Things that I have learned......

TroyD

As I concluded in another post:

Hi-Fi for the common man, as I and many of us know it, is dead.

After visiting HQ Polk, ol' Big Dumb did have an epiphany of sorts. I realized that Polk IS, insidiously, trying to infect the unsuspecting with the hifi disease in new and delightfully deviant ways.

The new series of inwalls blew me away. Inwalls that I've heard in the past were various shades of crappy. The new ones? AWESOME.

IP addressable speakers? I don't even know what that means but it reaffirms the fact that if Polk were listening to knuckleheads like me, they would be out of business in a week.

Car audio can be a hifi platform.

The surround bar? See the other thread.

The other thing that amazed me was the amount of high tech engineering that goes into everything that Polk does. It's not like, ok, blaze up a fat one and drop some drivers in a cabinet....

Also, they are coming out with a new sort of tape on thier boxes, guaranteed not to gum up the blade on a box cutter. See Dan? Polk DOES listen to the pros in the field.

Anyhow, apologize for the redundancy but I'm still in awe of the whole weekend.

Where's that handle of Beam? I need a tug.

BDT

audiobliss

Nice to see someone like you seeing reason for hope once again.

Non-gooey tape? That's pretty cool....

ND13

Troy,

I think that alot of people's eyes were pryed open Friday. I know that mine were.

HBombToo

The IP addressable speakers are WAY over the top and will get my in a bunch of trouble with the wife....

faster100

That's cool, can't wait to see how many with their eye's opened drop 1 large for a single speaker.. I bet it sounds good price aside.

Polk65

I found out a thing or two at this Polkfest that others might like to just read or contribute to.

It should be recognized that Matt is a fun person, and as a result there are employees still working with him after 15-20+ years to share tidbits from the past.

* Ken saw me gazing up at the truck doors hanging in the auto sound bay. He mentioned that the doors are from an old Polk Audio demo truck named Polk-a-saurus and that it had played music at several Polk employee's weddings.

* Friday during lunch I had a great conversation with Tammy about vintage Polk speakers. She explained that in some versions of the SDA CRS speakers, they used dowels to attach the front lower trim piece to the cabinet. Quite often they would have to re-attach the trim piece several times to get it flush with the cabinet.

* Most of Polk Audio's employees play a musical instrument. Thanks to "The Kluge" for the lunch time music.

* I've been curious of how to properly store discontinued mid-woofers for long term storage. Stu said to store them upright just as they are mounted in cabinets. Unfortunately I don't exactly remember what he said occurs with storing mid-woofers horizontally. Something about sag I believe.

* Matt is proud of the SDA 2b, achieving such great sound with only 1 SDA and 1 stereo driver. This has been mentioned before, however ND13 asked Matt to confirm this and I heard it in person so it is no rumor.

* Matt is able to mingle loosely with employees and with Club Polk internet weirdos. An example of this was at Mark's house on Saturday. As I was walking between Mark's demo rooms, I noticed Matt in the living room listening to the SDA 2's and chatting with Philpfeif. I had heard no clap of hands nor anyone passing the word that Matt had arrived. I watched the scene for about two minutes then continued on to the next audition room. This made me feel happy that Matt was able to join us and pretty much experience a CP Polkfest as we do.

* While I was in Mark's cellar appreciating Jesse's restoration of a pair of SDA CRS, Mark walked in with Matt. I mentioned to Matt what I had heard about the SDA CRS trim the previous day and smiling he said "yes they took a lot of time to get them right". I have been curious if the RTA 15tl ever had a cover of some sort over the rear passive radiator. Matt said it did not. The fact that it was a floor standing model, pretty much insured that it would be positioned away from a wall. The SDA CRS however might be placed in a bookshelf and needed some protection.

I went to Polkfest with a few questions in mind, and all were answered. My goal was to hear some of Polk's auto speakers. Their SR6500's blew me away and I know they will bring Polk Audio more car audio trophies in the near future.

For those wondering about the future... Polk Audio continues their tradition of always having exciting things in thw works for future products. There are several innovative HA and CA products planned .

HBombToo

Polk65 wrote:

* Matt is proud of the SDA 2b, achieving such great sound with only 1 SDA and 1 stereo driver. This has been mentioned before, however ND13 asked Matt to confirm this and I heard it in person so it is no rumor.

I am not surprised at all reading this after being so lucky in grabbing two pair from fellow polkies. The CRS+ is no slouch either!

HBomb

mantis

TroyD,
"Also, they are coming out with a new sort of tape on thier boxes, guaranteed not to gum up the blade on a box cutter. See Dan? Polk DOES listen to the pros in the field."

Funny how you thought of me LOL

Anyway I'm glad to see you make a factory tour.It gives you a different respect. It's really cool to see how things we love get made. Your right about the fatty and dropping in drivers part. Alot of time and effort goes into all products.

Cool man,

Dan

ninerbj

Would one of you guys be so kind to explain the inwall with IP addressable?

nadams

ninerbj wrote:

Would one of you guys be so kind to explain the inwall with IP addressable?

Boy, polk audio sure would! http://www.polkaudio.com/partners/press.php?id=45

TroyD

Dan,

Actually my fourth or fifth trip to Polk HQ.....

BDT

MacLeod

TroyD wrote:

Car audio can be a hifi platform.

I was glad they demo'd the new SR's and in addition to the soundboard used a car with a SQ install rather than one with 20 subs and 10,000 watts of bass. The SR's have blown me away and I knew HA enthusiasts would appreciate them as well.