3rd Annual Christmas Karma - Sony STR-7055 Receiver

dorokusai

This years Christmas, or "Holiday" Karma offering is for a vintage Sony STR-7055 Receiver(1973-1978). Vintage as in NO 5.1+ type garbage, 100% RCV not AVR. I know some folks hate vintage gear but none of our foo foo gear would exist if it wasn't for simple pieces like this.

Here's a couple links to the past years Karma:

Technics SA-500 which was won by HALO.

Pioneer SX-450 which was won by Shack.

I often find gems in my audio travels and this is one of them that I have saved for the holidays. It's 100% original and flawless. It pushes out a whopping 35x2@8, but this is old school power. No, it's not SO old school that it means 200wpc, but its a solid 35 watts with no problem running most speakers. This would make a perfect garage rig or whatever...you be the judge. Look at the shine in the picture! It's beautiful.

It is M I N T, as in showroom floor condition. If you find a better model example, please let me know. The case and faceplate are flawless.

As is standard with ANY dorokusai sale or giveaway...all the connections have been cleaned and treated with CAIG products and shipping to the winner of this Karma is included.

Here's a nice Audio Karma comment.

***Qualifications for Karma?***

This is open to basically anyone but it would be greatly appreciated if you would begin participation in our home forum. This is one of the best user forums on the internet, take advantage of that and climb into the community.

The MAIN requirement to ALL is as follows....

"Why did you choose Polk Audio and what makes them special to you?"

Be honest, be candid, be real. You don't have to be extremely in-depth, but simple, one sentence comments will get your name thrown into the trash.

This could pertain to new, current, recent and vintage products that Polk Audio has manufactured. You can even expound on them as a company without any specific reference to an actual product. It's completely up to you.

KARMA WILL END ON 12/25/07

I'll anounce the winner when I get some free time after the 25th. Merry F'n Christmas...or Happy Holidays....Kwanzaa....Chanukkaa....blah blah....whatever.

Ricardo

Awesome Christmas karma as usual. You are the man Mark.

Not in; if I win another of your karmas people are going to start getting ideas....

fatchowmein

Dang, that's awesome. I love vintage stuff. I'm in.


The LSi series is a great bang for the buck series of speakers, especially the 15's. I love female singers and the 15's do a superb job. The piano black helped with the WAF.

Having Polk sold at Fry's helped allot in my case since I'm a computer nerd. That lead to the R50's and this forum and eventually my 5.1 LSi setup complimentary of the now defunct Texas Tweeters. I look forward to hearing some SDA's one day and attending the Dallas Polkfest. If it wasn't for the community here, I probably would have ended up with JBL's which is what I had in college.

lightman1

Nice! I remember this one. Bullet proof set. Not in, my K is good now. Someone should pick this one up. Thanks Doro.

hearingimpared

Very cool karma Mark! Count me in. I am trying to get an office rig together with some Monitor 7s.

My Polk Audio product was the original SDA/SRS back in 1984/85. I pick it because when I heard the demo at Bryn Mawr Stereo back in the day it was driven by NAD 2200s. I was blown away at the soundstaging, imaging and at the time the natural tone it produced. I was so blown away with them that when I got back into audio the first thing I did was hunt down the SDA/SRSs on ebay and ended up get a set of mint, under 50 hours of use SDS/SRS 1.2 TLs.

I'm looking for a pair of 1Cs I can restore to use as backups to my 1.2TLs. I have one set of CRSs (you put the vampire posts on this pair and Jesse did the wood work) and a set of CRS+ that I am reworking.

cambir

great karma for the holidays...in, please

...and a great way to replace my garage 7035 that began smoking a while back. :eek:

I chose Polk after auditioning several brands at similar price points. Nobody else can compare IMHO. The main reasons for my choice: the superior sound and build quality for the money...overall consumer value. I've experimented with Polk R/RT bookshelf, RT floorstanding, centers and vintage Monitors so far, and I am continually impressed with the imaging and clarity of all models...can't wait to try some SDA someday. Most vintage models I have seen are still operating, which speaks volumes of Polk build quality. The fact that the "average" consumer (read as way below ceo pay) with excellent taste in SQ can afford to purchase outstanding speakers like Polk, will always keep them at the top of my list.

I didn't know what I was missing, until I heard my first pair of Polks!

shack

As a past winner...I would encourage everyone to participate. IT IS AWESOME KARMA! I'm still diggin' my Pioneer. Because I won last year....I'm NOT in...so my Polk comment will be short and sweet. Great quality, excellent product, great "bang for the buck" and great customer service before and after the sale. Nuff said!

danger boy

I'm not in either. but karma's are great. if you don't enter.. you have no chance of winning. I'm a good example of entering and winning.

Vintage gear not only looks cool, lots of times it sound really good too.

have fun with the karma.

criverajr

I'm in, great karma.

I love polk for their great sound and quality build at the price point. The Lsi series is great, and my LSi9's are going nowhere really soon.

Happy Holidays.

CRj

DollarDave

I'm in for a great Karma.

I first got into Polks after several tries with some Klipsch. I still have LS-90s, but not that particular pair. I like the warm sound that they give me. I now have LS-90s, a CS300, a CSi40, Monitor 7's, CSR+s, TCi265s, TCi615s, and AB800s. I stay with Polk because because every speaker I have is a solid value and I can trust the sound without having to audition them first. In fact, the LS-90s are the only speakers I have that I auditioned first - I have never found that to be any better than trusting the advice of people on this board. I know that's contrary to what some of those same people would tell me, but the bottom line is that I can trust the Polk community and I can trust Polk to provide quality products at each price point.

cubdog

Very nice gesture Mark! I'm not in but you are going to make someones Christmas a lttle bit nicer.

cubdog

bikezappa

I'm in. Love and use vintage equipment.

I remember my first Polk demo in a store in NH in the 80s. The saleman put on some music and left me in the room for about 15 minutes with the Polks SDA SRS and the remote. I couldn't believe the sound stage and power of these speakers. I tried towing the speakers in and found out how solid and heavey they were. The saleman corrected my tow in. In about 5 minutes we made a deal for the floor models for about $1,100 I think and we loaded them into the van that night. When I got home I lined the outside steps with card board and slid the Polks up the stairs. I didn't get any boxes with the speakers. I still have and use these speakers every day. They were made with quality.

halo

shack wrote: »

As a past winner...I would encourage everyone to participate. IT IS AWESOME KARMA! I'm still diggin' my Pioneer. Because I won last year....I'm NOT in...so my Polk comment will be short and sweet. Great quality, excellent product, great "bang for the buck" and great customer service before and after the sale. Nuff said!

Ditto






































Seriously, I can't thank Mark enough for his genoristy. I put together a vintage rig for my dad's January b-day and it all started with the Technics. Followed up with advice from George Grand, that lead to the aquisition of some vintage AR-2ax, & 4xa, which were repaired by SCompRacer just in time for the birthday celebration. Without this forum he probably would've gotten some generic present but becuase this is the best forum out there it was awesome.

Serendipity

What makes Polk Audio special to me?

The fact that they cater to the mass market but have a unique product line. My mom and dad and other family members liked the sound of Polk speakers in audio demo rooms. You make a great speaker - looks good, sounds good, and usable by everyone - and that's what makes Polk Audio special.

engtaz

In please:
What made me get Polks was the SDA SRS's. I like the fact I don't have to worry about foam problems with my Polks. I like the Monitor 5's also. The sound is so smooth and full. The LSi series is sweet. My problem is I have too many Polk speaker, I have them in every room. BUT I Want MORE.

engtaz

MacLeod

Excellent karma! Im definitely in!

Polk Audio will always be special to me for several reasons.

For one, this forum. It was the first one Ive ever joined and have met a lot of great people and learned a ton thanks to it.

Two, Polkfest '05. This was one of the coolest things Ive ever been a part of. Having vice presidents of a major company taking time out of their day to play tour guide to a bunch of losers like us, having the owner of said company take time out to come hang with us and answer our dopey question and then have said company drop a pretty penny on a catered lunch, now thats customer appreciation that is unmatched anywhere in the world!

Three, the best people in the business work for em with the best customer service.

And lastly, I love the speakers. I prefer a natural, detailed sound with smooth highs. Thats Polk. As Ive said before, Polk aint the best speakers in the world, but dollar for dollar they may be.

McLoki

Excellent Karma - would make a great addition to my Monitor 10's in the basement rig.

What made Polk special to me can be summed up in 3 letters. SDA. In my youth I was reading every audio rag I could find and every review I saw of the Polk SDA's was glowing. Not just the usual crap that no one really understands in audio reviews, but the speakers seemed to actually offer a sound you could not get anywhere else. (ok, there was sonic holigraphy about the same time - but we won't count that)

I listed to the 1b's and was blown away. I loved the sound of the 10b's as well. At the time I was still in school and could not afford either one though. When I graduated and got a real job - the 1b's were my first major purchase.

I have always enjoyed the sound of polk speakers, but to be honest, I like the sound of alot of speakers. Only Polk actually offered something completely different though - that was enough for me to get behind the company and put my money where my ears are.....

Michael

hearingimpared

Man I love the look of those old receivers.

dorokusai

It's wonderful when you can find a vintage piece in stellar condition.

mhardy6647

1976. My high-school buddy George and I both matriculated into the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. At Christmastime, George bought his first hi-fi: Yamaha CA-600, a Philips GA-212 turntable with an AKG cartridge, and a pair of Polk Model 10s. I caught the "modern" hifi bug from him right away, and started 1) spending my spare time at Soundscape in Roland Park (Polk's first dealer) and 2) saving up for equipment to replace my mono amp (EICO HF-52), speaker (EV Wolverine LS-12) and record changer (VM as old as I, with a cheap Pickering MM cartridge I'd added). Replaced the record player first, then the amp (with a pair of good headphones). I vividly remember hearing an LP called The David Grisman Quintet (great album, BTW) on the Polks at Soundscape. "Excellent transient response" a la the popular British monitors of the era were what Polk did, at a price that a college student from the poor side of town could even swing (well, almost).

Finally, in 1978 (IIRC) John Dorsey made me an offer I couldn't refuse. A pair of demo Monitor 7As in "rosewood" vinyl, with beat-up demo stands, for $220. They came home with me. Still got 'em in the family room and still listen to them regularly.



The old Sony receivers were very nice, BTW.

jwhitakr

Not in, but excellent Christmas karma and good luck to those who are participating!

capecodder

I am sooo in.

I chose Polk because I bought a nice looking pair of speakers at an estate sale for $30 that turned out to be CRS+ models. They made my jaw drop when I got them home and they shamed my Magnepan 1.5QR speakers. I was hooked, discovered this web site and have eatened my words that I would never "get involved with any lame chat rooms".

I now own 5 pairs of Polks (never retail of course) and am a much more informed audio enthusiest.

Systems

In!

"Why did you choose Polk Audio and what makes them special to you?"


Well, you stick with what works. I got into Polk into the early days of Car Stereo's. I had one of the first Car CD players made (Sony) and loaded the car up with Polks (87 CRX Si). When I started to put my first HT together about 12+ years ago I bought Polk. 12 years later I still use those same Polks and they work perfectly. I can honestly say that they are probably the best band for the buck speaker you can buy. To me they are kind of the Honda of speakers, firggen reliable as hell.

So this year I built a new HT and I went with Polk because they work.

So this summer I bought sets of:

Rti12’s: front
CSi5: Center
RTi8’s: Rear
Atrium60’s: Outside under the deck

These were mixed with my existing:

Fxi5: Surround
RT12: Rears
CS350: center
** For several years I had small Polk surrounds. I gave them to my brotehr in law when I got my fxi5's. They were white, and bi/di polar, much smaller and the drivers were actually now angles but 180 degrees from each other.


Some of my Polks have well outlasted multiple generations of components I’ve thrown at them (and several components that failed)… 4 different AVR’s in that time and now several sets of amps.

You stick with what works.


This pic gets just about them all:



10+ years ago:

JimBRICK

"Why did you choose Polk Audio and what makes them special to you?"
I bought my polks cause I get a staff discount But I stay with polk cause I love the sound. IN PLEASE

George Grand

That's a really nice 40wpc receiver, it weighs a ton, and I'm not in cause I already have a Sony STR-7055 around here.

And I originally bought Polks cause all the other speakers I listened to sounded like ****.

Fireman32

Count me in. I chose polk as my bud Lou (ohskigod) was into it. He sold me my RTA 12b's and fell in love with them. I will never part with those speakers. Plus this forum rocks along with all the members.

apc

Super karma. Not in because I have a nice vintage Marantz receiver. I have also recently won a karma, so the wealth must spread out.

I chose Polk as a result of hearing them at a friends house years ago. I bought the same set he had when I got home. 5 jr's I think. Then added a set of bookshelf surrounds and a subwoofer that is still in use today. Quality at good price is hard to beat.

Happy Holidays everyone.

Polkitup2

In,

The year was 1979, I was 16 and looking for my first stereo. I went to out local Audio King store in Edina, Minnesota where they had a dedicated speaker room full of all sized Polk SDAs. It was incredible, they loooked so cool and sounded amazing. Unfortunately $300 bucks didn't get you an SDA in 1979. Fast forward to 1983 in my apartment in college I am awaken by the sound of helicopters. I'm like what the f?, turns out it was my neighbor playing Pink Floyd The Wall at incredible DBs through his Polk speakers. The sound was incredible and I said to myself that one day I will own a pair of Polk speakers.

For the next 20 years I stumbled through Cerwin Vega, Bose and other crappy stuff. Then one day at the office a guy mentions he had a pair of Polk LSi15s and loved them. Just so happens Crutchfield's had the RTi12s on sale for $799. I picked up a pair and was incredibly happy with their performance. Then I started to read this forum and knew that being happy with what you have just doesn't cut it. So I sold the Polk's and continue my journey down the audio path.

BottomFeeder

In please.

My dad bought a pair of RTA12's back in about '83 or whenever they originally came out. Polk Audio was new and no one had ever heard of them, but my dad just couldn't get away from how life like and accurate they sounded. He listened to all kinds of speakers but finally came home w/the Polks. My brothers and I used to love to blast'em w/rock, but no louder than he did with classical music. He still has and loves them today.

A year and a half ago, when I was upgrading my equipment, I thought of my dad's RTA12's. I Googled Polk Audio, found this forum and began to learn. In fact, my original handle here was "WantRTA12's." One of the forum members alerted me to a mint pair of RTA12C's on ebay & I managed to snag them.

I've been blown away by how terrific they sound ever since. My wife asked me recently, "How can you listen to all of those old songs that you've heard so many times?" To which I answered, "Hearing them through the Polks is like hearing them for the first time - almost anyway. Those old songs sound so good they almost sound new."

So, I love the Polks because of the history I have with them and my dad & I love the Polks because they just sound SUHWEET!

Refefer

In please.

Why do I love Polk? It started with the fact that I wanted to move from computer speakers to an audio system I could enjoy. I looked for deals online and voila! I found R30's being sold at Fry's for around $100 including shipping! I had an early 90's technics receiver that was doing nothing so I figured what the heck. I bought the pair and fell in love with real audio. For the value, and new, I couldn't argue with the quality sound I was getting... until I got the upgrade bug.

I decided to pick up a pair of lsi 7's off the bay and found I didn't enjoy them very much (lsi 7's w/o a sub perform horribly with trance, which I was into at that point). Figuring it was something wrong with my speakers, I googled until I found this forum... and the rest is history. I kept hearing about the brilliance of the SDA series and blind bought a pair of 1B's... and that's it! Fell in love with their vintage gear and been rocking out the tunes ever since! I've dabbled with several other speakers and different makers, but Polk keeps me coming back and I almost look forward to dealing with their CS department, it is so good.

The general philosophy of the members here in terms of transactions is great. The feedback system we used (thanks to Shack's management) for the rating of sellers and buyers as well as feeling of community has been excellent.

It was chance that I happened upon a good deal on the Polk Audio, whom I had no idea about prior to purchasing. I think they've got a measure of integrity that many other speakers sold in big box stores have let slide. I think they're one of the few manufactures that are worth their money and generally provide a good value. They haven't sold out.

Oh, and SDA's rock

BaggedLancer

Not in but I'll answer anyway. Great karma although I'd probably get it disinfected before I touched it. One can only imagine what Mark did with it.

"Why did you choose Polk Audio and what makes them special to you?"

I chose Polk audio because I realized I had no friends and when walking around my apartment trying to figure out how to get friends I saw the Polk audio logo on my 5 jr's and figured "They must have a user group"

Kidding.

For Real:

I chose Polk my first real job(Vicor Corporation in Andover, MA) had an employee who absolutely swore by Polks when I was talking to him about putting together my first home theater. To the point where I drove with him over an hour to his house so he could have me listen to his speakers(10's). At that point I was hooked, I started reading, then started posting...and well you know the rest.