Where are the passive radiators?

zingo

Us in this part of the forum have a fondness for vintage Polk speakers, and a lot of these speakers include a passive radiator. I enjoy the sound of the PR as do many others, and I feel it is a good design. They can have a higher output than sealed enclosure designs, yet don't have any port noise. Why doesn't Polk use that design anymore?

MillerLiteScott

Two things I think.

1. Cabinet size required for the tuning of the PR and actual size of the PR.

2. Computer assisted speaker design made it easier to design a ported speaker, and again allowed the speakers to be smaller.

That being said. Nothing beats cubic inches and surface area IMHO. YMMV.

Scott

ShinAce

1) Cost.
2) WAF. Big boxes in general are considered unsightly.

Emlyn

The new Polk subwoofers use them:

http://www.polkaudio.com/education/tech_article.php?id=53

Joe08867

I thought they had a newer loudspeaker that used Oval Shaped Passives. I think I saw the post in the speaker section. I'll go look.

Joe08867

The new VM30's have passives.

Here is the link to there page. VM30

zingo

Well good find, and I stand corrected.

Joe08867

I doubt the VM's are the same as a set of Monitor 10's or SDA's for low end but it is nice to see they still use them. I need to hear the VM series.

zingo

I seem to get stuck in my Polk ways and should get out to listen to all the new Polk series. Although, it the VM does have an aluminum tweeter...

maxz28

I found some S6's with the 6.5 passive radiators - do the run off the active driver or crossover?

zingo

The passive radiator moves because of the changes of pressure in the sealed enclosure caused by the active driver(s).

maxz28

So if my 6.5 driver goes south and dies, the passive won't do squat either, right?

ben62670

Correct.

maxz28

What should I be reading on my DDM if my driver is toast - open? Forgive my noob questions, I'm a bit green yet.

ben62670

Yes it'll be open.

maxz28

Thank you, sir. I apologize for hijacking the thread somewhat. Don't hate me.

ben62670

No problem. We encourage people to ask questions here;)
BTW Zingo is real cool:)
Ben