Polk L200 Speaker Demo Reviews

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Comments

  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    I'd love to see the innards of the L200 myself... 'course, I believe I've mentioned that a time or two already :#

    48952892252_06f28b4871_h.jpgDSC_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
    Jstas Posts: 14,707
    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.

    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    edited December 2019
    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.

    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited December 2019
    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.

    dp1hmi22l2p1.png

    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
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    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
    verb Posts: 10,176
    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! :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,709
    edited December 2019
    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.
    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

  • mpitogo
    mpitogo Posts: 475
    edited December 2019
    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
    Post edited by mpitogo on
    • Living Room Music-2.0 Polk Legend L800 | McIntosh C70 | McIntosh MA5200 (Treble) | McIntosh MC452 (Bass) | Sublimeacoustic K231 Active xover | Denon DP-2500A | Denafrips Ares II | Belkin Soundform Connect | iPad Air USB to DAC
    • Media Room Ht-7.2.6/13.1 (Atmos/Auro-3D) Polk LSiM707, LSiM706c, LSiM702 F/X [x4], height LSiM703 [x6], HSU VTF-15H MK2 Dual | Marantz AV8805A | Rotel RB-1590 (L/R) | Appollon NC500 11ch | Sony UBP-X800 | AppleTV 4K | JVC RS2100
    • Game Room-5.1 Polk LSi25, LSiC, LSiF/X | Marantz SR7009 | AppleTV 4K | Xbox One S | Sony PS2, PS3 | Nintendo Wii | Gaming PC | Sony 75" LCD
    • Master Bedroom Music-2.0 Totem Hawk | Marantz PM-10 | Marantz SA-10 | SONY PS-HX500
    • Office-2.0 Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX, DSW microPRO3000 | Rotel RA-1570 | Marantz HD-CD1
    • Daughter's Bedroom 1-2.0 TBD Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 2-2.0 Klipsch RP-600M | Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 3-3.0 Martin Logan Motion 40, 50XT | Onkyo TX-SR705 | Apple TV | Samsung 55" TV
    • Guest Room 4-2.0 QAcoustics 3030i | Sansui AU-6900 | Topping DX7s | Sansui FR-1080 | TV
    • Maintenance: Pro-Ject VC-S Record Cleaning Machine
  • mpitogo
    mpitogo Posts: 475
    dxmh39dq2v85.jpeg

    i2ykc8i583ix.jpeg
    • Living Room Music-2.0 Polk Legend L800 | McIntosh C70 | McIntosh MA5200 (Treble) | McIntosh MC452 (Bass) | Sublimeacoustic K231 Active xover | Denon DP-2500A | Denafrips Ares II | Belkin Soundform Connect | iPad Air USB to DAC
    • Media Room Ht-7.2.6/13.1 (Atmos/Auro-3D) Polk LSiM707, LSiM706c, LSiM702 F/X [x4], height LSiM703 [x6], HSU VTF-15H MK2 Dual | Marantz AV8805A | Rotel RB-1590 (L/R) | Appollon NC500 11ch | Sony UBP-X800 | AppleTV 4K | JVC RS2100
    • Game Room-5.1 Polk LSi25, LSiC, LSiF/X | Marantz SR7009 | AppleTV 4K | Xbox One S | Sony PS2, PS3 | Nintendo Wii | Gaming PC | Sony 75" LCD
    • Master Bedroom Music-2.0 Totem Hawk | Marantz PM-10 | Marantz SA-10 | SONY PS-HX500
    • Office-2.0 Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX, DSW microPRO3000 | Rotel RA-1570 | Marantz HD-CD1
    • Daughter's Bedroom 1-2.0 TBD Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 2-2.0 Klipsch RP-600M | Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 3-3.0 Martin Logan Motion 40, 50XT | Onkyo TX-SR705 | Apple TV | Samsung 55" TV
    • Guest Room 4-2.0 QAcoustics 3030i | Sansui AU-6900 | Topping DX7s | Sansui FR-1080 | TV
    • Maintenance: Pro-Ject VC-S Record Cleaning Machine
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,420
    You should probably pull those crossovers while you're in there. They are definitely going to be needing better caps, resistors and inductors.
    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
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,709
    edited December 2019
    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.
    Post edited by F1nut on
    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

  • mpitogo
    mpitogo Posts: 475
    Understood @F1nut nothing further from me in this thread.

    I do appreciate the honest reviews by everyone.
    • Living Room Music-2.0 Polk Legend L800 | McIntosh C70 | McIntosh MA5200 (Treble) | McIntosh MC452 (Bass) | Sublimeacoustic K231 Active xover | Denon DP-2500A | Denafrips Ares II | Belkin Soundform Connect | iPad Air USB to DAC
    • Media Room Ht-7.2.6/13.1 (Atmos/Auro-3D) Polk LSiM707, LSiM706c, LSiM702 F/X [x4], height LSiM703 [x6], HSU VTF-15H MK2 Dual | Marantz AV8805A | Rotel RB-1590 (L/R) | Appollon NC500 11ch | Sony UBP-X800 | AppleTV 4K | JVC RS2100
    • Game Room-5.1 Polk LSi25, LSiC, LSiF/X | Marantz SR7009 | AppleTV 4K | Xbox One S | Sony PS2, PS3 | Nintendo Wii | Gaming PC | Sony 75" LCD
    • Master Bedroom Music-2.0 Totem Hawk | Marantz PM-10 | Marantz SA-10 | SONY PS-HX500
    • Office-2.0 Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX, DSW microPRO3000 | Rotel RA-1570 | Marantz HD-CD1
    • Daughter's Bedroom 1-2.0 TBD Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 2-2.0 Klipsch RP-600M | Martin Logan Forte
    • Guest Room 3-3.0 Martin Logan Motion 40, 50XT | Onkyo TX-SR705 | Apple TV | Samsung 55" TV
    • Guest Room 4-2.0 QAcoustics 3030i | Sansui AU-6900 | Topping DX7s | Sansui FR-1080 | TV
    • Maintenance: Pro-Ject VC-S Record Cleaning Machine
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    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.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    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
    displayname Posts: 1,126
    mhardy6647 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.
    Analog: MoFi MasterTracker > MoFi UltraDeck > Sutherland 20/20
    Digital: Cambridge CXC / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
    MastersounD Dueventi > Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo or Arcam rHead > Hifiman HE4XX
    Discogs
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    What tubes you gonna be running? Thanks for the preliminary thoughts.
  • displayname
    displayname Posts: 1,126
    Skip is correct. No rolling for me at this point, stock tubes are doing well and not giving me any reason to change.
    Analog: MoFi MasterTracker > MoFi UltraDeck > Sutherland 20/20
    Digital: Cambridge CXC / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
    MastersounD Dueventi > Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo or Arcam rHead > Hifiman HE4XX
    Discogs
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    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.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,288
    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.

    mlgfnp0nspbs.jpg
    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.

    ksvn5g07o2ib.jpg
    Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300, Audioquest Thunderbird Zero Speaker Cable, Tyler Highland H2, 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.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    F1nut wrote: »
    ...I also want thank everyone for making this as easy as possible for me so far. Ya'll doin' good job B)

    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
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Nightfall wrote: »
    F1nut wrote: »
    Ya'll doin' good job B)

    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...

    :p

    Enjoy it while it lasts! :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.