any experience with Polymer Audio Research speaker

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.

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!

It seems reviewers are also part of the topic, so let me delve into this taboo as well. Have you ever seen the pictures of the rooms the reviews have? Most are absolute crap! Their "reference" is not a reference level room. They may get an excellent sound out of some system, but the room is probably the single biggest, most ignored part of THE SYSTEM. Nailing a few fiberglass panels does not in any way make a reference level room.

I have no idea how much time any of the reviewers spend listening to live music, venues, etc (and don't really care). Some speakers are by their very nature more room friendly (generally dipole, electrostatic & panel won't excite base modes as much), but the room remains huge.

As per speakers, price is no guarantee of quality. For instance, to my ear I much prefer the Sonus Faber Stradivari to the Sonus Faber Aida. I've heard both in more than one friends home, and at a dealer I've known for years who had both on display. That is MY TASTE. There really is nothing to argue about. When an individual asks a valid question - on opinion based on listening to THE ACTUAL SPEAKER IN QUESTION why the hostility for honest opinions? That is a valid question. We get together for shootouts from time to time. We don't always agree on everything - generally we do, but there are exceptions.

At the end of the day, when spending significant $$$, let the buyer beware. Particularly with the snakes in this industry! Audition Audition Audition. Then and only then can one make a sound decision based on their taste and requirements. Lets see, say 50k for speakers - is it worth a .5k airplane ticket???

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.