Polk L200 Speaker Demo Reviews
Comments
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Nice review...you seemed to really enjoy your time with them. Btw....super nice system you have there. Congrats man.
Thanks Tony! Like I said, I haven't had a lot of experience with other brands and types of speakers. I did try a pair of Dynaudio Contour S3.4LE's a couple of years ago. They had a wonderful Tone to them, but nothing outside of the Speakers. I like W-I-D-E Stereo and the Concert Hall presentation that SDA's provide. The Upgraded SDA's are still revealing any changes I've made in the Upstream Gear.
The L200's were a "Fresh Breath of Air" in my system, and I really enjoyed my time with them. But they are no replacement for their Older Brothers.
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Thanks, Mike, nice review. I'll echo the sentiment above. You're too modest...you provided a thoughtful and informative presentation of your experience.
Your music choices and gear are similar to some of mine. I have 3.1tl's, 4.1tl's and MIT S1's so will be a like comparison. My PSA stack, IMHO, is pretty good and I've found the SDA's to scale very well as my gear's improved. I have similar hopes for the 200's.
Your observations on the 198 vs new tweeter are intriguing. I'm also very interested in evaluating the mids. Like you, I've found conventional speakers leave me underwhelmed when compared to SDA soundstage. I've gone on record saying the only way I'd get rid of the 1.2tl's in my primary system is if Polk created a better SDA, but, unfortunately, I have no dealers close to me so it'll be a challenge to hear the 800's anytime soon. At the very least, my time with the 200's will give me a taste of what the 800's might offer.
Based on your experience I'm looking forward to my turn with them. Thanks again for the review.
John➀Speakers: Polk1.2tl's (Uber Mods) ➁Pre/Amp/DAC: PS Audio BHK Signature & 250, DirectStream ➂Cables/IC's: MIT S1Bi-Wire/S1 Balanced +Avel Lindberg 1000VA "Dreadnought" ➃Power Conditioner: PS Audio P15 Power Plant ➄Power Cords: Core Power Technologies Gold, DH Labs Power Plus DIY w/Neotech NC-P301 & P311ends ➅Streaming: Roon ROCK on wifi'd NUC, TP-Link WAP, & Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark, Emperor Double Crown Clock, Black Modernize LPS, PS Audio AirLens⟿Ω☯☥☮⟿🔊♩♪♫♬♩♪♫♬♩♪♫♬ -
Thanks, Mike, nice review. I'll echo the sentiment above. You're too modest...you provided a thoughtful and informative presentation of your experience.
Your music choices and gear are similar to some of mine. I have 3.1tl's, 4.1tl's and MIT S1's so will be a like comparison. My PSA stack, IMHO, is pretty good and I've found the SDA's to scale very well as my gear's improved. I have similar hopes for the 200's.
Your observations on the 198 vs new tweeter are intriguing. I'm also very interested in evaluating the mids. Like you, I've found conventional speakers leave me underwhelmed when compared to SDA soundstage. I've gone on record saying the only way I'd get rid of the 1.2tl's in my primary system is if Polk created a better SDA, but, unfortunately, I have no dealers close to me so it'll be a challenge to hear the 800's anytime soon. At the very least, my time with the 200's will give me a taste of what the 800's might offer.
Based on your experience I'm looking forward to my turn with them. Thanks again for the review.
John
Thank you John, I think you will enjoy the L200's. Their scale is no where near the SDA's, but still an enjoyable experience.
The one thing that stood out most to me was how "Intimate" the 200's were. I felt they did a good job at conveying the Artist emotions.
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Excellent write-up Mike! I really appreciate you listing the specific tracks you listened to while evaluating the speakers.
You are most welcome and I would be more than happy to have you over again any time. I enjoyed it as well!
You are correct in that the first thing that stood out to me (and the Mrs) was the forward vocal presentation of the L200's. That was a treat.
If I didn't say it in my review, I know I said it in a PM to Jesse - thank you, good sir, for putting this demo together!Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10 -
Here’s hoping for a Legend SDA-CRS!
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Excellent review. You made me realize I should have played some Knopfler with Ruth Moody when I had them. They sure look good in your set-up too!
With Nigel Hitchcocks work on the Sax, Mark's usual Guitar excellence and Ruth at the mike, it's one of my favorites from that LP.Here’s hoping for a Legend SDA-CRS!
Wouldn't that be something, one can only hope!
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Great review Mike!Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
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One thing not discussed a bunch in the reviews so far is the redesigned Power Port on the back of the speaker. This is showing itself to perhaps be the most significant element of the new speaker, at least in my listening. It allows that speaker to perform as a modified dipole.... more to come.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
What redesigned power port???Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
"Enhanced Power Port Design: Extending the low-end, the upgraded Power Port technology produces less port noise and more bass than traditionally ported loudspeakers. Polk Audio improved the traditional Power Port design by smoothing out the port flare, which offers a smoother transition into the listening area and adds multiple dBs of bass response."
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Yeah ok, whatever. Looks like the same old power port to me.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Yeah ok, whatever. Looks like the same old power port to me.
It’s not... today I thought my surround was on, so I walked up to my center channel to check. Nothing, but I did hear sound from behind the speaker. It was nearly full range sound, and at about twenty percent of the volume of what was coming from the front side. I have only heard dipoles do that little trick.
They have been placed about three feet from my back wall, and the center point of the sound field comes from about two feet behind the front plane of the speakers and extends forward 4 feet into the room, The rear power port does more than it is given credit for.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
nooshinjohn wrote: »Yeah ok, whatever. Looks like the same old power port to me.
It’s not... today I thought my surround was on, so I walked up to my center channel to check. Nothing, but I did hear sound from behind the speaker. It was nearly full range sound, and at about twenty percent of the volume of what was coming from the front side. I have only heard dipoles do that little trick.
They have been placed about three feet from my back wall, and the center point of the sound field comes from about two feet behind the front plane of the speakers and extends forward 4 feet into the room, The rear power port does more than it is given credit for.
I had the L200's set up this same distance from the back wall as well.
I felt like the Vocals were a little recessed (around 2ft. behind the front baffles) but it makes sense that it was the port putting sound that far behind the speakers.
I thought the sound extended into the room 3-4 ft. because of the new style mid-driver. Regardless of what makes it happen, I enjoyed their Presentation.
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nooshinjohn wrote: »Yeah ok, whatever. Looks like the same old power port to me.
It’s not... today I thought my surround was on, so I walked up to my center channel to check. Nothing, but I did hear sound from behind the speaker. It was nearly full range sound, and at about twenty percent of the volume of what was coming from the front side. I have only heard dipoles do that little trick.
They have been placed about three feet from my back wall, and the center point of the sound field comes from about two feet behind the front plane of the speakers and extends forward 4 feet into the room, The rear power port does more than it is given credit for.
I heard nothing like that at Polk or here at my house.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I didn't believe it either, until I put my ear a couple feet away from the port. I am listening to them now, and the center image appears two feet behind the speakers and about a foot above them. The sound extends a couple feet outside the outer edges of the speakers as well. The soundstage is really quite good.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
It's your room.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
It must be. the performance I am getting from them is very much like what I remember the CRS being like.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Great review, Mike. Another review that keeps the bar set high for future reviewers. Also very nice room.
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These have been passed along to Ray as of today... final impressions coming soon.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Got to meet 2 fellow Polkies @nooshinjohn and @civilian today. Listened to a great system, I was floored. Good people and tunes. Thanks for hosting.
Oh yeah that’s right I have the L200s, listening to them now and will give a review after I have them for awhile.
I will say that they put out a lot of sound for a bookie. Sound much bigger than they are.
Thanks @F1nut for coordinating.Living Room
Parasound HINT 6, Yamaha Aventage RX-A 1060, Oppo 103D, Cambridge Audio Azur 851N, KLH Model 5s, Polk CSi A6, Samsung 65" LED
Office
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Douglas Connection ICs and Cables -
Mike Reeter wrote: »
TonySamsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED, Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro, Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer
Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside
BJC 10 ga - LCR mids “Foamed & Plugged**”, inside* & out
8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out
*soldered **Rob the Man (Xschop)
LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels*. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & Mids - RB981*
Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981* -> Bi-amped CSi A6
Surrounds: Rotel 981* -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3
*all connected w/Premiere ICs
5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”
Power Conditioning & Distribution:
4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s -
My impressions of the L200
I had a week with them and put some twenty hours of listening in on the L200 before I pulled them from the rig and passed them along to Rburgess714. The gear used for the demo included my Carver Tube amps, Pass Labs X0.2/XOno, Krell Evolution 505 SACD, TriangleART turntable with CA Goldfinger V2, and the PS Audio Perfectwave DAC bringing up the digital side. No direct comparison was done with the SDA-SRS 1.2TL, as that would have been a fool's errand.
I ran the L200 on a true double bi-wire run of Audioquest Meteor speaker cables. I did some cursory listening the first couple of days mostly as background music before really putting them through their paces.
I will copy and past my comments from the week here and address the points I was hinting at as I go forward...
nooshinjohn wrote: »
Not so fast my young Padawan. This gear is also good at exposing serious flaws.The first of which is these Polk logos on the face of the grills are hideous to look at on a speaker of this caliber. They should have used the signature of Matt Polk from the old SRS badges IMHO...
The appearance of these speakers did not grow on me at all during their time here. The logo on the grills was staring at me like a neon sign and did not evoke the air of class I have come to expect from a product at this price point. The wood veneer was nicely done, but I would have preferred some character there as well, especially since the outward appearance is that of a simple wooden box.nooshinjohn wrote: »First night is in the bag. I will be doing some tweaking of placement tomorrow, but so far they are sounding ok.
I found these speakers to shine or sink in performance based on placement. I don't know whet Polk recommends in this regard, but I found them to perform best when they are placed well out into the room, at least three feet. Toe-in is critical to focus the soundstage properly.nooshinjohn wrote: »One thing not discussed a bunch in the reviews so far is the redesigned Power Port on the back of the speaker. This is showing itself to perhaps be the most significant element of the new speaker, at least in my listening. It allows that speaker to perform as a modified dipole.... more to come.
This post drew the most curiosity, and it is easy to understand why. given how they were placed in my room for most of the time they were here, they were almost near-field in their placement, with two feet of space behind the speakers to my TL's. During a listening session, I thought it was sounding like I had sound coming directly from my center channel speaker. Given that the L200's were sitting 18 inches below and 42 inches in front of that center channel, I was surprised when I got up and walked behind them and could still hear sound coming from the back side of the L200's. I have only experienced this with dipole-type speakers like Magnepan and Martin Logans.
I placed my ear to the backs of the Power Ports, and sure enough, there was clear, tuneful and powerful sound being emitted from the ports, perhaps as much as 15 to 20 percent of the volume coming from the front, depending on volume and music type. This explained what I was hearing from the speakers themselves.
The L200 is a speaker that in many ways, punches well above it's diminutive size. When augmented with my REL, tuned to simply provide a foundation, base was fast, tight and accurate. With the REL off, the bottom end would be somewhat muddy as volume approached reference levels. With the REL engaged, everything from mids and highs, all the way down was very good. Imaging was off the chart with these on most types of music. In my listening, the soundstage was easily 3 feet behind and above the fronts of the speakers and extended well into the listening space and projected to the sides, above and below the plane.
On a few recordings, especially Linda Ronstadt's "What's New", it appeared at times that there was an orchestra performing from a pit in front of Linda's vocals, and feature musicians performing on risers behind her. This is something I do not experience with the big SDA's. I was very impressed more than a few times with the accuracy, imaging and sense of the acoustic space they provided.
This gear is also good at exposing serious flaws...
On the performance side, the L200's main weakness was being able to keep up with music that presented serious demands on them. Congested material such as heavy metal, sweeping orchestral pieces, and demanding movie soundtracks left the speakers stumbling through the material and just not able to keep up. This became particularly clear on the new "Terminator" 4k Blu-ray , "The Rise of Skywalker" soundtrack, and on just about anything by Metallica.
Having Jeff and Ray here this past weekend solidified what I was hearing, and I could not get back to my SDA's fast enough. It is not fair to expect a bookie-type speaker to compete with the big dogs.
I do, however remember the sound from the SDA-CRS from back in the day, and the L200 does an admirable job of providing a large and immersive soundstage in a smaller package. give them the room to breathe and some quality gear to move them, and they would make a nice addition to almost any listening space.
Post edited by nooshinjohn onThe Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Hmmf... your review (placement details) tells me how little I know. I’ve thought for years “Bookies” usually care-free about placement. 🤔Samsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED, Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro, Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer
Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside
BJC 10 ga - LCR mids “Foamed & Plugged**”, inside* & out
8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out
*soldered **Rob the Man (Xschop)
LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels*. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & Mids - RB981*
Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981* -> Bi-amped CSi A6
Surrounds: Rotel 981* -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3
*all connected w/Premiere ICs
5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”
Power Conditioning & Distribution:
4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s -
Hmmf... your review (placement details) tells me how little I know. I’ve thought for years “Bookies” usually care-free about placement. 🤔
Years ago, they were -- modern ones (based on my limited but rather bitter experience) are quite picky indeed. To the point that, in 2020 (and, again, in my limited empirical experience), bookshelf speaker is a complete misnomer.
Stand mount loudspeaker seems to me to be a more apt term for little loudspeakers like the L200.
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Some stand mount bookies are very placement dependent and some, not as much but all can benefit from playing with the placement.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Solid review John.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Nice review, another hard act to follow.Living Room
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Agreed, those still waiting aren't going to have much left to say other than, yep, we agree, they do that!Up
LSi15 LSiC - RX-V3000
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Nice review John. I totally agree with your assessment of the Polk logo on the grills, drove me nuts too. IMHO if it would have been the size of the logo on the front of the cabinet it would have been fine, none would have been better...Remember, when you're running from something, you're running to something...-me
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I never took the grills out of the plastic, and it didn’t look like anyone before me had either...Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
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