Polk Audio coming to Best Buy in June

fireshoes

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/31/polk-audio-products-hitting-best-buy-in-june-2008/

Polk Audio products hitting Best Buy in June 2008
Posted Jan 31st 2008 11:51PM by Darren Murph

Out with the old, in the with new. Apparently, the big box retailer that everyone loves to hate is following said mantra as it welcomes in Polk Audio this June. The brand, which has long since been available in rival Circuit City, is gearing up to make its debut in Best Buy in just a few months, and according to Jim Minarik, President and CEO of Directed Electronics [Polk Audio's owner], the move is one aimed at "expanding the market presence of Polk's marquee brand." As for actual products, you'll likely recognize the firm's forthcoming TSi loudspeakers, PSW powered subwoofers, select RM series drivers and of course, the SurroundBar 360 DVD Theater. Granted, we wouldn't expect any substantial savings from picking up your future Polks from here, but at least you've one more location to scour when you hear the word "discontinued."

dkg999

I would hope they put the LSi's in the Magnolia shops within the BB stores. What they currently have in Magnolia for speakers is pretty dismal. And yes, I don't like the Def Tech speakers they have now. I've tried to like them, but it just isn't working for me.

07maximan

I think this is pretty cool.I know there are alot of BB haters,but I really like BB.My local BB has the Magnolia and musical instrument sections.BB is pretty much a one stop shop.Ive always found everything I was looking for and always seem to get a good deal.Now with Polk,that just means more to choose from.

07maximan

dkg999 wrote: »

I would hope they put the LSi's in the Magnolia shops within the BB stores. What they currently have in Magnolia for speakers is pretty dismal. And yes, I don't like the Def Tech speakers they have now. I've tried to like them, but it just isn't working for me.

Its funny you say this.I just picked up a pair of 10 year old BP 10's on Ebay.Before I did I checked out the ones at Magnolia and didnt care for them either.I think the built in subs kind of suck.It seems more of a muddy bass.The guy that worked there thought I was nuts for liking the older ones over the newer ones.The BP 10's sound amazing!!

AndyGwis

I'm not sure the polks will make it to Magnolia. . . likely not if they are selling the RM, surroundbar, etc.

Let's hope that they do. The Athena, Klipsch, etc. displays in non-Magnolia stores is pretty sad. They are all beat to hell and have terrible listening areas set up.

I hope at least the LSi and RTia (if sold at BB) make it to Magnolia. That would be great. BTW, if they don't sell LSi and/or RTiA at BB, where will they sell them? Will they still carry those in the future, or is Polk going to become the lower end version and Def Tech the higher end stuff?

dkg999

Pretty sad when Def Tech is the higher end stuff! I've listened to alot of Def Tech stuff, and I've really tried to like it. In my opinion, their entire line is just not very good.

furball

Best Buy should be renamed Worst Buy.

I went to their Magnolia store the other day. I wanted to audition some of the Vienna Acoustics speakers there. A sales clerk fiddled with the switchboard for like 10 seconds, and told me, sorry, the switchboard isn't working, come back by the end of the week, we may have it up and running by then (that was a Monday).

Unbelievable. Takes them 5 days to fix a broken switchboard. In the meantime, no one is able to audition any of the speakers, receivers, DVD players, they have on display.

I mean, is this how Worst Buy operates?

I went around to the Worst Buy's audio section. It was just abysmal. I walked out of there in pure disgust.

The Judge

It's kinda hard to audition equipment at BB as the little stations they have set up in the isles are not good for listening to anything because the Blose system in the CD section is Blaring out BB radio for our enjoyment.

furball

Some of the sales clerks are cool at Worst Buy. But some of the managers can be real a** holes. Just the other day I tried to a pricematch at Best Buy. The manager wouldn't allow it. I had to speak to their corporate office and let them deal with that manager. Took me over an hour, and finally corporate gave the go ahead. The look in that manager's eyes when he was finally forced to process my order was pure evil, like I smacked his nuts or something.

mantis

I wonder what we are going to do with polk? I hope they stay as they are our best selling speakers. I Install them on just about every job.

...................

Dan

Shizelbs

I want to know more about this TSi series

07maximan

Man,Im so lucky.I have 2 BB where I live and they are both good stores with surprising knowledgeable sales people,not all of them,but afew.

I was in BB the other day looking for a Blue Ray player.They had so much open box stuff that they were making all kind of deals.They sold me a Samsung 1400 blue ray for 120.00(works and looks perfect).

Heres the big score for me.They had a Pioneer Elite VSX-94 marked at 1439.00.The salesman saw me drooling over it and said "do you want that"?I said hell yeah but its out of my price range.He says "I want it gone!!Ill give it to you for 50% of the 1439.00." I said "sold!!!" I took it home and I dont even think it was ever open.I guess with a place like BB or worst buy,theres good and bad.

Ron Temple

What no one's mentioned is that they will carry the new TSi line. I never heard of it, so I did a search. Looks like it replaces the Rs or Monitors from the PDF, but likely an upgrade (at least from the Rs). Looks interesting...

http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/product-sheets/TSi.pdf

edit: on second glance, I think these replace the Monitors or are the BB version with new cosmetics.

mantis

07maximan wrote: »

Man,Im so lucky.I have 2 BB where I live and they are both good stores with surprising knowledgeable sales people,not all of them,but afew.

I was in BB the other day looking for a Blue Ray player.They had so much open box stuff that they were making all kind of deals.They sold me a Samsung 1400 blue ray for 120.00(works and looks perfect).

Heres the big score for me.They had a Pioneer Elite VSX-94 marked at 1439.00.The salesman saw me drooling over it and said "do you want that"?I said hell yeah but its out of my price range.He says "I want it gone!!Ill give it to you for 50% of the 1439.00." I said "sold!!!" I took it home and I dont even think it was ever open.I guess with a place like BB or worst buy,theres good and bad.

Thats such a score man. you can also upgrade your speakers, get some killer power amps and use that bad boy as a preamp. It's a fantastic sounding preamp. It's a very good sounding receiver. Dude I love that piece.

jwhitakr

Ron Temple wrote: »

What no one's mentioned is that they will carry the new TSi line. I never heard of it, so I did a search. Looks like it replaces the Rs or Monitors from the PDF, but likely an upgrade (at least from the Rs). Looks interesting...

http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/product-sheets/TSi.pdf

edit: on second glance, I think these replace the Monitors or are the BB version with new cosmetics.

Nice find, Ron. I think they look to be the replacements to the Monitor line, as they look to be higher-end (both in features and cosmetics) than the R-line.

Yashu

I wish they would let that damn tweeter go already and move to something that doesn't sound like shattering glass. This makes two refreshes where they keep the same tweeter. RTiA and now TSi.

Rike255

Best Buy employees like to force their electronics "knowledge" on unsuspecting customers.

"Oh ya monster HDMI cables are the only ones worth buying...you'll need 3 or 4 of them though, oh and the price just got marked down to $300 so this is your lucky day".

"No HD DVD didn't lose. In fact, Blu-Ray is on it's way out that's why we have so many of their movies in stock...they're clearing it all out as discontinued."

"Whoever told you that lied, HD DVD stands for Hyper Dense DVD and of course it works on your players at home. The discs look the same don't they?"

Ok I exaggerate a little bit. But they do like to prey on the innocent. Jerks.

dorokusai

Great news! Viva la Polk!

Just another reason for FrankZ to dislike Polk Audio :rolleyes:

DeusExa

Last time I went to my BestBuy in Pasadena, CA, they had a decent array...but I don't think Polk's "philosophy" fits well with BB, especially the LSi....IMO..

But BB did have some Martin Logan electrostats, which was odd...I think it was the Purity, one of the lower/mid end ones..$1500 each, though.

VR3

Im not like going to defend Def Tech like I use to...

The BP10B will always have a soft spot in my heart... without a doubt...

It is IMPOSSIBLE, IMPOSSIBLE to demo Def Tech in any type of showroom...

You put those speakers beside any other pair of speakers or in a confined space and they go to absolute ****.

You take that knowledge and look at the fact that the new Super Towers have One active and 2 or 3 PRs in them.. and the fact gets even truer...

I don't personally like the new Super Towers,I wish they would incorporate their newer drivers and so forth in the BP line up...

But they are good sounding speakers, probally more so geared towards HT -- but they are definitely a fun music speaker...

I would personally love to see the LSi series in Magnolia

Serendipity

I happen to own a pair of BP10B

They sound great!

TroyD

Yashu wrote: »

I wish they would let that damn tweeter go already and move to something that doesn't sound like shattering glass. This makes two refreshes where they keep the same tweeter. RTiA and now TSi.

And this from the guy who recommends JBL. :rolleyes:

BDT

danger boy

furball wrote: »

The look in that manager's eyes when he was finally forced to process my order was pure evil, like I smacked his nuts or something.

that probably would have been more fun

danger boy

07maximan wrote: »

Man,Im so lucky.I have 2 BB where I live and they are both good stores with surprising knowledgeable sales people,not all of them,but afew.

I was in BB the other day looking for a Blue Ray player.They had so much open box stuff that they were making all kind of deals.They sold me a Samsung 1400 blue ray for 120.00(works and looks perfect).

Heres the big score for me.They had a Pioneer Elite VSX-94 marked at 1439.00.The salesman saw me drooling over it and said "do you want that"?I said hell yeah but its out of my price range.He says "I want it gone!!Ill give it to you for 50% of the 1439.00." I said "sold!!!" I took it home and I dont even think it was ever open.I guess with a place like BB or worst buy,theres good and bad.

you guys make me sick!! we have two Best Buys here too... their open box items are only discounted by $20. I kid you not. I saw an open box DVD player... from orig price of $199 down to $179. that's the only savings a person would get on a open box item at my BB's. I tried to get them to come down. they wouldn't.. saying everything was new, it was just an open box item.

07maximan

danger boy wrote: »

you guys make me sick!! we have two Best Buys here too... their open box items are only discounted by $20. I kid you not. I saw an open box DVD player... from orig price of $199 down to $179. that's the only savings a person would get on a open box item at my BB's. I tried to get them to come down. they wouldn't.. saying everything was new, it was just an open box item.

To be honest Im not sure he should have done it.I went to the other BB and told a guy what happened and his mouth hit the floor.He started grilling me about why he did it,who he was?It was kind of weird.Im sure the price I paid had to be very close to their wholesale price.I dont care Im smiling from ear to ear.

Roy Munson

danger boy wrote: »

you guys make me sick!! we have two Best Buys here too... their open box items are only discounted by $20. I kid you not. I saw an open box DVD player... from orig price of $199 down to $179. that's the only savings a person would get on a open box item at my BB's. I tried to get them to come down. they wouldn't.. saying everything was new, it was just an open box item.

I know what you mean..I was in the market for a new computer mouse and I wanted a Logitech MX Revolution. Soooo, off to BB to take a look and sure enough they have the mouse I want, it's $99.95. I look around a little and low and behold they have one that's open and it's marked $89.95! WTF I see a sales guy nearby and I ask him if they can do any better on the open mouse, he says no that's the price. I tell him that they sell unopened brand new ones for $71.95 on Amazon.com and can they price match that. Of course he says no, so I left and ordered one from Amazon for $71.95 shipped free and no sales tax. I realize that brick and mortar stores can't compete with internet retailers but Jesus, it was an opened used item that was discounted a whooping 10%! I've noticed in the past that opened items are only discounted 10% at this store and I've never seen a really good buy on anything that's open.

obieone

I'll continue to go to Tweeter for my audio, thanks. BB doesn't know how to set up their stuff to show it off.

07maximan

obieone wrote: »

I'll continue to go to Tweeter for my audio, thanks. BB doesn't know how to set up their stuff to show it off.

I thought they went out of business.All the ones here in Socal closed down.

Yashu

Considering that 90% of the music you probably own Troy was mastered on JBLs, they must be doing something right. No offense to polk, though, they just have moved into the HT generation and haven't looked back. It's not like JBL has anything better on BB shelves these days. It's ALL HT oriented, Magnolia is a loss leader... I doubt many people going into BB are looking for MLs, but it's nice to know if a few grand dropped in my lap at 8pm, I could go get me some.

I agree about the DefTech comment, but I agree that it applies to about any speaker at a store like this, or really, any store without quality amplification... the 500 people milling around next to the room doesn't help though.

Polk is all about the HT lately, because that is where the moolah is, but I am sure they are going to *eventually* refresh LSi, hope that they do not refresh by giving us the same thing but made in a different country. I want to see Polk not just refresh LSi, but evolve them using what has been learned during their long product cycle, which should be quite a bit, like, maybe side firing woofers aren't the best thing, and to center your tweeter in a D'Appolito array, stuff like that... the vifa is good though... whatever Polk DOES do, lets hope that it is contrary to what everyone else is doing, and keep the silky highs silky... B&W can keep their tweeters made of diamond, and yes, JBL owes my ears apologies too, but when I put those pro 1" titanium tweets next to my RTi4s, even after a bunch of break-in, the title of sizzle champion in my house is squarely in the corner of Polk, but they are for HT... can't say they aren't "spacious".

Ok... was that enough of a rant for ya Troy? I have not been on the forums much lately, maybe you just missed the joyous times of the past, eh?

furball

The high end JBL's are some of the nicest speakers ever made. Unfortunately here in the U.S., we don't get a chance to hear any of those high end JBL stuff. The high end JBL, for whatever reason, are reserved for the Japanese market.

And yes, I like that comment about those side firing woofers. Those side woofers just do not work. A couple of years ago I had a pair of speakers (a different brand) that had side firing speakers. The bass and the midrange just never integrated well, just sounded wrong.

Why can't Polk put one or two extra 5/6 inch bass woofers on the front, make it a small floorstander, use the same vifa tweeter, and continue to use the well braced, excellent non resonant cabinetry, and name the new speaker LSi10 or something. That would be a real upgrade to the LSi9.

heiney9

dkg999 wrote: »

Pretty sad when Def Tech is the higher end stuff! I've listened to alot of Def Tech stuff, and I've really tried to like it. In my opinion, their entire line is just not very good.

Well, they have "Polk Paul" at Def Tech now so maybe things will turn around