Limited Edition Of 100 Polivoks Synthesizers Available

polivoks-clone

The Polivoks Pro team let us know that they are making a limited edition of their new Polivoks synthesizer available via an online auction. 

The reissued Polivoks is a new, compact keyboardless version of the original design.

From 10 to 16 of December 2016, there will be an online auction, selling a limited edition of synthesizers “Polivoks” made in 2016 (100 units). Minimum bid is US $1850.

See the Polivoks Pro site for details.

24 thoughts on “Limited Edition Of 100 Polivoks Synthesizers Available”

  1. The horse has bolted with this one to be honest. Great synth, but you can get it in eurorack format from Erica synths for less.

  2. Non-midified Polivokses in good shape can be had for as low as $300 in Russia, check this auction site:

    avito.ru/rossiya?sgtd=1&view=gallery&q=%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%81

    so if you want one it may be a good idea to use one of the services that buy stuff in one country and deliver it to another. Rather than pay almost two grand, holy shit.

    This is typical of Russian companies who see interest in the west for their product, they get super greedy, probably because it’s so unusual, and that makes them think they have something exceptional.

    1. That’s exactly how I got mine. Bought it in Russia, brought it with me on the plane. Cleaned and recapped it, and now it sounds as huge as the tank it looks like. Then put in a midi kit from Logich in St.Petersburg, et voila.

  3. This is a very cynical exploitation of synthesizer enthusiasts – deliberately manufactured in short supply, and marked up as high as possible… far beyond the actual value itself.

    As others have noted, if you are really interested in one of these units, fully functional polivoks synths in all shapes and sizes can be purchased for much less, all over the place.

  5. I see many people are suggesting these are worth $300 because they heard of a guy that spent $300 buying a non-working original in Russia.

    Used synths often sell for less than the original cost of manufacturing. Lots of people bought ARP 2600s for $100-$500 25 years ago. That doesn’t mean they cost $100-$500 to make in the first place.

    Used synths that need to be cleaned, recapped, pots replaced, and new hardware added to be usable are obviously not worth in final working order what it cost before this renovation. Buying a synth that needs renovation for $300 doesn’t mean the synth should sell for $300 after the renovation.

    Replicating old hardware using original schematics and components can be very costly and troublesome due to the difficulty and cost in locating authentic original parts. When the parts are rare Russian parts that are not made any more the problems are even more difficult.

    Making things by hand in small quantities is significantly more expensive than mass producing things in an efficient factory that requires mass production in order to offset the significant tooling costs.

    For those who do not want authentic reproduction stuff, going to such trouble is foolish. Better to run a plugin replica, or just something else.

    These boxes are fairly priced. But they are obviously not for any of you.

    1. Most of the parts in these are easily available.

      Tested ICs and transistors are available from Erica Synths in their Eurorack line and probably separately if you email them.

      Untested you can eBay 1000s of them for cheap.

      There is no huge demand for 80s Russian components.

      The most difficult parts to source are the old white lever toggle and the odd pots. But this remake obviously didn’t bother with that…..

      As far as schematics, these have been available forever, and as people have pointed out, there are lots of options available to build up a box or Euro just like this thing.

      Now if it looked like the original, and not a homemade box…that might be different.

  6. I played both new and old polyvoxes. New -“promo” version in Moscow on Sundey Sound exibition this summer, and old one i owned for 2 years. A lot of russian synth enthusiasts thinked about Polyvox as a noisy toy with headpain of tuning, they are not like ms20 or even sh09, not made like tank, but heavy as tank)) but i realy love it…

    For nowdays old Polyvoxes is not cheap – starts fron 400-500 in avito (yes – great site). And they are not so popular as moog here.

    The new polyvox is a great modern synth. They are made great (point to point hand soldering and realtaly 85-90% of original details, not noisy).
    What to say about the prise…. A lot… I could buy 4 units of dreadbox erebus… For erebus prise i would buy new revision of polyvox, bun not for 4x

  8. I’ve commented on this elsewhere so apologise if any of you have already read my rant below…. but PLEASE don’t think that the $1850 will get you a synth…. this is just an opening bid that may POSSIBLY get you one…. no no NO… if you want one for certain it’ll cost you $4000!!…. I kid you not!!! Anyway,,, here’s my rant….

    Everyone knows my love of synths…. especially high end ones…. and I love the idea that someone has grafted hard to design and build something special here…. and so normally I would be looking at this and as well as being attracted to buying one myself also be 100% behind it, whatever price they want to sell it at.. as long as the price seems reasonable for what’s on offer… But this is the first time EVER that I don’t wish these guys well at all… the way that they’ve structured this buying process is nothing about wanting musicians to buy their synths… this is all about wanting collectors to spend top dollar and pay WAY over the odds for what this is worth. The philosophy behind this STINKS…. they are trying to compare this to a work of art, a great master…. it’s not… it never WAS and it never will be. Auctions work for things that have a value which is indefinable…. vintage things.. things that you can’t buy anymore… things that are unique… NOT for things that are being manufactured now… today… with a set price for the components, and production costs… in THOSE circumstances you have a “price”… unless are you SERIOUSLY telling me that they see the “buy it now” figure at $4000 as the price that they REALLY think it’s worth??? Really?? REALLY???? That’s what they’re saying. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about a company or sales technique… but this is, in my opinion, very VERY wrong. I hope that this venture fails miserably, that these guys crash and burn and that we don’t see anything like it again in a hurry. That’s coming from the kind of person who has the means and desire to buy synths like this… but I will not be touching this with a bargepole simply because it reeks of greed, greed and more GREED. Great synth, SHIT COMPANY. It’s like an April fool come early… this deserves to fail monumentally….

    1. I applaud your communications Ty. There is art and music. And then there is money and art, where the spirit of universal expression is sacrificed. To pay for a session with a Russian wench…or whatever of ‘their’ needs that drives ‘them’. The music business; experimenters Vs bloodsuckers.

    2. Well, as much as I agree with you on pricing policy, I must say I actually had a talk with those guys over Skype and decided to order the synth. I actually asked why on Earth they thought that someone would pay $4k for such a small and relatively not famous unit and they said that during some exhibition in Russia someone actually offered this amount of money, so that person could buy it right away, but that was the single unit that they had produced at that time. Well, I guess, whatever… And honestly I didn’t want to buy this synth either, because it seemed like a real rip-off, but during conversation those guys did show their love & care for their product, so I decided to go with it. I mean, IMO, no tuning issues or no need to recap this thing every 3-5 years, midi inputs + CVs, a couple of new additional features and it all being packed in a small unit that can actually fit in my backpack justifies $1900 I paid for it. I already own a 1989 Polivoks, but I must say the new thing kicks my old one’s ass right out of the box. And it’s definitely more comfortable to work with.

    1. I think that’s the problem that I have though “d”….
      Do I like the product? Yes….. a lot.
      Have I been keeping an eye on this now since it was announced? Yes….
      Would I happily pay 2 – 2.5k for this right now? Yes…. I’d had every intention
      Will I support this philosophy of bidding on a new current product whilst also supplying a horrendously overpriced “Buy it now” price as if it thinks it’s eBay?…. Not in a million years
      As I said above… I won’t support pure greed.

  10. So it appears that not only the components are sourced from USSR, but their sales model is very much USSR as well! Such as sad, disgusting feeling to look at it. It’s typically Russian though – no real surprise – to grab as much money as you can, as quickly as you can, and then disappear, because “who knows what will come tomorrow?”. I know this oh too well. Shame, shame on these guys for bringing 1980s mentality into 2016! I hope they get what they truly deserve.

    2. Picked an odd place to exercise your russophobia, Artemiy. The typical Soviet model for distributing these was to send them to schools and village clubs for free, about as far removed from this as possible.

  11. Just simply supply and demand and depends what a fool with pay for it. it is easy to bring forward many, even well established large brand name manufacturers who sell instruments (correction: consumer sound producing products in high volumes without much after sale support and upgrades, including razor and blade software/add-ons) far above and multiple times of their cost which is extremely greedy as well. Don’t see the issue with an auction. Expensive can be garbage as well. We live in a very greedy world where every little bit of minor effort gets monetized out of proportions. Greedy supply for greedy demand. Buy it, don’t buy it or educate your-self and develop it yourself.

  13. I, and I’m sure many, agree with you wholeheartedly Ty! We have seen this greed developing in the second hand market. Now this takes it a step further! I believe it ultimately breaks down into musicians who respect a price that’s fair, for sharing their soul through the medium of sound. And businessmen, who have yet to learn what music is about…developing your soul!

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