ROOSKIE
Major Contributor
I want to preface this by noting it is possible these speakers have some issue, some defect. What follows is based on how they sound to me (and my GF)and measure in my space. If anyone with measurement skills can measure their set in a similar fashion in your room please do & report.
Hi, when Polk announced the R200 and the rest of the line I had a curiosity about them. I have a lot of speakers I am testing plus my personal stuff to enjoy so I held off. When all the positive reviews had piled up I allowed Cyber Monday to indulge me and a pair landed at my house. I opened them up to make sure they worked, I noticed a very chesty and dull sound quality but didn't really think much of it, 20 minutes of quick testing, I put them aside for later.
Well later is this week. I finally got them up and running and now I have a problem. I am well past the Polk return period and these suckers don't sound good to me at all. Why?
One thing that pops up in the reviews consistently is a forward signature and strong midrange.
Another thing is excellent bass.
My set doesn't have either above quality but it does have a surprising lack of vibrancy, spaciousness, realism, "air". In a test comparison my GF asked what I did to the sound when I switched the R200's in. Something was obviously missing. (VS a pair of Revel M16's)
So subjectively these sound dull, lifeless, decidedly not hifi.
Hmmm,
I am going to post a significant amount of in room measurements, some gated and some MMM @ the listening position.
Before I do lemme cut to the chase. If these speakers are representative of the normal design, I think I can explain why they get accolades for the bass and for the appealing midrange presence.
Folks are turning them up to get the highs/sense of vitality/air they need and thus the mids become quite forward, almost bright in the upper mids (3-5k)due to the imbalance and the bass sounds huge as again the speakers are playing that region at higher than normal SPL.
I don't think very many folks actually SPL match their listening session-even reviewers. I have a set way I match the SPL so when testing or comparing the volume is equal energy in the midrange between speakers (500hrz-2500hrz)and I keep a set volume for most testing. (about 85/86db with peaks into the mid to high 90's)
If I listen lower or higher I still pay attention to equalizing the SPL.
First I wish I would have really looked at this data piece from @napilopez , also I am sure I would have underestimated this though so oh well.
Look at how these baby's beam @5k-20K after a slight rise around 3500k. Yikes.
(I actually think the Olive prediction may fail to fully appreciate the lessened energy in the treble. In my subjective listening it is profound, especially if I sit side by side with my GF)
I took some measurements today of a variety of speakers.
Sadly I can't use the outdoors, it is snowing and cold and some months to go before Spring.
I will start with the gated indoor measurements. Compare them with each other but NOT to other data sets.
Resolution is only about 280hrz, that is plenty though for this purpose.
1 meter @ tweeter
SPL matched via REW pink noise 500-2500hrz
(All speakers are playing at equal midrange energy)
Here is are some on Axis, gated data points
Included are the following R200,KEF R3,Revel M16,POLK XT15,ELAC B5.2,Sony SSCS5,Klipsch RP160m,Focal 605, JBL 4309
R200 is highlighted to some how it fits the group, you can see it is lower than @napilopez and the lowest on axis treble energy of the group.
60 degree of Axis, gated data points
R200 is again yellow highlighted. Very low energy in the treble at 60d off.
Here are the 0,30,60 for the R200 and Revel M16
Look at the difference here, pretty significant.
Here is the JBL 4309 at 0 then 60 degrees off axis (no 30 here)
I placed some speakers along with the R200 at two locations and took MMM energy captures. 1/24octave smoothed.
Here we have At location 1, R200 in yellow highlight, KEF R3, Polk XT15, JBL 530, JC 1159 DIY Kit, Infinity R152
Zoomed in with just the R200 and Revel M16
Location 2,
Here I show the bass range as well and you see the R200 is typical for the class in terms of response. Of course dynamics and HD/IMD distortion and output capability among other factors are not shown here. (speakers are measured in the exact same spot)
R200 in Yellow, M16, JBL l82, RP160m, KEF R3, J.C. 1159 DIY Kit
R200 in Yellow with the Revel M16
Zoomed in on the group, Again R200 in yellow (and the line hidden behind the R200 is a second R200)
Much lower energy in the room in the treble region for the R200.
This room curve drop 1db per octave from 200hrz
This one drops 0.8db per octave from 200hrz
In both line to response instances the R200 is pretty low in treble energy compared with some sort of idealized line. I am aware the idealized line is NOT a goal however it is interesting to see this variation.
Can anyone measure their sets?
I am very curious what is up, hype or defects or listener errors - my error's yours, anyone's
I reality they sound okay, just not like $750 worth of hifi and engineering. I have not tried to adjust the treble with any DSP boost.
Prolly not worth my time, fun times on one hand and on the other I have much work to do on other stuff.
Basically these are for sale now, or maybe Polk wants them back?
Hi, when Polk announced the R200 and the rest of the line I had a curiosity about them. I have a lot of speakers I am testing plus my personal stuff to enjoy so I held off. When all the positive reviews had piled up I allowed Cyber Monday to indulge me and a pair landed at my house. I opened them up to make sure they worked, I noticed a very chesty and dull sound quality but didn't really think much of it, 20 minutes of quick testing, I put them aside for later.
Well later is this week. I finally got them up and running and now I have a problem. I am well past the Polk return period and these suckers don't sound good to me at all. Why?
One thing that pops up in the reviews consistently is a forward signature and strong midrange.
Another thing is excellent bass.
My set doesn't have either above quality but it does have a surprising lack of vibrancy, spaciousness, realism, "air". In a test comparison my GF asked what I did to the sound when I switched the R200's in. Something was obviously missing. (VS a pair of Revel M16's)
So subjectively these sound dull, lifeless, decidedly not hifi.
Hmmm,
I am going to post a significant amount of in room measurements, some gated and some MMM @ the listening position.
Before I do lemme cut to the chase. If these speakers are representative of the normal design, I think I can explain why they get accolades for the bass and for the appealing midrange presence.
Folks are turning them up to get the highs/sense of vitality/air they need and thus the mids become quite forward, almost bright in the upper mids (3-5k)due to the imbalance and the bass sounds huge as again the speakers are playing that region at higher than normal SPL.
I don't think very many folks actually SPL match their listening session-even reviewers. I have a set way I match the SPL so when testing or comparing the volume is equal energy in the midrange between speakers (500hrz-2500hrz)and I keep a set volume for most testing. (about 85/86db with peaks into the mid to high 90's)
If I listen lower or higher I still pay attention to equalizing the SPL.
First I wish I would have really looked at this data piece from @napilopez , also I am sure I would have underestimated this though so oh well.
Look at how these baby's beam @5k-20K after a slight rise around 3500k. Yikes.
(I actually think the Olive prediction may fail to fully appreciate the lessened energy in the treble. In my subjective listening it is profound, especially if I sit side by side with my GF)
I took some measurements today of a variety of speakers.
Sadly I can't use the outdoors, it is snowing and cold and some months to go before Spring.
I will start with the gated indoor measurements. Compare them with each other but NOT to other data sets.
Resolution is only about 280hrz, that is plenty though for this purpose.
1 meter @ tweeter
SPL matched via REW pink noise 500-2500hrz
(All speakers are playing at equal midrange energy)
Here is are some on Axis, gated data points
Included are the following R200,KEF R3,Revel M16,POLK XT15,ELAC B5.2,Sony SSCS5,Klipsch RP160m,Focal 605, JBL 4309
R200 is highlighted to some how it fits the group, you can see it is lower than @napilopez and the lowest on axis treble energy of the group.
60 degree of Axis, gated data points
R200 is again yellow highlighted. Very low energy in the treble at 60d off.
Here are the 0,30,60 for the R200 and Revel M16
Look at the difference here, pretty significant.
Here is the JBL 4309 at 0 then 60 degrees off axis (no 30 here)
I placed some speakers along with the R200 at two locations and took MMM energy captures. 1/24octave smoothed.
Here we have At location 1, R200 in yellow highlight, KEF R3, Polk XT15, JBL 530, JC 1159 DIY Kit, Infinity R152
Zoomed in with just the R200 and Revel M16
Location 2,
Here I show the bass range as well and you see the R200 is typical for the class in terms of response. Of course dynamics and HD/IMD distortion and output capability among other factors are not shown here. (speakers are measured in the exact same spot)
R200 in Yellow, M16, JBL l82, RP160m, KEF R3, J.C. 1159 DIY Kit
R200 in Yellow with the Revel M16
Zoomed in on the group, Again R200 in yellow (and the line hidden behind the R200 is a second R200)
Much lower energy in the room in the treble region for the R200.
This room curve drop 1db per octave from 200hrz
This one drops 0.8db per octave from 200hrz
In both line to response instances the R200 is pretty low in treble energy compared with some sort of idealized line. I am aware the idealized line is NOT a goal however it is interesting to see this variation.
Can anyone measure their sets?
I am very curious what is up, hype or defects or listener errors - my error's yours, anyone's
I reality they sound okay, just not like $750 worth of hifi and engineering. I have not tried to adjust the treble with any DSP boost.
Prolly not worth my time, fun times on one hand and on the other I have much work to do on other stuff.
Basically these are for sale now, or maybe Polk wants them back?
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