Who is Polk Audio?
kab
Posts: 275
Seriously!
Inside the building, we think we know who Polk is and what the brand stands for; however, in the end, what we think is wholly unimportant. What you and other Polk owners think Polk is all that matters.
So what ideas, images or thoughts come to mind when ask to describe the Polk Brand? How would you describe the personality of the brand? What does the brand stand for?
Here's an example. When I think of McDonalds these things come to mind:
- brought the 25 cent hambuger, fries and shake to America then to the world (not necesarily a good thing)
- cheap hamburgers,
- great tasting fries,
- consistent product,
- fast food,
- yellow arches,
- everywhere,
- uses kids to drag the family in,
- bad for my health.
- drive through
- friendly atmosphere
- making people fatter
With more time I could think of others but you get the idea.
Let us know what or who you think Polk Audio is?
Thanks.
Al
Inside the building, we think we know who Polk is and what the brand stands for; however, in the end, what we think is wholly unimportant. What you and other Polk owners think Polk is all that matters.
So what ideas, images or thoughts come to mind when ask to describe the Polk Brand? How would you describe the personality of the brand? What does the brand stand for?
Here's an example. When I think of McDonalds these things come to mind:
- brought the 25 cent hambuger, fries and shake to America then to the world (not necesarily a good thing)
- cheap hamburgers,
- great tasting fries,
- consistent product,
- fast food,
- yellow arches,
- everywhere,
- uses kids to drag the family in,
- bad for my health.
- drive through
- friendly atmosphere
- making people fatter
With more time I could think of others but you get the idea.
Let us know what or who you think Polk Audio is?
Thanks.
Al
Post edited by kab on
Comments
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I prefer Burger King
Who's Polk Audio?
-High in sound, low in price
-Friendly and Professional staff
-Best Customer Service
-Innovation
That's all for now....
Edit: Own polk speakers and XM tuner; had my first Polk product in 2005._________________________________________________
***\\\\\........................... My Audio Journey ............................./////***
2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
SOPAThank God for different opinions. Imagine the world if we all wanted the same woman -
Polk Audio is...
Great customer service
Wide variety of products for all budget levels
Quality product no matter the price
Edit: Monitor 40's, 30's, CS1, PSW10, 2 pair GX series in my car, 2 pair GX series in my in-laws jeep I bought for them because I liked the way mine soundedI know just enough to be dangerous, but don't tell my wife, she thinks I'm a genius.
Pioneer VSX-816
Monitor 40's - fronts, bi-amped
Monitor 30's - surrounds
CS1 - center
PSW10 - I'll let you guess
Blue Jeans Cable - speaker cable
Daewoo 27 incher - one step up from a console
Sony Progressive scan DVD
XBOX
SOPA since 2008
Here's my stuff. -
Classic old gear.
Innovative new gear.
Big company with a small company mentality / customer service.
Polk products (12/2005): Monitor 7Bs, T20ebs (4), T90ebs (2), CSi3, CS2, PSW10 (but only for a week)Stereo Rig: Hales Revelation 3, Musical Fidelity CD-Pre 24, Forte Model 3 amp, Lexicon RT-10 SACD, MMF-5 w/speedbox, Forte Model 2 Phono Pre, Cardas Crosslink, APC H15, URC MX-950, Lovan Stand
Bedroom: Samsung HPR-4252, Toshiba HD-A2, HK 3480, Signal Cable, AQ speaker cable, Totem Dreamcatchers, SVS PB10-NSD, URC MX-850 -
Best in industry customer service.
Bang for the buck products.
Reliabilty.
2000 (RT15i)
Polk Products....SDA 1C, RT400, RT15i, RT25i, RT55i, CS400i, FX300i, XRt12, MiDock."Just because youre offended doesnt mean youre right." - Ricky Gervais
"For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible." - Stuart Chase
"Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago." - Bernard Berenson -
As part of your post can you also state whether you own a Polk product or not? If you do, in what year did you get your first Polk product?
Thanks -
Polk Audio--
Fantastic customer service
pretty much what the others said, I like how rookie said it, high in sound low in price. I had to mention customer service again though, its absolutely fantastic and the number one thing that'll keep me coming back.
Been a Polk owner since 2000, no HA though. Ive owned MM6 components and mm120 and mm12 subs, currently have the SRs in my g/f's car.
-CodyMusic is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it -
Polk Audio is:
- Quality sound for every one(products at multiple cost points)
- Best sound per $
- Great customer service
- Pioneer in connecting with customer base (club Polk initiative)
I bought my first Polks (a RM series HT speaker system) in 2000-izafar
Goldenear Technology Triton 1 - Benchmark AHB2 - Benchmark LA4 - Auralic Vega - Auralic Aries Mini - Marantz TT-15S1 - Clearaudio Nano -
-Exceptional Customer Service
-Solid user/fan base ala Club Polk that borders on obsessed, rock groupie level
-Product line that is always market relevant yet changing
-Grassroots mentality but with a secret
-Industry leader
1988 - Monitor 10B
2007 - 5.1 RTi(Older), SDA CRS+, Atrium 45CTC 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. -
Customer service second to none
best price for quality speakers
Innovative
Quality
ahead of the game
Purchased back in 2004 rti4 csi3 2006, rti8 -
Description of Polk Audio -
Innovative, truly brought the small midbass driver to the home audio market.
Concerning speakers, they stick to what they know, safe (6-7 versions of the RT line, a bulletproof LSi line, etc etc)
Excellent customer service and interaction
Solid products for the dollar
Expanding
Best bang for the buck overall in the mass market stores
Great company
Products Ive owned -
RT5, RT35i, RT25i, CS245i, RTi70, RT55 - family has owned SDA 1.2TL and Atrium 55.
First owned them in 2002.- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Best bang for the buck speakers out there.
By far the best costumer service anywhere, and this is a fairly large company. If you call them they give you answers. They still have driver replacements for speakers that are over 25 years old, and they don't tell you "we don't support those anymore". Try finding that anywhere else.
Costumer service, Costumer service, Costumer service
BenPlease. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
Thanks
Ben -
Polk Audio is...
consistantly high value products
diversified audio products
Polk Audio listens to it's customers
classic sounding speakers
I first bought my Polk Audio speakers in 2001, beginning with a PSW 350, many other's since then.PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin: -
Reliable
Consistently solid product
Upper Mid-Fi
Quality construction
Aesthically pleasing (spell Check)
Ive owned Polk since 1995 (S8's) -
What I think of when someone says Polk audio -
SDA's
White Lab Coat (sorry Matt... )
solid mid-fi company with a few hi-fi offerings (or pretty darn close)
Excellent customer service (this would be more for current customers than new ones)
Club Polk.Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms) -
Alrighty.....
....That 'Polk' sound - everything from Aretha to Alice in Chains, Vivaldi to Van Halen - it all sounds good
....American
....Products made by audio nuts, for audio nuts
....Blown / fragile tweeters - never had an issue myself, but all the pub / complaints from uninformed end users throughout the years
....Technology driven - raised bezel, power port, arc port, SDA, etc etc
....Team of mad scientists in lab coats with probes and various measuring devices
....Easy to drive, amplifier friendly
....Speakers (all lines) respond well to better electronicsCheck your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service. -
Consistent high quality product.
Good value.
Longevity.
Outstanding customer service.
Values the opinions & concerns of their customers that they will even come on a public forum board to address such concerns.
That kind of commitment will ALWAYS have my loyalty!
I have owned Polk RTA-8T's since Feb 6, 1990 & they sound as good now as they did when I first got them!Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2 -
As said multiple times before:
Superior customer support.
Great bang for the buck.
High quality.
Reliable
Outstanding on-line community.
First Polk Product: RM5400's (mid 1990's?)
Previously owned: RTi4, RTi6, PSW404, PSW650
Currently: LSi7, LSi9, LSi15, LSiC, LSiFX, PSW1000, RT25i.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!HT
Mits WD-65737, DirecTV, Oppo DV-970HD, XBOX ONE, Yamaha RX-A1030, Parasound Halo A23, Rotel RB-985, Music Hall MMF-7, Parasound PPH-100, LSi-15, LSi-C, LSi-FX, LSi-7, PSW-1000, Monster HTS2600
2 CH
Parasound Halo P3, Parasound Halo A21, Sutherland Ph.D, VPI Classic 3 w/ 3D arm & Soundsmith Aida Cartridge, Arcam CD72T, B&W 802 S3, Monster HTS2500, -
Just a great company to do business with.
SDA II's in 1987 or 1986 - Still have them
My wife says it was in 86 that I brought them home, she's always right.polkaudio SRS (rdo194 x 8)
Dodd ELP (separate power supply)
JC 1 blocks ( strapped )
Rega Apollo
MIT (speaker cables) Outlaw (ICs)
polkaudio SDA2(rdo194x4) (front) polkaudio CRS (rdo194x4)(rear) polkaudio 400i (center)
B&K 505
Samsung LCD
VIP 622
HSU STF-2 -
Polk Audio is:
Matt Polk!
High value
Lotsa bang for your buck
Supportive of it's products and customers
run by regular guys like me
Innovative
A market leader
Affordable High Fidelity Sound
Dependable
Got my first Polk product in 1995, 4" EX series coaxials for the dash in my Ranger
Products owned:
Car Audio: EX401a, EX502, dB6500, dB3065, dB5250, dB9, dB104, dB124, DX104, DX124, C-4 (sub), MM2124, MM104
Home Audio: SDA2B, R15, XRt12 and several pairs of computer speakers with no model numbers that were built for Silicon Graphics and one pair of what looks like a prototype for Hewlett Packard.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
Polk means excellent customer service and a superior product at it's price point.
-
Great products
Great customer support
Older products don't really deteriorate, and are highly sought after.
Best rapport w/customers in the industry
People who have been involved w/great sound since the 70's.
No real klunkers or dumb fad stuff.
Best labcoats.
1989, 2 pair of shiny, new RTA 11T's.
i don't have any Polk produce now. -
My 5 minutes of thought on who polk is. Time was limited so this is just a glimpse.
Isn't polk audio that little speaker outfit who started out with decent sounding reasonably priced monitors? In the late 80's they competed with bose and created SDA speakers. They had a really hip engineer type who always wore a white lab coat, even on his days off. They have now become fairly large, have their products made in other countries for cost reasons and have moved from the smaller quantity higher end products to high quality lower priced products. Today they make high quantities which puts them out of the audiophile grade market but provide lower cost alternatives which compete quite well in the market place.
madmaxVinyl, the final frontier...
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... -
Entry level high-end audio speakers.
Bargin prices for the quality of the product.
Outstanding customer service.
Current polk product owner. 1st. polk product bought in 2001.Michael
Samsung 50" HD DLP
Yamaha RX-V2500
(2) Outlaw 200
Adcom GFA 555
Sony BDP300
Denon 2900 DVD
Lsi9's mains
Lsi7's rear
Lsic center
12.1 SVS driver in 4.53 cuft. tube
Harmony 880 -
High Quality at a low price
Fist experienced Polk in 2005, have owned an RM set, RT1000P RT5 and R15sGod shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8 -
At first Polk was a local company that had cool looking speakers in their ads in Stereo Review. I was 10 or 11.
Then I met one of my uncle's friends who worked there. I liked him, he was into music; I could relate to him on a mental level, too. Me- 12 yrs old
My uncle got a set of Monitor 4's. Wasn't in my dream system, but still loved their sound. I got into a lot of music I still love today listening to them.
Stereo equipment kinda faded when girls and partying came into the picture, at least until I got a "real" job. The first major purchases I made were a Carver amp, pre, and a set of RT55's in rosewood. I still have them all, and use them just about every day. That was in 2000.
Now I have the Rt55's with a CS400i and a set of LS f/x's on the way for the ole HT. Downstairs in the cave I have a set of SDA 2B's that are my current project. I've sold a set of RT55i's to finance the 2B's, also have a set of unused AB600's on the way from my uncle's friend, who's now my friend as well.
The Reader's Digest version: Matt Polk surrounded by towering SDA SRS's and the Monitor series, a local connection, good music, good friends (both old and new), and good times. Damn cool, especially considering it all centers around speakers.Wristwatch--->Crisco -
- making people fatter
As for what Polk is when I think of them...Quality sound, great CS, great prices, honorable company.If...
Ron dislikes a film = go out and buy it.
Ron loves a film = don't even rent. -
My first experience with Polk Speakers was with a place in Columbus, GA (my hometown) called Merit Sound City. I don't know if they still exist or not. Anyway, I remember they carried Polk, Klipsh, and Bose, and I think Mirage.
I just remember the first time I just walked through their main showroom area, wasn't even set up that well for real demo / listening and I heard the sweetest, smoothest, yet fully extended treble sound and I stopped dead in my tracks and asked the salesman, "Which speakers is that coming from?" He said, these Polks right here. I don't even remember what kind they were. I was hooked right then and there. He switched to some Klipsh which I found to forward - midrange was too overly emphasized - not terrible sounding, but I just preferred the Polks. And, Bose, well, lets just say, the salesman confided in me that they did not like the direction Bose was going, and the next time I went in there, they had dropped the Bose line.
So, many years later, after I reached the point I had a little more income and could start building a system, I ordered a pair of Polk RTi38's - cherry finish from brandnamez.com. I ordered them without really listening to them, other than just a casual listen at Circuit City, under less than ideal conditions.
I can't remember the exact year. I think it was about a year before the new (current) RTi series came out. I've added more of the RTi line to my collection. The RTi70s I bought half price at Circuit City, they were "open box" ones. That was just before the new RTi line came out. The others I have I bought used off of ebay.
I have never had to order new drivers or anything, so I can't really speak to the customer service issue, but everyone here says it is excellent.
I am totally biased of course, but I guess if I had to sum up my impressions:
Not highest of the high-end, but very affordable for what you get. Good value in other words.
More concerned with good sound quality instead of "hype" (Opposite of Bose)
Three well defined lines of speakers (Monitor / RT / LS) at different price points, each a good value for the intended market.
Excellent web site with good reading material to help you learn.
And last but not least, Matt in the white lab coat (at least in days gone by.) The younger whipper-snappers around here probably don't remember those ads.Robert
zombie boy 2000 wrote:You are officially in the high-end of the deep-end of the top-end.
Bonus Room Over Garage:
Toshiba 27" CRT TV
Digital Source: Sony DVP-NS3100ES
DVR: Panasonic DMR-ES15
Denon 3806 AV Receiver
- L/R Preamp out to Parasound HCA-1200 Amp
Polk RTi70's, CSi40 Center, RTi38 Side Surrounds, RTi38 Back Surrounds
Living Room: (2ch only)
TV: Sony KV20-FV12
DVD Player: Sony DVP-NS715P
Yamaha R9 Receiver Polk RTi38's -
No sense repeating others, but these really stand out:
1) Great customer service
2) People driven
3) Great product for different types of listening
4) Somewhat innovative
5) Very good prices
6) EXCELLENT FORUM - Other than that I may have moved away
2002 - RTi100
Since then
RTi28
RTi38
CSi5
LSi9
LSiFX
LSiCMichael
In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
NORTH of 60° -
My Opinions:
1) Big City Speaker Company with a Hometown Attitude
2) Willing to Take the Extra Step to Ensure Customer Satisfaction
3) Speakers designed for the Common Man and Upcoming Audiophile
4) Known for Quality Sound and Service in Both the Home and Auto Regime
5) Great Quality at Reasonable Prices
6) Best Forum of Speaker Knowledge on the Web
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Notice I focused on Customer service the most. Without a doubt I have been more impressed with that aspect of this company more than anything else. To be such a large company and still give personal attention to its customers is nearly unheard of. For this alone Polk will always have my recommendations.
I did leave off Innovative which seemed to be in most of the above posts. I guess I have seen Polk as more Evolutionary than innovative.
*************************************
My Polk Products that I still use proudly are in my signature.Holydoc (Home Theatre Lover)
__________________________________________
Panasonic -50PX600U 50" Plasma
Onkyo -TX-NR901 Receiver
Oppo -Oppo 980HD Universal DVD Player
Outlaw -770 (7x200watt) Amplifier
PolkAudio - RTi12 (Left and Right)
PolkAudio - CSi5 (Center)
PolkAudio - FXi3 (Back and Surround)
SVS - PB-12/Plus (Subwoofer)
Bluejean Cables - Interconnects
Logitech Harmony 880 - Remote -