Polk L200 Speaker Demo Reviews

mhardy6647

I'd love to see the innards of the L200 myself... 'course, I believe I've mentioned that a time or two already

DSC_6908 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Connection hardware seemed OK to me, but then again, I would consider these (i.e., specifically and explictly the L200s) to be expensive - irrespective of country of manufacture - for small two ways of fairly ordinary design and construction values based on what I have seen of them so far.

Jstas

mpitogo wrote: »

What are any of your thoughts on the new style binding posts? $3 parts? I’m not a fan, I thought the previous gen LSiM has better binding posts.

Has anyone opened up the box to look inside at the crossover? Prolly a cheap $3 parts?

How about the driver basket? Are they stamped steel? The LSiM where cast aluminum but prone to damage from the heavy motor structure.

Not to be negative here as I own Legend speakers but built to a price point is starting to nag at me for premium speakers built overseas.

If you own a set, crack them open and see. I'm sure everyone here would like to see pictures as well. I would have cracked open the set I had for demo but that would have been uncool of me since they weren't mine to do that to.

I got no impression that any of the components were cheap in any respect. The binding posts, since that's what we're stuck on right now, were as good as it gets without getting into esoteric stuff like solid gold posts plated in antique sterling silver with painted markings made from a tincture of 30 year old Scotch and llama spit from a specific herd from an isolated valley in the Andes that Peru sends rodeo clowns with buckets to piss off the llamas so they will spit and they can catch it in the buckets.

The design was simple, as Doc stated, but there's beauty in the simplicity. The fact that the veneer is an actual wood veneer helps a bunch in that respect because the plain, flat surfaces let the beauty of the wood grain speak for itself. It also means that if the cost is a reflection of the resources that went in to it, cabinet construction and finish is likely the lowest cost factor of the whole thing. So the value is in the driver array and crossover network.

When I was more active in drag racing, the bracket racers had a saying up here in the Northeast, aka: the salt belt. "If it looks like ****, it runs like stink." meaning that all of the money is in the drivetrain and suspension. So just because it looks plain or even beat up doesn't mean it should be overlooked.

DarqueKnight

mpitogo wrote: »

What are any of your thoughts on the new style binding posts? $3 parts? I’m not a fan, I thought the previous gen LSiM has better binding posts.

I prefer the looks and enhanced safety feature (shorting protection) of the LSiM's plastic encapsulated binding posts.

The all metal Legend binding posts appear to be of very high quality, but I don't know who makes them. They kept a very tight grip on the large, heavy spades of my large heavy speaker cables.

mpitogo wrote: »

Has anyone opened up the box to look inside at the crossover?

I wanted to...and I always take a peek inside of my new toys. But, since this was a loaner item rather than my own property, I successfully resisted the urge to take them apart, on the remote chance that something could go wrong.

mpitogo wrote: »

Prolly a cheap $3 parts?

I doubt that. I did note that none of the Legend series marketing materials I have read mention crossover parts quality. A marketing brochure for the LSiM series stated:

"Orth Crossovers—Proprietary engineering, designed and patented by Polk Audio to maintain a lower order crossover design and in-crease power handling. Orth crossovers feature mylar and polypropyl-ene capacitors for sparkling highs and air core inductors for superior transparency. Notch filters and sophisticated Zobel circuits smooth the impedance curve of the system for more efficiency and better high frequency response."

Now, since the Legend series has overall better sound quality than the LSiM series, I doubt Polk took a step back in crossover parts quality.

mpitogo wrote: »

How about the driver basket? Are they stamped steel? The LSiM where cast aluminum but prone to damage from the heavy motor structure.

Take yours apart and see. Let us know what you find.

mpitogo wrote: »

Not to be negative here as I own Legend speakers but built to a price point is starting to nag at me for premium speakers built overseas.

Is there something specifically about the build quality of your L800s that you don't like? I was impressed with the build quality of the L200s.

With regard to overseas manufacturing, that is just a reality of today's marketplace. Another way to look at it is that you typically get higher quality at a lower cost than if the same item were built in the US.

mhardy6647

I thought there were some photos of the drivers in one of the early roll-out threads? Am I hallucinating this? Maybe that early YT video?

I would presume that the drivers in the actual production models are very similar to the 'prototypes' (if that is what they were) shown early on.

I would be less sanguine as to the identity of the prototype XO boards shown from the
L800 (which were kind of scary looking ) and the actual production boards -- at least in terms of the passive components used... but this is, obviously, completely speculative.



https://youtu.be/4Tnns8Os0Hg
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/187480/new-polk-audio-legend-speaker-series-shown-at-2019-hong-kong-high-end-audio-video-show/p13

dromunds

I am under the impression that the so-called "simple design" was a volitional nod to the classic or "legendary" design of bookshelf speakers. I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of it from other other mfg's. I thought the fit and finish was as good as my Dynaudio's.

verb

Just read through the last few pages of this thread. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts so far! Nice to see such a variety of comments, and impressions from such a wide range of gear and environments.

And, I'm reminded, my journey has just started! I've got a lot to learn! And experience!

F1nut

The Legend binding posts are of higher quality than the LSiM. Polk has published photos of the L800 crossover and drivers for all to see. For example, look at the Music Direct catalog to see them.

I should add that one would be hard pressed to find a speaker not made overseas.

F1nut

L800 crossover.



Drivers.

mpitogo

I don’t want to detract from the positive reviews being made here. If you think I’ve crossed the line please let me know.


I don’t have buyers remorse. I am pleased as an overall package but they are borderline into the low end of mid-line Focal, Sonus Faber, Scansonic etc. I did find a defect in mine I would rather not air in public. The defect is something which should have been found in QA and rather than deal with support I was able to fix it myself, hopefully not voiding the warranty. It had me think this was a high volume mass produced product they are selling in tens of the thousands.

I have all the respect for Polk and I do like to support the company. I’ve even recently purchased a bunch more speakers but I guess its me just watching too much Tech Talk Tuesdays by Danny Riche (GR Research) on youtube. Its published under New Record Day. I have to treat is as more entertainment so the OCD doesn’t kick in and make me wanna void the warranty, replace the crossovers, put in no rez, upgrade the crappy binding posts, internal wiring etc...

Maybe my complaint on the binding posts are unfounded when Totem speakers costing 1/3 these have better WBT binding posts while these have binding posts which look to cost $3. Likely purchased in the bulk and used across the entire line helps drive that cost down further.

Those pictures further reinforces my thoughts on the quality of the components used.

https://youtu.be/7yozUh8xBfk

mpitogo

audioluvr

You should probably pull those crossovers while you're in there. They are definitely going to be needing better caps, resistors and inductors.

F1nut

You've definitely crossed the line. You want to complain about your speakers do it in your own thread and how dare you post that video in this one.

mpitogo

Understood @F1nut nothing further from me in this thread.

I do appreciate the honest reviews by everyone.

erniejade

tonyb wrote: »

Dang, I feel sorry for the dude that has to follow one of Ray's reviews.

Mine will be coming shortly. Get ready for a lot of misspelled words and bad use of then and than

mhardy6647

erniejade wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

Dang, I feel sorry for the dude that has to follow one of Ray's reviews.

Mine will be coming shortly. Get ready for a lot of misspelled words and bad use of then and than

Their, they're -- don't be so hard on youssef. Your forgivin.

displayname

Just got the walnut set in and hooked up to the Duventi in pentode at 20 watts. I didn't thing it was going go be enough power. I was incorrect.

mhardy6647

displayname wrote: »

Just got the walnut set in and hooked up to the Duventi in pentode at 20 watts. I didn't thing it was going go be enough power. I was incorrect.

Interesting.
Connected to 4 ohm secondaries on your amplifier?

displayname

mhardy6647 wrote: »

displayname wrote: »

Just got the walnut set in and hooked up to the Duventi in pentode at 20 watts. I didn't thing it was going go be enough power. I was incorrect.

Interesting.
Connected to 4 ohm secondaries on your amplifier?

Yup, 4 ohm tap. Been playing comfortably at about 1/3 on the volume knob for a few hours. I'm hoping to get a higher power solid state amp in here as well to compare, but I'm really surprised at how nicely this pairing is working so far.

displayname

First part of the L200's DFW tour took place this weekend. Met up with Marvin to try the L200 in his system against a few bookies he has.
The lineup was L200, Revel M16, Onix Reference 1, and SoundTech M15 (Harbeth clones).

I'll include more detail in the final write up, but here's the bits about the L200 that stand out both in my system and in Marvin's:
The L200 has fairly solid low end performance. Bass is textured and deeper than some might expect. It doesn't provide massive slam, but it's generally well balanced. I think this is the strongest attribute of L200. I also think the rear "power port" is a very intelligent solution for the bass tuning, and I wish more speakers used this type of solution.

Soundstage of the L200 was the deepest of the bunch, but is also more narrow than expected. This was the very first thing I noticed at my place as well.

Detail is fairly good. The midrange and upper frequencies felt a little dry and analytical in my opinion yesterday (compared to the others) and images did feel larger on L200. Also noticed the highs get a little sharp, especially when we pushed the speaker a little. The imaging is good though. That did stand out as we played through various tracks yesterday.

I'll be trying the L200s both on my Duventi and the Kinki Studio EX-M1 this week. I think it will be interesting to see if the tubes add a little midrange texture compared to a higher powered solid state amp. That's a quick teaser for now, more to come!

dromunds

What tubes you gonna be running? Thanks for the preliminary thoughts.

displayname

Skip is correct. No rolling for me at this point, stock tubes are doing well and not giving me any reason to change.

Nightfall

DSkip wrote: »

Anyone I know who has tried rolling with grail type tubes go back to the JJ 12au7 and EH el34.

That's... interesting.

erniejade

Equipment used ( see figure 1 ) T+A integrated, PS Audio Direct Stream JR, Lumin D1, High Fidelity Reveal RCA, Audioquest CV8 72V speaker cable.

I ran the speakers for a week before doing any critical listening so I could get positioning and a feel for them. I tried them with and without my old Velodyne SPL 1200. The L200 integrated very easy with the old Velo. I did the critical listening without the Velo but prefer it with since I like a bit more of a bass kick. I have talked about this before but 30 years of DJ and being behind speakers and subwoofers has probably led my taste to more bass. For my living room ( nope didn’t use the den) placement, I had them 2 feet from the back wall, 7 feet apart and 10 feet back with no side walls. To the left goes to the hallway and to the right goes into the dining room.
I liked the build quality of the speakers. My old AQ CV8 banana plugs on some speakers can be loose but on the L200, they fit nice and snug. I like the looks of them and they do have a nice feel to them. I listened to the stock jumpers and they are not that bad. I put in my Wireworld jumpers and there was an improvement however, it wasn’t a crazy jump up from the stock ones.


Figure1


Jazz was first up and sounded wonderful on the speakers. I listened to a couple of my standards Miles Davis Kind of Blue and Dave Brubeck Time Out. Going between the KEF Ls50W and the L200 was very easy since the KEF is powered and it does not need any wait time for a changeover. The first thing I noticed with the L200 vs the Kef and later on my Tyler Highland D2’s is placement is more up front. The KEF and the D2 had the players 15 rows back where the L200 had them at 7th row. They just seemed to bring any kind of music more to the front. I also noticed this with my old LSI9 LSI25 and LSIM705. The L200 did a very nice job making instruments sound realistic and like you are at a live show with a lot of texture to the sound. Joe Morello drum solo had solid slam great clarity. On three to get ready, you can hear the stick hit the cymbal clearly. By the end of this DSD rip from the SACD, I was very impressed.

erniejade

Going to the KEF LS50W playing the same music, the KEF moved the folks a few rows back and a bit wider. Things extended beyond the speaker more. This can be good and bad depending on personal taste. The top end is a bit smoother as well but just as detailed. Both speakers did Piano and horns well. Both did a great job with texture and tone. On Jazz, it was a tossup and I feel this one would 100% depend on personal preference. I know it’s not 100% same playing field since the Kef is powered but, they are in the same price range especially when the KEF went on sale for $1799.





Next up, Metallica and Iron Madden, Santana, and Rush. Sometimes you just want to rock out and kick it up. This is where I missed the sub in the mix. The L200’s do dig down quite a bit for their size and sound great but, when pushed to just want to rock out volume ( see figure 2 ) the subwoofer I feel needs to be in place. At normal to loud volume, they held up well but in figure 2 volume, I feel a sub is needed in the mix. This also goes for the KEF. At normal volume, the crunch of a guitar and screaming vocals, the L200’s can do very well. Going to the KEF, close but again the row gets pushed back several feet and a bit wider. The L200 again is a bit crisper on top. The Kef is not lacking on top just a different tone. In a lively room, I can see Kef doing better over the Polk. Again personal preference.

Actual pic from my childhood

erniejade

Classical: Started out with Daniel Harding Mendelsson Violin Concerto and Yo-Yo Ma , I prefer the tone of the KEF on this one. Full out loud orchestra like Mahler’s Symphony No.8 or Rouse Requiem, I actually prefer the Polk. The Polk \ T+A combo pulled ahead of the Kef on full heavy orchestra. I feel they had a bit more texture and dug a bit deeper into the individual instruments. When I was playing around the first week and had the sub on them really added the low end punch to big orchestra pieces nicely.


Nearfield and the HE@#$LL room: Changing over to the den, same gear but different room. 10X11, each wall is made of something different and hardwood floor. This room is very difficult to get good sound on but, I wanted to hear the speakers in a more lively room. I sit 5 feet from the speakers and the speakers are about 4.5 feet apart. I put on Ricki Lee Jones 1st album and Pirates. No matter how I moved the speakers around (further back, out more) the top end was too much for my taste. I have had a lot of problems with this room in the past but, I figured I would still give them a shot. Moved them back to the living room and sat 3.5 feet back, speakers 5 feet apart, still sounded good but, not fully together. I could tell where the top and bottom were coming from. The Kef is better for near field I felt.

erniejade

There is a lot of competition at the price of the L200. I feel Polk did a fantastic job creating this speaker. The mid-bass hump in their past speakers is gone. The mid and top end is very detailed but, with the wrong equipment or room, I can see some folks might think they are bright. My T+A is not bright and on the warmer side of neutral. My living room acoustics are dead and not lively with very thick carpet \ padding. I could easily live with this speaker \ sub combo in the living room. Nice work Polk!

F1nut

My personal thanks to everyone who has posted a review. I also want thank everyone for making this as easy as possible for me so far. Ya'll doin' good job

Nightfall

F1nut wrote: »

Ya'll doin' good job

It's like that one time when you were 12 that your dad finally complimented you on something. Tomorrow he'll probably go back to telling you how you do everything wrong but you'll never forget that one time...

mhardy6647

F1nut wrote: »

...I also want thank everyone for making this as easy as possible for me so far. Ya'll doin' good job

That's nice to hear!

It was great of you, and Polk, to enable this demo!
It likely would've been a long, long time before I got my ears on any of these models otherwise.

verb

Nightfall wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

Ya'll doin' good job

It's like that one time when you were 12 that your dad finally complimented you on something. Tomorrow he'll probably go back to telling you how you do everything wrong but you'll never forget that one time...

Enjoy it while it lasts!