Polk Reserve R200: Spinorama and measurements (a really nice surprise!)

[Venkyrenga]

Smooth, I get it. Rich and organic, I have no Idea what these mean. The R200 will me brighter than the ELAC :
View attachment 339054

ELAC UBR62 Speaker Review

ELAC UBR62 Speaker Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

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Polk Reserve R200 Bookshelf Speaker Review

Polk Reserve R200

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Then, the wider directivity of the UBR62 could be a problem.

By rich I meant a very pleasant sound and by organic I meant a very natural sound.

I thought the front port of elac would be an advantage since it is going near a corner. I also heard reports of r200 being boomy if placed close to the wall. Btw my room has moderate acoustic treatment with bass traps in the back wall and acoustic panels in the first reflection points.

 

[VintageFlanker]

By rich I meant a very pleasant sound and by organic I meant a very natural sound.

No one would want to buy an unpleasant or unnatural sound. So, all this goes without saying...

Anyway, you have the data to check their respective sound signatures.

 

[Venkyrenga]

How is the vertical and horizontal dispersion in R200? I sometimes listen to music while moving around in my room. Does the r200 lose a lot of its quality in that case. My current speakers elac db6.2 have very good vertical and horizontal dispersion, and loses little when I move away from the sweet spot.

 

[VintageFlanker]

How is the vertical and horizontal dispersion in R200?

Just read the reviews I posted.

 

[mhardy6647]

Smooth, I get it. Rich and organic, I have no Idea what these mean. The R200 will be brighter than the ELAC :

That is interesting. Because the plain-vanilla R200, at least, is quite not bright.

No one would want to buy an unpleasant or unnatural sound.

And yet Bowers & Wilkins continues (successfully) to sell loudspeakers, by all appearances.

 

[VintageFlanker]

And yet Bowers & Wilkins continues (successfully) to sell loudspeakers, by all appearances.

I said "no one would want", not "no one does".

 

[fflegault]

Sorry for the newbie question but considering I have a stereo setup of Polk R200 with a CXA61 integrated amp and SVS SB-1000, at what frequency should I set the subwoofer crossover ? F3/51Hz ?

 

[Chromatischism]

Sorry for the newbie question but considering I have a stereo setup of Polk R200 with a CXA61 integrated amp and SVS SB-1000, at what frequency should I set the subwoofer crossover ? F3/51Hz ?

Start at 80 Hz.

 

[Rick63]

The CXA61 does not have bass management, so in effect you'll be running your R200s full range. Therefore the crossover in your sub will only determine the highest frequency it will reproduce. I have a similar setup and 70Hz works best to help blend it with my Dynaudio BM5 MKIII monitors.

 

[fflegault]

The CXA61 does not have bass management, so in effect you'll be running your R200s full range. Therefore the crossover in your sub will only determine the highest frequency it will reproduce. I have a similar setup and 70Hz works best to help blend it with my Dynaudio BM5 MKIII monitors.

The reason why I am asking it’s because i have seen around many “rules”. Some people say subwoofer crossover should be set at F3, F3+10, 0,7*F3, 1,5*F9, from 80, etc. I guess there is no official rule that returns the best possible results with an amplifier that doesn’t have bass management. One must try.

 

[ROOSKIE]

The reason why I am asking it’s because i have seen around many “rules”. Some people say subwoofer crossover should be set at F3, F3+10, 0,7*F3, 1,5*F9, from 80, etc. I guess there is no official rule that returns the best possible results with an amplifier that doesn’t have bass management. One must try.

I'd agree there is no rule whatsoever.
We actually there is my rule that runing monitors full range is a bad idea if you plan to listen loudly. High passing protects them from over excursion and that subwoofer could mask the speakers being over driven.
With many variables involved, I think somewhere between 60-100hrz is a smart High pass for a 6.5" woofer.
But If you can't HP you can't and at modest SPLs or with some beefy mains not really an issue.

With or without bass management, I generally find you ought to measure to find the best match. Listening is pointless for most folks unless you already have heard plenty of well measuring set-ups, even then measure. Use REW and a microphone and take 'moving microphone method' samples (not sweeps)of a listening window about 2feet wide by 18" tall. See what gives the best in room blend given all the variables for your space.
These include personal preferences, massive effects from distances from boundaries, boundary reinforcement, boundary interference nulls, room modes, listening position relative to speakers and boundaries, and even desired playback level as audible bass increases in perceived SPL faster than the midrange. So increasing from 80-90db is about double the perceived output in the mids but increasing from 80 to about 85/86db is perceived as about double in the bass. The right blend may be very, very different from any 'rule'.

 

[martur71]

Hallo, I am interested in the R200, I think that technical specifications (for the price) are good and I love the aesthetics. I've see a lot of review and seems to fit my requirements and audio tastes. But still room layout and speaker positioning seems to be a big question mark. The room is about 4.80 m x 3.60 m x 2.75 m (height). The speaker should be placed on top of the living room furniture, which is basically a wood flat surface about 4 m long and 60 cm deep (with the TV in the center) and 50cm from the wall. I think that tweeter height will be perfect for who is on the sofa. Speaker separation should be something around 2m, to leave same space on the right of right speakers. In this configuration the right speaker will have lateral wall at about 1m away. Considering that the speaker is 34 cm deep, I think I will not have more than 10-15 cm of space from the back wall. I know it is a difficult question, but do you think this speaker is suitable for my room? Since I have limited space at the back, I am afraid that the speaker might sound too boomy. If so, is there anything I can do to reduce the boom (other then EQ) ? Last question is if you know how these speakers behave with a "WiiM" amplifier, specifically a "Vibelink Amp". Pre will be WiiM Ultra.
Thanks in advance.
Marco

 

[mrmojo]

These speakers sound great at higher volumes with music that's meant to be played loud (metal, pop like lady gaga etc). They sound terrible at lower volumes, and are not meant for mellow music, or music played at moderate volume (the polk es 15/20 is way better for moderate volume or mellow music). The R200's also have a small sweet spot - when you move horizontally their performance quickly falls off. Other review's have mentioned the same characteristics I've noticed, so I'm not imagining this.

 

[ricardomontalbahn77]

These speakers sound great at higher volumes with music that's meant to be played loud (metal, pop like lady gaga etc). They sound terrible at lower volumes, and are not meant for mellow music, or music played at moderate volume (the polk es 15/20 is way better for moderate volume or mellow music). The R200's also have a small sweet spot - when you move horizontally their performance quickly falls off. Other review's have mentioned the same characteristics I've noticed, so I'm not imagining this.

These speakers arrived two weeks ago. I really like them even though they have only played about 3 hours.. Have them paired with a Marantz PM6006. They sound wonderful at medium volumes. At low volume I use the loudness switch and they sounds fantastic. without the loudness still passable and great detail but the fullness of the sound is not there at low volume. Overall verdict- absolutely excellent speakers. The warmish sound is quite great and details make them sound like a 3-way speaker. I like them better than the UB52 I had and returned. The sound is warmer and the detail is fantastic. I have the placed against a wall (about 6 inches from the back port) and they dont seem boomy at all with my amp. Very happy with these.