are they considered bright

[Willow]

by average consumer standars are polk considered to be "bright" ?

or does polk have certain models which are?
rt
r
rti
lsi
???

thanks

[gmorris]

I have heard many people on here blathering on about the RTi70's being bright. (I mention the RTi70's because I own a pair) The RTi70's are not bright, in my opinion. I guess it all just comes down to who you ask, but to me they are not bright.

The funny thing is, if a speaker is bright, you should also hear comments about how the sound is "forward". But rarely will you hear that. People just like to whine.

I also have 2 CSi30's. One for center channel, the other for center surround channel, in a 6.1 setup. These two speakers only get used for DVD watching. DVD's are notorious for being trumped up in the higher frequencies, but I still hear no offending brightness. They sound good, to me.

As for my surrounds, I still have a pair of R20's, which, like the CSi30's, are only used for DVD movies. No brightness there either.

And finally, I used to have a pair of R30's. Guess what, I did not think they were bright either.

In my opinion, if you have any of these speakers and are hearing brightness that is offensive, your amplifier is more at fault than the speakers.

[Willow]

I never understood this bright speaker bright receiver.....stuff don't understand why peeps say that recevier is to bright , or those speakers lack brightness...isn't that what the settings on a receiver is for ??

[gmorris]

No, not really. I think you are referring to the "Treble" control. The treble & bass controls on a preamp or receiver are boost controls. That means there is a center frequency which is boosted by "X" amount of Db's. (usually up to about 12 Db's of boost or cut)

Saying a speaker or amp or cable ect... is bright is a description of the sound of the component. Decreasing the treble adjustment on a reciever that is connected to a speaker that you would call bright, will only decrease the boost being added by the rec. The speaker will still sound bright.

Again, I don't feel Polk speakers are bright. I've owned 4 different models, and none of them are bright, to me. I think most will agree that the overall nature of the sound of Polk speakers (current models anyway) could be called "laid back" or "relaxed". Some may even go as far as calling them a little to the warm side of neutral. I would tend to aree with being a little warm, but only the slightest bit.

[Willow]

thanks for making it more clear...I read on another site the treble thing so thats why I asked !! thanks for making it clear GM

[gmorris]

Something else I'd like to point out.

I've read many reviews of Polk speakers, from such sources as Goodsound.com, Soundstage.com & Stereophile. None of the reviews I've ever read about Polk speakers say anything about the speaker being bright.

The only place, come to think of it, that I've heard Polks referred to as being bright is on this forum!!??

[Willow]

go figure !!

thanks again !!

[Zero]

Typically "Bright" is used to describe a foward sounding tweeter that can be fatiguing on the ears over either a short or extended period of time.

Most people that use this phrase will associate female vocals with having a "Ssss" sound, or a metallic tang to voices, woodwind, and brass instruments.

What each person finds as "bright" varies. Equipment matching can play a large roll, along with tastes and direct comparisons to other products on the same system.

In keeping with the thread, I have found virtually *all* Polk products to sound bright.

[PolkWannabie]

Originally posted by Zero
I have found virtually *all* Polk products to sound bright.

They're so bright ya gotta where shades lol ...

[VR3]

To me -

RTixxx seires (RTi70, etc) - is bright as they get....

RTxxxi series (RT35i, etc) - is also incredibly bright

RT5, polymer - the rest except the RT3 use a tri lam in this series, and the Polymer is by far the smoothest, most laid back, yet still one of the more detailed tweeters I have heard by Polk.

RTixx (RTi12) - was not really bright, yet isnt laid back either...

[gmorris]

To throw out some speakers I have heard that I would call bright, Theils. Metal dome tweeters (perhaps aluminum, not sure) that made my ears bleed.

[VR3]

Klipsch are incredibly bright...

Ear bleeding isnt even the right word...hmmm

[gmorris]

I can believe Klipsch are bright, just because of the horn tweeter.

I've never heard horn tweeters used in home speakers, just DJ speakers. Or whatever you'd call the speakers in dance clubs. They are so shrill when played loud, it physically hurts your ears.

[Zero]

It truly is wonderful when you hear a metal dome tweeter that is *not* forward. the NHT SB-3's come to mind.

Polk Wannabe. Dont knock the $5 shades man..

[gmorris]

Paradigms are another forward sounding, metal domed speaker. And so are B&W's. I've listened to one pair of each extensively, and although very forward, I wouldn't call them overly bright either. More bright than my Polks perhaps, but not bright in a bad way.

[tryrrthg]

Originally posted by Zero
It truly is wonderful when you hear a metal dome tweeter that is *not* forward. the NHT SB-3's come to mind.

The Wilson Watt Puppy 7 does pretty decent job in this department also. ;)

The Thiels are bright but they seemed extra bright during gmorris and I's visit to a shop in Columbus. I don't remember them being that bright the first time I heard them. The BIG Thiel 7.2 was a different story. They were much easier on the ears.

I've heard some BIG klipsch speaker on Rotel gear and I didn't think they were all that bright, I've heard worse set-ups...

I did get some listener fatigue from my Polk RT1000i's when I had them, but that could have been due to the yamaha receiver also...

[gmorris]

Originally posted by tryrrthg
The Wilson Watt Puppy 7 does pretty decent job in this department also. ;)

Must be the inverted metal dome. The brightness is sent backwards into the enclosure.:p

Could also have to do with the ARC tube amp, very sweet sounding.

[tryrrthg]

Originally posted by gmorris
Must be the inverted metal dome. The brightness is sent backwards into the enclosure.:p

Could also have to do with the ARC tube amp, very sweet sounding.

I think they sounded better the first time I heard them with the Spectal gear. Either way an amazing system, an amazing room!

Did you ever go back with the people from work?

[gmorris]

Originally posted by tryrrthg
Did you ever go back with the people from work?

Nope. Someone found a home automation store in the Cleveland area. So they went there, and it turned out to be a turd! HA! So hopefully they get their heads out their asses & listen to me when I tell them we need to go to Progressive.

[dorokusai]

Aluminum domes are the audio standard for bright IMO, not the gear driving them. I have not heard differently to this date....NHT included. NHT is the best Al dome I have heard in some time, but I don't want to live with them.

Silk is King, Tubes tame Lions.

[gmorris]

Has anyone heard a planar tweeter? Or an electrostatic speaker? I have not. Just wondered how they compare, in terms of brightness.

[Willow]

I have heard electro before but never noticed very slim but tall speakers

[jefft1314]

Klipsch synergy series=ear bleeding brightness (especially hooked up in best buy to yamaha gear) Klipsch reference=a sound I could live with forever. Remember though, your musical preference plays a big role in what sounds good to you. I listen to rock music and a little bit of male singer songwriter pop (Howie Day as an example). I could listen to Klipsch reference speakers all day long, I'm currently very pleased with my athenas though, no doubt on that.

[xsmi]

Originally posted by gmorris
Has anyone heard a planar tweeter? Or an electrostatic speaker? I have not. Just wondered how they compare, in terms of brightness.

I own Magnapan SMGb's circa 1994. They image very well. They can be a little bright depending on the components.

gmorris and tryrrthg,
I really love progressive Audio and as far as Thiels are concerned which pair did you hear that sounded bright. I was in there in April and heard the 2.4's and they were smooth as silk. Maybe they did change electronics.

[tryrrthg]

Originally posted by xsmi
I own Magnapan SMGb's circa 1994. They image very well. They can be a little bright depending on the components.

gmorris and tryrrthg,
I really love progressive Audio and as far as Thiels are concerned which pair did you hear that sounded bright. I was in there in April and heard the 2.4's and they were smooth as silk. Maybe they did change electronics.

We were there about a month ago. we listened to the 1.6 the 2.4 and the 7.2. The 2.6 was the brightest, I guess more forward than the rest. They were running McCormack gear, which is anything but bright.

Has anyone heard a planar tweeter? Or an electrostatic speaker? I have not. Just wondered how they compare, in terms of brightness.

Heard some big Martin Logan at Progressive, not my tastes at all, but sounded very good, if I remember correctly they sounded similar to the Theils. Why didn't we listen to them? that was dumb of us!

[stereo55]

Originally posted by gmorris
Has anyone heard a planar tweeter? Or an electrostatic speaker? I have not. Just wondered how they compare, in terms of brightness.

I had an older pair of Acoustats (6' tall electrostatic) paired with some old Altec 1590B mono blocks (solid state not tube) that sounded FANTASTIC . Great imaging/depth and sonic clearity . The only time the electrostatics ever sounded "brite" was do to the quality/brand of pre-amp used . I went through a barrage of pre-amps with this system and only the cheaper less neutral pre-amps made the Acoustats sound brite (Hafler pre-amp sounded best).
The sound from the electrostatic's use to give me "goose-bumps" when listening to music with this setup . :D

[madmax]

Some equipment can make speakers sound bright. Normally it is due to cheap parts or digital noise like jitter. I have a JVC DVD player which even makes my SDA's with tube amps sound bright. The overall treble is not bright but the noise makes it appear that way. It took a lot of listening time to figure it out. My friend had a stand alone preamp in his system a long time ago and his LS90's were so bright I couldn't stand them. I couldn't understand it because with his list of gear everything should have sounded great. After he replaced the preamp they were very nice and soft. It only takes one poorly chosen part to make a whole system sound crappy.
madmax

[Willow]

but was is considered cheap

too bad there was a list stating

all dvd players under this price
all receivers under this price
and so forth

[madmax]

Originally posted by Willow
but was is considered cheap

too bad there was a list stating

all dvd players under this price
all receivers under this price
and so forth

Are you speaking in code?

[TheReaper]

Originally posted by madmax
Are you speaking in code?

It makes perfect sense to me :D

But what is considered cheap?

Too bad there isn't a list like this:

- all dvd players under $50.00 are cheap
- all receivers under $150.00 are cheap
- ... and so forth