I remember when Polk Audio first appeared in hi-fi store in New Brunswick New Jersey called Hi-Fi Haven, in the late 1970s. I think those units had a tweeter and one or two mid range speakers and a 12 inch passive woofer--passive in that it wasn't driven by anything, but function as a radiator. I played a Crystal Gayle LP on it and I thought her voice sounded extremely natural. But sometime about 25 years ago, or more, I was looking at different speakers and was impressed by the Monitor Audio Reference series, but wasn't ready to institute a full system, so as a temporary measure I took home a pair of rather inexpensive Polk bookshelf speakers from Best Buy, but returned them because they sounded terrible, so I thought Polk had gone downhill, but apparently, their higher end stuff is still good.
Love the way gene handled this. Internet is blowing up on these but Gene has the deep questions.These would be a hard sell for anyone who owns the LSIM line.
@@williamkramer9069 The LSiM was the flagship of its time. The Legend Series is the current flagship so, YES many LSiM owners are likely to keep what they have over the Reserve line. Go Legend or keep what you have.
This is cool hearing from the engineers. I still have and use my original SDA-2s so I'm a Polk Audio fan. Thank you for sharing this with us Audioholics.
@@robbell8507 - Awesome. My pair have held up very well. I have a short in my SDA Cable so I have to bend it a certain way for it to work. Will update the connectors and cables eventually. I just enjoy listening to them.
These are everywhere, what a great release! Plus all the reviewers seem highly impressed, they've become new benchmark speakers for a few of them if not all. Hoping the smaller model works in a desk top situation, to be able to double as a small room speaker as well.
Phil Jones - what are you doing in life? Your in Sony marketing, Denon (Sound United)marketing and now POLK (Probably missing some other area)? Man - I am not sure how you landed this position or planted your feet here but I suspect your living your best life right now. Congrats.
Looks like MSRP went up on these but was able to grab some 2 pairs or R200's from Audio Advice for $550 plus tax each open box. Excellent stuff. Replacing 10 year old Monitor 30 and Monitor 40 Series II from old Newegg sales that served me well. Great upgrade.
Yeah I was wondering if these could give any challenge at all to my 85 lb SDA SRS 1.2 from around 1986. Wish they would just make affordable SDA's again. Not that top of the line Legend which costs 6K. The reason they are putting this one out is hardly anyone bought the legend. My dealer probably still has theirs in the back room that is no longer connected.
I'm fascinated by the R900 Height speakers. I know they were designed for Height effects but wonder how they perform with regular 2-channel music? (Could see them being quite popular wall-mounted around the house for background music and stuff)
Maybe I’m wrong. But I noticed it looks like you can side mount them too. The slits on the back have two directions 90 deg Kinda like how SVS Elevation line can be wall mounted as upper height and as a side surround. Love the Reserve line but I don’t have room for bookshelf’s as surround speakers so it’s a tough sell.
Excellent information. Thanks, you always have leading and cutting edge information. Question: Can I use the R400 center with some S55s from the signature series, front stage???? Also, thinking of timber matching and the fact that they are 4ohms and S55s are 8 ohms. Would that be a good blend/set-up??
Don't be mad at me...but from the description and the look of the Speakers, I would say they will likely have overblown highs, plenty of bass, a shouty characteristic (like Klipsch) and little midrange detail. I look forward to seeing these measured and reading the first honest Reviews on how they actually work IRL.
My question would be: how will these match against the Polk S60e? I bought them for 650 euro a pair. And I really like them.| The S60E goes down at 26hz. These R700 go to 38hz.
Why the R700? I'm seriously curious as I'm looking for Towers as well, and my limit is 2k. I was originally look at SVS Ultra Towers, and then some KEFs, but these look like, and I'm just holding for me revues, but you owning a RTI12s...would these be better than those?
Absolutely, I will sell my black R700 in an instant if white is available. Wife was very angry that I parted with Jamo Concert in white for the R700 in black.
@@williamkramer9069 yeah that Legend one is really cool, but an entirely different size, league and price point. Miles away from price/dimensions of 3-way centers from SVS, Emotiva, Aperion, etc.
@@b.borrelli8688 they removed the 3 way design from their bookshelves as well moving from the older lsim series to the legend. If the more costly l200 doesn't have a mid i dont think they are going to put one in a center under 700 dollars. You can still get some lsim speakers on amazon brand new. Some very very cheap.
@B. Borrelli That's the same question I asked that was discussed towards the end of the presentation. IMO, the R700 tower is a big 3-way speaker given the 6.5" midrange, two 8" woofers, and 12.6" x 45" x 16.9", 79.1 lbs size. They are asking $999 each/$1998 pair. The R400 ($599) is the big center offered to mate up with them and is spec'd with two 6.5" woofers, 7.8 x 24.2 x 13.8 in, 32.8 lbs. Of course adding in a 4" midrange and larger crossover would require a larger cabinet and higher price as stated in the presentation. As an option they suggest the Legend L400 for $1799 and it has a 4" midrange and two 6.25" woofers, and sized at 9.47" x 26" x 13.44", 40.8 lbs. NOT THAT MUCH LARGER THAN THE R400! IMO, a 3-way Reserve center at $699-$799 would serve home theater enthusiasts with BIG rooms, wide seating area that plan to run the R700 towers. It fits that speakers in the line just fine especially given they offer two other center channel speakers to mate up with the remaining line.
Any guess as to how the Atmos Modules would work with the older Polk Signature S55 tower speakers? Or do you have a suggestion for Atmos Modules that would work well with the S55 speakers?
If you were going to use these speakers in a home theater set up and crossing the towers over at 80hz is there even any benefit to getting the R700 over the R600?
I’m not very knowledgeable so this may be a dumb question but I know some older speakers and maybe newer speakers have foam surrounds that deteriorate after long periods of time. Would this be an issue for these as well even though the foam is sandwiched between polypropylene or would the sandwich effect reduce that enough not to be an issue years down the line? Probably a question to ask 10+ years from now but I am curious.
I've got a pair of the flagship polk SDA SRS 1.2 from 1986 and the speakers/tweeters, and liquid coupled sub all perform as if were manufactured yesterday. The surrounds are still probably made out of isobutyl rubber which will last longer then you.
Hardly anyone does anymore. They use trickery with turbines, tubes etc.. to generate bass from smaller radiators. Today's floor standing speakers all look the same to me. But honestly don't know if they can match my SDA SRS 1.2's that have a liquid coupled 15 inch built in sub, 8 drivers, and 4 tweeters. I was thinking of getting new speakers but don't know if I could get anything better then my old SDA's. Klipsch discontinued their Cornwall IV and their fans had a meltdown with a massive emails in protest. They brought it back. Today it cost 3K a pair but probably worth it. Has a 10 year warranty and yes a 15 inch woofer will real horns etc...
@Tracy Herbert The R600 has two 8" woofers per side which is almost the surface area of a single 12" per side. The Legend L600 two 7" per side ~ surface area of a 10", and the Legend L800 had two 10" drivers per side, ~ the surface area of a 15" per side. Many don't want 14" - 18" wide speakers these days. Using multiple smaller drivers keeps the cabinet width in check but still deliver on bass output.
There are tons of 3-way speaker designs from many manufacturers. Often, 2-way or 2 1/2 way are done on more budget lines or speakers requiring less vertical footprint like a center channel.
@@Audioholics more budget lines? the 750 Euros Polk Reserve bookshelf is a 2 way design. Anyway I changed 'never' into 'rarely'. 3 way designs used to be more common I feel...
Bipoles is not recommended anymore in this day and age of discrete sound channels and Dolby Atmos / DTS X content. I have Monitor Audio FX bipoles but I put them back in the box and switched to discrete side surround (identical to my fronts). Bipoles are not terrible, but not superior to discrete channels which is really what Atmos and DTS X are made for.
7:30 Ring radiator tweeter? Third generation 'evolved'? That looks a lot like the tweeter in the Mission QX2 series... Nothing special about it.. right?
What was Michael talking about when he says Denon amps are known to be fast and aggressive and a different brand of amp sounding warm. I was under the impression that amps simply amplify the signal, not change the frequency or tone, let a lone the "speed" or "aggression". It would be like saying that different electrical currents would change the color temperature of a light bulb. Maybe that's possible, but it sounds like snake oil to me.
I think his comments were based more on subjective opinion than fact. The slew rate on all modern amplifiers and bandwidth linearity are sufficient and usually indistinguishable when both amps are operated below clipping.
This is aimed at Polk. This was physically tough to watch. Polk seems highly unorganized lol, and this feels like a early 2000s speaker line with bumper toppers added. Polk I loved you in the 90s.
LIEMAX 37:40 he is too young to even know what THX cinema was like. That's like saying Sensurround or THX and most are tooo young to even know what Sensurround was like. Sensurround would put imax I meant to say Liemax in its place.
like someone else said bye bye Out of all the speaker companies Polk almost always gives the best bang for buck the last time another company surprised me was Pioneer i really wish they would make a new line of speakers for the budget minded folks. Tho i do heavily dislike Polk subs.
![[Live สด] การออกรางวัลสลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล งวดวันที่ 16 พฤศจิกายน 2567](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wPd7VFfWHIA/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember when I was a kid; going to Circuit City and listening to the Polk audio monitor series. I remember being impressed by how clean it sounded.
I owned polk audio for over 25 years and will always be a fan of them.
Wow Polk Audio go all out on the TH-cam platform to promote their speakers. 👍
Hello everybody, always pleasure to hear the guys that are usually behind the curtain. Take care
I remember when Polk Audio first appeared in hi-fi store in New Brunswick New Jersey called Hi-Fi Haven, in the late 1970s. I think those units had a tweeter and one or two mid range speakers and a 12 inch passive woofer--passive in that it wasn't driven by anything, but function as a radiator. I played a Crystal Gayle LP on it and I thought her voice sounded extremely natural. But sometime about 25 years ago, or more, I was looking at different speakers and was impressed by the Monitor Audio Reference series, but wasn't ready to institute a full system, so as a temporary measure I took home a pair of rather inexpensive Polk bookshelf speakers from Best Buy, but returned them because they sounded terrible, so I thought Polk had gone downhill, but apparently, their higher end stuff is still good.
Love the way gene handled this. Internet is blowing up on these but Gene has the deep questions.These would be a hard sell for anyone who owns the LSIM line.
I just want to know if i can swap my tweeter in my lsim center with one of these since my son pressed it in.
@@williamkramer9069 Just order an OEM replacement from Polk. They sell parts to the LSiM
@@williamkramer9069 The LSiM was the flagship of its time. The Legend Series is the current flagship so, YES many LSiM owners are likely to keep what they have over the Reserve line. Go Legend or keep what you have.
@@everydayguy3737 Sounds great no matter
This is cool hearing from the engineers. I still have and use my original SDA-2s so I'm a Polk Audio fan. Thank you for sharing this with us Audioholics.
I still have my SDA 2 series. I think I paid $1,200 for them in about 1988.
@@robbell8507 - Awesome. My pair have held up very well. I have a short in my SDA Cable so I have to bend it a certain way for it to work. Will update the connectors and cables eventually. I just enjoy listening to them.
These are everywhere, what a great release! Plus all the reviewers seem highly impressed, they've become new benchmark speakers for a few of them if not all. Hoping the smaller model works in a desk top situation, to be able to double as a small room speaker as well.
This makes me want to buy some of these speakers.
Phil Jones - what are you doing in life? Your in Sony marketing, Denon (Sound United)marketing and now POLK (Probably missing some other area)? Man - I am not sure how you landed this position or planted your feet here but I suspect your living your best life right now. Congrats.
Infact...phil covers the entire soundeunited brands..
I think he writes for projector reviews too.
@@williamkramer9069 He's actually the lead technical editor for ProjectorReviews. Phil is the absolute man.
Looks like MSRP went up on these but was able to grab some 2 pairs or R200's from Audio Advice for $550 plus tax each open box. Excellent stuff. Replacing 10 year old Monitor 30 and Monitor 40 Series II from old Newegg sales that served me well. Great upgrade.
Whole LSiM line in the living room already so nice to have a smaller 6 inch bookshelf to squeeze in at the desk and bedroom TV setup.
Great talk! I would love to see Polk do a old school large woofer (12”-15”) 3 way stand up model in this line.
Yeah I was wondering if these could give any challenge at all to my 85 lb SDA SRS 1.2 from around 1986. Wish they would just make affordable SDA's again. Not that top of the line Legend which costs 6K. The reason they are putting this one out is hardly anyone bought the legend. My dealer probably still has theirs in the back room that is no longer connected.
Dual 10’s would do the job well, like the Klipsch RF7, they have incredible bass.
@@jstoli996c4s yes dual 10s would do well. I just like the retro big woofer look😃
Thx Gene for making this happen, great fun watching 🤗
I'm fascinated by the R900 Height speakers. I know they were designed for Height effects but wonder how they perform with regular 2-channel music? (Could see them being quite popular wall-mounted around the house for background music and stuff)
very good question.
Maybe I’m wrong. But I noticed it looks like you can side mount them too. The slits on the back have two directions 90 deg Kinda like how SVS Elevation line can be wall mounted as upper height and as a side surround.
Love the Reserve line but I don’t have room for bookshelf’s as surround speakers so it’s a tough sell.
This is great content!
It's easy to generate great content when you surround yourself with great people passionate about audio.
I really wish Polk would make WiSA compatible speakers. I'm really interested in wireless speakers
Excellent information. Thanks, you always have leading and cutting edge information. Question: Can I use the R400 center with some S55s from the signature series, front stage???? Also, thinking of timber matching and the fact that they are 4ohms and S55s are 8 ohms. Would that be a good blend/set-up??
Don't be mad at me...but from the description and the look of the Speakers, I would say they will likely have overblown highs, plenty of bass, a shouty characteristic (like Klipsch) and little midrange detail.
I look forward to seeing these measured and reading the first honest Reviews on how they actually work IRL.
Sounds like you never heard a klipsch paired with a SET tube amp. You will then understand
@@thehighend4545
Tube amps and Home Theatre don't really match up.
Also, I doubt a tube amp can teach the Klipsch to image.
My question would be: how will these match against the Polk S60e? I bought them for 650 euro a pair. And I really like them.|
The S60E goes down at 26hz. These R700 go to 38hz.
I'm getting the r700 pair. Legend series is too expensive for me. Currently own a pair of the rti12s
Why the R700? I'm seriously curious as I'm looking for Towers as well, and my limit is 2k. I was originally look at SVS Ultra Towers, and then some KEFs, but these look like, and I'm just holding for me revues, but you owning a RTI12s...would these be better than those?
R700 needs the white color.
Absolutely, I will sell my black R700 in an instant if white is available. Wife was very angry that I parted with Jamo Concert in white for the R700 in black.
@Audioholics please press them to develop a true/proper 3-way center like SVS Prime/Ultra or Emotiva C1
L400
@@williamkramer9069 yeah that Legend one is really cool, but an entirely different size, league and price point. Miles away from price/dimensions of 3-way centers from SVS, Emotiva, Aperion, etc.
@@b.borrelli8688 they removed the 3 way design from their bookshelves as well moving from the older lsim series to the legend. If the more costly l200 doesn't have a mid i dont think they are going to put one in a center under 700 dollars. You can still get some lsim speakers on amazon brand new. Some very very cheap.
@B. Borrelli That's the same question I asked that was discussed towards the end of the presentation. IMO, the R700 tower is a big 3-way speaker given the 6.5" midrange, two 8" woofers, and 12.6" x 45" x 16.9", 79.1 lbs size. They are asking $999 each/$1998 pair. The R400 ($599) is the big center offered to mate up with them and is spec'd with two 6.5" woofers, 7.8 x 24.2 x 13.8 in, 32.8 lbs.
Of course adding in a 4" midrange and larger crossover would require a larger cabinet and higher price as stated in the presentation. As an option they suggest the Legend L400 for $1799 and it has a 4" midrange and two 6.25" woofers, and sized at 9.47" x 26" x 13.44", 40.8 lbs. NOT THAT MUCH LARGER THAN THE R400!
IMO, a 3-way Reserve center at $699-$799 would serve home theater enthusiasts with BIG rooms, wide seating area that plan to run the R700 towers. It fits that speakers in the line just fine especially given they offer two other center channel speakers to mate up with the remaining line.
I'm a big fan of polk audio
Any guess as to how the Atmos Modules would work with the older Polk Signature S55 tower speakers? Or do you have a suggestion for Atmos Modules that would work well with the S55 speakers?
So, buy these or the Monoprice THX line? I'd love to be able to audition them both but that's not going to happen.
If you were going to use these speakers in a home theater set up and crossing the towers over at 80hz is there even any benefit to getting the R700 over the R600?
What AVR output would be needed to get the best performance of a 700 home theatre setup?
What is the opinion on matching lsim 706c center channel with the r700 tower speakers
What's the Max SPL on the various models?
Excellent!!!!
"Eigentone Filter" ... was a german engineer involved? Like the name. It discribes exactily what it is :D
I wonder how these would review compared to the ubi 2.0 line
I’m not very knowledgeable so this may be a dumb question but I know some older speakers and maybe newer speakers have foam surrounds that deteriorate after long periods of time. Would this be an issue for these as well even though the foam is sandwiched between polypropylene or would the sandwich effect reduce that enough not to be an issue years down the line? Probably a question to ask 10+ years from now but I am curious.
I've got a pair of the flagship polk SDA SRS 1.2 from 1986 and the speakers/tweeters, and liquid coupled sub all perform as if were manufactured yesterday. The surrounds are still probably made out of isobutyl rubber which will last longer then you.
@@HiPlains1 that means I can pass them down to my kids :D
Why don't polk make 12inch or 15inch woofers inside there Tower speakers ?
Hardly anyone does anymore. They use trickery with turbines, tubes etc.. to generate bass from smaller radiators. Today's floor standing speakers all look the same to me. But honestly don't know if they can match my SDA SRS 1.2's that have a liquid coupled 15 inch built in sub, 8 drivers, and 4 tweeters. I was thinking of getting new speakers but don't know if I could get anything better then my old SDA's. Klipsch discontinued their Cornwall IV and their fans had a meltdown with a massive emails in protest. They brought it back. Today it cost 3K a pair but probably worth it. Has a 10 year warranty and yes a 15 inch woofer will real horns etc...
@Tracy Herbert The R600 has two 8" woofers per side which is almost the surface area of a single 12" per side. The Legend L600 two 7" per side ~ surface area of a 10", and the Legend L800 had two 10" drivers per side, ~ the surface area of a 15" per side. Many don't want 14" - 18" wide speakers these days. Using multiple smaller drivers keeps the cabinet width in check but still deliver on bass output.
Are these Polk speakers manufactured overseas?
Most likely by Meiloon, who's done most of their production.
I want a pair of R200's for a bedroom system I'm building.
Why was that Paul Wilkie guy even there? He did nothing but nod his head in agreement.
Paul Wilkie is our Muse. He is the heart and soul of every event he's involved in.
Why do we [rarely] see 3 way designs anymore?
There are tons of 3-way speaker designs from many manufacturers. Often, 2-way or 2 1/2 way are done on more budget lines or speakers requiring less vertical footprint like a center channel.
@@Audioholics more budget lines? the 750 Euros Polk Reserve bookshelf is a 2 way design. Anyway I changed 'never' into 'rarely'. 3 way designs used to be more common I feel...
The R700 is 3 way, that's what the website said
Hi is there any bipole speakers on this series?
Nope
Bipoles is not recommended anymore in this day and age of discrete sound channels and Dolby Atmos / DTS X content.
I have Monitor Audio FX bipoles but I put them back in the box and switched to discrete side surround (identical to my fronts).
Bipoles are not terrible, but not superior to discrete channels which is really what Atmos and DTS X are made for.
Did paul wilkie ever say anything?
Nope! I'm typically the guy behind the scenes, not in front of the camera. Definitely a smidge awkward, right? Hope you guys enjoyed otherwise.
7:30 Ring radiator tweeter? Third generation 'evolved'? That looks a lot like the tweeter in the Mission QX2 series... Nothing special about it.. right?
I bet Polk will make killing sales on these
What was Michael talking about when he says Denon amps are known to be fast and aggressive and a different brand of amp sounding warm. I was under the impression that amps simply amplify the signal, not change the frequency or tone, let a lone the "speed" or "aggression". It would be like saying that different electrical currents would change the color temperature of a light bulb. Maybe that's possible, but it sounds like snake oil to me.
I think his comments were based more on subjective opinion than fact. The slew rate on all modern amplifiers and bandwidth linearity are sufficient and usually indistinguishable when both amps are operated below clipping.
Send amir @ audio science review a sample!
But bet you 10,000 dollars there is Sandcaster resistors in crossovers
Are these made in CHINA?
It would have been even nicer if they made a matching subwoofer to go with them.
This is aimed at Polk.
This was physically tough to watch. Polk seems highly unorganized lol, and this feels like a early 2000s speaker line with bumper toppers added. Polk I loved you in the 90s.
Typical case of having too many people in a call giving a single presentation.
@@xavdeman Indeed.
I can't take these guys seriously. They didn't reveal their pronouns. It's 2021 for crying out loud!
5th
LIEMAX 37:40 he is too young to even know what THX cinema was like. That's like saying Sensurround or THX and most are tooo young to even know what Sensurround was like. Sensurround would put imax I meant to say Liemax in its place.
Sensurround was fun! Watch the movie Midawy from 70s? 80s? With Charlton Heston. I love it!
Damn those speakers look ugly. And those Hershey kiss nipple tweeters look ridiculous. Glad I gave up in Polk after the founder left the company.
bye bye. you wont be missed.
like someone else said bye bye
Out of all the speaker companies Polk almost always gives the best bang for buck the last time another company surprised me was Pioneer i really wish they would make a new line of speakers for the budget minded folks. Tho i do heavily dislike Polk subs.
If they're not for you, that's OK. No one's being hurt here (at least, anyone who's smart enough not to poke their faces too close to them).
@@454Casull 😂😂😂😂😂
A year later the R700 are sold out everywhere constantly.