Tricycle, DSOTM, Stravinskys Firebird, Dave Brubecks Time Out, Portisheads DummyRobbie Robertsons Storyville, Dean Peers Lords Tundra, Horowitzs The Studio Recordings and, yes, my beloved Dee-Lite World Clique and more.
The findings SQ
At a little less than half of the enclosure volume of my SRSs, I wasnt expecting too much in the way of bass Way wrong on that count. These little effers can thump. Not quite to the degree that the SRSs can (Portishead did not quite rattle the rafters as much through the 3.1s), but damn close.
The 3.1s do take a bit more persuading than my SRSs, about 6 dB more volume level, to achieve the same output, but they do get there. Through all the demo material the 3.1s seemed to laugh and say, Is that all ya got?
While they thumped away, delivering a pleasant intestinal massage, they also delivered great detail. Not only did I hear everything I was accustomed to hearing, e.g., Dean Peers pre-plucking of his bass, I heard several bits (no pun intended) that I did not remember hearing before. Little extras came forth in several tracks, a smile producing, if not jaw dropping, experience.
The findings Soundstage and SDA
Very impressed here. Now as the 3.1s are only about 4 tall, standing does noticeably drop the SPL. This just made sitting down even more enjoyable than the standard take a load off. I ended up doing most of the critical listening cross-legged on the floor about 6 in front of them, kind of a pseudo, near-field position.
Orchestral placement was quite good in both width and depth. Occasionally the strings location was a bit smeared, especially 2nd violins, but SDA can do that. Horns and woodwinds were three dimensionally pinpoint, as was the percussion section.
On simpler ensembles, e.g., Dave Brubeck, the quartets placement was very good. I listened closely for the magic movement of Paul Desmonds alto sax on Blue Rondo, but it was not to be found here and thus remains the domain of Maggies and, to a lesser degree, CAs.
The SDA is strong within this one
Considering that in the 3.1s the SDA drivers are outnumbered 4 to 1 by the stereo drivers, I expected a somewhat less than SRS level SDA experience. Again wrong. Pink Floyds Money produced all the requisite SDA grins. However
It was Dee-Lites Deep Ending that provided the sessions biggest, WTF Let me play that again, SDA thrill. In this track there is a high frequency, rhythmic rasp that moves from channel to channel through out most of the track. The effect is entertaining enough on an ordinary stereo, bounded by the speakers. On my SRSs its travel to and fro is nicely exaggerated several feet outside the box(es), but is one-dimensional. The CAs produce a circular, clockwise motion in this sounds travel, adding up and down to back and forth. The 3.1s displayed all the unbounded back and forth movement, and in place of the CAs vertical circling, they added a flat circle protruding from and receding into the soundstage. Put another way, as the sound moved from right to left, it passed almost close enough to touch my nose, and as it moved from left to right it traveled to the wall some 2 behind the 3.1s. This is the stuff of which jaw drops are made
On the other hand, dual-microphone, solo piano recordings remain unbearable for me to hear on SDAs. Theres something about a twenty-foot wide keyboard that is just not realistic. Horowitz barely had time to complete The Minute Waltz before he was sent back to his jewel case.
I did no formal HT testing, but did make some casual observations, one of some significance. I have always felt that my CS400s tone blended nicely with my SRSs, and it does. The 3.1s showed me what a really well matched front stage should sound like. Abso-friggin-seamless
Conclusions
While my search for the speaker that does everything very, very well continues unfulfilled, these mid-sized Polks came closer than I thought they would.
The 3.1tl is a damn fine SDA representative. It just might be the one that Polk should bring back. It is not so big that it cannot fit in with a rooms décor, and delivers a very high percentage of the thrills of its bigger, low WAF brothers.
I never had designs on owning any additional SDAs other than the CRSs, that impressed me so much at Russs TX PF-II last January. Then these 3.1s fell into my lap and they are not going anywhere other than the 2-channel room, where they now sit and where I thought they were destined to serve. However, it is very possible that they may end up as my HT mains pending the results of an upcoming test run with Mr. SVS. And since the SRSs would not be too shabby in a dedicated 2-channel rig, how can I lose?
Decisions, decisions aint life great?
I put these little SDAs through their paces over the past couple weeks, but before I get into that
I want to thank Joey for selling them, and Brett and Jesse for deciding they did not want them. Thanks also go to the Mrs., who green-lighted their taking up residence here. I believe Id cry, if I had to part with them.
The set up
Slipped these in front and inside of my SRSs, the front stage of my HT rig. I borrowed my SRSs MW feed from my Sunfires voltage output to power them with a mere 400 wpc.
As no SDA IC came with them, and my SRSs blade-blade was not compatible, I rigged one from some old 16-ga lamp cord that was lying around. The simple cut, strip, twist and push into the Pin-Blade approach was aided by dual banana plugs on the speaker wire runs straddling the IC. Worked rather well
Leveling was an easy one-man job, as was aligning them, thanks to the grid provided by a ceramic tile floor. The split was roughly 5 from inside edge to inside edge.
And were off
The test material
I threw all my stock demo stuff at them: Flim and the BBs Tricycle, DSOTM, Stravinskys Firebird, Dave Brubecks Time Out, Portisheads DummyRobbie Robertsons Storyville, Dean Peers Lords Tundra, Horowitzs The Studio Recordings and, yes, my beloved Dee-Lite World Clique and more.
The findings SQ
At a little less than half of the enclosure volume of my SRSs, I wasnt expecting too much in the way of bass Way wrong on that count. These little effers can thump. Not quite to the degree that the SRSs can (Portishead did not quite rattle the rafters as much through the 3.1s), but damn close.
The 3.1s do take a bit more persuading than my SRSs, about 6 dB more volume level, to achieve the same output, but they do get there. Through all the demo material the 3.1s seemed to laugh and say, Is that all ya got?
While they thumped away, delivering a pleasant intestinal massage, they also delivered great detail. Not only did I hear everything I was accustomed to hearing, e.g., Dean Peers pre-plucking of his bass, I heard several bits (no pun intended) that I did not remember hearing before. Little extras came forth in several tracks, a smile producing, if not jaw dropping, experience.
The findings Soundstage and SDA
Very impressed here. Now as the 3.1s are only about 4 tall, standing does noticeably drop the SPL. This just made sitting down even more enjoyable than the standard take a load off. I ended up doing most of the critical listening cross-legged on the floor about 6 in front of them, kind of a pseudo, near-field position.
Orchestral placement was quite good in both width and depth. Occasionally the strings location was a bit smeared, especially 2nd violins, but SDA can do that. Horns and woodwinds were three dimensionally pinpoint, as was the percussion section.
On simpler ensembles, e.g., Dave Brubeck, the quartets placement was very good. I listened closely for the magic movement of Paul Desmonds alto sax on Blue Rondo, but it was not to be found here and thus remains the domain of Maggies and, to a lesser degree, CAs.
The SDA is strong within this one
Considering that in the 3.1s the SDA drivers are outnumbered 4 to 1 by the stereo drivers, I expected a somewhat less than SRS level SDA experience. Again wrong. Pink Floyds Money produced all the requisite SDA grins. However
It was Dee-Lites Deep Ending that provided the sessions biggest, WTF Let me play that again, SDA thrill. In this track there is a high frequency, rhythmic rasp that moves from channel to channel through out most of the track. The effect is entertaining enough on an ordinary stereo, bounded by the speakers. On my SRSs its travel to and fro is nicely exaggerated several feet outside the box(es), but is one-dimensional. The CAs produce a circular, clockwise motion in this sounds travel, adding up and down to back and forth. The 3.1s displayed all the unbounded back and forth movement, and in place of the CAs vertical circling, they added a flat circle protruding from and receding into the soundstage. Put another way, as the sound moved from right to left, it passed almost close enough to touch my nose, and as it moved from left to right it traveled to the wall some 2 behind the 3.1s. This is the stuff of which jaw drops are made
On the other hand, dual-microphone, solo piano recordings remain unbearable for me to hear on SDAs. Theres something about a twenty-foot wide keyboard that is just not realistic. Horowitz barely had time to complete The Minute Waltz before he was sent back to his jewel case.
I did no formal HT testing, but did make some casual observations, one of some significance. I have always felt that my CS400s tone blended nicely with my SRSs, and it does. The 3.1s showed me what a really well matched front stage should sound like. Abso-friggin-seamless
Conclusions
While my search for the speaker that does everything very, very well continues unfulfilled, these mid-sized Polks came closer than I thought they would.
The 3.1tl is a damn fine SDA representative. It just might be the one that Polk should bring back. It is not so big that it cannot fit in with a rooms décor, and delivers a very high percentage of the thrills of its bigger, low WAF brothers.
I never had designs on owning any additional SDAs other than the CRSs, that impressed me so much at Russs TX PF-II last January. Then these 3.1s fell into my lap and they are not going anywhere other than the 2-channel room, where they now sit and where I thought they were destined to serve. However, it is very possible that they may end up as my HT mains pending the results of an upcoming test run with Mr. SVS. And since the SRSs would not be too shabby in a dedicated 2-channel rig, how can I lose?
Decisions, decisions aint life great?
More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
Post edited by Tour2ma on
Comments
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Excellent review. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience.Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
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Nice job Tour.
Can you imagine doing that for a living?
I could
-Luc -
Gracias, amigos...
Yup forgot da pics... (effin' amateur, I be...)
Coming right up...More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
Other angle.... for no apparent reason...More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
.. and one for the nudie fans...More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
Thanks for the pics... I like them and as an aside they look as though they were developed from the RTA15TL's that I purchased from Russ.
After seeing these I would think they would be awsome for HT with MR. SVS;) My 15TL's continue to impress me in HT duty and mixes quite well with my twin CS+ subs!
HBomb***WAREMTAE*** -
Nice review, it changed my life.CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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I wonder if I got some of them...would my mom notice
Very nice review! Old Polks rule!- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Nice Tour very nice, you made me want to leave here, go home sit and enjoy the music and that is what its all about.
RT1 -
Thanks for the nudie shot.
How many drivers do you have total in your orgy of music making delight?Tschüss
Zach -
I also have the same issue with solo piano music. It's like I need a center channel. The sound is big however but not very realistic.
Good review!! -
POLKHENGE
-Luc -
bz,
Pulling the SDA "plug" does the trick. The speakers are more than capable, just can't focus a dual mic set-up with SDA in play. No such issues with single mic'd piano in trios, etc. Even Polk Paul commented on this at Troy's wing ding...
op,
You know, I've yet to fire them all up at once...
rt,
What? With the fun job you have?
Thanks again all...
You too, doro... I hope it was for the better... More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
I dont understand one thing
Dont the outside drivers stop working completely with the SDA IC disconnected?
If so, wouldnt the outside drivers that dont work, wouldnt that change the overall sound since they would be like passive radiators?
Or does it just stop transfering the opposite channel into that channels speaker? I dunno, I forget- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Nice review Bruce! Are your reviewing services for hire? 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 -
i like to review srs 3.1tl since that speaker i play that using carver 5.0 amp/pre carver/ cd player marantz play the song diana krall the sound , its amazing and sound stage are great, i missed my stuff including my monitor 10a.when my 2 channel rig system gone,i used another receiver harman kardon avr 525, what i can say to this speaker, men amazing using any kinds of amp / pre amp they are sing very well,u can used that as a h/t front channel the high, mid.low are detailed,i wish i have that speaker again,i never regret to've them again, , i have so many stuff, any speaker come to my hand, but this srs 3.1tl never ever to compare any brand , , i list speaker on my hand right now jbl L112, pioneer hpm 100, epi 150, genesis model 320 older model, ihave ads L1290, but its gone now.
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Sid,
No pulling the SDa IC just kills the SDA array drivers... The stereo drivers are always directly fed by the speaker wire runs.
You can't afford me...Originally posted by F1nut
Nice review Bruce! Are your reviewing services for hire?... I know this beause I can't even afford me...
joey,
Sorry to hear of your remorse, but understand it. We will definitely work out some visitation rights.
Right now the house is in the middle of several inside projects, but when they are substantially done you can expect an invite... and bring the whole family... and the chess board...More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
HOLY GUACAMOLE PEDRO!!
Its like the redwood forest's avenue of giants!!
They must have used half the forest to make those babies:eek:
SHWING!! -
Thanks, NF..
LOL... Missed this before... funnny thing is the wife actually refers to "it" as Stonehenge"... I think your twist is a little catchier...Originally posted by trubluluc
POLKHENGE
-LucMore later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
So...
If you cut the SDA array drivers on the 3.1 - that would leave it with ONE active driver??
Or, the 1.2 - 4 actives instead of 8??
Again, If this is so, wouldnt this cause a change in how the passive radiator works with the rest of the 'system', since it is obviously tuned to (1.2tl) 8 midbasses instead of 4...
Just missing the logic..
Hehe, but that is nothing new - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Sid, the lone driver is the SDA driver, you'd still have 4 stereo drivers working.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 -
Yup, in either a 3.1 or a SRS there would be four active, stereo drivers, if you pull the SDA plug...
Sid, only saying this helps in the case of solo piano that has been dual mic'd... that's all. Not for everyday, all music, all the time...
Capice'?
As for the PR... good question to spend a little thought on...
If the Left SDA MW's are 180 deg's out of phase with the Right Ch stereo MW's, then they are likely to be out of phase with the Left ch stereo MW's. But this is only in the frequencies where localization occurs.
Down near the bottom end of a SDA speaker's FR, I think all the MW's in a given cabinet work together. So yes, I'd think the PR displacement would be diminished by pulling the SDA plug.More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
Ol Insomniac Sid checking in...
Ah ok, makes sense now
Anyways, very interesting thoughts...
Very nice, are those big black things maggies or what?- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
very nice and well written review.. and i love the pics too.
thanks for taking the time to listen.. i'm sure it was hell... having to listen to so much music for hours on the SDA 3.1 tl's.
PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin: -
Thanks, db... the things I do for this Club I tell ya...
Sid,
The middle "big black things" are Maggies; the far right "bbt's" are Carver Amazings...
Thanks to you as well, Sean. Have another "review" in the works from a little trip downtown I took last week that you may enjoy as well.
More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
I´ve had a set of 3.1TL´s since they were new.
They do most of what their bigger brothers accomplish.
The only thing they lack is the size-intimidation factor. -
Originally posted by rskarvan
I´ve had a set of 3.1TL´s since they were new.
NOW I want a pair!!!! whats a neeing soul like me to do.
HBomb***WAREMTAE***
