any experience with Polymer Audio Research speaker

Polymer Audio will be showing at AXPONA with FM Acoustics. Anyone going to the show will be able to hear a very impressive demo.

I owned a pair of the Logic Mk. 2 speakers which I had to sell due to a move overseas for work. During the time I had the speakers and in my entire experience with high end products I never experienced anything at this level. The people that design and make these products are extremely knowledgable about audio and are extremely passionate about their work. The build quality is like that of a Swiss watch (maybe better). I currently have a small system with Dynaudio monitors but intend to get the MKS when I return to the states.

Tom, who are you? Based on your dramatic post, as though the speakers were so painfully bad that you experienced actual torture, it's plain to see that you are either joking or have some bizarre agenda.

Lets see:

-Best sound at the show by Absolute Sound at AXPONA
-Best sound and gold show award by Peter Bruninger, former Stereophile reviewer
-Most Significant product intorduction by Absolute Sound
- Most coveted product by Asbolute Sound, also at AXPONA
- "Here is a multiway that will make transparency-to-sources listeners swoon: ultra-refined, ultra-high-resolution, with very very lifelike timbre, texture, and dynamics on first-rate recordings, and a “disappearing act” (and soundstage) for the ages" by Jonathan Valin in his reaction to hearing them at AXPONA
- "To say that tongues were wagging about this room was a bit of an understatement." Scott Hull, Part time audiophile on AXPONA - I suppose I misunderstood, what Scott really meant I guess is that they were wagging about how it should be avoided at all cost...?
- "Hot product" by Audio Beat Magazine
- Best sound at the show (cost no object) by Robert Harley at Newport
- "Despite the gray sound that characterized most of the Hilton's ballrooms, and what may very well be their tendency to over-emphasize the midrange, the Polymers threw a wonderful, big soundstage. Myung Whun Chung's piano sounded all of one piece on his new recording for ECM New Series, which, having played this CD on multiple systems at T.H.E. Show, I consider no small achievement.", Jason Serinus, Stereophile at Newport
- rave comments in every imaginable forum and the list goes on
- the speakes have the highest resale value of any brand out there and are virtually never seen on the used market. If they are so bad and those poor folks who spent $60,000 on this product are not selling, they must really hate it right? Lets see how many Wilson's and Magico's are on Audiogon right now...

I suppose all these people above are idiots or are being secretly bribed by Polymer Audio...

Not to mention the fact that Polymer is owned by top musicians in the world and both of the shows were displayed with FM Acoustics, a very picky company that would not allow their equipment to be used with anything other than a world class speaker.

I used to own Polymer speakers and intend to buy them again when my situation permits because there is actually nothing better. It has the type of sound that produces pure magic and is a very special product. Those who have heard it in a proper set up know exactly what I mean.

To say they are not your cup of tea is one thing, but to say it was so bad you could not tolerate to be in that room is so absurd that no one can possibly take you seriously.

And Mbovaird, if this is the experience you had listening to a friends system than something is seriously wrong because the speaker actually sounds the opposite of what you describe. I encourage you to seek out a dealer with a proper set up. Although why does your friend still keep them?

And the last thing, are you serious about the YouTube video? You arejudging certain sound characteristics of these speakers by watching a YouTube video on your computer??? And even more bizarre is that the reviewer who actually filmed that video and was listening to the speakers as he was filming gave Polymer Audio best sound at the show and an award. I guess he is an idiot too and you have greater accumen judging the sound of that system through your computer speakers...

Mbovaird, I just noticed that you are selling your Wilson Alexia speakers. So lets see, you own the speaker that supposedly crushes the Polymer yet you are trying to get rid of it and your unfortunate friend is holding on to his Polymer's? Seems you are the one who is unhappy with his purchase, not your friend. Hmm...

Another reviewer from Absolute Sound:

FM Acoustics, Polymer, Weiss
The best sound of all the point sources—and possibly the best sound of the show—deservingly goes to the $130k FM Acoustics 115 monoblock amplifiers paired with the new Polymer MKS-X loudspeakers ($60k/pr.). These monoblocks fed the 4-ohm MKS-Xs with 500W of power, and will continue driving down to 1 ohm (and below, according to FM). The Polymers require some serious damping to control their woofers, and the FM 115s handled their hunger with aplomb and gusto, ready to deliver more when necessary. A Weiss Man 301 Music Server ($9500) and Weiss Jason Transport ($24k) were fed into a Thrax Maximinus DAC ($33k) and controlled by the FM Acoustics 245 preamp ($25.5k), all of which sat atop the amazing Krolo Design rack ($6400) and were connected by Enklein David and T-Rex cables. The very large room definitely allowed the Polymers to stretch out, as the soundstage was the deepest, most accurate presentation of the show. It was so deep, in fact, that I wished the Polymers could have been even farther apart to allow the soundstage width to match its depth. The deep, rectangular listening-position setup was the cause of this deeper-than-wider sensation. The FM 115s drove the MKS-Xs with such ease, though, that the normally difficult reproduction of my favorite reference music, Ludovico Einaudi’s In a Time Lapse, was a breeze for these incredible monoblocks.

Sure, we don't have to listen to reviewers. Their coverage is only meant to interest someone in hearing it. No one would buy a $60k product without an audition. My only point is that it was a unanimous reaction that this is the best speaker, not just Robert Harley. Tom of course you are entitled to your opinion, we all have one, but when you say the room was on the top ten stay away from list you completely discredit yourself. Just as I would discredit myself if my opinion was that the Bose Wave Radio sounds better than your beloved Sonus Faber or KEF speakers. You couldn't argue with me because my opinion is perfectly reasonable because that is what I like, but I think most people wouldn't be interested in my audio advice after revealing such an opinion.

Keith, Soundstage never reviewed the MKS-X speakers that were shown at Newport and AXPONA. They didn't even exist yet when soundstage did their review.

Mbovaird, basically what you don't realize is that you are just embarrassing yourself. When every industry critic hails it as the best sound at every show so far and these are people who actively hear the best equipment in the world, it makes you look a fool with some kind of emotional problems to say things like "a $5,000 speaker will mop the floor with the Polymers".

It's true that not everyone will like the same products and some of those products are not my cup of tea either. Like some people go crazy for Halcro amplifiers but they are just not for me. I respect their engineering but its just something I would use for my system. At the same time I also won't take time out of my day to actively go on forums and trash the brand as much as possible with overly dramatic comments. I just don't have any kind of need to stand on a mountain top and scream at the world that Halcro sucks.

The intensity and your overly dramatic comments that are obviously emotionally charged dont seem believable to anyone. And I am sure that some of the negative comments are also from competitors who feel threatened by Polymer Audio. Some of the biggest brands realize that they can't compete. I can also start posting comments all over the Internet that the Bose Satelite system wipes the floor with Wilson Alexia's. That's because the Bose module is so much smaller it will produce better imaging than the boxy Alexia speaker. And that surely Bose has betters engineers and infinitely greater resources than Wilson Audio for R&D. My comments might even seem plausible, although of course I will just be making a fool of myself as you are right now.

Do you think the entire press is being bribed by Polymer Audio for consistently hailing it as the best speaker? Notice that most of the publication that gave Polymer Audio best sound at show and awards do not even have Polymer Audio as advertiser. And FM Acoustics has never advertised in the USA and clearly the reviewers who gush over it are actually being sincere.

I simply responded to your post because of just how silly it is and the people who know this product would just think of you as a fool. Because it is not just about subjective nature of sound, but the simply fact that Polymer has a diamond midrange and none of the other speakers do. Who can argue that the paper cone midrange (or whatever they use) on your Wilson Alexia (which you are obviously selling) is superior to a diamond midrange? To call the Polymer Speaker a "high school project" also shows that you are angry about something and can't handle your emotions. Because the Polymer cabinet is the most intricately designed cabinet ever made and anyone who is familiar with CNC machining understands the kind of challenge it is and it would be simply impossible to pursue by the vast majority of audio companies.

I actually have nothing to prove here as the best ears in the world have already spoken.

And by the way, who is your friend? And you didn't answer why he is still keeping the speakers even though they they are worse than a million other speakers, especially after spending the kind of money he spent?

Ok Mbovaird. What are you trying to prove? That you won't ever buy Polymer speakers and that there is some kind of conspiracy theory that causes unfortunate victims to become buyers of this product? What's your point? Absolute Sound just rated the Polymer MKS-X as a tie with the MBL X-Treme which is a $275,000/pr speaker system. Ok fine, Absolute Sound are a bunch of idiots and you are the one (who ever you are) with the golden ears. I get it.

Alright perhaps all the reviewers including Jonathan Valin and Robert Harley are being bribed by Polymer Audio. But what about the best sound at the show and gold show award issued by AV Showrooms? Have you ever seen a Polymer ad there? The list goes on.

I personally know dealers and experienced listeners who think that the MKS-X is superior to the Magico Q7 in many ways. You think the S3 is way better. They are entitled to their opinion too.

Let's make a deal. How about you get your Magico S3 and listen to that and I'll get my Polymer and we will call it a day. I'll be the victim and you can emerge victoriois. You'll be the hero who saved the day and I'll endlessly suffer. You don't have to be angry anymore. You go get em' tiger!

Well said Drb968. I used to buy expensive products just because I read some rave in the magazines and got burned several times. And then I realized that my taste can vary significantly from that of a particular reviewer. You have to be crazy to buy a heavy and very expensive speaker without a careful audition.