rti150's demo'd........o man......

mantis

Before I give me personal review of this speaker,just remember it's a personal review and you(the reader)shouln't base your speaker purchase off my words............with that being said......

I went to CC today to pick up Spiderman on DVD....liv4fam and I went to see if the rti150's where in..and there... they where standing tall.......big suckers they are.I'll skip build.....and get right into sound quality.
Man........... I was dissapointed.I couldn't believe what I was hearing.I first thought maybe it was the onkyo receiver I was running them with....so I switched to a Harman Kardon......got somewhat better but still..........they sounded awefull.......NO bass at all.I checked the wiring...some cheap **** 18 guage running off a switcher........a sony dvd player for a cd player.....and all of this in one of CC's great sound rooms=a mess.

I left CC disturbed and dissapointed.......I was speechless.....let down completely.............If they are nice sounding speakers,they sure didn't even give a hint of it in there........I demo'd them against the rti70's and the rti100's..........the rti100's where the best sounding out of the bunch..........the rti70's lacked serious detail(as they all did)the rti150's couldn't play a bass note to save there asses.........and the rti100's as we both felt where the best of the bunch....where no better sounding then a KLH cheapo speaker at Best Buy.........

Like I said ....this is what I heard....I couldn't even get the drive to get another cd out of the van for testing........I felt sick after this demo.........

Polk will ruin there names by selling there products in such horrifing sounding places......how the hell can you ask all that money and sound that bad...........If anyone was wondering if they had a chance against the LSi 15's?????NONE WHATS SO EVER.........different planet all together.........and totally not worth the asking price......they sounded like 400.00 cheap speakers..........I don't know what the hell happened there....

I wasn't going to post this.....I was considering keeping this under my hat......but damn guys....they sounded horrible.......nasty...I will restrick myself from expressing myself fully only due to my deep respect to Polk audio as a company.

Get out of CC POLK.......it's ruining your image as a good speaker company.......I can name all the speakers in there class and all of them sound better .....they are also in better stores with better sounding room with better sounding gear.........I'm so dissapointed........:mad:

TrappedUnder Ice

So tell us how you really feel?

I have not heard them really... all I know is I dont like the look of the new RTi line compared to the last line- I dont think build is anywhere compatable... to me..they look like cheap speakers now...and not even real grill cloth?
I go into CC to get my movies on tues...and I always look to see if some sucker has upgraded..so I can get some of last years speakers..

oh well..live and learn...

audionutt

were else do you want polk to sell there speakers? i know here in south bend we have best buy and circuit city and thats about
it. it would be nice to see them have a set of guidlines for
setting up there speakers.


joe

mantis

In My opnion,

Polk needs to get the hell out of mass chain store type stores(with the exception of Tweeterwhich I'd love to see them come back here).Circuit City isn't the place to go if your an audiophile type listener.....there sound room's could kill dead a pair of Dynaudio Audience 82's and make em sound like old ripped up out of a whit van no name speaker.

I don't get why such a large super store like CC can't have a least one solid sound proof demo room for there customers who want alittle more and want to hear quality before they purchase.

Harder hitter in the market will come to Tweeter to make a bigger purchase.Because our sound rooms which aren't that great, sound 10x's better then CC's best room on there best day.

The rti150's could be verywell an impressive sounding speaker....I'll never know.......not listening to them in there..Icould take the trip down to Inerstate electronic's in NJ,but there sound rooms are horrible 2.But they do have better gear.

I know alot of us older member's had this topic od where to sell Polk speakers and such,it's been talked about in here alot......many time's I started the post.....

Around here there are some really good shops that I believe Polk would do execllent and save there name..........around here all the higher end shops think Polk has become a less then average store,they think they are **** speakers now.I know thats not true,but when you walk into a CC and listen to them, then go down the street to World Wide Stereo and Video,listen to Energy(which I believe sounds nasty)which is in the same exact market that Pok is ,and get 200% better demo.Now the unknowing customer will buy the Energy's over the Polks due to the fact that where they are sold at ,just sounds much better,they pay attention to how there sound rooms react.They care about the sound not just the mass sale.We all are in the bussiness to make a living.......Polk has been in business for along time......they must be doing good somewhere.I know with the launch of the LSI series,they want there name to be back up there with other great speakers...like Dynaudio,Theil,Kef,Totem,Energy,Def Tech,B&W,PSB,etc.Today they are more like Klipsch,Boston acoustic's Tivoli,Cerwin Vega KLH,JBL.......basically Best buy level......

I'd like to see Polk back in high end shops........getting there name reborn.Lsi can do that...rt can support that.....Not in CC.

audionutt

with more people moving in to surround sound the little stereo shop down the street is going by the wayside. they cant compete
with the big chains anymore. at least that is the way it is here.
if you were polk what would you do? put your speakers in a little store that does not get much traffic and are a little more expencive,or in a big store with a couple thousand people in and out each day. its simple big store,more customers,more sales


joe

Frank Z

It is a matter of simple economics. If you want to sell speakers to a lot of people, you have to put those speakers in a store that a lot of people frequent! CC has a huge advertising budget, incredible purchasing power, and name recognition. Anyway you look at it, it is a good place for Polk to be. Keep in mind that the big retailers such as CC, & BB are not high end stores by any stretch, therefore the sales staff are not going to be up to "Our" standards, and the gear in the listening rooms will always be tweeked to make their current product lines sound good to the average buyer.

As fans of Polk Audio speakers, most of us have spent time listening to other speakers in multiple enviroments (including CC). I spent some time in a High-End room at Soundtrack recently and found it nearly impossible to do a critical audition of some Sunfire Gear due to the poor placement of the speakers through out the room. The only way to really audition ANY speaker is in your own home, with your electronics, and your music/movies. Not very practicle for the majority of people out there. For the average consumer, the next best way is to go to a store that offers the brand your looking for and others to compare them to.

I guess it's kinda like the Super Bowl, You can't win it if you ain't in it!

Without CC, Polk Audio would not be the company that it is today.

At least they don't sell them at Wal-Mart yet!

shack

I think Polk has found a niche as the "high end of the mass market" while covering the enty level and the "audiophile" segment. I guarantee that there are LSI owners today that would not know about Polk if not for CC. I like their business model. Have a basic quality product for the entry level audio buyer and give them an upgrade path within the same brand. Brand loyalty can be very strong.

At least they don't sell them at Wal-Mart yet!

I wish they would then maybe I could get some LSIs at a really good price!

stevew14

I agree that It is hard to audition speakers properly in less than optimum rooms and who knows what gear and hookup. When I listened to my 150s at CC, they didn't sound nearly as good as they do now, in my setup. I am sure the same is true for most all the other brands and models there as well. Knowing that, I took the chance and brought them home for my 30 day trial. No regrets!

Dr. Spec

That's the key - the 30 day no questions asked home trial.

For all you knew Dan, they could have been wired out of phase, or Midnight Mode could have been engaged, or any number of other potential problems.

I agree, Polk wouldn't be where they are today without CC, and they DO sell Polk products at a good price - sometimes GREAT prices.

Doc

HBombToo

I agree... ARPU is the key for the health of any company; however, disfunctions to any mass methods occurr. Equipment providers should provide some sort of marketing incentive to CC and upgrade their sound rooms for a more effective demonstration environment.

just my 2c

RuSsMaN

Originally posted by Frank Z
At least they don't sell them at Wal-Mart yet!

They do at Sam's Club.....

The last dozen times over the past 2-3 years that I have been to CC, it is impossible to get a decent, much less even listenable demo. Very dissappointing to say the least.

Matter of fact, I have not had a good demo at CC since they carried the original RT Series (3,5,7 etc). It is a shame that you really must buy the product, and take it home before you can even begin to evalutate it's performance.

Take Tweeter or Ultimate Electronics for example (other large b&m stores), you get a quiet room, proper placement, setup, more options for sources/amps, and employees that can actually operate 'the room'. Even demoing 'lesser' speakers, the listening experience is enhanced just do the care in setup.

I'm not saying I won't shop at CC, I have, and will on occasion, but it's almost like going to Fry's, I don't expect any help, or questions answered, other than 'how much are these?' (much less a demo of any substance)

Cheers,
Russ

Steve@3dai

If Polk wanted a certain "setup" for their speakers, then infinity would want one, and JBL, and they all might be different. So CC just keeps it simple on themselves and wires them like they do.

I love 30 day return policies

TroyD

I dunno fellas.....

Look, selling at CC may not be the ideal situation BUT, they move an awful lot of product there. By doing that, they are able to offer the LSi's at a much better price than would otherwise be possible.

Sure, you can't get a decent demo at CC. The folks that know better, well, already know better. It's just a means to an end. Matt Polk's philosophy was to get great speaker to as many folks as possible and CC does just that. It may bother some, but it does not bother me that any joe schmo can buy the same speaker as me. Meaning, I don't have to buy my gear from a high end shop to know it sounds good.

As far as the 150's go, we will just see. I'm willing to bet that they are a pretty kick **** speaker.

BDT

HBombToo

Well said BDT and i agree that distribution is imperative, and you being the transport guy should know best.
...when I do a speaker uprade...? the jump will be interesting regarding my situation because 800i

---

> 150 is logical. I hope the Doc would agree?

I now have the equipment to generate frequency response curves and am integrating/testing it tomorrow. 4 MICS will be laid in on different tracks and compared.

should prove a prove productive because the Wife is out of the house, "with the 2 year old", and will be very quiet during the recordings.

I need anothe beer!

I'll be back!

TroyD

Man up brotha! Another beer is a CAPITOL idea.....

I agree, the 150 is probably the next logical step. I don't believe that Polk just said, 'eff it', let's just put out a big speaker with a lot of drivers that sounds like crap.

BDT

HBombToo

yep

TroyD

whew...they are going down SMOOOOOOOOOTH...time for another I think..

Like a fat girl in a dodge-ball game...BDT is OUT!

BDT

HBombToo

I'm runnin fo anotha!

HBombToo

says HBombToo

joe logston

the best place to demo speakers is at home, thats why you get the 30 day take back. its to bad that they have a lousy demo rooms. and polk knows this and thats why they dont sell lsi line at cc. we know that we can go to forums like this one, to get apinons on speakers. them bring them home and listen and make are own minds up, if you dont like it take it back, just ask if they will do that before you buy.

HBombToo

thats right joe! i now have the ability to smell it and verify it prior to spending my hard earned cash!

mantis

Good points from all different ways of looking at it.

But .......the small audio and video stores around here do quite well.They are custom Install stores......they have good equipment and the speakers in there stores sound at least listenable.

I checked the setup....receivers where in direct/stero mode.Speakers as far as the phase was wired right at the speaker side,the jumpers where in so connection was there......I can't tell if they are nice or blow ****......I heard blow ****.

I see alot of companies doing inwalls,multiroom audio,outdoors and theater rooms.......there not Polk speakers.......everyone else but.

stevew14

For what it's worth, I have had my share of arrogant, fast talking and not always as knowledgable as they pretend to be salesmen at Tweeter and other "higher end" stores. I would almost rather get the "how much is it" caliber salesman and be done with it. Nothing pisses me off more than someone talking down to me when they themselves are obviously full of ****.

Since you are talking beers here, I'm ready for Bass Ale #3. My 150s sure are sounding good with the likes of Mark Knopfler, CSNY and James Taylor flowing through them tonight.

Enjoy all!!

mantis

well in a nutshell,other audio and video stores that I got to know over the years.all of them bash Polk speakers....not just because they don't cary them anymore..but from what they ahve heard in the stores who carry them.Now that The Wiz closed it's doors in Princeton NJ,Polk is only sold at CC around here unless you want to take an hour and 15 min trip to east NJ.And they are the ONLY ones who carry Lsi....thats it.
A comment that was made to me that bothered me some was a high end salesman at Overture in Delaware.They carry high end products.Rotel being one of them.I was in there playing with the Rotel rsx1065 and the RSP1066 pre amp/rmb1075 5 channel amp combo.I was talking with the salesman and he asked what I'm going to run on the Rotel gear........I said Polk Lsi series speakers......he shook his head and said to me that they would be my weakest link in my new theater system.........that pissed me off somewhat...I didn't get mad but I told him that it is a new line and really competitive with it's class.......he chuckled....and went on to bash Polk speakers in general with all the made in mexico,CC jokes and it went on and on.......this is what all the shops around my way do......Soundex laughed at me when I desided to buy Lsi,Hi FI house thinks Polk is now a joke,Overture disguards Polk,Tweeter got them out due to a Company takeover of Bryn Mawr Stereo where Polk sounded fantastic.The Audio Lab used to carry Polk but felt it was in there best intrest to remove them from there roster,Halls Electronic's closed after the owner died, the sons ran the bussiness into the ground........they carried Polk.World Wide stero, which I like that store alot think less of Polk speakers.........it don't end.........thats where my posts are going.....respect in the industry in my area........

It's just my opnion....Polk doesn't need to have a weekly meeting about what I think.......I'm no different then anyone else in here....just one voice.........

Frank Z

Matt Polk's words to me were " I have always wanted to make great sounding speakers that were affordable." I think he has done this quite well, Polk is now one of the largest speaker manufacturers around. Pity that many "Audiophiles" discount Polk because they do not cost as much as B&W, or Dynaudio. I bet that if the price of Polk Speakers tripled overnite that a lot "Audiophiles" would be screamin' to get on our bandwagon!! Let's not let them in on our little secret, that speakers do not have to cost as much as an SUV to sound good!! If they find out we won't be special anymore!

TroyD

While all the boutique snobs are turning thier noses up at Polk, old Matt and George are laughing thier asses off all the way to the bank. Period.

These folks that think that Polk turned away from thier audiophile roots I think are a bit mistaken. SDA was never accepted by the audiophile community and the Monitor and RTA series while different in some ways, were very much in line with what the RT and RTi line were about. Monitor and RTA were more about 2 channel and RT/i being about HT (good sound at a reasonable price).

I personally could give a **** what most salesmen say in any audio shop. Most of them, or at least the ones I deal with, while they may know a bit about audio, spew forth whatever the company literature says. They are salesmen, primary job being to sell. What sounds best is secondary to making a commision.

BDT

schumach

Some of these stores are going to say what they want about the other guys, especially if they don't carry the product. They want you to buy from them. This is marketing from a sale-persons perspective. Buying a product they don’t carry is money out of their pocket. I respect the fact that everyone has the right to their opinion, as long as it does not interfere with another persons actions.

Speak your mind, do not force your mind upon others.
The power of money can over power respect. Respect is will live forever, money comes and goes.

These are little phrases I tell myself and the sales person I support everyday when I go to work.

Frank I would agree with you on the best is not always the most expensive.

joe logston

most high end sales men are jealous of polk because they loose sales to polk because polk is cheaper in price and the polk speakers sounds about or better than the high end stuff, they are ownly bashing polk because they will loose commission$$$, there trying to discouraged from buying polk and you finding out how good polks are, .i havent listen to the new line yet. you need to do it at home to give them a fair listen. cc is not the place to do that. the high end stores have that advanage over cc they can set up for ultimate performents and wend you compair the high end store stuff to the cc polk stuff, there will be a differance going to the high end store for sound quiaity because of setup. that why they can bash, they got the advandage over cc. but the adverage buyer would not know.
just think if they would sell krell or martin logon at cc.
the adverage joe would walk in at cc and say $5,ooo dollers is this some kind of joke they sound about the same as polk and onkyo at $500