What Polks did you have or grow up with?

gidrah
gidrah Posts: 3,049
edited October 2002 in Speakers
Maybe you had some and sold, maybe your daddy had a pair. Maybe it was your friend, uncle (that touched you in bad places), slap-happy-grandpappy, or red-headed stepchild.

I love my Polks and will buy more. I'm just curious as to the phases everybody went through.

Myself. I own Monitor 10Bs. I couldn't be happier with them. When I heard the SDAs, they were way over budget and can't find a demo now. The pair of LSi9s on Audiogon (thanks BDT) has me thinking about my 2nd rig.

Please reply! It's quick, easy, and best of all it's free.
Make it Funky! :)
Post edited by gidrah on

Comments

  • jmasterj
    jmasterj Posts: 327
    edited October 2002
    I owned some SDA-2's back in the 80's I sold them. Would love
    to get a new pair.
    JmasterJ Polk to the Death
  • hoosier21
    hoosier21 Posts: 4,408
    edited October 2002
    Local place had 5Jr's on sell, got them home, like them but wanted more, toke them back and got Monitor 10's yea that was more like it, sold them to a freind later and took a long time off from Polks. Answered an ad for a pair of "Black Polk speakers" "floorstanding" what ever, no model number offered, called and the guy had no idea what model they were, well the price was right, what the hell I will go check them out, sounded good to me I bought them, we load them and he hands me the manual and "this cable goes with them but I never used it". These were my first pair of SDA 1C's.
    Dodd - Battery Preamp
    Monarchy Audio SE100 Delux - mono power amps
    Sony DVP-NS999ES - SACD player
    ADS 1230 - Polk SDA 2B
    DIY Stereo Subwoofer towers w/(4) 12 drivers each
    Crown K1 - Subwoofer amp
    Outlaw ICBM - crossover
    Beringher BFD - sub eq

    Where is the remote? Where is the $%#$% remote!

    "I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like the most of us have...very hard to explain why you're mad, even if you're not mad..."
  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited October 2002
    Started out with a pair of SDA-2b's and a rack full of Carver gear. Got laid off and had to put food on the table (literally) so I sold every thing for pennies on the dollar. That was back in the late 80's - early 90's.

    Fast forward to 2000 and I started buying again. first upt was a set of R40's (currently in the bedroom) a coule of Rt25i's, and a CS175 (currently in a closet).

    Moved into our new house in Dec. 01 and the wife said the R40's looked to small next to the TV, YYEESSSS!! Upgraded to RT800i's, and a CS400. Also added fx300's to complete the 7.1 setup.

    August 2002..... I SAW THE LIGHT!!!! Upgraded everything to my current setup! Lsi's everywhere! Except the sub, its a Sunfire MkII
    9/11 - WE WILL NEVER FORGET!! (<---<<click)
    2005-06 Club Polk Football Pool Champion!! :D
  • etrigan
    etrigan Posts: 160
    edited October 2002
    First pair of "real" speakers I ever owned were monitor 7b's - eventually moved them to another room and upgraded to monitor 10b's.
    20 or so years later :eek: I now own RT800I's/CS400I/RT25I's in my modest HT setup - RT55I's for my 2chnl setup - and another pair of RT25I's for a small 2chnl setup in a small bedroom.
    Gotta luv them Polk's :D

    CHEERS ! jefff
    Art as expression-Not as market campaigns-Will still capture our imaginations.
  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited October 2002
    Father bought some 5jr's & an HK stereo rcvr way back when & when I visited & heard it, was very impressed. Spkrs & recvr are both still there, cranking out the tunes as fine as ever.
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited October 2002
    I started with RTA8T's, still have them, then last year went ahead and bought the 800i's, 400i, PSW350, RT55's and I could not be happier.
    ***WAREMTAE***
  • STUFFMD
    STUFFMD Posts: 381
    edited October 2002
    Sorry...My dad sold his soul for a pair of Dq-10's we loved them..then some **** stole them ...I'm not sure who was more devistated.... I always remember Loving the sound of Polks though..the one I remember most was the Rt12 B's I think they were ......Now I own the Rt800's myself.
    Peace, StuffMD
    Your system is only as good as your weakest component...!

    OnkyoTX-DS 797
    NAD C270/ Mains
    Mains: LSI9's
    Center: Cs400i /Biwired
    Rear: Fx300i
    Rear Center:CS 245i
    Dvd: Onkyo DVS 555
    Vision RCA 36" Premiere Series
    Bang & Olfsen RX Turntable
    Psw 350 Front/Psw 202 rear
    Kimber Cable 4TC Mains HF
    Monster Originals/Center
    Kimber Interconnects
    Monster XP Everywhere else
    PS2/Gamecube
  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,077
    edited October 2002
    The first Polks I heard were the Monitor 7C's, the first Polks that I really fell in love with were the RT7's. Since then, I've had the RT7's, R10's, CS400i, Mini-monitors, RTA12's. I've convinced my little brother to pick up the RT800i's and most recently a friend to pick up the RM6000's.

    I hear ya STUFFMD, I wouldn't part with the DQ-10's for anything.

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
  • smglbrth
    smglbrth Posts: 1,458
    edited October 2002
    Let's see, the first pair I bought were Monitor 5B's. Nice little speaker but I wanted more bass so I took them back and bought the RTA-8t's. Kept those and bought bookshelf 4 jr+'s or something like that. First night I had the bookshelf's I blew a driver listening to Pink Floyd, Delicate Sound of Thunder, along with the 8t's, bummer. Had that driver replaced and all was well from then on, for about 3-4 years. This is in the 1988-1992 arena.
    I soon got the itch for something newer in floorstanding and bought the RTA-11tl's. Traded the 8t's in and sold the bookshelfs to a friend of mine. Thought that newer was better, wrong. I knew right away that I couldn't push the 11's like I did the 8's. Blew all four drivers in the 11's with the same powerplant, an old Philips FA960 integrated (should have never sold that).
    I got into theater with the, then new, five channel surround, and bought a CS-250S center channel and two M-3 II's or somthing like that. They had the funny cabinet that you could mount just about anywhere. Had that for a while and sold everything in one moment, all the equipment gone (don't ask).
    Since, I've bought a used pair of 8t's and went into separates,strickly into 2 channel now and couldn't be happier.
    Like others I looked at the SDA series and that was just about it, looked at them and looked at the price.
    Didn't realize I went through that many Polk speakers!
    Remember, when you're running from something, you're running to something...-me
  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited October 2002
    Many years ago, my friend got a pair of S4 and I really liked the sound. So when upgrade time came, I got a CS200 with my first Dolby Pro Logic receiver. Got tired of my Kenwood mains and upgraded to the RT5. Then I needed more bass and got a PSW650. After a few years, I wanted bigger sound and upgraded the mains to the RT800i and moved the RT5's to the rears. And finally this summer I got the CSi40 to replace my CS200.

    The mains will once again change within a month when I get a pair of LSi9. Audio is like a nasty disease I tell you. It eats up your hard earned cash, but I love it!

    Maurice
  • Larry Chanin
    Larry Chanin Posts: 601
    edited October 2002
    I bought my first pair of Polk Audio speakers new in 1987, they were SDA-1Cs. When Dolby surround sound was introduced Polk Audio was one of the first companies to market a center channel speaker, it was the CS100. I bought an NEC surround processor, a CS100 and a pair of no name speakers for my side surrounds.

    When Dolby Pro Logic came out I upgraded to a decent Pioneer receiver and an M&K subwoofer.

    At this point my wife and I decided to finish the basement and build a dedicated home theater. I relocated my A/V gear which included a standard widescreen TV to the theater. The no name speakers remained upstairs in the family room and I upgraded my surrounds to Polk Audio M3IIs.

    Then my trusty old widescreen TV died. So I bought a first generation High Definition TV and switched from cable to satellite. I realized that there wasn’t much high definition programming so I figured I needed a DVD player to get a better standard picture and better sound. But I didn’t have a Dolby Digital receiver. So I bought a Vantas surround adapter. This gadget converted my Pro Logic receiver to Dolby Digital.

    Now it was time to upgrade my center speaker and surrounds so I replaced the CS100 with a Polk CS400i, and the M3II were upgraded to Polk f/x500is.

    Then Surround EX came out. I bought a Circle Surround adapter to generate the matrixed center rear channel, and I recycled my old CS100 by mounting it on the rear wall.

    Then I found out over at Mikes Polk/SDA web page that my SDAs were putting out as much base as my subwoofer. Not good, so I upgraded my LFE subwoofer to a Carver subwoofer. The Circle Surround adapter had a connection to connect a surround subwoofer. So I recycled the M&K subwoofer by relocating it to the rear of the room to be used just for surround (no LFE).

    Then I found out about separates, 7.1 channel sound and Lexicon processors. I bought a Lexicon MC-1 and a bunch of Parasound amplifiers. I recycled my old Polk M3IIs by mounting them in the rear corners of the room to accommodate the two stereo surround back channels.

    So…That’s where I am at the present.
    EVERY POLK AUDIO SPEAKER THAT I EVER BOUGHT OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS IS STILL IN OPERATION.
    You can see pictures of them by clicking on my signature below.

    Larry
  • jdavy
    jdavy Posts: 380
    edited October 2002
    My first pair of Polks were my SDA-SRS from 1986 I think. I then got a some Mobile Monitor Speakers and the SDA-ACM for my Chevelle. Loved that system in that car. The SDA-ACM was great. The car got stolen and all I got back was a torched hull. They striped the car clean. Since then I got 2 SDA-ACM's off of ebay as well as a MM1001 that was NIB. I have heard many speakers since then but I think that Polk makes the best.
  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited October 2002
    Originally posted by hoosier21
    Answered an ad for a pair of "Black Polk speakers" "floorstanding" what ever, no model number offered, called and the guy had no idea what model they were, well the price was right, what the hell I will go check them out, sounded good to me I bought them, we load them and he hands me the manual and "this cable goes with them but I never used it".

    These were my first pair of SDA 1C's.


    Heh Heh,
    Were those same ones not my first pair of 1C's :D

    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
  • Libertyc
    Libertyc Posts: 914
    edited October 2002
    My first Polks were Monitor 10bs. I bought them used along with a NAD 7240pe. Sounded great...I had the "best system" among all my friends. I still have the rig stored in the closet. The monitor 10 was such a fun speaker...then I bought SDAs.
  • jeberhart
    jeberhart Posts: 69
    edited October 2002
    Bought my Monitor 10Bs in 1989 on my wedding day (it's a long story involving alcohol, wicked hangovers and an early-morning adventure involving a friend from out of town and a nasty landlady). Anyway, they remain my front LRs. I think about upgrading sometimes, but the price I'd have to pay for something comparable makes me itch all over. Besides, they still sound superb. Why bother?
  • markj
    markj Posts: 1
    edited October 2002
    I bought my Monitor 10B's back in April of 1984 on the strength of a terrific demo at my local audio shop. I was just a college student and wanted to maximize my audio dollar. To this day, I don't regret it. I've replaced the rest of the system multiple times, but the Monitor 10B's are still there and are my main right and left speakers. The only place that they are lacking is in the lowest octave. I've had to replace the tweets, and have gone through dozens of fuses, but that's not the speakers' fault. It's mine. My second pair are JBL J216A's from about 1986 - also an outstanding value. They're now my rear speakers in the home theater room.

    While I've heard many excellent speakers over the years (one of my lifelong buddies sells audio gear), I've never heard anything else that made me want to replace any of mine. I could spend a couple grand, I suppose, but then I'd miss out on all of the other toys.

    Forced by a direct lightning hit on my house, I upgraded to Pro Logic in 1993, and added a Yamaha powered sub and a Polk CS150 center channel at the same time. In 2000, I added DVD and upgraded to a Yamaha RX-V995 DD/DTS receiver. It quickly became apparent that my sub didn't have what it took to handle the dynamic range of DVD. I've been suffering along until just this month.

    I'd been shopping around for excellent values in the subwoofer arena, and none could pass my test - the opening heartbeat on the Mobile Fidelity gold CD version of Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon. Every sub I tested in my price range ended up bottoming out badly. Then I ran across SVS, read the reviews, emailed the owners, and decided to take a chance. Holy COW! My 20-39 PC+ arrived 12 days ago and I'm still dropping my jaw at what it can do. I'm amazed at how much content my old sub simply ignored. This thing literally shakes the house, and doesn't even sound like it's working hard. It is versatile enough to handle the (sometimes) ridiculous demands of DVD, but doesn't overpower you when listening to music. It fills in the bottom octave perfectly. I had to go over my budget a bit to get it, but to improve on its performance in another brand, I'd have to pay at least twice as much, and maybe 3 times as much.

    The CS150 center channel has performed wonderfully, but I need something bigger. I've been messing around with calibration now, thanks to the arrival of the sub and reading this message board. What I'm finding is that the CS150 registers about 3 db lower than the Monitor 10B's on pink noise, so I've had to boost the center. Then I blew the main driver on it. (Pop! then just tweet in the center) Just got the replacement driver a couple of days ago. So, now, I need to go shopping again....I'm assuming that the best Polk match would be the CS350LS, but finding one is going to be the tough part....
  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,031
    edited October 2002
    My first experience with Polk was at my Uncles house.He bought a new pair of Monitor 10b's when they first came out.We went to visit him and his family and he showed them to me One listen and I was forever hooked on Polk.He even had the stands for them tilted slightly back.I remember sitting on his couch just amazed at the sound.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
  • Indrama
    Indrama Posts: 7
    edited October 2002
    I would say back in the 80's when I went to my first specialty store and listened to the SRS 1.2's through a mac system was all it took for me, and I have been hooked ever since, I was 17 at the time so having that kind of money laying around was out of the question. I sat in the back of the room and waited untill I could afford them, and of cource befor I had enough money they stopped making them. Every once in a while I try to find some on eby or here in the forum area, but until that great day I'll just sit back and enjoy my RT5000 system, but oooohhh those SDA's
  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited October 2002
    my first polks I just got a few months ago (2 or 3)... A pair of used 5jrs. I love these speakers, and the only thing wrong w/ them is that the tweeters are blown. I'm getting a pair of those Peerless replacement tweeters soon. I can't wait! I look forward to getting better and better Polk speakers as I have the money (I'm only 16, and am soon to have a car payment and insurance :-/). My dad and I are hoping to set up a HT in our basement, but we have to build the room for it first. It'll prolly get started this winter. I'm really excited about that. I'm thinking some nice polk towers with a SVS sub. MMMMMMM

    DooD
    Ludicrous gibs!
  • jltrdavis
    jltrdavis Posts: 78
    edited October 2002
    I bought a pair of used monitor 7's when I was about 13 or so. Been a Polk fan ever since.


    -Jason