Polk L200 Speaker Demo Reviews

mhardy6647 · October 2019

We're a pretty erudite lot.

BlueFox · October 2019

Well, this thread has been derailed.

tonyb · October 2019

Any more first impressions by those who got these first ?

F1nut · October 2019

The topic of this thread is for REVIEWS OF THE L200.

natronforever · October 2019

I'll try to refrain from further levity. Proceed, all, with the matter at hand.

mhardy6647 · October 2019

BlueFox wrote: »

Well, this thread has been derailed.

oh, yeah. Dang. Sorry.
When (!) we get a moderator @F1nut can ask that the (my) extraneous junk be deleted.
In fact, I'll flag them myself.
Sorry!

TEAforONE · October 2019

How did you find the imaging on the L200's? I realize the less than optimal placement,but I'll ask anyway.

Willow · October 2019

https://youtu.be/AHo26CFJByQ

It will be interesting to compare polkie's reviews with Steve's

Emlyn · October 2019

Steve uses the words voluptuous and luscious to describe the sound. That was always my impression of the big old SDAs. Always a pleasure to listen to. Not Klipsch.

dromunds · October 2019

L200 Review

I.
It seems the first thing everybody wants to know about the L200: “Should I spend my hard-earned pimping money on these?” Not so fast, Quickdraw – you may be inventing new curse words to mentally hurl in my direction before I get to that answer, if I ever do.

Like most of you, I’ve been reading the reviews trickling out. After spending two weeks with these bookies, I can say that I am in agreement with the principal points in Steve Guttenberg’s video review, posted in a Speaker thread on the forum recently. He’s right that the L200s are very agreeable speakers; wonderfully full sound; open and relaxed. I also rather agree that these are on the “relaxed side of neutral.” (They are not bright - to quash the suggestion of another “reviewer.”) The only point on which I disagree with Steve is his statements that vocals are somewhat recessed in the L200. Quite the contrary in my opinion, on my gear, as I will explain below.

Out of the box, there may be a difference of opinion on the “look.” Real wood cabinets, brown walnut or black ash. (Our review pair is black ash) Impressive and flawless fit and finish. Polk calls them “Large Premium Bookshelf Speakers,” but they are smaller than the LsiM 703’s. The L200’s are “classic” in their bookie design, lacking the swooping curves of the 703’s. Not exactly ordinary looking, but you will probably either like their styling or not. The L200 is 4 ohm nominal, 85.5 sensitivity, with a stated frequency response of 46Hz-38KHz. Hi-rez certified. Pinnacle ring radiatior tweeter with stiff cones and pointy tips for you Madonna fans. The woofer has the “turbine cone” - which for all us Game Of Thrones fans looks exactly like the pattern those White Walkers kept making everywhere. (If you’ve never seen GOT you will spend your remaining days in a pain amplifier.) Magnetically attached grills like the 703’s. Quality dual metal binding posts. Packaging? Let’s just say its false economy in this day of shipping monkeys to scrimp in any way on the packaging and confront damage returns like with the LsiM’s. When you look at the packaging of the L200’s you may initially think the box would easily survive the freight carriers - but we all know the reality of shipping these days. Regardless, Jesse beefed up the packaging in his characteristic impeccable style and they arrived to me in flawless condition.

By the way, I’ve read a couple of the other reviews posted on the forum concerning the L100. Once I see a bunch of other products “linked” in a review I’m out of there. Hot dog in too many campfires is one way to put it. Corporate shill may be another way to look at it. And some of these “reviewers” don’t even realize Polk had power ports before the Legend series.

dromunds · October 2019

II.
In any event, I’ve had quite a few bookies come and go from this psychological Siberia I call home, including some of quite decent pedigree. Some were as memorable as the Crop Report on an Iowa radio station. Some were nearly as screechy like a cat at snip time at the vet. Lots of the two-way bookies seemed to vary between thin and lifeless, with the bass throb of a wet green tea bag, and were best listened to while curled up in a modified fetal position.

I’ve always liked the Monitor 4 Peerless. Those little boxes put out amazing low end for their size, but the overall fullness of the sound is also quite remarkable. For many the Monitor 7 was the sweet spot of that iteration, and I am in agreement. I have a pair of Monitor 7 Peerless and a pair of re-done 7C’s with 194’s and they are very easy to listen to, very good all-around speakers. I am also a fan of the Lsi 7’s and 9’s, and their successor the LsiM 703. The 703’s image well, especially the center image, with a surprising amount of clean and articulate low end for a bookie. The 9’s and the 703’s have remained in the rotation so to speak, to the ultimate exclusion of many other brands. My GF is now using the 9’s and loves them. I also currently have a pair of Taylo Reference Monitors that will be discussed later. A few of my other bookies lasted a long time and I had trouble parting with them - DALI Zensors for example were noteworthy for such small devils. The Polkie I purchased them from brought them back over from Scandanavia with him that’s how much he liked them.

Why is any of this more interesting than sticking your ear next to a lawn mower? Evolution perhaps. Progression may be a better term. Sometimes we take for granted that Polk has been making wonderful, full sounding speakers for more than four score and five – and the design principles and signature set down during the development of the original Monitors can still be discerned in the L200’s – even though Polk itself describes them as revolutionary. The next time you get bored watching them tar the road, take a look at the Technical Brief written for the LsiM series – redesigned from the ground up as they say. Insight into the engineering that went into them. I’ve heard the Legends were three years minimum in the making. Serious work by teams of dedicated professionals with deep institutional memory and experience. We take too much for granted.

dromunds · October 2019

III.
For this strictly two-channel evaluation, I used three different amplifiers in my main rig. First, a Carver M500t modded to Mark II by Dennis Miller. Bigger power supply, lots of mods, everything blessed by Carver. IIRC, it puts out 385 watts/ch at 8 ohms. Then I went to a vintage Marantz SM-80 amp with a beautiful champagne finish. Specs says 100 watts/ch at 8 but in true vintage form it kicks way beyond its stated specs and with authority and weight. The L200’s liked both but especially the Marantz. However, the L200’s really shined with my 1950s Heath W5M tube monoblocks rebuilt by Gary Dodd and Charlie Cocci with new parts to Heath specs. Holy grail 1950’s RCA black plate 6L6GC’s and mid-50’s CBS JHY 5814 black plate square getters.

For a preamp I also exlusively a Dodd battery-powered selectable gain preamp with 1950’s Amperex Holland 7308 D-getter. Other associated gear was a Dodd battery phono preamp with 1958 Amperex Holland 6DJ8 D-getters; a Sony XA-5400ES SACD player; and a vintage Yamaha YP-211 TT with a Grado cartridge. Later, I went to a rig with a Pioneer Elite SC-27 receiver and OPPO 205. Both rigs have PNF Audio Symphony SC’s re-terminated by Douglass Connections with Furutech FP-202R locking bananas. The main rig is bi-wired. PNF Audio and MIT Shotgun SC-3 IC’s.

I used 24 inch stands. They worked well for my sitting position. The only other stands handy were 28 inch and they were too high for my application. I also tried some low stands inclined back approximately six degrees, essentially like the original Monitors used. I preferred the 24 inch stands, but the low stands also seemed to work acceptably. (I considered that perhaps 22 inch stands may be appropriate for other applications, or 26 but I was limited in my experimentation in that regard) My room is small-ish and I would consider it near-field. I didn’t really experiment with placement. I found the initial positioning astride a Salamander three-bay to be quite enjoyable.

The majority of my listening sessions were spent with SACD’s. I also played some redbook CDs and vinyl. I would have preferred to play vinyl on my Denon DP-72 with Jelco 750 arm, but it is in dry dock at the moment. Nevertheless, I got the taste of vinyl with the L200’s in my rig. As mentioned, I also utilized the OPPO 205 for some Blu-rays. I will leave to others to report on streaming and other means of musical transport.

dromunds · October 2019

IV.
I initially considered putting the Lsi-9’s in the evaluation, but the LsiM 703’s are superior to the Lsi 9’s and I felt a better use of my time would be to begin the evaluation with the LsiM 703’s in the main rig and then go to the L200’s. As mentioned, I like the 703’s. Surprising low end for a bookie, yet a real good fun and pleasing overall presentation. My first impression of the L200’s following the 703’s was “That’s something even better, more refined – and that top end!”

Some of my notes are as follows: Simon and Garfunkel’s Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Mo-Fi SACD is a somewhat less robust production and remastering. The L200’s displayed an extended top end and yet retained that excellent low end, and the vocal presentation was clear and articulate. Mark Knopfler’s Shangri-La SACD is a very well recorded and engineered album. It has long been one of my reference discs and I was again reminded why I enjoy this album so much. “Back To Tupelo” allowed the L200’s to more adequately show their full dynamic range. “Our Shangri-La” was very pleasing throughout, and on “Whoop De Doo” the detail of Knopfler’s strumming guitar and the keyboards was stunning, yet the bass lines were deep and sustained. “Donegan’s Gone” is perhaps my favorite song on the album, and the L200’s brought out keyboards that are almost veiled on some bookies. Knopflers slide guitar notes sounded par excellence.

Beach Boys Pet Sounds SACD is another leaner production, but the L200’s still presented full and focused vocals. Rage Against The Machine’s debut album Audio Fidelity Steve Hoffman master SACD is not as complex as Knopfler’s stuff but the L200’s also displayed excellent imaging and clean definition of all instruments, especially Tom Morello’s guitar notes. “Bullet In The Head” especially showed fast and clean bass notes. “Know Your Enemy” and “Fistful Of Steel” showed the L200’s ability to put forth clean instrumentation, separation and excellent imaging.

Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me SACD is not as full from a production standpoint and perhaps more forward in its production, but on “Seven Years” the L200’s had outstanding accuracy and separation of the instruments. “Come Away With Me” showed detail extracted from the vocals that was noteworthy. “Turn Me On” had a clean and defined keyboard without being overpowering or in your face. The acoustic guitar’s notes on “Painter Song” were full, and the accordian realistic and “organic.” The keyboards virtually “floated” in depth and range.

For some blues, I played Junior Wells’ Chicago Blues Band – Hoodoo Man Blues (Kevin Gray mastered) SACD, with a young Buddy Guy on guitar. Electric blues with amazing musicianship, and incredible playing by Buddy Guy. “Ships On The Ocean” showed off the L200’s clean and defined guitar stylings. “In The Wee Wee Hours” is a slow blues with outstanding harp and the L200’s sounded great, with good decay on the cymbals and hi-hat while imaging superbly.

One of my favorite recent vinyl acquisitions is the fantastic “keeper of the lore” Sam Lee. The Fade In Time allowed me to once again be struck by the imaging of the L200’s. The stringed instruments especially violin and cello were again full and “organic.” Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris’ All The Roadrunning on redbook CD – another very well produced album – really highlighted the L200’s capabilities. “Dug Up A Diamond” showed truly dynamic imaging and impressive top end but the lower end was also surprisingly good for bookies. “Rolling On” displayed Emmylou’s vocals spot on. Same thing on “Love and Happiness” - with instruments defined and separated. “Beyond My Wildest Dreams” - Emmylou’s superb vocals again handled with absolute authority and definitive low end that extended to an impressive top end.

dromunds · October 2019

V.
As mentioned previously, I also listened to the L200’s in another rig with Pioneer Elite SC-27 receiver and OPPO 205. This rig was somewhat less engaging and perhaps muted to some extent, but I attribute that to the gear and not the L200’s. Nevertheless, David Gilmore’s Live At The Royal Albert Hall Blu-ray was still almost haunting at times, especially “The Blue” with David Crosby and Graham Nash on harmonies. The high guitar notes on the solo showed the tweeter to be somewhat sublime. The sax solo and the keyboards on the opening to “Red Sky At Night” were full and detailed.

Joe Bonamassa Live From The Royal Albert Hall DVD, as well as his Live At Carnegie Hall An Acoustic Evening Blu-Ray are not the greatest recording and production, perhaps somewhat subdued, but the intro to the latter opens with piano and acoustic guitar with full and rich notes and a tight cello follows. Imagining again outstanding. The Albert Hall show is a bit more of a dynamic recording and also displayed the L200’s imaging skills together with focused guitar notes.

I went back to the LsiM 703’s for an extended re-evaluation, and my reaction was essentially the same. The L200’s are more accurate and lively in their presentation, and the tweeter in the L200s is special as Steve Guttenberg says. Yet, the L200’s sacrifice little in the low end. I don’t suppose either the 703 or the L200 is going to make you want to stand on your chair and propose a toast to the vast width of the soundstage, but the sound stage extended to the outer edges of the speakers in both cases, and the imaging and weight is excellent on both, with the L200 winning out in imaging and three dimensionality. I acknowledge it has been difficult for me to assess the relative low ends of the two bookies. The 703’s have a really good low end for bookies, and I would have liked more time to specifically assess the low end of the 703 against the L200, but the reality of time precluded it. The 703’s may dig a bit deeper, or give the impression perhaps of digging deeper, if that makes any sense, but the precise relative low end propensities of each remained unclear to me when I passed the L200’s on to the next recipient. Perhaps I will have another opportunity at some point in the future to more thoroughly evaluate this issue, when I am more dedicated to audio than I am now

An astute reader will surmise at this point that the present reviewer has not answered the question initially poised as the first question everybody wants to know about the L200’s: are these bookies worth the asking price? Should they be $1,500? $1,200? To avoid a detailed philosophical discussion of the verities of capitalism in the post-modern era, I will analogize to my Taylo Reference Monitors. A two-way with Scanspeak tweeters and Seas woofers, the drivers alone probably go for around $1,200. 5-8 ohm, 44 Hz-25kHz, sensitivity of 88 db. The Taylo’s have a high-quality wood cabinet and are often called a value at a price far exceeding the L200’s, and nobody blinks an eye turning their wallet over for them. They are very nice bookies and are gushed over. The bottom end of the Taylo’s loses to the L200’s. The L200’s are also more 3-dimensional than the Taylo’s. The Taylo’s have luscious mid-range and excellent tweeters that can be listened to for extended periods without fatigue. Yet, the L200’s also have a full and dynamic mid and upper register that I found never fatiguing - in fact the L200’s are wonderfully pleasurable. I found the sound stages similar. I would like to spend an extended period A/B’ing both speakers, but my point is this: often our expectations and judgments are colored by bias and even to some extent by negativity, which seems so quick and ubiquitous in these new dark ages. Some will pronounce that the L200 would be more appropriately priced at $1,500 and then turn around and purchase an in-vogue brand name bookie at a much higher price only to be “quietly disappointed.” Plus, we don’t know the involvement of bean counters in any equation. You know, the guys who keep their office doors closed, and you slip stuff under their door and then its back outside the door the following morning. But bean counters exist from A to Usher. (I can say that the L200’s fairly dusted my Dynaudio Audience 72’s that were previously in the rig with the Pioneer Elite and OPPO. The dynamic range of the L200’s was more extended and more refined.)

As I mentioned at the outset, I agree principally with Steve Guttenberg’s review of the L200’s. They are really good bookies. Smooth, extended, detailed, with excellent high end articulation and overall dynamics. Yet, they also have a bass weight and low end extension that is quite remarkable for a bookie. Excellent drivers and associated crossovers. Aside from SDA’s – I cannot speak to SDA’s here- but from what I’ve heard at this point I believe Polk accurately states that the Legends are the best speakers Polk has ever made. The L200’s are a joy to listen to. They are “hi-fidelity” speakers in the classic sense of the phrase. In this regard, I fully realize my gear is rather low-end compared to some on the forum but I feel confident that the better the gear the better the L200’s will sound, like most high quality speakers do.

Thanks to Jesse for organizing and riding herd on this demo. Not an easy job to say the least. If you think it’s an easy job with this crew, you shall spend your remaining days on a stairway to nowhere in Hades listening to audio through a fish tank filter. Also, a genuine tip ‘o the proverbial hat to Polk Audio and everyone at Polk associated with bringing the Legend series to the light of day – based on what I’ve heard from these bookies, I can’t wait to hear the L600’s and the new SDA’s.

tonyb · October 2019

Excellent review my man, and dig the comic relief. So in the end, is it safe to say that the new Boss is indeed better than the old Boss ?

dromunds · October 2019

That’s my humble opinion boss.

dromunds · October 2019

Unfortunately, my photo skills with an iPhone leave much to be desired (especially in less than optimal lighting conditions) so likely will leave to others to post more photos. Besides, most Polk aficionados have seen L200 photos on the other previously posted threads.

VR3 · October 2019

I want to see detailed drivers crossover and internal bracing pics

dromunds · October 2019

VR3 wrote: »

I want to see detailed drivers crossover and internal bracing pics

Lol. I would’ve had to pledge that black spot where my soul should be as security to Jesse before that would happen.

Nightfall · October 2019

Finally, a shout-out to the Peerless Monitor 4s!

. Thanks Don. Your review is going to make the rest of us look bad.

pglbook · October 2019

Very nice review. Thanks.

indyhawg · October 2019

Very nice review Don. You inspired me to listen to Shangri-La.

mhardy6647 · October 2019

VR3 wrote: »

I want to see detailed drivers crossover and internal bracing pics

Me, too, but even I have a sufficiently high moral & ethical standard not to have gone after the "Eastern" demo pair with prying and screwdriving implements.

F1nut · October 2019

Don, you should be a professional reviewer.

natronforever · October 2019

Best write-up I've read yet, although I'm not very familiar with much of the music used for the review. I especially appreciate the needed comparison to the Lsim 703.

Mike Reeter · October 2019

EXCELLENT Review Don! To say that the L200's can hang with the Taylo Reference Monitors and the Dyn's is quite substantial and intriguing.

Cant wait to get my hands on a pair!