And in the last of my speaker measurements for now, here's the Polk L200. I'd measured this several months ago but only finally got around to being able to run the full suite of measurements. I hope it's okay I started a new thread for the measurements, just figured this was the better subforum for it.
The L200 replaces the excellent-measuring LSiM703 as Polk's flagship standmount. It goes for $1,800 MSRP, putting it in a very crowded category of good speakers.
So without further ado, here's the spin:
And here it is scaled to match Amir's measurements:
This is a good! Other than a rising last octave and a few high q deviations in the midrange on-axis -- which mostly get reduced off axis, this is a good spin. There is the common shallow midrange scoop which shows up as a bump in the ERDI, though please keep in mind the way I calculate this exacerbates the bump more than how the Klippel currently does (see:this thread). Listening window is roughly ±1.5dB
(Eagle-eyed observers might also note the rising last octave doesn't show up in my earlier measurements for this speaker. I do not have a good reason for it. It's possible there was variation between my two speaker samples, but I'd trust my newer measurements more. Otherwise, they are very similar.).
Breaking down the data more, here's the horizontal:
It's decent performance without a waveguide, but nothing to write home about. On the good side, the lines are roughly timbrally balanced up to to steep dropoff at 5-6kHz. Directivity is also nice and wide up to this point
However, there is the typical diffraction bunching around 3KHz, and there is messiness happening between 1-2kHz overall. There's also an artefact happening around 550Hz and 1200 Hz on and off axis.
Edit: These artefacts are the result of very loud port output. You can see the peaks in the port response line up quite closely with the peaks on-axis. Note these outputs aren't plotted to scale.
Directivity balances out decently overall though, as can be seen in the horizontal polar map:
Vertical is controlled pretty well for a non-coaxial Here it is at 0/5/10/15 degrees above and below the tweeter axis, as well as ceiling and floor reflections.
Pretty good control in the listening window as long as you aren't listening from far below the speakers. Vertical lobing is fairly narrow so it shouldn't affect sound too much, although unfortunately, it happens in the 2-3K region which is important for speech intelligibility.
Here it is in polar form:
The highlight of this speaker to me is the impressively flat on-axis and listening window, moreso if you listen just a little bit off-axis. I preferred them toed in most of the way, which might be because of the super-steep roll-off in the highs, but I'd say 10-20 degrees is ideal.
While directivity isn't as smooth as we've seen from other speakers, especially those with good waveguides, the deviations do not seem to cause major deviations in timbre. The scooping/bunching might make the mids sound a little recessed or the presence region a bit emphasized, but IMO the prevailing sensation is of neutrality. Moreover, directivity is quite wide up to about 5-6kHz, giving them an expansive soundstage if that's your thing.
To me the big elephant in the room is the L200's predecessor, the LSIM703. Though it originally retailed for $1,500, you can now buy a pair for as little $600-$800, and even less in the used market. Though there aren't spinorama style measurements, based on SoundStage Network and Stereophile's, it seems to measure at least comparably to the L200, and arguably better. Moreover, the LSim703 is a three-way speaker, a relative rarity, (the L200 is a two-way), which should theoretically ease the load per driver and help tidy up vertical response.
I haven't heard the older Polks, but based on measurements, I can't reasonably claim the new speaker to be better. Then again, if we compared every new speaker to good older ones, we'd probably never buy anything new
. Taken on its own, the L200 performs well, especially in its flat on-axis for being a passive speaker, while maintaining fairly wide directivity up to the presence region. Whether it's worth $1,800 is up to you.
The L200 replaces the excellent-measuring LSiM703 as Polk's flagship standmount. It goes for $1,800 MSRP, putting it in a very crowded category of good speakers.
So without further ado, here's the spin:
And here it is scaled to match Amir's measurements:
This is a good! Other than a rising last octave and a few high q deviations in the midrange on-axis -- which mostly get reduced off axis, this is a good spin. There is the common shallow midrange scoop which shows up as a bump in the ERDI, though please keep in mind the way I calculate this exacerbates the bump more than how the Klippel currently does (see:this thread). Listening window is roughly ±1.5dB
(Eagle-eyed observers might also note the rising last octave doesn't show up in my earlier measurements for this speaker. I do not have a good reason for it. It's possible there was variation between my two speaker samples, but I'd trust my newer measurements more. Otherwise, they are very similar.).
Breaking down the data more, here's the horizontal:
It's decent performance without a waveguide, but nothing to write home about. On the good side, the lines are roughly timbrally balanced up to to steep dropoff at 5-6kHz. Directivity is also nice and wide up to this point
However, there is the typical diffraction bunching around 3KHz, and there is messiness happening between 1-2kHz overall. There's also an artefact happening around 550Hz and 1200 Hz on and off axis.
Edit: These artefacts are the result of very loud port output. You can see the peaks in the port response line up quite closely with the peaks on-axis. Note these outputs aren't plotted to scale.
Directivity balances out decently overall though, as can be seen in the horizontal polar map:
Vertical is controlled pretty well for a non-coaxial Here it is at 0/5/10/15 degrees above and below the tweeter axis, as well as ceiling and floor reflections.
Pretty good control in the listening window as long as you aren't listening from far below the speakers. Vertical lobing is fairly narrow so it shouldn't affect sound too much, although unfortunately, it happens in the 2-3K region which is important for speech intelligibility.
Here it is in polar form:
The highlight of this speaker to me is the impressively flat on-axis and listening window, moreso if you listen just a little bit off-axis. I preferred them toed in most of the way, which might be because of the super-steep roll-off in the highs, but I'd say 10-20 degrees is ideal.
While directivity isn't as smooth as we've seen from other speakers, especially those with good waveguides, the deviations do not seem to cause major deviations in timbre. The scooping/bunching might make the mids sound a little recessed or the presence region a bit emphasized, but IMO the prevailing sensation is of neutrality. Moreover, directivity is quite wide up to about 5-6kHz, giving them an expansive soundstage if that's your thing.
To me the big elephant in the room is the L200's predecessor, the LSIM703. Though it originally retailed for $1,500, you can now buy a pair for as little $600-$800, and even less in the used market. Though there aren't spinorama style measurements, based on SoundStage Network and Stereophile's, it seems to measure at least comparably to the L200, and arguably better. Moreover, the LSim703 is a three-way speaker, a relative rarity, (the L200 is a two-way), which should theoretically ease the load per driver and help tidy up vertical response.
I haven't heard the older Polks, but based on measurements, I can't reasonably claim the new speaker to be better. Then again, if we compared every new speaker to good older ones, we'd probably never buy anything new
. Taken on its own, the L200 performs well, especially in its flat on-axis for being a passive speaker, while maintaining fairly wide directivity up to the presence region. Whether it's worth $1,800 is up to you.
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