1st I would suggest you don't confuse my influence with an HI-FI Youtuber with 100k subscribers. My post is in the 'back' of a forum and has been read by a handful of people and for me this is (currently)a hobby.
2nd my initial postings were I think very detailed and obviously show I spent my time on this.
3rd have you ever stopped a movie halfway through that was supposed to be good and then told your friend who loved it and recommended you'd deff give it a shot later and then just never did? Because you moved on because it was just time to do something else for fun?
4th WABI SABI, nothing is ever finished, perfect or complete
I had to make a decision about investing more time and also about making a quick deal that was good for me.
Sometimes I lose a lot trying speakers and despite how much gear I have on hand right now I am not financially wealthy.
I will have to sell most of this before long.
I don't think you understand or respect how much time I already put into them. I am not getting paid here and I do it for fun, my personal fun.
Just changing the tweets alone when the new ones arrive is an absolute pain in the ass. Looks like it wouldn't be but you do it and find out. (& I have a very large amount of DIY type of experience and a garage full of tools and materials)
But the meat is that by the time the tweeters arrived I had actually lost interest and did not feel like I personally was missing out by moving on.
Yes, it is a bummer & yes I felt some obligation toward testing for the larger community and started but ended up running into time issues and then had to part with that set.
I actually have several projects like this that have happened along with others that for some reason I have spent even more time on.
I actually just had to go over a set of $1500 speakers, spending 5 or 6 hours to find out what MIGHT have been causing some issues. Emphasis on MIGHT as in maybe after fixing this issue they will perform better and maybe they will not. 5-6hrs man. Yes by choice.
I do understand you are bummed and why.
Easy solution.
YOU Buy a set, get a Mic and measure some. Or send a set to me another set on your dime and I will try again to test them when I can zero guarantee about when though.
I have currently 20+ pairs of speakers here that I am 'testing' and another 20 or so already moved on. Which is insane and really fun at times. Yet this is all hobby.
COMPARED MORE OR LESS WITH OBJECTIVE DATA
- Some sets I have tried really do not sound as good as they measure - to me (do I have to say 'to me' or is that self evident?).
- Some sets have sounded better.
- Others have pretty much walked the line and performed about what I would anticipate based on my interpretations of the data here and elsewhere.
COMPARED MORE OR LESS WITH SUBJECTIVE REVIEWS AROUND THE WEB
- I think a good number of subjective reviews have been fairly accurate to what I have heard spel
- Another good number of them have been notably different
- Even from the same reviewer
Right now I have 3 speaker sets here that really don't sound as good as all the subjective reviews, to me they appear hyped and or promoted for benefit.
Keep in mind all notable Youtube reviewers and all notable Print reviews are paid reviews. Either directly or indirectly. I have no issue with that and actually wish I could get funds for doing something fun. I do keep it in mind however that money and influence are at stake for most reviewers.
As far as your gut.
I would never ask someone not to trust their gut. That is your own personal link to whatever one's gut links to.
I can say I want to like Polk and have zero against them. Nothing. I even almost purchased a set of L200's in mint opened box for $650 about a month ago from AudioAdvisor but someone else grabbed them right before I could. (I tried them briefly a few years ago in my old house and remembered liking them and would have been up for testing and measuring them again to see if I still like them and largely because at $650 I could surly move them on without loosing $)
Great.
Totally, you find it odd.
I get it and so do I.
That is why I stated this.
& As I said there is clearly a crowd that likes them.
To be clear I am not telling people not to like them if they do.
I suppose we all have something to be skeptical of.
So you listen fairly loudly?
How 'wimpy' is your AVR and what amp did you upgrade to?
What SPL did the amp start to become notably more capable vs the AVR or is this a global effect?
Unless you are really listening loudly (and I know I do that regularly myself and use 400watt amps) I am skeptical that amp transformed the sound.
That said it is of course possible.
This is a case where you could blind test yourself if you have the time and interest. Match the amp and AVR to a tight 0.1db if possible and then get another person to help you swap wiring at the speaker. It would not be the most complete 'controlled double blind' study but it would be interesting.
Listen at averages of 75db, 80db, 85db then 90db(starting to get quite loud for an average so keep that in mind)
I'd be very curious what you find.
Of course this will take a whole day to do right the 1st time you try so plan for the time.