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Polk Audio 2.3TL Crossover Modification Thread

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Some reason I was a space cadet on this one and didn't take any photos -

But I am really liking the CSA, they have the detail of the ESA with slightly more warmth!

Slid in the CAST Duelunds :)

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Polk Audio CRS + (RDO198) Crossover Modification Thread

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Will post some misc pics on this as the build progresses -

Specs are -

External build, custom mounting plate for the back of the speaker
Clarity Cap CMR 400v
Duelund CAST Resistors
Jantzen Inductors + C-Coil
Supra Rondo Internal Wiring
Point to point
WBT Binding Post
DH Labs Q-10 SDA Cable

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thread size for Pangea speaker stands?

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howdy, I have the DS400 stands and want to install better spikes but can't find what size thread they use. I called Audio Advisor and they were clueless. thanks for any info.

Karma: Kimber Kable Tonik RCA interconnects .5m pair

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My birthday is tomorrow the 29th, so I figure what better way to celebrate it than by giving away some RCA cables?! Eh, that sounded better in my head.

Anyway, I got these RCAs from our very own @voltz several years ago. Thank you again Darryl for your generosity.

I'd like to pass these on to another member of the Club Polk family who will put them to use.

To enter the Karma giveaway, just post here with why you want them and/or what you'd use them for, and after a week I'll go through and pick the one that I deem the "best".

You can find an accurate review of these cables here: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/hi-fi-accessories/kimber-kable-tonik-678654/review

Power distribution and conditioning

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Interested to see what is being used and recommended.
I want to protect my equipment and "clean" the power going to my electronics.
Looking for the best bang for the buck.

Thanks in advance!
Keith

Polk Audio Super Bowl Party...

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If the Vikings get past the Eagles next week... my place, of February 4th. Time yet to be determined. We can have some music and food, then kick back and watch the game. Who is interested?

FS: Marantz PM8004 & SA8004 - One Of A Kind Custom Pair

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Up for sale are my one of a kind pair Marantz PM8004 Integrated Amp & SA8004 SACD/CD Player. As they are a matching custom pair I am selling them together.

Both have Furutech FI-06 IEC'S installed.
Both have piano gloss black wooden side panels installed, which were only available from Japan. Read expensive.
Both have Marantz Reference series solid aluminum feet installed. Read expensive.
Both have custom silver function buttons. No small feat.
I added the silver Marantz star emblem to the PM8004 to match the one on the SA8004.
I added a piece of silver pin stripe tape to the volume knob to make easy to see the mark.

Included in the price are a brand new laser/frame assembly and a brand new tray belt because I plan for the future.

I have the original boxes, packing materials, remotes and power cords. Note, the power cords are crap and cannot be used with the Furutech IEC's anyway, but are yours if you want them.

The PM8004 is flawless. The SA8004 has 4 very faint circle marks on the top cover. I had the PM sitting on the SA and the marks are from the original junk feet. In normal light they are almost impossible to see. In very bright light you can see them sort of. Other than that the SA8004 is perfect. The remotes were only used once to program a universal, so mint. I always wore gloves when handling the PM & SA, so no finger prints or oils have every been on them.

These were in my office rig, which I just updated. I'd keep these if I had another place to use them because they look and sound so good, but I don't.

Both work perfectly, never a problem.

Price for both is $1700.00.
Shipping at cost.
Payment via PayPal or cash. Check, if I know you.
Local pickup or delivery possible in the Baltimore-Washington, Northern Virginia region.

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San Diego Gathering - CDP Shootout 18'?

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Thinking I might try to throw together a gathering in the next month or two (not to take away from or conflict with the SoCal gathering @nooshinjohn has been working on). I just purchased a Sony C333ES CD/SACD player and still have an Oppo BDP-83 Special Edition (has the upgraded 2 channel DAC's). Looking to see if anyone else in the area wants to bring a CDP, compare players and enjoy some good music with fellow polkies. Those that can't or don't want to bring a player are welcome too. I can support 4 players connected to the Pass Labs X1. Let me know if there's any interest. You can see what 2 channel gear is on hand here for the event in my signature.

Just FYI, the last time I did this, @Erik Tracy brought his CDP and we found that it would have been nice to have different IC's to compare the players so we can throw that in the mix as well.

Throw out some possible dates if interested.

Karma: Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life (digital download)

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This came with my Blu-Ray Pure Audio disc. I looked all through the booklet and download coupon but I cannot find the resolution. I am pretty sure it doesn't have an expiration date.

The first person to guess my favorite number gets the code. Pick a number between 1 and 99 (no it is not 88 :)). If nobody guesses by the end of the Super Bowl, the person with the closest number wins (over or under).

I also wanted to include a hi-rez down load of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers Dam* The Torpedoes, but I think it may have expired. The winner can have the code to try if they want.

Coming soon will be a bunch of digital movie downloads, as soon as I go through all my Blu-Ray and 4k Ultra discs and weed out any that may have expired.

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Polk Magnifi Soundbar shuts down after 10 minutes

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My Polk Magnifi soundbar has started to "act up" after 3 years. It shuts off after approximately 10 minutes. I then hit the power button on and then it is fine. That lasts for another 10 minutes and it shuts off again.....and so on...and so on. I have read this forem and see some people have the same problem but no one has any solutions. Also I see lots of questions in the forum but no one has any answers. Is this forum useless?

DAC Shootout: Emm labs Dac2x vs Esoteric K03x

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We have a local audiophile group here in DFW where we constantly keep in contact and we meet every month or so... we had a recent meet to listen to the Focal Kanta 2 speakers.

Equipment were as follows:
Speakers = Focal Kanta 2
Speaker wire = Audioquest Oak
Interconnects = Audioquest Wind
Integrated = Mark Levinson No 585 Integrated

At first, we listened through the ML 585 internal DAC then we switched to the Esoteric K03x SACD player/DAC then we added the Emm Labs Dac2X to the mix.

Impressions:
At first, the Focal Kanta 2 speakers were playing with the ML 585 Dac in the mix, it sounded pretty good, I would say a little thin and a little on the brighter side. Definitely sounded like reproduced music. Most of the guys were roaming about, we had wine on hand, it didn't strike anyone as a particularly good system.

Then my friend added his Esoteric to the mix, it was the first time I heard an Esoteric... and this one is a good one. Retail is definitely up there, I'm sure he paid somewhere in the 5 digits for this unit. If you look up the reviews, it is well reviewed and well liked. When we started to play music through the Esoteric, people started to stop the chit chat and listen. It definitely started to sound a lot more like real music... the imaging improved, there was better layering front to back, the singer was more pronounced and palpable, the bass was better... the transients were quick. We ran through a lot of music.... and it all sounded quite good.

No one knew I had the Emm labs in my car, word got out so we decided to bring in the Emm Labs.

The Emm:
So I honestly did not think the Emm was going to be a leap of any kind from the Esoteric K03x... the Esoteric and the Emm DACs we have here are current models, both are similar in pricing and both have their fan clubs. I mean, how much better can another top tier DAC be compared to another top tier DAC?

Well apparently, a lot.

So, we played the Emm... and we did not have the even have the Emm labs dedicated TSDx transport in the mix, we had to use the Esoteric K03x as transport via digital AES out to the Emm Labs Dac2x... so this was definitely a handicapped demo (the Emm link is via its own proprietary interconnect)....

Well, the Emm sounded VERY good. It all really just moved up in quality. The main thing I noted was that all of a sudden the Focal Kanta 2 sounded very similar to my system at home, the sound that I was used to. The singer took perhaps 3 steps forward in terms of placement, but still with the roundness to the sound that made it sound warm but at the same time it was detailed enough to be able to tell minor inflections in voice and texture. The vocalist was better placed, better hung in space, it was denser in sound and more palpable compared to the Esoteric.

We would flip back after a song and it was very clear that the Esoteric was flatter in sound stage and more 2D.

Then back to the Emm and it was back to being more akin to an event.

The instruments sounded better, sounded more realistic.

Then back to the Esoteric, we could tell perhaps the Esoteric was a little lighter and nimbler, but it sounded more hifi rather than the more musical Emm.

The difference was very significant, stark.

And I was not alone in that assessment.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, we started to really listen between the 2 units.

Conclusion:
Well, it was quite an interesting turn of events.

Everyone in the group thought the Emm Dac2x was better, clearly better... we aren't talking minor change or minor details of improvement, it was all across the board an improvement. More musical, denser sound, better imaging, more space between the notes, good image height, wider stage, etc... all the usual descriptions that have been used ad infinitum.

But what came out of it? Put your money where your mouth is.

The owner of the Esoteric K03x who owns Revel Ultima 2 - borrowed my Emm labs Dac2x and he is selling his Esoteric K03x and bought an Emm Labs Dac2x.

The other member owns a Wilson Sasha 2 (moving up to Wilson Alexx) has an ARC Dac9 and was demoing the DCS Vivaldi at his home... he bought the Emm DA2 (one above mine) after the demo. He put up his ARC Dac9 for sale. He returned the Vivaldi demo to the store. He also says that the Emm DA2 puts a hurt on his VPi Prime Signature (moving up to VPI Avenger Reference).

The third member owns a BW 802d3 has a Mcintosh D100 DAC and a DCS Debussy DAC - he took my Emm Dac2x home to demo after the Esoteric owner had it, he said it was a slaughter against the Mcintosh D100 DAC and it took about 20 seconds for the DCS Debussy to be significantly embarrassed by the Emm. So now he put up his DCS for sale, and is buying the Emm.

The last member is all into vinyl, so he doesn't count.

Prior to the meet we had 2 members with the Emm, now we have 5 members with Emm Labs DACs. Crazy.

Pictures:
Esoteric K03x
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Emm Labs Dac2x
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Mark Levinson No 585
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FS: Simaudio Moon i7 Integrated Amplifier

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Parting with my minty Simaudio Moon i7 integrated amplifier w/remote, manual & box $3400/obo. A top 5 in its category when it came out in 2006 at $7000+. The fully balanced, dual mono design sends 150 wpm into 8 Ohms, 250wpc into 4 Ohms. It maintains a firm grip on even the most difficult speakers including my Magnepan 1.6 QR's which regularly dip into 2 Ohm loads. 4 RCA and 1 balanced input (never used). The display can be programmed. The remote maybe the heaviest, most solid feeling one every produced. **It does not come with spiked feet, but instead has three sorbothane-style feet.** Check reviews from TONEAudio, The Absolute Sound, Stereophile, HiFi+, SoundStage. Shipping weight is 70lbs, box measures 22x24x8 inches. Payment via PayPal. Perfect eBay rating under "stereofanoregon".
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Sad news on physical media

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https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/02/best-buy-will-cease-selling-cds-later-this-year/

I'm sure that your local independent stores, and Amazon will boost their sales because of it. It was so convenient to stop buy Best Buy on new release day and pick up the latest. I only use Amazon or E-Bay if needed hate getting cracked jewel cases due to their inferior packing practices.I guess Barnes and Noble and the independent stores in town will get my business when this takes effect.

Are you READY for some FOOTBALL!!!

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I know I am. and as a Vikings fan, I always have very high expectations(and always get let down.)

I am under no illusions this season however, but I do have some confidence in the direction my Purple Gang is going under Mike Zimmer. I just got a new expression to use on my guys at work... "We are done talking about the labor, just show me the baby."

This guy is a straight-talking, no bs kind of guy that really seems to have the respect of his team, and that can only mean good things down the road.

I would be happy this year with an 8-8 season after the debacle last year, but that Lombardi and a ring would be sweet!(it is still preseason, so I can still dream:lol:)

Had a very unsavory discussion with a member of the audiophile community today

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Polkies,

Figured I'd share this with you as I found the whole premise of this to be immoral.

As many of you know at this point I recently purchased a Backert Labs Rhumba 1.1, the guys over at Backert Labs have been absolutely fantastic to work with. Andy has been incredibly helpful to me as I learn this whole tube thing. I am in the searching a set of tubes for the Rhumba that will suit my tastes and my equipment, in this I purchased a set of RCA 5814wa's from a reputable company that many of you are very familiar with. I am not going to name said company outright as I find that distasteful but if you search in my threads in the 2 channel section, you fill find out. In fact I am sure many of you will know just by some of the things the guy said.

Anyway, the owner of the company called me today while I was at work after he noticed I listed the Rhumba 1.1 as the equipment I was buying the tubes for. I was expecting him to ask what I was trying to accomplish and maybe recommend a better tube for what I was trying to do. Instead in a very elaborate 15 minute (one sided) conversation, he told me that the Rhumba was not a very nice piece of equipment and that I should return if still able and buy a Primaluna, which he sells at his shop. Went on to say that the Rhumba should be selling for half of what they sell it at. Spoke very highly of his "over 40 years experience" and how he knows what he is talking about. He claimed that the Primaluna was a superior unit due to the 15 pounds heavier that it weighs and the point to point wiring and the fact that it uses tube rectification and yada yada yada. He also stated that Backert Labs use poor rotary source select switches that allow bleed in between sources and even went on to said that users in populous areas could pick up interference due to radio stations with the style switch. Seems pretty outlandish to me but I don't claim to be an audio engineer. He told me I could tell the quality of the unit just by looking at the pictures of the innards of both units and a bunch of other stuff. I think you get the point and probably know who I am talking about.


I was very taken aback by this and frankly offended as I spent my hard earned money on a quality piece of equipment and he thought it was acceptable to bash the equipment and company. The sales tactic of bashing another company is a demonstration of the type of person this guy is. I cancelled my tube order with him and will never be doing business with said company or representative. Honestly it just pains me to see this type of thing in the community where for the most part everybody is great. The stark difference from the(awesome) people at Backert Labs and this company is eye opening.

Anyway, I'll get off my soap box. Thanks for listening, I'd love to hear some of your thoughts

Zach

Hooking up vintage M10a xovers with RDO 0194 and 6500 midwoofers.

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Hello,

The big caps look not very good and need to be replaced
I´m not shure if the Mids 6500 are the original match to this crossovers.
my question is if I should use theese crossovers as they are or I should change any of the capacitor´s and resistor´s values due to the new tweeters also.

Thank you.

usher Be alloy tweeters

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mint pair of usher Be alloy tweeters. these are drop in replacement tweeters for usher speakers using the dmd tweeter. can be used as a change up of sound or backup pair as dmd replacement will be at least $500. this was one of the best sounding tweeters out there. they can also be used in diy projects, don't think they are available anymore.

model: 9980-20BeA 1“ beryllium dome tweeter

$200 shipped paypal gift.

RCA 5692 NOS Sleeve

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For sale is a sleeve of RCA 5692 tubes NOS these are Blackplate tubes with Double D top getters

$100.00 each + shipping

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Modded RTi8's vs RTiA9's

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I have been considering getting the A9's to replace my modded 8's. The 8's have a rebuilt crossover using Sonicap caps and Mills resistors and have performed great for the last 6 or so years. They are powered by an Adcom 555. I have two Klipsch Ref 12" subs and my receiver is a Yamaha Aventage 1060.

The wife likes to really crank it when she works out and really pushes the 8's to their limits....

Would there be a big difference in db's?
Would the 555 power them ok? I was thinking about getting another 555 and running each in mono (or is that overkill).
I also have an Adcom 545ii and could get another one (2 channels per speaker) in lieu of the 555.

Thoughts?

Where'd all the beer threads go?

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Haven't seen anything new from anyone in the beer department?!? Have we all gone soft and fallen victim to the pinky-up, wining?

So, where is everyone in their quest to drink every beer on the planet? I recently went out on a whim and bought a 1/4 barrel of Founders All Day IPA out of Michigan. Fantastic! I had only heard of the brewery but had never tried anything by them. Looked them up in the keg catalog at the local **** and put in my request. Had the keg 1 week later. It's a little on the light side but definitely an easy, safe beer that most will enjoy.

Just looking to see if the hobby of "beer-ing" still exists around here. I'm in a beer club now and have had approximately, 160 different types of been in the last 12 months plus whatever i buy for myself at home. AWESOME!

Also have bottles of Wachusett Nut Brown Ale, Back Bay IPA, and something I was hesitant to buy but did anyway due to never having one is Killians Stout.

BEER!:cool:
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