any experience with Polymer Audio Research speaker

A friend of mine owns a pair of the MKS-X's. I've heard them 6 or 7 times. For their $60,000 retail price, I can think of a million speakers I would rather own. They aren't my cup of tea at all.

That being said, the tweeter is very smooth, but the bass is muddy and undefined and also boomy and problematic in his room (his previous speakers were not). The bass issues also cloud up the midrange.

The speakers are also very tiny and vertical imaging is low. If you listen to the YouTube video above (which show the model MKS-X - the same one my friend has), you can hear some serious cabinet resonances. I am by no means a speaker designer, but IMHO, the speakers are physically small, and may have the drivers too close together.

IMHO, a speaker like the Revel Salon 2 or Magico S3/S5 bury the Polymers, are backed by large companies with lots of R&D and strong warranty and will save you $30,000 - $40,000 to boot. In the case of the Salon 2's, they also offer adjustability on the speaker to dial into almost any rooms.

As with everything, YMMV.

Based on the response above, I would venture to guess that Dweinstein is Daniel Khesin, the owner of Polymer. Dweinstein/Daniel, whatever your name is, you need to realize that not everyone will love the Polymer speakers. Some may, and that's great. It's the same reason not everyone loves Strawberry ice cream. But I can tell you that I know at least a dozen people who have heard them and are not fans - at all. For $60,000 you get off the shelf drivers in a cabinet that is not only small, but looks like a High School shop project gone wrong. In addition, we measured the speakers in our friends room and the results were abysmal. If I could attach a file here, I would upload the in-room measurements.

As I said in my original post, the Polymer Audio speakers are not for me (or anyone I know - except for the guy who bought them.....and even he is not overly thrilled with some of the bass issues he's having.)

I can think of a lot of other speakers for a fraction of the price of the Polymer's that I would rather own that would mop the floor with the Polymers: Revel Salon 2, Magico S3/S5, Harbeth, Vivid G3 and the list goes on and on.

Definitely not a fan. For $60K - I expect a LOT more. I would put the value on them at $5-10K tops.

How many advertising dollars does Polymer spend with The Absolute Sound?

Just saying....

Plus, a few of these responders gushing over the speakers seem more than a little suspicious to me. Check their join date (when this thread started), their other posts (glowing about Polymer in threads like "best speakers you've ever heard") and no buying/selling feedback.

If something looks like a skunk and smells like a skunk....

At the end of the day, listen for yourself and decide. For me, not a chance I would ever buy these speakers.

Dweinstein - can we keep things in perspective here? You are quoting SHOW REPORTS! The only thing worse than a review, is a show report! The guy comes in, listens for a few minutes or 30 minutes and leaves! There is no comparison to his reference system. There is little chance to delve into the depths of his musical collection. There is no familiarity with the room. It's a show! Not a review.

That being said, is it any wonder that Polymer got a good show report from the magazine they spend tens of thousands of dollars with (TAS) and a not so good report (the more honest one IMO) from the magazine they don't advertise with? Let's see what did Stereophile say? They said, "After noting (without tipping my hand) that the bass response on an otherwise extremely beautiful depiction of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's voice was exaggerated, with lower pitched instruments unnaturally dominating those higher up, I asked Daniel if he was happy with the sound he was getting in the room. After some hesitation, he carefully stated, 'Perhaps the bass calls more attention to itself than we'd like.'" Finally! Some admission of truth!

Let's keep things in perspective. Show reports are not reviews - and that goes for good ones and bad ones. Like I've said from the beginning, I've heard the MKS-X in a home environment 6 or 7 times now, broken in, with good gear and cables. They just don't do it for me. I simply expect more for $60,000....quite frankly, a lot more. To me, the Magico S3 is a speaker I would choose to parallel to the Polymers both in design philosophy and style of sound. And given that the S3 is roughly 1/3 the price of the Polymers, it's quite simply, no contest. The person above who mentioned a price point of $6,000 isn't far off in my opinion either. You can purchase a pair of Revel Studio 2's on the used market for about $8,000 and with it's adjustability, quality of drivers and super smooth tweeter, it is simply, IMO, a much better speaker than the dramatically overpriced Polymer MKS-X's.

If the Polymer could get their price point down under $20,000 for a speaker, fix the darn bass issues that seem to plaque all their speakers (read Doug Schneiders review of the original MKS and you can see that bass was a issue for him as well) and make a speaker that looks like a serious player (and not the midget the MKS-X is), a better looking cabinet without all the rivet holes and color options (is industrial gray the only color?) then they might have something.

And one more thing.....how about something like bass adjustability on the speaker too? Help to dial it in to most rooms. Because at the end of the day - it's how the speaker sounds in the room that is most important - not what exotic materials it uses. Just saying....

As with everything YMMV.