axiomofchoice
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- Jun 24, 2024
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I've had a pair of polk monitor 70s for 20+ years, and recently upgraded my other equipment, so in addition to the old polkies, I have a yamaha as801 and an svs sb2000 pro. Wiim streamer from tidal into the as800's built-in dac.
I know it is a pretty budget system but I now have some extra $$$ to upgrade a bit.
I've tried twice now to upgrade the polkies -- once with svs prime pinnacles and once with polk r700s, and both attempts were total failures.
The pinnacles sounded like cheap tin cans and the r700s were just the opposite...wayyy too much bass.
But in both cases, I got extreme ear fatigue and had to return them as it was just too painful -- with the r700s, it felt like I was doing actual hearing damage.
Everything was identical in terms of room setup: 16' x 16' room, speakers on one wall, listening position about 7' away (middle of room).
Back of speakers about 1' off the wall, one speaker 3' from a corner and the other 6' from a corner (not many options to move things around).
Typical loudness: 75db or so...
Have I been listening to these polkies for too long and now I everything else sounds wrong?
Is my room setup somehow flawed?
Is the listening position too close to the speakers?
Is my amp not good/powerful enough for these other speakers?
I feel like for now I'm just gonna run the old polkies until they stop working and just enjoy listening to music (which I actually do with the polkies).
Any thoughts?
I know this is all a bit vague...I'll be glad to fill in any details.
I'm open for suggestions for other speakers in the $2000/pair range that are non-fatiguing, but I'm wondering if its worth it without some other changes (room, amp, etc)
I know it is a pretty budget system but I now have some extra $$$ to upgrade a bit.
I've tried twice now to upgrade the polkies -- once with svs prime pinnacles and once with polk r700s, and both attempts were total failures.
The pinnacles sounded like cheap tin cans and the r700s were just the opposite...wayyy too much bass.
But in both cases, I got extreme ear fatigue and had to return them as it was just too painful -- with the r700s, it felt like I was doing actual hearing damage.
Everything was identical in terms of room setup: 16' x 16' room, speakers on one wall, listening position about 7' away (middle of room).
Back of speakers about 1' off the wall, one speaker 3' from a corner and the other 6' from a corner (not many options to move things around).
Typical loudness: 75db or so...
Have I been listening to these polkies for too long and now I everything else sounds wrong?
Is my room setup somehow flawed?
Is the listening position too close to the speakers?
Is my amp not good/powerful enough for these other speakers?
I feel like for now I'm just gonna run the old polkies until they stop working and just enjoy listening to music (which I actually do with the polkies).
Any thoughts?
I know this is all a bit vague...I'll be glad to fill in any details.
I'm open for suggestions for other speakers in the $2000/pair range that are non-fatiguing, but I'm wondering if its worth it without some other changes (room, amp, etc)
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