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

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napilopez

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How is their sensitivity? What amp do I need to drive them?
I do not test for sensitivity, but I did not notice them being crazy difficult to drive. The official spec is 86 dB and since the speakers are fairly flat I'd hope it's not too far off from spec. So about average for a bookshelf speaker its size. I wouldn't worry about amplification.
 

Streamc

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Sometimes (like measured on stereo.de) offical and unofficial is different things. :)
 

mhardy6647

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I do not test for sensitivity, but I did not notice them being crazy difficult to drive. The official spec is 86 dB and since the speakers are fairly flat I'd hope it's not too far off from spec. So about average for a bookshelf speaker its size. I wouldn't worry about amplification.
nominally "4 ohm" impedance, though, as I recall.
come to think of it, you must've done an impedance curve, yes? :rolleyes:
 

Streamc

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Yes, Impedance curve measurements for sensivity. So what cons about R200. Is they really sound so good? So technically it 2-way but better than 3-way? I just looked at Frequency response. Maybe some another data. It seems superb speaker. I just want to listen "Back in Black".
 

Hiten

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Looks like nice speakers. Some say distortion measurements does not matter much but would be interesting to see.
Thanks for the effort.
regards.
 
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napilopez

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nominally "4 ohm" impedance, though, as I recall.
come to think of it, you must've done an impedance curve, yes? :rolleyes:

Nah, I have very limited opportunity to measure speakers, usually just a few hours per month, so I focus on just the spin aspect. Not to say it's not important at all, but as they say, watts are cheap. At some point I might start to better investigate resonances though.

Looks like nice speakers. Some say distortion measurements does not matter much but would be interesting to see.
Thanks for the effort.
regards.

Yeah, I'm definitely in that camp =] I care very little about distortion and rarely include as it's never been a reliable indicator of anything I've tested. I don't want to include data I don't feel like I can meaningfully interpret. I also can't play very loud in an apartment environment anyway.
 
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mhardy6647

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Watts are cheap indeed, but volts x amperes can be expensive when (if) the load's nearly a short-circuit, and/or if the phase angle is crazy, at some frequencies. Some watts are harder to come by than others! ;)
For better or worse, I (still) have this grumpy old man thing going towards loudspeaker designers who seem to through good sense out the window designing loudspeakers that (from my perspective) are torture chambers for amplifiers! :mad: Hey, you punk speakers! Get offa my lawn! ;)

PS Sorry to imply you were slackin' @napilopez! I really appreciate the data you share, especially in this case -- I am actually jonesin' for a pair of these R200s after seeing it! (As an aside, some of the Legend series, including the L200s, have been on sale this month, but I think the sale ended yesterday).
 

Streamc

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Nah, I have very limited opportunity to measure speakers, usually just a few hours per month, so I don't want to include data I don't feel like I can meaningfully interpret. I also can't play very loud in an apartment environment anyway.
So, you own them now?
 

testp

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It would be really interesting to see how Polk R600 measures one day... given they go for ~same price as Kef R3s, yet have a floorstander presence i would guess..

and for most... 2-channel setup would not need a sub perhaps
 

ROOSKIE

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It would be really interesting to see how Polk R600 measures one day... given they go for ~same price as Kef R3s, yet have a floorstander presence i would guess..

and for most... 2-channel setup would not need a sub perhaps
Yah it would and even better in the USA the R700 is the same price as the KEF R3. $2000 a pair.
 
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napilopez

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It would be really interesting to see how Polk R600 measures one day... given they go for ~same price as Kef R3s, yet have a floorstander presence i would guess..

and for most... 2-channel setup would not need a sub perhaps

Yeah, I've not seen any measurements of the floorstanders but given both the R100 and the R200 measure well, I would hope the rest of the series performs similarly.

Of course the KEF has far superior vertical directivity, but their directivity characteristics are different enough that I suspect preference for one over the other would largely come down to spatial presentation.
 
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napilopez

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It would be really interesting to see how Polk R600 measures one day... given they go for ~same price as Kef R3s, yet have a floorstander presence i would guess..

and for most... 2-channel setup would not need a sub perhaps
Yah it would and even better in the USA the R700 is the same price as the KEF R3. $2000 a pair.

Oh scratch that! I just found a measurement of the R600 on Hifitest.de that was published yesterday.

1626388256562.png


Though obviously not a full spinorama, it seems Polk is maintaining similar overall quality for the floorstanders. Good stuff! As with the R200, roughly 15 degrees off axis looks best for those of us with good hearing in the highs. Also useful extension down to roughly 30 Hz.

Seems like there's maybe a resonance at 700 Hz, but it's hard to know if that's an artefact of the measurement method. Also seems like there's a bit of diffraction bunching around 3-4 kHz as with the R200, but I do not thing this is a major issue as long as the FR remains relatively controlled further off-axis. It should follow similar off-axis radiation to the R200.
 
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Desmo

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That is not a bad test at all.

Seems like a strange comparison but I'am really contemplating between the Polk R600 and the Buchardt S400.
Both good measuring speakers with a solid low end. I have speakerstands and enough room to move them around..
 

testp

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That is not a bad test at all.

Seems like a strange comparison but I'am really contemplating between the Polk R600 and the Buchardt S400.
Both good measuring speakers with a solid low end. I have speakerstands and enough room to move them around..

yup, im mainy between R600 (~1500 eur) or Kef R3 (~1400), R700 is too expencive here in europe (and big looking, but if measured perfect who knows)

but if Kef brings out R3 Meta i'd buy that..
 

Benedium

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Got the R200 brown on impulse haha. Sounds very different from elac dbr62. In my room with 15 deg off axis as recommended by napilopez, could see almost no dips or peaks from audyssey editor app. Guess now I roughly know what 'flat' sounds like. Useful, but not sure if I like it in my room. To be fair I only played with them a couple of hours before moving them to surround duty. Dbr62 sound is more 3D and holographic with different details at different levels/distance. Can't wait for amir to review r200.
 

Streamc

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Got the R200 brown on impulse haha. Sounds very different from elac dbr62. In my room with 15 deg off axis as recommended by napilopez, could see almost no dips or peaks from audyssey editor app. Guess now I roughly know what 'flat' sounds like. Useful, but not sure if I like it in my room. To be fair I only played with them a couple of hours before moving them to surround duty. Dbr62 sound is more 3D and holographic with different details at different levels/distance. Can't wait for amir to review r200.
Or R600 with bass sound. Or L200
 

ROOSKIE

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Got the R200 brown on impulse haha. Sounds very different from elac dbr62. In my room with 15 deg off axis as recommended by napilopez, could see almost no dips or peaks from audyssey editor app. Guess now I roughly know what 'flat' sounds like. Useful, but not sure if I like it in my room. To be fair I only played with them a couple of hours before moving them to surround duty. Dbr62 sound is more 3D and holographic with different details at different levels/distance. Can't wait for amir to review r200.
Funny,
one reason I did not like the DBR62 is that in my case it was not holographic at all. In my listening with the L200 (not the R200) the Polk was far superior in that regard.
Who knows, room could a factor, set-up, they way we hear or assemble direct and reflected sounds may be different from one another.
In any case I just found the DBR62 to be a more boring speaker and do not think that was due to anything easy to predict.
 
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napilopez

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Got the R200 brown on impulse haha. Sounds very different from elac dbr62. In my room with 15 deg off axis as recommended by napilopez, could see almost no dips or peaks from audyssey editor app. Guess now I roughly know what 'flat' sounds like. Useful, but not sure if I like it in my room. To be fair I only played with them a couple of hours before moving them to surround duty. Dbr62 sound is more 3D and holographic with different details at different levels/distance. Can't wait for amir to review r200.

Given two speakers with decent enough directivity, and in my book the DBR62 and Elac are roughly comparable in terms of directivity quality, then which one is more 3D/holographic is likely going to hinge a bit on preference and the room for sure. So obviously extended listening is advisable!

Also The Elac is also very much a roughly 'flat' speaker, so I wouldn't say you didn't know what that was like before =] The LW just has a slight warm tilt and a resonance around 600-800, but the polk may have some issues too that don't show up in the resolution of my measurements.

You might want to experiment with placement a bit if you're at all considering them for Front channel duty. You might find moving them a few inches outward/inward/forward/backward might make up for the initial apparent differences in imagine.

That said, the R200 is a bit forward in the presence region while the elac is laid back here, so that might explain some of what you're hearing.
 
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