Polk L200 Speaker Demo Reviews

Inspector 24

“IT WAS MEEEEE!”
-Jim Carrey, Liar Liar

“Karma is a b i t c h.”
-Me

😆😆😆

Joking aside it’s a bummer they got damaged. I hope for the future of the demo program it was an accident in shipping or was honestly not noticed by someone. If it was no need to out yourself publicly, no shaming, accidents happen, I’m sure you’ll do the right thing and contact F1. Hope you’re not on his Bozo List.

F1nut wrote: »

Someone didn't tell me about this. Look, if you damage a speaker please tell me.

Nightfall

Does it have to be constant jabs back and forth?

nooshinjohn

…..

tonyb

Could that have happened in shipping ?

F1nut

Anything is possible.

halo

tonyb wrote: »

Could that have happened in shipping ?

I doubt it, especially with all the extra foam core packing material included by the man with the plan. Plus, the speakers go into a cloth bag, then a plastic bag, & then the foam core cocoon with the box on the outside.

krazypolk

Any way that it might have happened is purely an accident that was definitely not even noticed when it happened. Sucks it happened but not by carelessness.

rburgess714

Well better late than never. I surrendered the L200s early March after a solid 2 weeks with them, they were hard for me to let go. Others have already done really nice reviews that will be impossible to top.

Associated gear was Parasound P5/A23 and Cambridge 851N Streamer, no Subwoofer. Primarily streaming Tidal for critical listening but also watched TV and movies.

I really liked the look and build of these speakers, the brown walnut was very attractive and fit and finish was well executed. I really like the binding post which are much better than those on the LSiM or Signature series.

These bookies sound much bigger than they are, and they dig deep. I was really amazed with the width of the soundstage, easily extending beyond and well above the speakers. I did struggle a bit with imaging and had to fool around with toe in to get it just right. Once I got the toe in adjusted imaging was excellent.

Below are few songs I listened to repeatedly and noted my thoughts and my opinion on how these speakers handle the music.

Wilco – Impossible Germany
Jeff Tweedy’s voice was dead center, the bass had texture and very nice rhythmic crisp top hat. Guitar solo was wonderfully reproduced. Instrument separation and localization was spot on.

Ryan Adams – Live at Carnegie Hall – My Sweet Carolina
I really like this recording, and for those who don’t know this track it’s all acoustic. The sound was if I was on the front row or had him performing in my living room, very life like. Soundstage extended width and height of speakers. Vocals and acoustic guitar do these speakers justice or vice versa. One negative in this track was the harmonica which seemed a little edgy but I would not say bright and well it is a harmonica and it could be my equipment.

Rage Against the Machine – Killing in the Name
The attack of this song is ferocious, and these speakers articulate this well. Forceful, controlled and cohesive at moderate levels was quiet good. However if pushed a little they would start to not distort as the volume wasn’t that high but lose clarity and cohesiveness. Again, it wasn’t distortion just seem to fall apart for lack of better descriptors.

Nirvana – Unplugged – Oh Me
Voice was haunting and very accurate; the mid bass of the acoustic guitar and fret work detail really was a pleasure to listen to.

Funny my teenage son rarely gets excited about gear or speakers but I asked him if he wanted to play some of his music on them. He likes Rap and selected a few tunes on Tidal. His music is bass heavy and his words were these were amazing, we listened to his music over the course of the 2 weeks on several occasions. I am not a fan of Rap but I have to tell you these bookies really do dig deep, it actually was amazing.

I enjoyed my time with L200s every listening session was enjoyable and I could live with these. In summary, great all-around speaker that offers detail, great mids and packs a punch that was really fun to listen to.

dromunds

Thanks for the insightful review!

TopperDude

very nice review.

How did it compare with your current gear?

JayCee

L200s in the house. Arrived, yesterday, and I've spent the better part of today dialing these little guys in and, well, I must say...big sound from small boxes. Color me impressed.

I have 3 systems in 3 rooms that range from budget, mid, to very good that will give them a chance to show what different gear and locations can do. Currently, on the living room system which is my midpoint. Taking notes on my standard demo tracks that will be used throughout. This is fun.

Busy next week or so...I owe @verb a review on the EMI meter he graciously lent to many of us and, I thought, the UpTone Audio EtherREGEN I ordered last week was on backorder until 15 April. Received a shipping notice and it'll be delivered tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a teaser photo before I swapped out the 3.1tl's for the L200's. I'm currently listening to Dire Straights, Brothers in Arms.

Old Legend meets new Legend:

dromunds

Those stands are attractive with the L200’s.

JayCee

dromunds wrote: »

Those stands are attractive with the L200’s.

Thanks. I agree. Cheapo brand I picked up at Wally Mart many years ago for a pair of 1st gen CRS's I had. Decent metal construction and can be plugged to fill with sand. Downside is the mounting points to the base and speaker support (V shapes) are plastic to include the speaker coupler. If I looked to seriously use these I'd have 1/2" to 3/4" steel plate cut/drilled/countersunk to replace the speaker support platform.

Nice design, plastic aside, because there are 3 collars (spacers) on the top that can be added/removed for height. I wanted to remove 2 after first listen of the 200's to get the tweeters closer to my listening height. Unfortunately, the bolt used for the assembly is sized for 2-3 spacers and a bit too long. However, dropping by one collar made a huge difference in dialing these lil' Polks in.

The name of the stand company is printed on the speaker end and covered by the speakers. Don't want to lift a speaker at the moment but will look when I move these to my next rig in the AM if anyone is interested.

JayCee

Friday bump on the thread. My time with the L200's is done and they are en route to audioluvr. I spent at least 50 ears on hours with them (easily more) and enjoyed every minute.

First on my CP list of chores...pulling out my notes to post results from using the EMI meter Verb's sharing with the club. Second, write my L200 review. Third, a few more things in the works.

Mike Reeter

JayCee wrote: »

Friday bump on the thread. My time with the L200's is done and they are en route to audioluvr. I spent at least 50 ears on hours with them (easily more) and enjoyed every minute.

First on my CP list of chores...pulling out my notes to post results from using the EMI meter Verb's sharing with the club. Second, write my L200 review. Third, a few more things in the works.

I knew you would enjoy them, looking forward to your thoughts.

Nightfall

I guess I'm alone here. I'm not a professional audio reviewer or anything even close to that but my simple thoughts...

Equipment used:

Dared MC-7P tube preamp (Wireworld PC)
B&K Reference 4420 amp (PS Audio PC)
MIT SL-12 speaker cables and matching jumpers
MIT SL-8 ICs
Mass loaded Skylan stands
Cambridge CXN V2 for digital (Shunyata PC)
Yamaha PX-3 with Denon DL-110 for analog

I didn't like them for music. The top end was too hot for my personal tastes and I thought they lacked a little bit of musicality. I'm not saying they were dry and lifeless sounding but it sounded to me like they lacked just a little bit of soul. If those descriptors mean to me what they mean to you I can't say. It's not a fair apples to apples but as far as music goes I like everything about the Rosso Pienza's better. The L200's are too bright on the top end for me. I haven't heard any other ring radiator tweeters but maybe they're not for me in general or maybe it's just the Legend tweeter.

The good. They were exceptional for video games and video content. I watched an episode of Picard on them and played a bunch of games as well and I truly liked them in that setting. IF I was to ever consider a new speaker line for my HT setup once I get that up and going to take over the vintage Polks I would certainly have the Legend line on my list.

JayCee

Nightfall wrote: »

I guess I'm alone here.

I can understand where your coming from. Being partial to SDA's it's definitely a different sound. They're even a far cry from 705's, which I owned, but moved on to my sister. I found, after several days of not listening to my SDA's, I came to appreciate the differences. Not that one was better, per se, but getting to know them and resetting my preferred listening expectations. Not sure this makes sense but I'll explain more in the review. However, I get what you're saying.

**EDIT TO ADD:

JayCee wrote: »

I spent at least 50 ears on hours with them (easily more) and enjoyed every minute.

What I meant by this is it may be more accurate to say I enjoyed every minute of being able to demo them...and I did like them. They aren't perfect but I know where they could fit in my life.

JayCee

Mike Reeter wrote: »

I knew you would enjoy them, looking forward to your thoughts.

Based on your gear and what I've read in previous posts, I'll go out on a limb and say we have very similar points of view.

mhardy6647

They

Nightfall wrote: »

I...

I didn't like them for music. The top end was too hot for my personal tastes and I thought they lacked a little bit of musicality. I'm not saying they were dry and lifeless sounding but it sounded to me like they lacked just a little bit of soul. If those descriptors mean to me what they mean to you I can't say. It's not a fair apples to apples but as far as music goes I like everything about the Rosso Pienza's better. The L200's are too bright on the top end for me. I haven't heard any other ring radiator tweeters but maybe they're not for me in general or maybe it's just the Legend tweeter.

The good. They were exceptional for video games and video content. I watched an episode of Picard on them and played a bunch of games as well and I truly liked them in that setting. IF I was to ever consider a new speaker line for my HT setup once I get that up and going to take over the vintage Polks I would certainly have the Legend line on my list.

(FWIW) They definitely struck me as polite (perhaps even to the point of being a bit soulless), as I said originally (the polite part, not the soulless part). I didn't have any trouble with their treble -- but, then again, I've got old-guy ears at this point in my life.

halo

Nightfall wrote: »

I guess I'm alone here. I'm not a professional audio reviewer or anything even close to that but my simple thoughts...

Thanks for your thoughts on the L200's Josh. I would not expect any speaker out there to appeal to everyone and that's why we all like different things. I appreciate your candor, sir!

erniejade

@Nightfall room dependent. In my den, they were wayyy too hot on top and got shrill fast. Same rig in the livingroom that is acoustically dead is where they sounded good to me.

marvda1

I found they got hot when you turned up the volume, the louder the harsher they got.

txcoastal1

Same issue I’ve had with nearly all ring radiator tweeters

nooshinjohn

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Same issue I’ve had with nearly all ring radiator tweeters

That's why I wanted to see them do a ribbon or diamond tweeter in this series.

audioluvr

Looks what I got today!

F1nut

A couple of windows?

audioluvr

No silly! The L200's. They're in front of my SDA 1C's on those top secret, spared no expense speaker stands!

Initial impressions are:

1. A little to bright for vintage metal. Especially with distortion effects. But that's just me. I don't listen to a lot of this so it's not really a thing but if you are a metal head and a fuddy duddy (like me), they may not be your thing.

2. Surprisingly good bass for their size.

3. Fairly well balanced from about 80 hz on up.

4. When toe'd in just outside of the listening position they are somewhat forward and throw a surprisingly good image beyond the width of the speakers.

5. Other than the heavy metal thing, they are quite pleasing and not fatiguing during extended listening sessions.

Equipment used:
Wireworld Mini-Eclipse speaker cables
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks
Belles 21A tube pre
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N Streamer/DAC
Wireworld Silver-Eclipse interconnects between amp/pre/CA 851

audioluvr

Listening to John Prine on the L200's. They are some folk music playing speakers! Could be the whiskey talking though.

nooshinjohn

Folk, Jazz, classic rock/pop, country... they excel at that. Just don't confuse them with large orchestral pieces or Heavy rock/metal. They tend to whither on the vine when hit by that stuff. Metallica with a full orchestra and they actually cried just a but.

audioluvr

Agreed. They lack on full bodied music tracks and there is something grainy with electric guitar tracks that I can't quite put my finger on. Almost a buzzing, harmonic thing... like the background buzz from the old high school PA system or something. It's only noticed on a very few tracks I've played so far. Still, really enjoying them while I've got them.