Completely disappointed in this 24K speaker...*shakes head*

2

Comments

  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,776
    Holy cow! Look at the booty on that speaker! Hubba Hubba!
  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    lightman1 wrote: »
    Holy cow! Look at the booty on that speaker! Hubba Hubba!

    I thought they would be a little thin for you
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited May 2017
    Reminds me of an ol' Crack the Sky lyric (from the song Mind Baby):
    oooh, mama, she lives in a house with no lock on the door
    oooh, mama, there's no one upstairs but what a great bottom floor
    Hey, baby, throw her a look and she'll comfort your day
    oohh, mama, throw her a book and she'll throw it away
  • cmy330go
    cmy330go Posts: 2,341
    edited May 2017
    treitz3 wrote: »
    http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/products/platinum-ii/pl500-ii

    It's GORGEOUS!!!. It looks like it would belong in a multi-million dollar property. The shine on the wood is so thick and pristine, you can see your reflection in it. The connections are all top notch, build quality excellent....literally everything about this speaker fits the bill of all things luxury and all things audiophile.

    Until you hear it.

    Yeah, it has a ribbon tweeter so the top end is rolled off. When I say rolled of? Yeah, I don't mean like a typical ribbon speaker. I've heard a few that are outstanding. This one? The song started and I was wondering where the music was. No imaging, no chimes, no micro details to speak of. It wasn't as if I needed to strain to hear it all......it just wasn't there.

    At all.

    So, the bass passages come in. Where is the bass? Where is the sound pressure? OMG, where is anything that is pleasurable? I have heard low line Polk subs sound better than this thing offered.....and here's the kicker.

    It had about 60-70K worth of front end equipment, acoustical treatments, carpeting, properly set up and with a great LP source to boot. I'm not saying that it was so bad that you would have to pay me to listen to it. What I am saying is that from this same company, I have heard a 1K bookie they produced come eerily close to an Apogee Centaurus on all aspects of the reproductive effort (minus the stunning presentation of the Apogees).

    What gives? These things sounded horrible. I'd have rather enjoyed a pair of the current Polk LSiM series....any one of them hooked up to an MP3 source playing Adele better than these.

    Money means absolutely NOTHING in this hobby. Nothing.

    Tom

    Huh. This is interesting! I heard these just a few months ago at Saturday Audio Exchange in Chicago. They had them setup near the front counter. One of the employees caught me admiring them, and asked if I'd like to hear them. He turned up some concert performance that was playing on the screen between them, and I stood there silently surprised, at how unimpressive it sounded. I just dismissed it at the time, assuming it was the source material, or the far from ideal environment they had them setup in. After reading this though, I'm wondering if you're onto something. Maybe they really are just all show, and no go.

    As a side note, I'm kicking myself for not visiting Saturday Audio sooner. I'll be hitting it every chance I get from now on.
    HT
    Mits WD-65737, DirecTV, Oppo DV-970HD, XBOX ONE, Yamaha RX-A1030, Parasound Halo A23, Rotel RB-985, Music Hall MMF-7, Parasound PPH-100, LSi-15, LSi-C, LSi-FX, LSi-7, PSW-1000, Monster HTS2600

    2 CH
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    treitz3 wrote: »
    p1199354025-3.jpg

    I will say this, the set up in the room next door at Hi-Fi Buys was a setup very similar to this setup at Munich. This was the 300K system. I think most folks here would have enjoyed that system. Refined and musical.....just a fun system to listen too.

    Nothing like that POS MBL setup we heard at Jolida HQ. The Monitor Audio speakers in the OP were actually worse than that rig.....by a far margin. That should put it into perspective for ya'.

    Tom

    Ah, I missed this until now. Wow, worse than the MBL's......that is bad.
    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

  • mikeyb128
    mikeyb128 Posts: 2,885
    edited May 2017
    VR3 wrote: »
    My Dad lived with the Grande Utopias in his house for a decade... that speaker needs quality gear and room to flex its muscles...

    I can say the Mezzo utopias I have right now are a blast to listen to as they are appropriate for my room size

    I've heard many meh focal systems. And alot of really great ones. My electras are a completely different animal toed in a half inch.

    The better the gear (properly matched might I say) and the better they sound. Every rung up the ladder I get better and better sound.. I keep saying how much better can these things sound? I keep squeezing better sound out of them with every tweak, upgrade. Absolutely amazing speakers (for the value vs performance). I've heard very few complaints.

    I spend quite a bit of time listening to extremely expensive systems in local hifi shops, and I come home and turn mine on and sit there with a smile. It's sounds just as good!
    2 channel:
    Bryston 4B3, Bryston BDA3, Cary SLP05, Shanling CDT1000SE with parts conneXion level 2 mods, Nottingham analogue ace space 294, soundsmith Carmen MKii, Zu DL103 MKii, Ortofon MC 20 MKii, Dynavector XX2 MKii, Rogue Audio Ares, Core power technologies balanced power conditioner, Akiko Corelli power conditioner with Akiko Audio HQ power cable, Nordost heimdall 2, Frey 2, interconnects, speaker and power cables, Focal Electra 1028 BE 2, Auralic Aries Femto, Black diamond racing cones, ingress audio level 1 roller blocks, JL Audio E110 with Auralic subdude, Primacoustics room treatments.
    Theater:
    Focal Aria 926,905,CC900, SVS PB ultra x2. Pioneer Elite SC85, Oppo BDP93, Panamax M5400PM, Minix neox6, Nordost Blue heaven LS power cables.

  • Montoya
    Montoya Posts: 506
    That's very strange my little shop is a Monitor dealer we have not gotten to the platinum level yet but the golds really shine. I have owned the current iteration of the Polk LsiM series and they don't come close to the Monitor Gold. Very surprised to hear this especially after reading so much about these in particular punching way above the price point.
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,230
    It is what it is.....I had a few heavy hitters within the industry state the same thing about these at LSAF. Apparently, I am not alone with my observations...

    Like I had mentioned before....I loved their little bookie. Their flagship on the other hand?

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
  • analogluvr
    analogluvr Posts: 72
    That's funny there is A guy on audio gon who raves about monitor audio. His handle is Bo 1972 and he goes on and on about truefi and how it will help you measure the parameters of hi-fi. He keeps going on about how the monitor audios are so good at a 3-D presentation. I feel like telling him to get a set of Polk SDA's
  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    I'm not knocking monitor at all, I like most of their speakers. I own a pair of speakers that would be classed in that price range and above.

    The PL500 does not IMHO come near the quality of sound as my speakers. Had the opportunity to here the 500's at a dealers shop in East TX. Of course this is a personal opinion.

    It's whatever floats your boat
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,101
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    Wonder how these sound -- they seem like they may be a little short on traditional WAF (but maybe I am just being old-fashioned):

    ..the "SIRENS"...[by Metaxas & Sins...]

    http://www.monoandstereo.com/2017/04/new-metaxas-sins-sirens-loudspakers.html

    Looks like a pregnant Cyclops...
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,230
    Those are interesting speakers...more like a work of art. What are they asking for those...or has the price been released to the public yet?

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,230
    18077208_10155296556801289_1585337232219610716_o-1.jpg
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited July 2017
    Oh no, midriff exposure and crack cleavage are verboten by the PC not z's
    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

  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    treitz3 wrote: »
    18077208_10155296556801289_1585337232219610716_o-1.jpg

    The bass sounds a bit pregnant and bloated...
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • Polkitup2
    Polkitup2 Posts: 1,619
    How about a rear firing port?
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    Polkitup2 wrote: »
    How about a rear firing port?

    just... eww.

    :#
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    But they are great for replicating the legendary "brown-note".
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    edited October 2019
    Gotta laugh at this old thread! Nice to see some humor, and the obligatory political reference. I must say, those cabinets are a bit memorizing!

    But, I wonder what a variation would look like with a stereo and dimensional driver up top? :)
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    Polkitup2 wrote: »
    How about a rear firing port?

    I find front-ports to be much cleaner, and with a much higher WAF...
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
    edited October 2019
    daddyjt wrote: »
    Polkitup2 wrote: »
    How about a rear firing port?

    I find front-ports to be much cleaner, and with a much higher WAF...

    Yea those rear ports can be muddy........

    Or I mean that's what I was told once ...
  • kharp1
    kharp1 Posts: 3,453
    I heard that MA Platinum a couple of years ago at Saturday Audio in Chicago and wasn't impressed in the least. Could have been that they needed to be in at least twice the space they were in, but, it was the most discombobulated I may have ever heard.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited October 2019
    I am amused by the juxtaposition of bona fide comments on rear ports and... shall we say... more fanciful perspectives on the double entendre.

    Rear ports.

    speaking of portz...

    https://youtu.be/IglQbP-M7_w

    EDIT: or, here's a more audiohile-appropriate version ;)

    https://youtu.be/yFDflMeTxVM
    (nice SME arm on a fairly nice Thorens)
  • drumminman
    drumminman Posts: 3,396

    https://youtu.be/yFDflMeTxVM
    (nice SME arm on a fairly nice Thorens)[/quote]

    Looks identical to the SME arm I got divorced from, except for the fixed shell.
    "Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer
  • kharp1
    kharp1 Posts: 3,453
    I heard them at Saturday Audio as well, and, it might have been the way they were set up, but, I was far less than impressed. I was in the market for a new speaker, and, they caught me looking and couldn't wait to demo them...I tried to like them. They were, if memory hasn't failed me, packed in to a room that was probably too small for them, had too much stuff around and between them, and they still couldn't pressurize the room properly. If that had been my only experience with Monitor I probably would have written them off completely. Fortunately, I've heard other Monitor speakers, so, I can now write them off with a little for info in my back pocket.