PolkFest Reserve Deal—EXTENDED For Forum Members

mhardy6647

Joey_V wrote: »

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Made some very minor changes -- listening to relatively modern (ca. 2011, IIRC) Rhino expanded/remastered version of aoxomoxoa (the remix, not the original mix) and it is sounding pretty darned good.



Exceptional vocal clarity for a two way at the (discount) price -- and I am a vocal clarity kind of hombre. They're doing an admirable job of bringing ol' Jer' back from the dead... to the Dead.

This is just a staged photo to compare the R200 to the oh-so-cleverly named ELAC Debut 2.0 b6.2 (man, I hope they didn't pay anyone to come up with that moniker!). I was kind of surprised that the form factor of the R200 is quite similar to the Andrew Jones-designed ELAC.

DSC_0972 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

DSC_0971 (3) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

More to come...

That looks nice
How’s the vinyl wrap?

Better than average*. I was taken aback by the direction of the grain on the top side**, though -- is this a 21st Century thing and/or a nod to the form factor (depth vs. width) of the design?

I would prefer the grain running across rather then front to back on the top... but, then again, I am an Old Guy with pronounced Old Guy sensibilities.




* Better looking than the ELACs, although the ELACs do have a nice quasi-naturalistic texture. Otherwise, the ELACs are kind of cheap looking -- even though at their orginal MSRP they were inexpensive but certainly not cheap.

** Derp, the ELAC top vinyl "grain" runs front to back, too! I hadn't noticed it as much on the black vinyl finish, despite the texture thereof, until I looked at the photo I posted earlier!

msg

O3P73EO2 wrote: »

I am a new member, any chance I can still get in on the discount code + 10% off? Please pm me if so. Thank you

Welcome! How about starting off with the effort of some reading on your own?

heiney9

A Polkie was generous enough to supply me with their code since they weren't going to use it. I couldn't pull the trigger before on the L600's, but I am now the proud owner of a pair of R200's in Black!

If the enthusiasm hadn't been so positive in the this thread, I would have skipped them. Still don't know where I will use them.

I have my modded 5B's and pair of RT25i's that are exquisite when it comes to vocal clarity. I guess the R200's will be added to that rotation in the secondary rig. Based on the reviews I'm going to compare the bass capabilities to the 5B's and vocal clarity to the RT25i's.

Should be fun.

H9

CottageChz

Emlyn wrote: »

Regarding the 703s they are all around a bit bigger, richer and smoother sounding than the R200s but not as detailed. The cosmetic build quality of the cabinets and port plate is far higher with the LSiM series in the dark finish. I never did like the orange tone cherry finish on that line. The more detailed presentation is the most noticeable sound difference. Both lines still have a similar sound quality that results from the polypropylene cone/ring radiator tweeter combo.

Thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like they’d both be pretty great speakers based on that info. Would love to hear them side by side one day. Lsim sound with more transparency and detail could be interesting.

mhardy6647

I am both pleased and impressed with the quality of vocals from the R200. This is with respect to, e.g., my Frankenaltecs and Quad ESL-57s, which both excel at midrange reproduction.

I realized today that I need to spend some time listening to some well-recorded piano on the R200. Piano is really, really tough to get right -- more to the point, to make sound real. The most real reproduction of piano I've heard to date is by Altec Duplexes (604E, in my own case, with Doug Sax's MasteringLabs crossovers), which get the weight and texture of piano, as well as the size, very right. It will be interesting to see how the R200s fare against that rather lofty benchmark.

msg

You've had a little over an hour. So how did the R200s fair against that rather lofty benchmark?

msg

Do the walnuts have texture? Or are they smooth?

dromunds

Is the 10 percent off still offered, and if so how is it obtained? I emailed Polk about the regular discount code late Friday but haven’t heard anything yet. Assuming I get the discount code on Monday how do I get the additional 10 percent?

motorhead43026

^^ the 10% was offered via a pop up on the Polk website. It said “enable notifications” and get a 10% discount.

ALL212

msg wrote: »

Do the walnuts have texture? Or are they smooth?

There is so much opportunity here...

smglbrth

msg wrote: »

Do the walnuts have texture? Or are they smooth?

Smooth, you can feel the seam on the back but you can't really see it. I, personally, think it's a pretty decent finish and I also like the grey grill covers.

Interesting to hear about viewpoints on the cabinets. My 8t's are "hollow", period. When I knock on the R600's it sounds hollow on the bottom but when I get to the bottom driver I get a solid "thunk". It's not solidly all the way up but I do notice a difference. Of course, not owning any multi-thousand dollar speakers I wouldn't really have the knowledge on this. It would be nice to see a cutaway of the R600's however...

msg

^ good info, thanks! I have a set of HSU Research HB-1s in Rosewood that are like what you describe. Not a bad finish.

mhardy6647

msg wrote: »

You've had a little over an hour. So how did the R200s fair against that rather lofty benchmark?

I was writing letters of recommendation for one of my students from last year's Glycobiology course (yeah, I've been meaning to do this) ...

oh, and listening to All the Traditions on VPR. Not on the R-200s

mhardy6647

I went all Gen Z (or whichever one it was) and took unboxing photos!
Note that I am not proud of this, I am just stating a fact. "I report, you decide" as I heard Kai Ryssdal say on Marketplace one evening last week

I mention this here, and now* because I was amused by a little safety/warning sticker that appears on the bagged loudspeakers in the box.

Many years ago, EMI (yeah, that EMI) offered a loudspeaker that they proudly called the DLS: "Dangerous LoudSpeaker"


source: https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Audio/Archive-Audio-IDX/IDX/60s/Audio-1962-Apr-OCR-Page-0051.pdf

I guess what's old is new again -- the Polk Reserve tweeters (and thus, I guess, the Legend tweeters, too) are dangerous.

DSC_0958 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Careful with that thing! It'll poke your eye out!

______________
* Yeah, Here and Now is another NPR program's title. So what?

heiney9

dromunds wrote: »

Is the 10 percent off still offered, and if so how is it obtained? I emailed Polk about the regular discount code late Friday but haven’t heard anything yet. Assuming I get the discount code on Monday how do I get the additional 10 percent?

I tried to get the "extra 10%" today before I bought a pair of R200's, no dice. It must have expired.

H9

ALL212

It’s still there. You have to disable pop up and ad blockers.
Since my phone has neither I just checked and I got the code, didn’t record it.
Then it resets for an unknown time period.

heiney9

Dang, I already pulled the trigger. Oh well, still a great deal. I do hate missing any possible discount though....

H9

billbillw

My black set of R200 were delivered on Saturday. Try as they did, FedEx didn't destroy them. One corner of the box was badly crushed as if it were dropped off the truck, but the foam did its job and cracked before the speaker was damaged. All good. I was also amused by the tweeter warning label. If it is so dangerous, why didn't it have a protective shield/ring on it for transport? I mean, it could poke through the box and hurt the shipping workers! <jk>

Anyhow, I didn't have time to mess with them Saturday, but I hooked them up yesterday to my basement home theater receiver (Integra DTR50.5) just to test them before putting them into my living room setup. I had them sitting on top of my Pinnacle Classic Gold Reference speakers and wired to the main L/R outputs of the Integra. After some fumbling through the menus, I reset the speaker configuration to Full Range, turned off my SVS subwoofer, and put it in Direct mode to remove all the DSP crap. I was pretty blown away immediately by the range of these small speakers. I had to double check that the subwoofer was off! Now, I did notice a bit of sub frequency rolloff on the very deep synth notes of some electronic music. However, for most music, they sounded about as deep as many tower speakers I've had, including my old RT-800i, RTA-11t, and an old set of Infinity speakers that I had through college.

I will say that the location of my home theater does accentuate bass somewhat due to corner loading and having a recessed area for the screen and electronics but these are the real thing. They are definitely harder to drive than my Pinnacles but I was able to get quite loud with just the Integra receiver powering them and it never got harsh or sounded like the receiver was struggling. I can tell they need some breaking in though. I didn't listen long enough to really comment on imaging, or how natural things sound. I'll leave that for later as I get things in a more permanent setup. I was just streaming from my server using Integra's DLNA app, so I can't know how clean the bitstream was. I may hook these up to my main 2-ch to eliminate that question. That would be the best source I could feed these and it would also be much cleaner than they will ever see in my living room setup (at least until I upgrade that...).

Initial thoughts are these are an absolute steal at the discount they gave us and still a really good deal at full price. Polk has a winner here.

JayMX

I am such a sucker - enablers the lot of you. The discount was quite compelling. I dropped the hammer. Don't tell my wife.

mhardy6647

Your secret is safe with us... and with google, of course.

mhardy6647

so...
Now...
I am just sayin'...
but this image from the R-series brochure suggests that the core demographic for these loudspeakers is either folks who take pretty sloppy care of their rekkids and/or who buy their vinyls from Goodwill.



source: https://www.polkaudio.com/-/media/files/documentmaster/polk-us/us/polk_reserve_series_brochureweb_07072021.pdf

billbillw

JayMX wrote: »

I am such a sucker - enablers the lot of you. The discount was quite compelling. I dropped the hammer. Don't tell my wife.

Same here...I slipped my set of black R200 into the living room today and I really don't think anyone will notice the difference between these and the old Mirage M290 that have been sitting there for 9 years. The front profile just sorta blends into the AV cabinet. Yes, I know these would sound better on stands, but the wife likes here big cabinet with places to put photos, nick-knacks, etc.

dromunds

I got a pair of R200’s just for kicks although I’m flush with bookies. What the hey, right? I’m curious to see how they stack up. Polk, and Carl Jacobsen, you are to be congratulated on offering this deal to the forum.

mhardy6647

Listening to Cowboy Junkies (actually, due to terrible weather, only Margo and Michael Timmins) recorded live at WXRV-FM's performance space (!) in Haverhill, MA, on a very snowy day in the late 1990s.

Oooooooooooh, Margo!

mhardy6647

DSC_0027 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Doin a little mano a mano speako a speako comparison today.

The Polk does seem to be winning.

mhardy6647

Come to think of it, ELAC Polk might be a good performing name for a musician.

Clipdat

Doc on a scale of 1-10 how stoned are you right now?

billbillw

mhardy6647 wrote: »

so...
Now...
I am just sayin'...
but this image from the R-series brochure suggests that the core demographic for these loudspeakers is either folks who take pretty sloppy care of their rekkids and/or who buy their vinyls from Goodwill.



source: https://www.polkaudio.com/-/media/files/documentmaster/polk-us/us/polk_reserve_series_brochureweb_07072021.pdf

Hmm, that photo really crops off the depth and is deceiving. Shame on Polk. Promoting bad record care AND misrepresenting the depth of the speaker! I still like them. All forgiven

mhardy6647

Full disclosure: I did snip the image from the brochure , but I don't think that I cropped the image itself.

I am just amused and kind of befuddled by the bedraggled condition of the album jackets in that image. If they don't smell musty, they probably smell like the clothing section of a thrift store.

msg

@CarlJacobson_POLK I did think it was a pretty good joke that this is the first thing you see when you click on the Reserve Series...

For a brief moment, you're like, $chiit! All the speakers are gone!
Then the page finishes loading and