Reviews by our members

• 5

  38 out of 38 members found this review helpful

  Ankart

  2022-06-16

  Verified purchase

  This review is about the colour: Black

  I haven't listened to them for more than 5 hours, but I really don't know how much better they can get if they break in. I connected them to a Marantz SR7011 in direct mode, with Tidal as the source and a Schiit Modi 3, using QED XT 25i cables. The room is difficult, 3x3 listening at 2m, wooden floor with carpet, and the speakers are placed 30cm-40cm away from the walls.
  I have tried Wharfedale Diamond 6.5 & 10.1, Acoustic Energy Aegis One, B&W 602, Klipsch R51M, and JBL Studio 230 in my space. The Polk speakers are definitely in a different price category from the previous ones, but they showed me that from the first minute.
  The volumes I normally listen to are around 70-80dB. The Polk speakers showed that they can deliver their liveliness and dynamics much earlier, and I definitely didn't push them to their limits with my AVR. I was worried if it could drive them because they go down to 3.8 ohms. However, the Marantz didn't seem to sweat much in the 5 hours. I was greatly impressed by how quiet the Polk speakers were at low volume points in songs; they didn't show any hint of distortion, which I experienced with the Klipsch and JBL speakers.

  Usually, I test with 1-2 minutes of each song, but with the Polk speakers, I couldn't bring myself to interrupt a song.
  Their bass is plentiful, dynamic, and fast, without any hint of booming or noticeable port noise from the bass reflex.
  The midrange is sweet and melodic, with true timbre in female vocals and depth in male vocals. It reminded me of a tower rather than a bookshelf speaker.
  As for the treble, oh, the treble... well, I lean towards soft dome tweeters, but I also love the detail in the extremes and the dynamics of horn tweeters... well, this tweeter sits right in the middle, with extreme resolution, detail, and fatigue-free listening for hours.
  The soundstage they create is very large, and they center the vocals comfortably in my sweet spot. I had them with a slight 10-degree toe-in, and my ears were between the height of the tweeters and woofers.

  These speakers are among the flattest response speakers out there, to the point where they rival or even surpass expensive studio monitors. Adding equalization to such a speaker doesn't offer anything at all; the speaker simply doesn't need any intervention in its sound. Just give it a clean source and power. The good thing about flat speakers (instead of V-curve ones) is that they color the sound slightly (the Polk speakers tend slightly towards warmth) and don't completely alter the sound of the production. What has been written, that's what you will hear. In practice, if you listen to a wide range of music genres like I do, you will hear everything well, and you won't have the feeling that some songs sound amazing and others sound terrible. In my 5-hour test, I tried everything from Diana Krall to Behemoth, and I got what I wanted from each song, from airy vocals and details to deep impact from drums and guitars with body.

  Finally, in terms of build quality, it's superb. Matte black finish, not fake wood vinyl, and magnetic grilles. The cabinet is narrow, relatively tall, and very deep.

  It's a shame for those who bought the Legends because the Reserve series seems by far the best value for money right now. It received the EISA Award for 2021-2022 and has received excellent reviews everywhere. Personally, I found my little island. I was torn between the Klipsch RP600 and Elac DBR62, but I chose the Polk Audio Reserve R200!!!

  Update 30/06/22: After 50 hours of stereo listening, the initial excellent impression I had of these speakers is simply confirmed. The Marantz AVR with its 2x125watt in 2 channel driven at 8ohm performed excellently, but I was curious about how much better they could sound with a pure stereo integrated amplifier. The store where I purchased them answered my question by lending me the Magnat MA 900, an amazing hybrid amplifier with a tube preamplifier and a 200watt Class A/B power amplifier stage at 4ohm. I have been listening to music for 30 years, but I finally thought I was truly hearing it. The scale up that the speakers achieved with the serious driving was unreal. In Direct mode without a sub, without any adjustments to loudness, bass, treble, etc., I experienced deep, fast, and perfectly controlled bass, precise stereo imaging, and a very large soundstage with unmatched clarity in the top end. Where I was hearing well with the Marantz at 75-80db, with the Magnat even going down to 60-70db, the speakers maintained all their dynamics, delivering all their beauty even at low volume levels. I am delighted to have discovered yet another positive aspect of these wonderful speakers, which is that they will not be the system's limit. They will continue to evolve even further as I support them in the future with better sources, cables, and amplifiers.

  Translated from Greek · Show original

  • Rich sound
  • Sound quality
  • Construction quality
  • Value for money

  • 
  • 
  • 
  Did you find this review helpful?YesNo

  Report