Polk Audio S6, Dynamic Balance BookShelf Speaker

Polk Audio was founded in 1972 by Johns Hopkins engineering graduates, led by Matthew Polk.  Polk was known early in the industry as "the guy with the white lab coat," as most of the company's advertisements featured the tall, slender engineer donning his lab-ready attire in front of an array of many-drivered loudspeakers.  Polk's early designs were an effort to chase the realism of live performance.  As the company matured, Polk decided to use his team of engineers, and resources at Johns Hopkins, to investigate material sciences for the benefit of the systems they designed.

The S-series, and the up-market LS-series, were the benefactors of Polk's material science studies in the early 1990s. Polk used interferometry laser testing to examine every material used in a driver's assembly to study how the material would show unwanted resonance. The results of these studies set the foundation for Polk's use of composite materials in almost all aspects of driver design, and the "Dynamic Balance" monicker was coined.

The S6 sat right in the middle of the S-series, which was comprised of four models: S4, S6, S8, and S10.  All of these systems used some of the same design principles from the aforementioned research: Tweeter faceplates included a sculpted waveguide to manipulate and control diffraction; Woofer cones were made from a poly-micro composite to reduce breakup; and even the soft butyl rubber woofer dust caps were designed to absorb unwanted resonances from within the cone geometry itself. 

The S6 features a 1" composite dome tweeter, 6-1/2" composite cone woofer, and 6-1/2" composite passive radiator.  Frequency response is smooth and controlled, with surprising low end from such a compact speaker.  The speakers are also relatively thin, allowing them to be placed on stands or shelves with ease. 

Demos are encouraged in Lawrence, MA.

$179 (plus applicable shipping and/or MA sales tax)