Who is Polk Audio?

kab

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

Ricardo

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.

edbert

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 sounded

AndyGwis

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)

shack

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.

kab

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

exalted512

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.
-Cody

izafar

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

dorokusai

-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 45

Willow

Customer service second to none
best price for quality speakers

Innovative
Quality
ahead of the game

Purchased back in 2004 rti4 csi3 2006, rti8

VR3

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.

ben62670

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

Ben

danger boy

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.

TennesseeOutlaw

Reliable
Consistently solid product
Upper Mid-Fi
Quality construction
Aesthically pleasing (spell Check)

Ive owned Polk since 1995 (S8's)

McLoki

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.

RuSsMaN

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 electronics

cfrizz

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!

cmy330go

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!

read-alot

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.

Jstas

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.

MattN03

Polk means excellent customer service and a superior product at it's price point.

George Grand

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.

madmax

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.

madmax

MSALLA

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.

ledhed

High Quality at a low price

Fist experienced Polk in 2005, have owned an RM set, RT1000P RT5 and R15s

strider

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.

Ron-P

- making people fatter

Not true, Mc-Dee's does not make people fatter. People make themselves fatter.

As for what Polk is when I think of them...Quality sound, great CS, great prices, honorable company.

TN_Polk_Lover

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.

janmike

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
LSiC

Holydoc

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

*********************************

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.

bknauss

A paycheck