703s have arrived

Received delivery of the 703s from Adorama this evening. Boxes looked to be in decent shape but obviously this wasn't their first road trip which is to expected as I bought them as open box/used. Their condition was rated as D for demo on Adorama's scale which is supposedly their best rating.

First speaker I opened looked as if it had maybe been opened and repackaged but was flawless, manual and all packaging included, damn near new. The speaker was perfect.

Second box was a little beat up and the Styrofoam blocks were cracked and the speaker definitely was not as "factory" packaged as the first but did have all original contents. However the speaker showed no signs of wear.

Speakers out and on the table I notice one is a slightly lighter cherry than the other. I am a little/lot OCD. The finish feels a bit rough but not noticeable to the eye and what's the likelihood of me feeling up my speakers on a regular basis.

Grill on the first speaker was flawless. The grill on the second speaker was badly damage, the cloth had worn through down to the frame about 3 inches on the right top quadrant. I will contact Adorama tomorrow to see about replacing the grill and or speaker.

Now the good stuff....

These SOBs sound great! Until an hour ago I have never had my ears on a pair. Listened to Steely Dan, AJA in it's entirety and it was a delight. Now listening to Dire Straits and I am just baffled what these bookies can do. Six Blade Knife, the bass is deep, solid and tight. Sound stage seems wider than my 60s and I am not as focused on the speakers but the music? The detail and separation of instruments is astonishing and the high end is smooth.

I know my description does not do these justice and many of you have had these at some point and moved up the chain but I am very happy with them.

Jumping down the rabbit hole 13 months ago I have covered some ground and I have a lot to learn but this sure is fun.

Cheers
RB
Living Room
Parasound HINT 6, Yamaha Aventage RX-A 1060, Yamaha BD-S681, Cambridge Audio Azur 851N, Polk S60, Polk S30, Samsung 60" LED

Office
Cambridge Audio 851A, Auralic Aries Mini, LSiM 703s

Douglas Connection ICs and Cables

Comments

  • DSkip wrote: »
    I think you are hitting on what I expected you to when comparing them to the S60. I'm glad they made it in and I'm sure Adorama will get you settled on that grill. If not, just reach out to Polk and they should honor it for you.

    Skip, I am 2.5 hrs in on these things and have an early meeting tomorrow but I don't want to go to bed, I want to keep listening :) Don't get me wrong the 60s rock but these are definitely all about the music.
    Living Room
    Parasound HINT 6, Yamaha Aventage RX-A 1060, Yamaha BD-S681, Cambridge Audio Azur 851N, Polk S60, Polk S30, Samsung 60" LED

    Office
    Cambridge Audio 851A, Auralic Aries Mini, LSiM 703s

    Douglas Connection ICs and Cables
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,307
    have an early meeting tomorrow but I don't want to go to bed, I want to keep listening
    and thaaat's how you know you're doing it right :)

    Congrats on the acquisition, Ray, 703s are a good move, imho, and they're only going to get better with time. I noticed months down the road of ownership that they seemed to "play easier", more smoothly, less restrained. Maybe I'd have noticed the changes earlier with more experience in the hobby and being more settled into gear, but it was early on in my audio journey, still making gear changes, and was coming off hypersensitization due to a bad experience with an earlier set of speakers.

    Too early before break-in/burn-in to make a definitive comparison, but curious, how do you find the bass output compared to the S60s?
    I disabled signatures.
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    Yeah, after a pretty significant break in period mine improved quite noticeably. I really enjoy them and with current pricing one of the best bang for buck out there imho
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,557
    edited November 2017
    703 related: Does anyone know if the 703s being sold today are being manufactured to the same exact specifications as they were before the acquisition/merger with Sound United brands? Just simply curious.
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    Clipdat wrote: »
    703 related: Does anyone know if the 703s being sold today are being manufactured to the same exact specifications as they were before the acquisition/merger with Sound United brands? Just simply curious.

    Why would it change?
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,557
    edited November 2017
    Not sure!

    Sometimes when smaller family owned and/or boutique electronics companies get purchased/absorbed by a larger conglomerate, they make various changes to the internal operations of the company. I'd imagine this could include changes to where parts are sourced, where manufacturing takes place, tweaks to existing product lines, behind the scenes changes, etc.

    One example of this was when Rane got purchased by inMusic brands. Rane was one of the best DJ equipment and pro sound manufacturers, and all their products were assembled in the USA. After they were purchased, production of their DJ mixers and other equipment was moved to the existing inMusic facility in China, and their Mukilteo, WA headquarters was shuttered. This resulted in the discontinuation of one of their expensive boutique rotary mixers, the MP 2014.

    So, I'm just curious if the 703s for sale today are the same as the units that we know and love. Some speaker manufactures use date/production codes on the packaging, so perhaps a year/month of manufacture could be determined with that information.
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    Why would it change?

  • deronb1
    deronb1 Posts: 5,021
    My condolences
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    Clipdat wrote: »
    703 related: Does anyone know if the 703s being sold today are being manufactured to the same exact specifications as they were before the acquisition/merger with Sound United brands? Just simply curious.

    The original Polk Audio was sold to DEI/Sound United l-o-n-g before the LSiM series came out.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • rburgess714
    rburgess714 Posts: 614
    edited January 2018
    msg wrote: »
    have an early meeting tomorrow but I don't want to go to bed, I want to keep listening
    and thaaat's how you know you're doing it right :)

    Congrats on the acquisition, Ray, 703s are a good move, imho, and they're only going to get better with time. I noticed months down the road of ownership that they seemed to "play easier", more smoothly, less restrained. Maybe I'd have noticed the changes earlier with more experience in the hobby and being more settled into gear, but it was early on in my audio journey, still making gear changes, and was coming off hypersensitization due to a bad experience with an earlier set of speakers.

    Too early before break-in/burn-in to make a definitive comparison, but curious, how do you find the bass output compared to the S60s?

    703s have been used heavily for the last 6 weeks. They are a joy for 2-channel listening and the bass does dig pretty low and is tight and articulate. I do love these speakers and have no intention of letting them go...

    Just for grins I put the 60s back in play and these are great as well, I actually missed them. For movies in my 3.0 set up I think they may possibly best the 703s. Don't get me wrong the 703s perform nicely for movies but the 60s seem to be a bit more dynamic and have a bigger theatrical sound. Just my ears and my opinion. I am sure a lot may have to do with them being bigger and having 4 drivers? My son seems to like them more but he thinks I have an electronics and speaker addiction :)

    Anyway hard to compare the 2 as they both possess great attributes and I am very happy with my purchases.

    RB
    Living Room
    Parasound HINT 6, Yamaha Aventage RX-A 1060, Yamaha BD-S681, Cambridge Audio Azur 851N, Polk S60, Polk S30, Samsung 60" LED

    Office
    Cambridge Audio 851A, Auralic Aries Mini, LSiM 703s

    Douglas Connection ICs and Cables