Polk Flagship Line Speaker Sale - Hurry!

Man those 703s are tempting me. Glad I don't need any speakers right now.

 

The FIRST sentence in your post describes my listening habits perfectly, many of us purchase larger speakers, but we are not interested in being blasted out, this is so true!! Thanks for the great post! They have about 130 sets of 707's left. They will probably be discontinued within the next year. Now is the time. LiteJazz53

 

A sub I really like is no longer in production - Martin Logan Depth. Fast and very articulate driving 3 8" woofers in an octagonal cabinet.

Don't get a big sub, a smaller 10/12" sub is probably all you need.

 

This is all good advice. One issue that I failed to mention is that I am very constrained in how far from the walls I can place my speakers. There is simply not room to have them very far out from the rear wall without being in the way. I just spoke to a rep at Polk, he said I would have problems with boominess with the 707's given that constraint. I appreciated his honesty..

 

I think that they could be used about a foot out away from a wall or even less.

At the bottom of the 707's cabinet, there appear to be two bottom facing ports. These ports are located above the speaker's base and they spread out the sound at the bottom in 360-degrees.

 

Beautiful speaker.

 

I am hoping you guys can help me with some questions. I have owned and enjoyed a pair of the Polk Monitor 40s for about 10 years now and I might considering upgrading to the LSiM 705s. But I have some questions:

1. If I really like the sound of my speakers, should I even bother upgrading? I imagine the main/biggest difference will be in bass and although none of my neighbors has ever complained about noise from my stereo, even at relatively loud volumes, I have to think that this is because the lack of low end on my Monitor 40s, as their frequency response is 57-24,000 Hz (-3dB.) The frequency response on the LSiM705s is 42-30,000 Hz (-3dB.) Is that right, though? I would imagine a tower speaker with two subwoofers to go lower than that.

2. If I love the sound of all my CDs right now and have taken great care to seek out my favorite masterings, would these preferences likely change with a big upgrade in speakers? (I don't want to have to go out an buy a bunch of new masterings that sound better on my new speakers.)

3. Is my amplifier strong enough for the LSiM 705s? I have a Yamaha AX-497 (85 W + 85 W (8 O), 0.019% THD, 20 Hz to 20 kHz)

4. Is my room size OK for the LSiM 705? It is 17' x 13' x 10'

5. How far from the wall do the LSiM 705s need to be?

6. What is the height of the tweeter on the LSiM 705s?

 

1) If you are really satisfied with the sound of your speakers, then you might want to keep everything that you currently have in place. I like the sound of the Monitor series. I have two pair of Monitor 70's and one pair of monitor 60's. Both models are their newer Series II. They are really budget speakers, but I personally like the way that they sound. I can listen to them all day and never have hearing fatigue set in.

Unless you are playing Dubstep or something that I bass heavy and you play it really loud, then you may have an issue with your neighbors. Keep in mind that, with larger and better speakers, you might find yourself playing music at higher dB levels than, in the past.

2) Polk's have a very agreeable sound signature, I doubt that it will make you dislike anything that you have now. I have upgraded my speakers many times and I still listen to the same source materials. The sound just keeps getting better and better. The 705's use a ring tweeter, which are not harsh (I like that).

3) If you were happy with your AX-497 with your 40's, you should be happy with it on the 705's. But I will note that my 707's do like a lot of power, because it take more power to produce big, deep bass. The mid's and the highs don't require this kind of power.

But, this might be a blessing for you, in as much as, if you are running out of steam, the first thing you loose is bass. So if you are turning up your system and the bass is not as present as it might be, it will be less likely to disturb your neighbors.

4) You room is the perfect size for the 705's.

5) I don't know but I don't think the distance is as important with the LSiM towers, because the bass ports, two of them are on the bottom of the main cabinet and are directed to the speaker's base and then the sound gets dispersed 360-degrees.

So many speakers have rear firing ports and those must be further away from the rear boundary wall.

6) The 705's height with base is 47". As both the 705 and the 707, appear to be the same at the top area of the tower, I measured the 707 and the tweeter, which about 1" in diameter, is positioned about 7 1/2" down from the top. That would put the tweeter height at about 39 1/2".

 

Many thanks for all the info!

As it turns out, Polk has the 705s on back order and Crutchfield only has one speaker left. They told me there that this line is being discontinued.

I might be considering the Wharfedale Diamond 240 now, if anyone has any experience with those, please PM me? I don't want to take the thread off topic. Thanks.

 

Just reread this again and I fully agree. I'm now thinking it might be the best advice of all!

 

They are always on back order during these sales. If they were discontinued, there would be no sale and no back orders.

You can order your pair now. But, remember, the sale ends on the 18th. You must go online and order through the Polk web site directly.

I have done this myself. The system will process your order and you will have your speakers show up on your doorstep in approximately three weeks.

 

Thanks.

Since you have the Monitor series, can you speak a bit to the differences between them and the LSiM series?

 

I've been looking at both these models. Thinking I should try something larger in my space.

Would you mind giving a synopsis of how each sounds?

 

They are the opposite of each other in their sound signatures.

The 707's are articulate, without being harsh. I believe that the ring radiator tweeter has a lot to do with this. But, in general, Polk speakers are not harsh sounding, much more reserved. The 707's have Polk's best drivers and they can take plenty of power and they thrive on plenty of power.

I have a first generation Emotiva XPA-2. Which is rated at 250-WPC into 8-Ohms and 400-WPC into 4-Ohms, this thing weighs 72-lbs. and has huge power supplies to provide any level of bass that may be needed.

I use this amplifier to drive either the 707's or the Omen Definitions, with a speaker A/B switch.

The 707's are one of the smoothest speakers that I have. Which is why they sound perfect with SS amplification. They sound smoother (and that is not a bad thing), than the A7's, and I only use tube amplification with the A7's. A few months back, I ran the A7's with the Emotiva and although it sounded perfectly fine, there was something lacking and listening fatigue would set in. After that, it was back to using tubes exclusively on the A7's.

There really isn't any reason to use tubes on the 707's, as far as I can see. I have the Rogue M-150's sitting behind the TV, I might fire them up and see what they can do on the Zu's and the Polk's.

The Zu's are a highly efficient set of speakers. Curiously enough, they sound good with the SS XPA-2. Most of the time, really efficient speakers don't really go well with SS amps as I usually find the combination to bring on listening fatigue. Try listening to any of the Klipsch legacy series of speakers with SS amps and the HF can be downright painful.

My rear speakers are Klipsch WF-35's and I use a small 50-Watt Emotiva Fusion Flex SS amp for the rears. The left rear speaker is close be the front office door and is the farthest away from where I usually sit. My seating position places me closest to the front speakers, which are much larger towers than the rear towers. Plus, the front has a 250-Watt amp driving them, while the rears have only a 50-watt amp.

Back in the winter of 2014, I was using the La Scala's as the front mains. Incredibly efficient and incredibly detailed, but if you turn up the volume, the HF will take your head off, with the XPS-2, or any SS amp.

I wouldn't use any SS amp on any of the Klipsch legacy products as main speakers. But, since I removed the La Scala's as the mains, I moved them against the south wall, out of the way. They sit between the front door and the left rear WF-35 and my second sofa, which is also on the south wall. One day, I just decided to run a pair of cables from one of La Scala's to the LR WF-35, since the little Emotiva amp can run into a 4-Ohm load.

This helps provide more volume from that part of the room and give that part of the room a much fuller sound. Since the La Scala is to my right and is pointing out into the room at a 90-degree angle, from me, the HF is okay, because the tweeter and the squaker are pointed away from me.

There is a secret to listening to legacy Klipsch speakers, and that is, listen a lower volume levels, because of their efficiency, they sound very nice at low listening levels. Sometimes, I will walk around the room in the evening with all 7-speakers playing and I will sit down in front of the La Scala with my back against the front desk.

This is when the music is playing at lower levels and I am sitting 48" away, in front of the speaker. It is really the perfect listening position because the La Scala cabinet is only 36" high, so the three drivers are close to being on the same plane and they blend together perfectly at that distance and height.

The Zu, Omen Definitions are like a home version of the A7, Voice of the Theater speakers. They are very efficient and forward sounding speakers. I bought them used off of eBay from a seller in Orlando and had my moving guy, go up with his truck and bring them back down to me. I bought them before they came out with their current MK II versions, which are now closing in on the $5k mark. The eBay ones went for $2,400/pr., they are in basic black. Which matches the 707's, which have their Midnight Mahogany finish.

I think that the Omen Definitions are a good buy, as specially considering that the real definitions start at $16,900.

Because these Omen's have two of the 10" drivers, the sound is larger than a regular Omen would be (I'm guessing here).

They are immediate, forward and very dynamic. They have a more "live" sound, where the Polk's are more of a higher end home stereo speaker.

The Omen's do sound good with the XPA-2. I do suspect that tubes would be a perfect match with the Zu's and help tame the sometimes hot high end.

Zu has a program that I have decided to jump on. I am going to do a driver exchange, upgrade. For $1,200, they will send you a set of four of their new driver design full range drivers. You remove your current drivers and place the old ones back into the shipping boxes that the new driver's came in and return them back to Zu. Once they receiver them, they will refund you $400. These are the same drivers that are used in the new versions of the Definition's and the Omen Definition's. There is a similar program, where you can replace the tweeter and the single capacitor crossover network for $300.

 

Thanks for the info. I agree about the Klipsch heritage line. They're great low volume speakers.

 

@SandAndGlass:

Since you have the Polk Monitor series, can you speak a bit to the differences between them and the LSiM series?

 

There are two speakers that I feel are really special in their ability to produce a large, full range sound with powerful, natural bass. They are the $12k Klipschorn's and the Tanoy Westminster's, which are $30k+ speakers.

Mostly, within these price ranges, if you really want deep, powerful bass, then you should have a sub in the system. Most small subs, that have compact enclosure's, powerful amplifiers and voice coil excursions up to 4", often have a unnatural "pistonic" sounding forced bass, that does not sound natural.

Having a horn load bass bin, that can take a lot of power and having a Crown SS class-D amp that can naturally and effortlessly reproduce loud and natural sounding bass.

All of the things that I have done, result in the A7's being a 4-way speaker.

I am impressed with the detail that legacy Klipsch speakers have (at low volumes). But Paul W. Klipsch, always opted for less expensive drivers than those that were sold by Altec Lansing, back in the day.

Meaning, while the Klipsch products were prone to be sharp and harsh when turned up, as specially with SS amps, the A7's are not at all harsh. The A7's do wonderful things for vocal's, which is what they were designed to do, back in the day.

Even P.W.K. was understood to have said, "we live in the mid's". And, that is so very true, today or yesterday.

 

I spoke with a tech at Polk (Kim?) on Friday, who was very helpful. When I explained that I would not be able to place the 707s very far from the back wall, he said they would probably sound too bass-heavy. He did indicate they had about 140 sets of the 707s left.

I said that I had also looked at the 705s, and for both WAF reasons and price, I hoped those would work well, but it looked they were on back order (or sold out) on the website. He checked and said they actually had 7 sets of the 705s left, and that I could order a pair via phone. I waited and thought about it some more, then decided to order but they had already closed. So I planned to order Monday morning.

Long story short, I just checked the Polk website, and the 705 was once again listed as being in stock. So I went ahead and pulled the trigger..

 

Kim Jasper is no tech, he's the head of customer service. Great guy!

 

I had a great conversation with one of Polk's tech guys this morning and decided to get a pair of the LSiM703s. My girlfriend was concerned about the size of the 705s in our studio apartment, plus I was concerned about the deep bass bothering my neighbors and limiting my acceptable volume level. Also, the CSR said that my amp was on the low end of what the 705s need and I don't want to buy a bigger amp. So I went with the 703s and paid for overnight shipping so I should have them tomorrow!

 

You can't really make much of a comparison. I bought the Monitor 70's and the Monitor 60's, Series II, back in 2011. The 70's were $200/each from NewEgg, and the Monitor 60's were $100 in black and $120, each, in wood grain viny (prices were 2011 prices).

The LSiM 707's retail at $4k/pr and weigh in at 99-lbs. each.

Enough said?

I purchased my Monitor 70's Series II back in 2011 through NewEgg at $200 for the pair and today they are twice that much.

While I am a self confessed Polk fanboy, and I really like the model 70's, I would not be in the market for them at $800/pr.

Because, for $100 less, you can purchase a $2,500 retail pair of M-350's for $700/pr. with free shipping. These are brand new, in box. The entire M-Series line has been discontinued by Boston Acoustics.

If you would like to look this option over, please feel free to PM me and I can send you the same information on them, that I sent to another member earlier today.

 

Way right decision, 705's are way to big for a studio apartment!

Would like to get your feedback on the 703's.

 

I certainly will post my feedback here.

As I said above, I paid $60 extra to get them shipped tomorrow (Overnight shipping), but it hasn't shipped yet.

 

I was asking for a comparison on the sound.

 

I should add that I definitely ordered before their stated 1pm deadline for overnight shipping.