I am in the process of selecting a new set of components for front of my supercrew. I had a set of Polk Momo 6.5's in my other F-150 that I recently traded. Other than sound rooms, I have never been able to compare the Polk's with other high ends like Focal, MB Quarts, or Diamond Audio. I was fairly impressed with the Polks but they seemed to bottom out a little too easy (may have needed more than 100 RMS to push a little harder?). Anyway, I was hoping with all the audiophiles on the forum that I might run across someone who could tell me if the Polk's were in the same neighbohood performance wise, as other highends, or if there's no comparison. Thanks

 

Personally, I feel that the Polk's have taken a slight downturn from what they once were. Don't get me wrong, they are still a great speaker but just not as great. As far as my opinion on their performance I would say they sound very nice, usually smooth on transtitions with a fairly mellow but pronounced high range, overall not bad. Out of all the ones that you mentioned I really prefer the sound of the Focals next would be a tie between Quart and Diamond (both sound pretty close to the same). With a little know how, you can tone down the brightness of the Quarts (but some people like that). As far as the bottoming out issue that all boils down to x-overs setup properly. You can eliminate or induce bottoming in all of the speakers mentioned but I feel that the Polk are quickest to hit bottom out of those mentioned. You can typically get lower response from the Quart and Diamond than what you get from the Focals because they tend to handle lower x-over points a touch better but then again the Focals just have that really smooth sweet sound that many people prefer. Ultimately you will need to decide for yourself. I suggest that you listen very critically to all of them doing your best to be as impartial as you can (you know deep down your a Polk man ). I would select musical content that has very dramatic dnamics and transients, Steely Dan is very well recorded with a great combination of instruments to check overall dynamics, image, and detail of compnents. Try the track "Babylon Sister".

Anyway that's my $.02

 

I agree with cgorris - Babylon Sister... Shake It !. Also the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over Album is well recorded and has great range. A very good live recording ! I'm considering replacing my Infinity coaxials with components. Thanks for the post. Waiting ...........

RIcksta