What speaker made you give up your Polks?

Hey everyone!

I just recently had a driver go out in my SDA-2A and it’s gotten me into looking at speakers again. I have had a pair of smaller Klipsch towers, and definitive tech towers and I’ve not found anything to really pull me away for the vintage polks and the SDA technology.

For those of you who have made the jump; what speakers made you take the leap? What do you miss about the polks that you don’t get from your current setup?
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Comments

  • When you say it "went out" what's it doing?
  • If you say they are 2As then the drivers are mw6510.. there are currently 4 of those drivers for sale on ebay right now.. you could get yours fixed and have a spare.

    Adam
  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,032
    Back in the day I was die hard Polk audio. I joined this forum way back in the 90's when it was a brand new thing.
    I had SDA's, RT , LSI , an array of in wall and in ceiling and a pair of Outdoors.
    The speaker that took me away from Polk in my main system was Dynaudio. They did things I felt the polk LSI's could not.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
  • motorstereo
    motorstereo Posts: 2,042
    9 years some 1.2tl's made me give up my 2.3s; does that count :) ?
  • mlistens03
    mlistens03 Posts: 2,767
    I gave up my LSi25s for KEF Q150s and now Martin Logans. They just were a little darker than I liked. They were incredible if you were sitting perfectly on-axis but if you weren't they were little more than ok.

    Both my KEFs and my Martin Logans staged much better and sound better off axis. There are many things they don't do as well though. One day I could see myself buying another pair. :)
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    Very vintage Altec.
  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    I went on a roll starting back around 2003 or so. I went from SDA-2B to PSB Synchrony One. That lasted a while, and then upgraded to Aerial Acoustics 7T. Finally, I upgraded the Aerials to Magico S5. A year or so later I traded the Magico S5 for the upgraded Magico S5 MK II. At this point, I have zero desire for anything else.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,230
    Tyler Acoustic 7U's
    hp7iaqv8zitg.png
    I still have Tyler's but not those. Moved on up the line and then modified them to the absolute extreme.
    mphxfaqlxlht.png
    SPEAKERS - Tyler Acoustics Lynbrook Signature Series one piece towers in Ribbon Mahogany. The speakers have been completely disassembled and rebuilt/finished from the ground up, resealed, damping material added, crossovers removed from the cabinet. Also, upgraded wiring, spikes, back plate and NL4 connector/umbilical cord that connects back to the crossover networks.

    CROSSOVER - The crosssovers have been removed from the cabinets and were part of a 3 and a half year project from design to finished product. Completely custom. A cabinet enclosure was manufactured from scratch to hold three levels of crossover components. 1st level, the original crossovers that came with the speakers. 2nd level, the tweeter network with all VR3 Abott series upgrades (his top tier line). 3rd level, VR3 Abott series upgrade bass and mid-bass network. This is actually two crossover networks in one enclosure so we can very rapidly change from the original crossovers that came with the speakers to the upgraded crossovers. Custom aircraft aluminum chassis with independently suspended/isolated shelves, powder coated black and spiked w/ custom umbilical cord to speakers with NL4 connections to the speakers.

    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. ~
  • motorstereo
    motorstereo Posts: 2,042
    udgmquvqs5hg.jpg
    ADS 1590.

    Great speakers; Which model Polks did they send packing?
  • The best of the best.. and cant nobody tell me any different.
    urgsnw8aq5um.jpg

    Lol.. I'm with slow_polk7 I could never give up my polks
  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    BlueFox wrote: »
    I went on a roll starting back around 2003 or so. I went from SDA-2B to PSB Synchrony One. That lasted a while, and then upgraded to Aerial Acoustics 7T. Finally, I upgraded the Aerials to Magico S5. A year or so later I traded the Magico S5 for the upgraded Magico S5 MK II. At this point, I have zero desire for anything else.

    Adding a picture.

    qcsf73ox37jr.jpeg
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • Joshwest90
    Joshwest90 Posts: 109
    When you say it "went out" what's it doing?

    One driver is muffled and crackles. Pulled it out and it fluctuates between 6.0-6.7 ohms. There’s a point in movement of the speaker where I feel it catch and it sounds like a click when you move the woofer.
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    Had RT's SDA 2.3's LSI's LSIM's and now have Ushers...

    Better all around, less picky regarding placement... awesome sound stage and the finest soundig tweeter you can find for the $$$$.

    Easier to drive, with way better aesthetics.

    pif4qnfovc0j.jpg
    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,651
    treitz3 wrote: »
    Tyler Acoustic 7U's
    hp7iaqv8zitg.png
    I still have Tyler's but not those. Moved on up the line and then modified them to the absolute extreme.
    mphxfaqlxlht.png
    SPEAKERS - Tyler Acoustics Lynbrook Signature Series one piece towers in Ribbon Mahogany. The speakers have been completely disassembled and rebuilt/finished from the ground up, resealed, damping material added, crossovers removed from the cabinet. Also, upgraded wiring, spikes, back plate and NL4 connector/umbilical cord that connects back to the crossover networks.

    CROSSOVER - The crosssovers have been removed from the cabinets and were part of a 3 and a half year project from design to finished product. Completely custom. A cabinet enclosure was manufactured from scratch to hold three levels of crossover components. 1st level, the original crossovers that came with the speakers. 2nd level, the tweeter network with all VR3 Abott series upgrades (his top tier line). 3rd level, VR3 Abott series upgrade bass and mid-bass network. This is actually two crossover networks in one enclosure so we can very rapidly change from the original crossovers that came with the speakers to the upgraded crossovers. Custom aircraft aluminum chassis with independently suspended/isolated shelves, powder coated black and spiked w/ custom umbilical cord to speakers with NL4 connections to the speakers.

    Tom


    Tom those crossovers are awesome. I would love to do something like that. I talked with VR3 but he did not want to take on a project like that at this time. Like how you have the original and new crossover.
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, AudioQuest Thunderbird Speaker and Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    edited April 2020
    Nothing. Of the 29 Polk speakers that I have had I still have 22 of them. Gave away 5 and sploded 2. Wait I fogot subs so I have 23 gave away 1.
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    The only speaker I have had I like more than my Polks was a set of Magnepan MG-20.1's. I would go back to them, with a pair of REL Gibraltars if I had the room for them.
    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
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,230
    tratliff wrote: »
    Tom those crossovers are awesome. I would love to do something like that. I talked with VR3 but he did not want to take on a project like that at this time. Like how you have the original and new crossover.
    I very seriously doubt that he would want to take on such a massive project again. It didn't really start out to be such an endeavor but it slowly morphed into something extraordinary. It was a fun project, though.

    I remember the day we were in Trey's backyard, building up a mock up of the crossover enclosure with 2by's and luan...just to see if everything would fit. I think we must have gone through a case of beer that day, just spouting off ideas. Many of which came into fruition. If you are ever up in the Charlotte area, hit me up. I'd love for you to hear the end result of all the effort put into them.

    Thanks all for the kind words. This forum definitely has some nice rigs!

    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. ~
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,308
    edited April 2020
    Great thread you BFs.
    Truly.
    I disabled signatures.
  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    JMlab Electra (Focal) or Spendor replaced SDAs. Availability of excellent sealed box subwoofers has helped in recent years. That’s after having nine different pairs of SDAs. I have lost count of the number of non SDA Polk speakers I have had, and still have LSiMs.
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    Legacy Focus 20/20 made me kick the SRT's to the curb
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    treitz3 wrote: »
    tratliff wrote: »
    ...This forum definitely has some nice rigs!

    Tom

    Yea, I thought I had pretty nice gear until I started spending some time here. I’m definitely not in the upper half in these parts... but it is cool knowing that there are real people that spend more on speakers than they do their car.
    "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

  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    Nightfall wrote: »
    Another Rosso Fiorentino here.

    rglj20y4pe0d.jpg


    Man, those Infinity Kappa 5s didn’t last long, lol!
    "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

  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    First was Infinity RSIIIa, and then JM Lab/Focal Mezzo Utopia that I bought from some guy named Tom...sorry, I meant Trey.
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon