POLK AUDIO is an American manufacturer of high-performance audio products, founded in 1972 by Matthew Polk, George Klopfer, and Sandy Gross. The company quickly made a name for itself in the audio industry by introducing innovative technologies such as the first ever satellite speaker for home use, and later the patented SDA (Stereo Dimensional Array) technology that offers a holographic stereo listening experience.
Polk Audio was an early pioneer in the use of high-end materials and finishes for comparatively affordable audio equipment. The company played an instrumental role in making high-fidelity sound accessible to a wider audience and it has added home theater systems, sound bars, and wireless speakers to its line of products over the years.
In 2006, DEI Holdings purchased Polk Audio. After eventually buying DEI from another private equity firm, Charles bank Capital Partners, in 2011, that business merged the brands of Polk, Definitive Technology, and Boom Movement to form Sound United in 2012.
Today, Polk Audio is part of the Sound United family of audio brands, which also includes Denon, Marantz, Definitive Technology, Boston Acoustics, and Bowers & Wilkins. The story doesn't end there, though. In 2022, Masimo Corporation, a global technology company with headquarters in Irvine, California, bought Sound United again. Sound United still holds all the audio brands.
Polk products can be found at a large variety of retail locations, both online and B&M. My personal exposure to them has been through Best Buy, although I've never owned or auditioned any of their speakers in my own home until the Monitor XT10 arrived from FedEx.
JUST THE FACTS
This story is from the April - May 2023 edition of Sound & Vision.
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