LS 90 Standing Speakers

[ScottyDugs]

How do LS 90 speakers compare today? Sound quality still really good?

[zingo]

Good sound quality, nice full sound, worth purchasing depending on the price.

[ScottyDugs]

What makes polk speakers better today compared to back then?

[ZLTFUL]

Materials and processes have advanced. The engineering knowledge has improved as well. But also bear in mind that a lot of the "old" Polks are still beastly good speakers today. The SDAs, RTAs and LSs of days gone by can still sound great today and even better using modern metal film capacitors in the crossovers.

There is a reason why Polk still sells drivers for some of their old lines. Some of those lines were worth restoring and upgrading and still are today.

[ScottyDugs]

Thanks, makes sense...Well I am asking because I have had a whole surround system of polk speakers including the LS90's and I have had the speakers since 96 and I am not experienced enough to be able to tell if they sound as good as they did the day I got them(I was like 10 yrs old). Are there tests to see if they are running smoothly? They sound good but not sure if they sound their best.

[goofyGAguy]

What makes polk speakers better today compared to back then?

Most of them aren't better, IMHO.

[ZLTFUL]

Well, that is pretty subjective. As long as the drivers still work, they should be fine.
As long as all of the cones, dust caps and driver surrounds are good, there shouldn't be an issue.
You could probably improve them with crossover upgrades.

If you have a hifi shop nearby, go in and take a listen to modern offerings. See if they offer some sound or range that you don' find in the Polks. Your ears are the best piece of test equipment you have. Use the same music between the systems. Something you are intimately familiar with and know the nuances in the music. This will help determine if there is an improvement between your Polks and some other speaker.

Ideally, it would be a direct A-B comparison with your own gear but barring that, using the same music back and forth will do for now.

[ScottyDugs]

Thank you for the response...Not sure what a crossover upgrade is or what would be a good one for the ls90

[ken brydson]

Mine are upgraded with Sonicap caps, mills resistors and Jantzen air core inductors. They sound awesome!

[ScottyDugs]

How much did that cost per speaker?

[ken brydson]

How much did that cost per speaker?

Can't help you there, mine were already done when I bought them. Maybe thsmith will see this thread. He just did his...

[ScottyDugs]

yea, come on thsmith...get in on this

[ken brydson]

You're over 10 posts now, send him a PM...