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Polk T50 Review (Floor Standing Speaker)

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amirm

amirm

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Hi @amirm
Thanks for the review.
I can't help but notice that you have failed to recommend other speakers which exhibit much less deviation from linearity both on-axis and off-axis, the KEF LS50 being the best example that comes to mind.
Is price a consideration when you decide what to recommend?
No. My listening tests where I stress the speaker to see how loud it plays and how much dynamic range it has is an important factor. From my LS50 review:

There was no bass to speak of. Turning up the volume resulted in distortion as I could visibly see the little woofer trying to keep up. Definitely not a good choice for a large space.

The frequency response of the LS50 is also quite rough.

index.php


So I am not following you saying it is better.
 

gsp1971

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No. My listening tests where I stress the speaker to see how loud it plays and how much dynamic range it has is an important factor. From my LS50 review:



The frequency response of the LS50 is also quite rough.

index.php


So I am not following you saying it is better.

:) I didn't say better - I was referring to the deviations in the PIR (charts below).

Anyway, I understand your point about distortion and DR. Thx. I am covered.

1626074438195.png
 

Tks

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The corporate account i've used with UPS can get something like a 130lb oversized pelican case priority overnighted with 50000 dollars insurance for around 300 bucks. Shipping companies charge consumers an unimaginable amount of markup.

Ahh so that's why all this push to eradicate the USPS has been going on for all these years.
 

pierre

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Thanks for the review.

Here is one possible EQ that flatten the mid range and boost the score from 3.9 to 5.6. There are positive and negative corrections but the positive ones are small.

Here is the eq:
filters0.png

with impact on spinorama
filters1.png

and impact on pir:
filters2.png


PEQ values are:
Code:
EQ for Polk Audio T50 computed from ASR data
Preference Score 3.9 with EQ 5.6
Generated from http://github.com/pierreaubert/spinorama/generate_peqs.py v0.8
Dated: 2021-07-12-08:39:55

Preamp: -1.8 dB

Filter  1: ON PK Fc   973 Hz Gain -4.24 dB Q 4.76
Filter  2: ON PK Fc 12895 Hz Gain -2.87 dB Q 0.86
Filter  3: ON PK Fc  2593 Hz Gain +1.70 dB Q 1.79
Filter  4: ON PK Fc  1570 Hz Gain +1.29 dB Q 12.00
Filter  5: ON PK Fc   411 Hz Gain +0.86 dB Q 1.81
Filter  6: ON PK Fc  1188 Hz Gain -1.59 dB Q 12.00
Filter  7: ON PK Fc  2322 Hz Gain +0.45 dB Q 12.00
Filter  8: ON PK Fc  2538 Hz Gain -1.33 dB Q 12.00
Filter  9: ON PK Fc  5803 Hz Gain -1.05 dB Q 3.76
Filter 10: ON PK Fc  4868 Hz Gain -0.48 dB Q 12.00
Filter 11: ON PK Fc  3987 Hz Gain +1.48 dB Q 12.00
Filter 12: ON PK Fc  1770 Hz Gain -0.72 dB Q 12.00
Filter 13: ON PK Fc  3518 Hz Gain +0.58 dB Q 12.00
Filter 14: ON PK Fc   521 Hz Gain +1.31 dB Q 12.00
Filter 15: ON PK Fc   581 Hz Gain +0.76 dB Q 12.00
Filter 16: ON PK Fc   637 Hz Gain -1.01 dB Q 7.23
Filter 17: ON PK Fc  1392 Hz Gain +0.87 dB Q 12.00
Filter 18: ON PK Fc 13243 Hz Gain +0.33 dB Q 10.42
Filter 19: ON PK Fc  2134 Hz Gain -0.62 dB Q 12.00
Filter 20: ON PK Fc   890 Hz Gain -0.60 dB Q 12.00

After flattening the 1k Hz issue the other PEQs are less likely to be useful. You will have to correct below 300Hz by yourself, in your room, as always.
 

Helicopter

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Can it ship the furthest two point in USA? I assume it has to use flight for that because trucks are not that fast. What about international if since they already use flight within USA?
If you ship to Alaska, Hawaii or territories, the guaranteed times change. If you ship all the way across the country, the rates change... you'd be surprised how many miles an expedited package travels in trucks, especially with UPS. Many packages never sit in one place. They go from a truck to a conveyor network to another truck without ever going into a bin or onto a shelf. Very few speakers ever go on a plane inside the US.

Also, yeah, the discounts are huge with a big exclusive contract. It is a shame Amir can't access the discount I get at work.
 

Kachda

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It has one. The other two are passive radiators.
Thanks. Interesting to see passive radiators below the mid-bass driver. typically I see them on the sides or on the rear. wonder if mounting on the front baffle was done for performance or looks.
 

ROOSKIE

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Thanks. Interesting to see passive radiators below the mid-bass driver. typically I see them on the sides or on the rear. wonder if mounting on the front baffle was done for performance or looks.
I'd have to guess sales/looks. In this price zone the extra cones look like "more" vs a ported competator that is obviously a simple 2-way.
No doubt at all that a less expensive to produce ported 2 way could acheive this performance for less money so intetestingly the bean counters see the marketing value in the 3 driver line.
 

Gatordaddy

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Ahh so that's why all this push to eradicate the USPS has been going on for all these years.

Isn't that the point of all privatization? It's also probably why UPS has the most unimaginably unpleasant receiving stations at their fulfillment centers. I'd rather have a dental appointment at the DMV. Forces the customer to either waste their time to ship or receive something or pay an additional 150% markup to go to the UPS store or other third party money makers.

Back on topic: re how these come so cheap: Polk or Amazon or whoever ships the speaker has rates that are probably about 1/10th to 1/20th of what the average joe would pay to a parcel service. On the last leg of the journey it is going to go out based on availability rather on a guaranteed delivery date. Any delays push it further back in priority based on some type of algorithm and how much they or other companies paid.
 

Kachda

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:) I didn't say better - I was referring to the deviations in the PIR (charts below).

Anyway, I understand your point about distortion and DR. Thx. I am covered.

View attachment 140629
I think price does play a role, as does the bass performance. The -3db point for the T50 seems to be between 40-50Hz, while for the LS50 around 70-80hz. Additionally, the bass roloff is much steeper on the LS50. So with some EQ I can imagine the T50 sounding better, especially since you have to knock down peaks rather than boost dips ?
 

gsp1971

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I think price does play a role, as does the bass performance. The -3db point for the T50 seems to be between 40-50Hz, while for the LS50 around 70-80hz. Additionally, the bass roloff is much steeper on the LS50. So with some EQ I can imagine the T50 sounding better, especially since you have to knock down peaks rather than boost dips ?

Fair point. However, I am mostly interested in the region over 100 Hz or so, since I will be using a sub.
 

Kachda

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@Dennis Murphy This looks like a good candidate if you want to sell a mod for these. With a better crossover, and installation of some in cabinet damping to reduce resonances by the buyer, this could be an 'Affordable Accuracy Tower' :)
 

tomtoo

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Could somene pls explain to me how this brutal abyss happens in the deep regions?
Thats realy step.
 

MZKM

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If you ship to Alaska, Hawaii or territories, the guaranteed times change. If you ship all the way across the country, the rates change... you'd be surprised how many miles an expedited package travels in trucks, especially with UPS. Many packages never sit in one place. They go from a truck to a conveyor network to another truck without ever going into a bin or onto a shelf. Very few speakers ever go on a plane inside the US.

Also, yeah, the discounts are huge with a big exclusive contract. It is a shame Amir can't access the discount I get at work.
Amir has access to a commercial account thanks to member.
 

Remlab

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Could somene pls explain to me how this brutal abyss happens in the deep regions?
Thats realy step.

It's based on the physics involved with employing passive radiators. IF done correctly, like in this example, the lowest frequency energy gets shifted up in frequency.
 
Last edited:

tomtoo

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It's based on the physics involved with employing passive radiators. The low frequency energy gets shifted up in frequency.

I always thought passive membranes are nearly similar to ports?
 

Remlab

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