Polk Flagship Line Speaker Sale - Hurry!

You have hit on the main reason I did not jump on the half price sale. I even secured a sample of the wood they use on the cherry finish, it has a brownish orange tint that is just so distracting and no wood grain, as they just do not replicate real wood grain at all, it's just a brownish orange solid color that looks nothing like real wood, unfortunately. Because I am not a fan of black speakers, I could not do the Midnight Mahogany either. That Polk color should be called deep maroon or purple, it's just a strange color indeed, certainly not even close to any shade of Mahogany. I am going to bet in their new flagship offerings, someone is addressing those two colors and will revamp those finishes. I did speak to one of the folks at Polk and he said in the near future that series will be replaced, so this last 1/2 price sale might be their last, or possibly another in the first few months of 2018, no one really knows. There is no question in my mind, if you can live with either color, the performance of the speaker is just going to be hard to beat on a 1/2 price sale!

 

That's interesting because on the Polk RTiA7 and RTiA9 models I have in my main system, the finish is decidedly a deep ruby which I always considered quite attractive. In all fairness, genuine cherry veneer is probably an unrealistic expectation given the prices of the RTi line.

 

I think it is real wood, just not genuine cherry. The speakers are constructed and finished to a very high standard, I'm quite impressed. But I think the cherry color is a stain and not a natural finish. Not sure what the actual wood species is.

On my speakers, there is some wood grain. It is very fine grained, but there. That being said, I would agree that Polk could improve on this and perhaps use a wood with more visible grain and perhaps a slightly less reddish stain.

 

I have Polk bookshelf speakers in Midnight Mahogany and I really like the way the look.

 

Goes very well with your MAC4100.

 

I've had the 703's for a few years and ended up getting the 705’s during the last Polk sale. Went with the Midnight Mahogany again on the 705’s. If you get the Midnight Mahogany in the right light (like Tullman’s photo) these really have a beautiful deep purplish sheen. Was tempted on the Audorama deal (it's a ridiculous deal) but already had the 705's set up in the house. With these speakers being so large and heavy I was a bit concerned about safe arrival and since the delivery from Polk arrived in perfect condition, I'm not going through the trouble of repackaging & sending them back. I thought the ½ price sale was already a good deal however if someone is looking for speakers, that Audorama deal seems impossible to beat. Really happy with the 705’s btw.

 

That is basically what I decided. In fact, one of the 705s in my original shipment was damaged and didn't work. They sent a replacement which is fine. (Re) boxing just one of them was a real PIA.

Out of the box, I liked the sound- way better bass than I am used to coming from Totem Sttafs. But at first I thought the treble was a bit recessed. One of the strong points with the Totems (IMO) is really nice sweet highs via their soft dome tweeter. But the more I listen to the Polks, the more I realize they just give a very honest presentation of the source. The highs are there, just very accurate and not "tizzy" at all. The high presentation definitely varies according to the source material, this is easy to discern. Also, I think they are still breaking in. Lastly, there is the issue of my 59 year old ears..

My restored (fully recapped) Sansui integrated has a tone defeat button which I keep in place most of the time. But it also has very nicely implemented (i.e. not heavy handed) tone controls, and two different ranges each for bass and treble. Trying each with the 705s, this is the first time I've been able to distinguish much in the way of sonic differences in the "higher" vs "lower" treble. I think this is a testament to the resolving capabilities of the 705s.

I'm also hearing better instrument separation than I'm used to. Overall, I am a very happy camper.

 

It is a genuine hardwood veneer. Member @F1nut had brought this to our attention some time back. The RTi series has real cherry wood veneer. The Midnight Mahogany and the Mount Vernon Cherry, are locally sourced as the speakers are made in China, they are real wood veneers but they are just made to look like their respective "finishes".

 

Now tell em how much this trinket costs.

 

Parasound is one of those brands you have to make several calls on, finding the small dealer that does not need to pay lots of bills with one sale. I believe the list is about $2,500.00, but if you find the right dealer, oh you can get a very nice deal indeed!

 

Thanks for the clarification. I feel better now.

 

My 705s arrived today. Replaced Cambridge Audio aero 6s. Fresh out of the box my jaw is on the floor. It’s like I haven’t heard half the music! Fun times.

 

Parasound fan here
Curl ya toes man

 

Tip: The Parasound A21 power amp or their Hint, integrated are at a outstanding price/performance point. You have to spend a lot more to get incremental improvements from here.

If someone is looking for an excellent power amp, check out the original Emotiva XPA-2, 1st or second generation. These can be found on eBay for about $600 - $800. I power my front towers, either the Polk LSiM707's or the Zu Audio, Omen Definition's, with them (via an A/B switch), and they are not going anywhere. It would be difficult to find any power amplifier, in this price range, that can produce a clean 250-Watts into 8-Ohms or 400-Watts into a 4-Ohm load. These have a huge power supply that really kicks some royal butt in the bass department.

While you can have many SS amplifiers that can sound fine in the 300Hz to 20kHz, it is the ability to deep strong bass, that separates the men from the boys!

If I was ever going to replace the Emotiva, I would replace it with the A21. Both of these amps are in the 70-lb. range.

 

The 705's are the same quality as the larger 707's. The main difference between the two is that the 707's were designed for larger listening rooms and the 705's are better suited to more normal sized rooms.

When you use a speaker that is better suited for a average sized room and you move that speaker into a larger room. The bass will suffer, as there is not as much acoustic power, to pressurize the larger room, which, in my case is about 450 sq. ft.

If you place the 707's in a smaller room and turn up the volume, you will have bass overload (which is incorrectly blamed on the speaker), when the speaker is simply utilized in a room which has a smaller volume that what the 707's were designed for.

And, yes! I have been tickled pink by the performance ot the 707's, so it is understandable that you are similarly impressed by your new 705's. At these prices, you have made a solid audio investment that you may enjoy for many years to come.

Congratulations!

 

They look awesome, way beyond what you would expect their prices, as specially, if you bought them at 50% off!

You have some really special gear, how would you compare their SQ to other bookshelf speakers that you own?

How about to your other fine speakers?

 

I own some Epos 12i, KEF 100's, Paradigm Monitor 3v3 and some small Wharfedale speakers. I think the Polks are the best of the bunch. The Polks have more bass than the others and also have a very nice highs and midrange.

As far as my Yvettes are concerned, forget about it.

 

Glad to hear it coming from someone, such as yourself, that has such nice equipment and a well grounded background in higher end audio components.

I have been very pleased with my 707's and I haven't seen anything that can compete with their sound at the 50% sale price that I purchased them for.

Some many "audiophiles" poo-poo Polk's, but I feel, that across the board, they make some really fine products that are hard to beat for their price.

I'm so impressed with the look of the 707 towers that I have. They look like some higher end speakers that might cost $6k to $8k a pair.

If someone did not look closely at the Polk name badge at the bottom of the grill's, they would have no idea, either by looks or by sound, that they were Polk speakers.

 

Tell me about those Yvettes!

 

On backorder at Adorama now. I wonder if they will be able to get more stock. It looks like they may be updating this line, so I doubt it.