Polk L200 Speaker Demo Reviews
Comments
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Why not the L600's?
You know, I was thinking about that very thing the other day. You don't hardly ever see anything, review-wise, on the L600's...
Remember, when you're running from something, you're running to something...-me -
They might very well be the 'sweet spot' of the Legend line up. Only thing I thought that the L200's lacked, was some help in the lower end, IMHO anyway.
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@halo, @rooftop59, and @Mike Reeter's reviews make me want to request a review sample from Polk and review these.
Do it!!!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
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
Already have a few things in the pipeline, but I'll try to make it happen after that.
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@halo, @rooftop59, and @Mike Reeter's reviews make me want to request a review sample from Polk and review these.
All you had to do is join this demo program.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 -
Ideally I need at least a month with a product to produce a review that meets my personal standards.
I had too many commitments when the demo program started (and still do) in order to adhere to the schedule of program. -
The thread is about the L200's. What is so hard about that?
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Who's not talking about the L200s?
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Posts were deleted. N/M
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Late to the party, I apologize. I haven't had time to listen to music let alone write about listening to music, had to set some things aside but was able to poke my head in here a few times. Now I have a vacation going on I can relax a little.
My review won't be as eloquently descriptive as some here, big thumbs up to many taking time to write very in depth reviews.
For the most part I enjoyed them, I had an idea of how they would sound but was impressed that they didn't possess that, smaller, slightly boxy signature but they tended to fill the room quite easily and sounded quite larger then they appear.
My gear is all solid-state, consisting of a modified McCormack DNA-1, RLD-1, Synergistic Atmosphere 1 IC's and Atmosphere 2 speaker cables.
I played many familiar CD tracks from Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Gabriel, The Police, Sarah McLachlan, Pink Floyd, and a few others..mostly pop and rock. I also played some Tidal streamed from the Aries Mini to the Marantz SA8005.
For the good, my first impression was they are doing a great job of getting a lot of the detail out of the recording. I was thinking something has to give but when asked to reach high the tweeter never seemed to run out of steam. The bass was tight and not overly boomy and I agree the gap between the midrange to the tweeters seemed non-existent.
The soundstage was quite large but took a bit to get the toe-in dialed in. I kept focusing my attention deep into the soundstage and was impressed with the detail these bookies provide.
For the more critical review, maybe hearing the 2.3TL's or the Monitor 7B's for quite awhile, I was overly accustomed to the silk dome tweeter. I want to speculate the L200's sound very nice on tube gear, and this isn't saying SS gear doesn't mate well, however there were a couple areas that stood out.
I thought the higher frequencies at times had this very, very slight edginess but not harsh. almost like you went a hair over on the sharpness setting on your TV. Not bright or fatiguing by any means, very easy to listen to. However the overall character of what I was hearing in terms of treble, had this sense of grain that was so fine it was encroaching on what I thought was the natural sound of either a female vocal or an instrument in this frequency range. I don't want to use the term analytical, only because in my room I think that would be going a few steps more in the wrong direction, kind of hard to describe but hope that makes sense.
The midrange was quite pleasing, accurate and quick, guitar strings were well-defined and vocals were smooth and clear. This could have been a room anomaly, but there were many times there was an absence of lower mid-bass in where I could feel the attack but couldn't pull where I heard it. When I hear a bass guitar, I can hear and feel the bass when the volume is turned up, but could have been a cancellation somewhere but at higher volumes it seemed at times there was a void in the faster transitions with the lower mid-bass.
I think these speakers would excel with jazz and tubes. A few tracks that really came alive were "Don't let me be misunderstood" by Elvis Costello and "Fever" by Ray Charles & Natalie Cole.
I think they perform admirably for their price point, would love to hear them with tubes. Small sidestep....they almost sound like they have components that would be better fit in a smaller cabinet, and these L200 cabinets would do better with a different mix of components. I feel the L200 would fit the bill of the entry level bookies in regards to their sound, opening the door for a L300. This isn't a negative poke, but after hearing the L200, I don't think I would want to go lower in the series.
Post edited by gmcman on -
Nice review!
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Excellent review
Where are we at in the Demo List? Who are the next people to Demo?Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Great review! I have them and will passing along to @civilian early next week.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
Yamaha A-S501, Auralic Aries Mini, LSiM 703s
Douglas Connection ICs and Cables -
Nicely written. Solid reviewKlipsch 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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Great review!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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Great Review, I hope there is a review of L600 too.A good review about Pro Lift Floor Jack https://theeffectiveguide.com/best-floor-jack/pro-lift-floor-jack-review. Check this page and be informed on what this floor jack can offer and why this is one of the best-known floor jack brands.
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There is not nor will there be an L600 demo program.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 -
Unless @verb buys a pair and... No, you're probably right.Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
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Nice Review gmcman
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Great review! I don't need a pair now for audition.
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An update: After the pile of BS posted by Kex yesterday I decided to end the demo early. Today I have reconsidered and decided it wouldn't be fair to those that haven't had their demo yet to end it early due to that malcontent. The L200 demo will continue.
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 -
Great news Jesse.Pio Elete Pro 520
Panamax 5400-EX
Sunfire TGP 5
Micro Seiki DD-40 - Lyra-Dorian and Denon DL-160
PS Audio GCPH phono pre
Sunfire CG 200 X 5
Sunfire CG Sig 405 X 5
OPPO BDP-83 SE
SDA SRS 1.2TL Sonicaps and Mills
Ctr CS1000p
Sur - FX1000 x 4
SUB - SVS PB2-Plus
Workkout room:
Sony Bravia XBR- 32-Inch 1080p
Onkyo TX-DS898
GFA 555
Yamaha DVD-S1800BL/SACD
Ft - SDA 1C
Not being used:
RTi 38's -4
RT55i's - 2
RT25i's -2, using other 2 in shop
LSI 15's
CSi40
PSW 404 -
Best news I have heard all day. Thanks Jesse.
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Jones’ing for some more reviews
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Someone didn't tell me about this. Look, if you damage a speaker please tell 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 -
Just a flesh-wound. It'll buff right out.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 -
Who was before the receiver? accidents happen.Pretty sure F1 CSI'd the box.
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Someone didn't tell me about this. Look, if you damage a speaker please tell me.
They were Pristine when they left my place!
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chief reason I will watch these processes from a afar.Someone didn't tell me about this. Look, if you damage a speaker please tell me.
Too many scoundrels around here. Maybe in 4–5 years I’d feel comfortable w/hands-on participation. Although in a year or two i may have have the “ ‘doo” list down to size to visit a neighboring Polkie or state.
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 - 981, connected w/Monoprice Premiere ICs
Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981 -> Bi-amped CSi A6 Surrounds: Premiere ICs ->Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3. 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
