The monitor 10's I had and monitor 11's I have now are not what I would describe as flabby in the bass. The Monitor 11 is a floor standing version of the Monitor 10 with slightly lower extension because of the larger tower design. For me the determining factor was,
1) the amp choices.
2) resealing the air leaks caused by dried out gaskets behind drivers.
After some plumbers putty applied to driver baskets, the air leaks are gone and this got the bass back in order and tightened up. You may need to do the same on the ones you are looking at unless the previous owner was a " Polkie" and did it recently.
The only times I heard the Polks get loose or flabby was when I tried a 15wpc tube amp and an old Harmon Kardon receiver on them. The tube amp sounded great with the minor exception of the bottom end control, not intolerable but not what the Polk could do....kinda to be expected. The HK just had no control but was attributed to a poor dampening factor design. Just a really crappy piece from HK's dark days but it was free.
I moved the Polk into the main system which is powered by a Jungson JA-88D......80wpc class A integrated and was mighty impressed with the old boys. Not as articulate as my Maggies in the bass department but more then acceptable for a second system. I have heard many other speakers sound much more flabby on the bottom end than the Polk 10 and 11.
I moved them back to office and put the 15 wpc tube amp back on them and have come to terms with the slightly loose bass as a trade off for the more glorious mids and highs. I also do not listen to my music loud any more so it is well within the acceptable performance levels.
"Air tight" and "decent dampening factors" seem to be the way to go for a respectable bass performance. They are not lightning fast but also not slow in my book.
1) the amp choices.
2) resealing the air leaks caused by dried out gaskets behind drivers.
After some plumbers putty applied to driver baskets, the air leaks are gone and this got the bass back in order and tightened up. You may need to do the same on the ones you are looking at unless the previous owner was a " Polkie" and did it recently.
The only times I heard the Polks get loose or flabby was when I tried a 15wpc tube amp and an old Harmon Kardon receiver on them. The tube amp sounded great with the minor exception of the bottom end control, not intolerable but not what the Polk could do....kinda to be expected. The HK just had no control but was attributed to a poor dampening factor design. Just a really crappy piece from HK's dark days but it was free.
I moved the Polk into the main system which is powered by a Jungson JA-88D......80wpc class A integrated and was mighty impressed with the old boys. Not as articulate as my Maggies in the bass department but more then acceptable for a second system. I have heard many other speakers sound much more flabby on the bottom end than the Polk 10 and 11.
I moved them back to office and put the 15 wpc tube amp back on them and have come to terms with the slightly loose bass as a trade off for the more glorious mids and highs. I also do not listen to my music loud any more so it is well within the acceptable performance levels.
"Air tight" and "decent dampening factors" seem to be the way to go for a respectable bass performance. They are not lightning fast but also not slow in my book.