Good day to one and all, I would like to first start off by apologizing for this post if not relevant within this area, for it's length(it will be long, again my apologies), and just for not being as part of the forum as I've initially intended. I have just been astonished with my experience and would like to do something by at least sharing it.
I have decided to post parts of this in separate posts due to the length, and giving those the choice to not read my whole AV history, if all they require is a review on the product/company
Background
Okay, where to begin, let me begin with my personal background regarding AV and electronics in general:
For as long as I can remember, I have had this passion for all things electronic, and have studied towards becoming a qualified Computer Scientist. I have had a love for all tech ever since I could read and write, and have worked with electrical circuits from my primary school days, however, even though I have had a vast knowledge on various areas within the technology field, I have always been under a possible misled opinion that I do not fit in within the AV crowds, like I perhaps had this feeling of unwelcome with many of those who I have personally interacted with, and all of this has changed, I have been enlightened and would like to share this journey with those interested in a read of sorts.
In my earliest memories, I remember fiddling around with the household VHS machine whereby every so often, I would come back from pre-school, and would have to open up the device, use some deodrant and an earbud to clean the device in order to watch my cartoons.
"Fast forward" some years later, Upon staying over by my uncle's place, I have been introduced to his new sound system at the time, which had been the Polk Audio RTI cherry wood series, and while listening to this,, there was this shiver down my spine, my ears had opened up to hearing quality that I've never heard before.. These speakers were damn heavy, showed every sign of quality, and upon enquiring about the price, I remember being blown away hearing R50k for the speakers alone. I immediately told myself, I would never pay this much for sound, I stayed away from any store that sold high end audio equipment, remember I'm a kid with a life savings of R300, there's no way I could get anything remotely close. However, this demo had inspired me to build myself a system of sorts to scratch this new itch, and Polk in my mind at the time had been the ultimate brand.
I spoke to anyone and everyone about speakers, sound, and setups, and convinced many to get components of a system, I clearly remember my first setup, which included a 3" driver purchased from a company called Philtron, which had been glued to an ice-cream container, and wired with any wire to a salvaged creative 2.1 active subwoofer, and hooked up to a dreaded Pentium 2 pc that had been donated to me.(looking back at this setup, possibly explains why I've been under the impression that those in the AV world don't take me seriously).
(I just realized that I am still talking about my background, and have not even touched on current days and times, please bare with me, I am trying my utter best to summarize as much as possible without filtering out the highs)
While constantly tinkering and improving on my setup as years passed by, I had come across a deal during the year of 2011, whereby I have been lucky enough to grab a set of Polk Audio RT35s(yes, I finally can have this ultimate brand! At the time, this was that light shining down on me moment, I am now finally in the big leagues), and I've bargained and picked up this set at a price of R1500. I had achieved the 5 year goal of getting this "ultimate" brand at an affordable price, I felt like the boss of bosses getting to own such a brand, and continued on this path of bargaining and looking for deals to complete this setup. This had been achieved by getting a Sony STR DG910 AVR, which had a damaged HDMI board, thus getting me this AVR at a bargain price.
I have then used this setup for years before joining the AVForums(the place to continue looking for bargains, and to learn more and improve the setup), while I do love all things electronic, I am by no means an audiophile, and do not consider myself an expert in any way whatsoever. So I have joined this forum in 2016, with goals of improving the setup and my own knowledge. While I had been greeted with extremely warm welcoming's, I had still felt that I do not fit in, there's so much technical jargon within the various threads, these guys knew what they were talking about, and here I am with my "boss" but second-hand polks, who knows little to nothing compared to what I had been seeing on the forum. I thought, what could I possibly have to offer within a forum of experts? I would just burst my high bubble of my whole polk story and thus, I have just left my audio journey stagnant at this point. I continued to learn in other areas, and have not bothered with any audio upgrades or tinkering any more.
(I am at the final stretch of this background)
During the year of 2019, I had been browsing on bidorbuy whereby I had come across this Polk Audio Surroundbar 50, sitting at a current bid of R400. While doing the usual research(google and read away), I've noticed that this item retails for 1000 USD, I was like oh wow, I have to get this! I continued to bid and won the bid at R1000(what a bargain!), my audio journey has rebooted! I then proceeded to use this daily with an old Onkyo TX-SR502, which took its own sweet time to start up, like I would switch the AVR on, make some coffee, and then as my water warmed up, so would the AVR.. This setup had been excellent, clear sound, high power capability, however, I had been missing the surround vibe and needed something to fill the room. I had this thought at the back of my mind but kept thinking to myself, how much can I possibly improve an expensive Polk bar? So I've again just been content with my ultra bargained setup, and have just remained with this.
Lockdown 2020:
While we all were just stuck at home for those couple of months, unsure if the world is ending, we all at some point started to appreciate all within our immediate reach, and my sound had been one of those items for me. I kept telling myself how lucky was I to have purchased all of this equipment over the years, my entertainment is fulfilling.
I'm not sure if anyone reading here remembers how difficult it had been to try and procure anything other than groceries during the initial lockdown. I remember staying on the line with my cousin who's a guitarist, and our lockdown had passed by with him recording some tune that I would play on my setup. The audio had been excellent, yet this old question of splitting the audio across the room came rushing back, leaving me with the thought of what if I place more speakers around the room?
After surviving, and returning to the new normal, I then continued along my usual avenues of staying away from high end AV stores, and continued along looking for bargains to change the surround channels from going to the polk bar to something else that's closer to me. I looked at every pre-owned listing, always being late or unable to commit to purchasing on time.
The posts ahead refer to me contacting Bentley Acoustics, my experience, review and conclusion.
I have decided to post parts of this in separate posts due to the length, and giving those the choice to not read my whole AV history, if all they require is a review on the product/company
Background
Okay, where to begin, let me begin with my personal background regarding AV and electronics in general:
For as long as I can remember, I have had this passion for all things electronic, and have studied towards becoming a qualified Computer Scientist. I have had a love for all tech ever since I could read and write, and have worked with electrical circuits from my primary school days, however, even though I have had a vast knowledge on various areas within the technology field, I have always been under a possible misled opinion that I do not fit in within the AV crowds, like I perhaps had this feeling of unwelcome with many of those who I have personally interacted with, and all of this has changed, I have been enlightened and would like to share this journey with those interested in a read of sorts.
In my earliest memories, I remember fiddling around with the household VHS machine whereby every so often, I would come back from pre-school, and would have to open up the device, use some deodrant and an earbud to clean the device in order to watch my cartoons.
"Fast forward" some years later, Upon staying over by my uncle's place, I have been introduced to his new sound system at the time, which had been the Polk Audio RTI cherry wood series, and while listening to this,, there was this shiver down my spine, my ears had opened up to hearing quality that I've never heard before.. These speakers were damn heavy, showed every sign of quality, and upon enquiring about the price, I remember being blown away hearing R50k for the speakers alone. I immediately told myself, I would never pay this much for sound, I stayed away from any store that sold high end audio equipment, remember I'm a kid with a life savings of R300, there's no way I could get anything remotely close. However, this demo had inspired me to build myself a system of sorts to scratch this new itch, and Polk in my mind at the time had been the ultimate brand.
I spoke to anyone and everyone about speakers, sound, and setups, and convinced many to get components of a system, I clearly remember my first setup, which included a 3" driver purchased from a company called Philtron, which had been glued to an ice-cream container, and wired with any wire to a salvaged creative 2.1 active subwoofer, and hooked up to a dreaded Pentium 2 pc that had been donated to me.(looking back at this setup, possibly explains why I've been under the impression that those in the AV world don't take me seriously).
(I just realized that I am still talking about my background, and have not even touched on current days and times, please bare with me, I am trying my utter best to summarize as much as possible without filtering out the highs)
While constantly tinkering and improving on my setup as years passed by, I had come across a deal during the year of 2011, whereby I have been lucky enough to grab a set of Polk Audio RT35s(yes, I finally can have this ultimate brand! At the time, this was that light shining down on me moment, I am now finally in the big leagues), and I've bargained and picked up this set at a price of R1500. I had achieved the 5 year goal of getting this "ultimate" brand at an affordable price, I felt like the boss of bosses getting to own such a brand, and continued on this path of bargaining and looking for deals to complete this setup. This had been achieved by getting a Sony STR DG910 AVR, which had a damaged HDMI board, thus getting me this AVR at a bargain price.
I have then used this setup for years before joining the AVForums(the place to continue looking for bargains, and to learn more and improve the setup), while I do love all things electronic, I am by no means an audiophile, and do not consider myself an expert in any way whatsoever. So I have joined this forum in 2016, with goals of improving the setup and my own knowledge. While I had been greeted with extremely warm welcoming's, I had still felt that I do not fit in, there's so much technical jargon within the various threads, these guys knew what they were talking about, and here I am with my "boss" but second-hand polks, who knows little to nothing compared to what I had been seeing on the forum. I thought, what could I possibly have to offer within a forum of experts? I would just burst my high bubble of my whole polk story and thus, I have just left my audio journey stagnant at this point. I continued to learn in other areas, and have not bothered with any audio upgrades or tinkering any more.
(I am at the final stretch of this background)
During the year of 2019, I had been browsing on bidorbuy whereby I had come across this Polk Audio Surroundbar 50, sitting at a current bid of R400. While doing the usual research(google and read away), I've noticed that this item retails for 1000 USD, I was like oh wow, I have to get this! I continued to bid and won the bid at R1000(what a bargain!), my audio journey has rebooted! I then proceeded to use this daily with an old Onkyo TX-SR502, which took its own sweet time to start up, like I would switch the AVR on, make some coffee, and then as my water warmed up, so would the AVR.. This setup had been excellent, clear sound, high power capability, however, I had been missing the surround vibe and needed something to fill the room. I had this thought at the back of my mind but kept thinking to myself, how much can I possibly improve an expensive Polk bar? So I've again just been content with my ultra bargained setup, and have just remained with this.
Lockdown 2020:
While we all were just stuck at home for those couple of months, unsure if the world is ending, we all at some point started to appreciate all within our immediate reach, and my sound had been one of those items for me. I kept telling myself how lucky was I to have purchased all of this equipment over the years, my entertainment is fulfilling.
I'm not sure if anyone reading here remembers how difficult it had been to try and procure anything other than groceries during the initial lockdown. I remember staying on the line with my cousin who's a guitarist, and our lockdown had passed by with him recording some tune that I would play on my setup. The audio had been excellent, yet this old question of splitting the audio across the room came rushing back, leaving me with the thought of what if I place more speakers around the room?
After surviving, and returning to the new normal, I then continued along my usual avenues of staying away from high end AV stores, and continued along looking for bargains to change the surround channels from going to the polk bar to something else that's closer to me. I looked at every pre-owned listing, always being late or unable to commit to purchasing on time.
The posts ahead refer to me contacting Bentley Acoustics, my experience, review and conclusion.
