Polk Forum Giveaway!
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About ten years ago, I decided to re-boot my audio listening experience. My setup at the time consisted of a couple Sony electronic pieces, and Cerwin Vega D5 loudspeakers. The CV speakers needed new surrounds, which I fixed, but I thought there had to be some better sounding speakers out there after so many years. I did home auditions of a few different brands, and thought I had settled on a pair of Klipsch from Best Buy.
I also scoured the local used market, and noticed a pair of Polk SDA-2B (Real Wood) in my price range. I really didn't think a pair of 'vintage' speakers were going to match any brand-new models, but the SDA technology intrigued me, so I went to give them a listen in the seller's home. Needless to say, I was blown away by the sound, and purchased them on the spotThe Klipsch immediately went back to Best Buy. I found this Polk Forum not long after that, and immersed myself in getting educated, and did almost all of the recommended tweaks and upgrades to my SDA-2B. In the meantime, I also picked up two pair of Monitor 10 (which I modded, and still own), and after trading the SDA-2B away in a multi-part deal, I got the itch again, and found a pair of SDA-1C (Studio); those still need work. I created a mid-woofer repair jig for magnet shift fixes, and after using it for some of my own drivers, I've also repaired a few drivers for other local Polk owners, so they can enjoy their vintage speakers for years to come
I'm glad that Polk has been able to remain a viable player in the loudspeaker market, as well as keep this valuable forum alive. I haven't heard any truly 'modern' Polk speakers, so if I'm fortunate enough to win this sweepstakes, I look forward to hearing what they have to offer!"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 -
Just for the heck of it, here’s my little story…
My first taste of the Polk magic was from a pair of thrift store Monitor 10’s that were mismatched from two different years. I was just fascinated with the sheer amount of low end those four little 6.5” midwoofers (coupled with good physics) would produce! I loved on them for a year or so, joined this forum and started consuming threads like I was starved. I enjoyed the stories, the passion, the lore, and above all the surprisingly excellent sound I was enjoying on the daily. …Then I bought a pair of Monitor 4’s with Peerless tweeters, and then a pair of 7’s, and then RTA12C’s… the obsession really got out of hand once I heard SDA…. At one point, my wife even bought me a Polk Audio t-shirt. Even she approves, apparently… #winning.
Over the past decade, I have owned over fifty pairs of Polk speakers, mostly vintage, but some from the RTi and LSIM families and the Reserves are very, very good. While I couldn’t afford Legends, I talked a rich friend into a full Legend HT. What an amazing rig. Seriously stupendous. I have restored so many speakers, recentered and glued so many magnets, done all the mods, built many custom crossovers, have even converted SDA1’s to 1A’s (that was a chore…) including upgrading SL1000’s with aftermarket silk domes, experimented with phase plugs, and executed many, many cabinet veneer projects. Playing with Polk speakers has really been a wonderful hobby. Oh, and that original pair of 10’s? I fully restored them from tip to tail and passed them along to a friend who was going through a rough patch. He’s still rocking them today.
One of the best parts of the whole saga, I have met some great folks through this forum. Have even sadly seen some of the best pass on... What a wonderful community, focused on rich history and arguably one of the greatest American manufacturers of loudspeakers. I am truly grateful that I stumbled onto the scene with a $20 thrift store score. An unplanned fork in my life’s path, of which I’ve enjoyed every step, (and sound…)
At one point along the way I shot this family photo in my basement. 🤩
Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩 -
I will not lie, I've always been a bit jealous of that collection.
Love it! -
Dang....you are to Polk, like I was to Carver...but worse.
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. ~ -
My first pair of Polk speakers were Lsi9 bookshelves. I was upgrading from Bose 301 series v, and boy was it an upgrade! I heard the music like I never had before and pretty soon I was itching for other upgrades - the amp was next. After several years I upgraded to the new flagship line of Lsim703s. Then when I had more room I got the 705s which is what I’m still enjoying today. I’d really like to hear the legend 800s (or any other legend speakers) and hope that Polk will have a new Legend level flagship line soon!
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Dang, I thought I had issues!Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
Dang....you are to Polk, like I was to Carver...but worse.
Tom
One of the things I admired most about both Polk and Carver, was the way that Matt and Bob forged their own paths while seemingly flipping off the Hi-Fi establishment and audiophile snobs of the day by building high quality and affordable stuff that punched well above their class, giving great value and great sound to those of us that drank beer with our music instead of Cognac or brandy.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2800 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
How many flies need to be buzzing a dead horse before you guys stop beating it? -
Thank you all for telling your story, there's some incredible history in this group and we loved reading every word of it. We'll be announcing the winner ASAP, stay tuned!
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🤞🤞🤞🤞The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2800 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
How many flies need to be buzzing a dead horse before you guys stop beating it? -
1 in 25 chance if my math adds up.
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1 in 25 chance if my math adds up.
Even if it was 50/50, I would still lose 90 percent of the time!The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2800 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
How many flies need to be buzzing a dead horse before you guys stop beating it? -
The winner has been notified via direct message. Once we've confirmed their eligibility, we will make the announcement. We look forward to doing this again. What would you like to see next?
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My message box is empty...
Congrats to the lucky sonofa.Post edited by nooshinjohn onThe Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2800 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
How many flies need to be buzzing a dead horse before you guys stop beating it? -
Congrats to the winner!
More and bigger speakers would be fine!
Brian
One-owner Polk Audio RTA 15TL speakers refreshed w/ Sonicap, Vishay/Mills and Cardas components by "pitdogg2," "xschop" billet tweeter plates and BH5 | Stereo REL Acoustics T/5x subwoofers w/ Bassline Blue cables | Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III integrated tube amp | Technics SL-1210G turntable w/ Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 MM cart | Teac VRDS-701T CD transport | LampizatOr Baltic 4 tube DAC | Nordost & DH Labs cables/interconnects | APC H15 Power Conditioner | GIK Acoustics room treatments | Degritter RCM -
We would like to see a sneak peak of what Polk is coming up with in the speaker world2-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 -
How about some MW6511 reproduction drivers?
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PolkSocial wrote: »The winner has been notified via direct message. Once we've confirmed their eligibility, we will make the announcement. We look forward to doing this again. What would you like to see next?
A sneak-peak at the next gen of SDA floor-standers.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2800 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
How many flies need to be buzzing a dead horse before you guys stop beating it? -
nooshinjohn wrote: »My message box is empty...
Congrats to the lucky sonofa.Congrats to the winner!
I’m also coming up blank. Congrats to whomever won!"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
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Congrats to the winner 🏆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 -
Wasn’t me - congrats to the winner!
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Me neither. But congrats to the winner whoever he or she may be.
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Congrats to the winner…!“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 -
very secretive... they must be contacting their lawyer to make sure no unknown "close relatives" show up to claim the speakers for them.
Not me either -- but it still is a very cool prize!
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The rules had a bunch of conditions and things to sign for the winner to prove eligibility. However, the rules also said they would announce the winner (not me) on Friday. That obviously didn't happen. I think they are trying to figure some things out as they go.
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Hi all, thank you for all the buzz and excitement as well as the ideas for what we should do next. We're communicating with the winner in their direct messages to confirm their eligibility. Once we do that, we will announce that this sweepstakes is closed!
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Thanks again to everyone for entering this contest. It was great reading through all of your stories. It's amazing how many people still have their original receipts and order forms from 10, 15 even 20+ years ago. How cool!
Let's congratulate @agingboomer on being selected as the random winner for this giveaway. As the R100s are getting packaged up and shipped out today, this officially closes out this giveaway. But we will be back with more soon. Thank you for all of the suggestions!
And we promise, this is not a bot -
Congratulations @agingboomer !!
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Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
--Mark Twain. -
