Polk Audio’s Reserve Series Speakers Bring Legend Innovations At Lower Prices

[shadyJ]

Polk Audio has just launched a new line of loudspeakers that takes many of the innovations from their flagship Legend seriesand packs them into a much more affordable set that they call the ‘Reserve’ series. Many of the Reserve speakers have MSRPs less than half of that of their Legend counterparts yet still boast much of the same technology and even deploying a few new technologies of their own. This is great news for those who want the acclaimed high-performance Polk sound but can’t swing the Legend series pricing. What are some of the things they do which make them compelling for the cost? Read our preview of the Polk Reserve loudspeaker series to find out.

READ: Polk Audio Reserve Loudspeaker Series Preview

 

[gene]

Livestream 3/23 at 8pm EST with Polk Audio to discuss the new Reserve series of loudspeakers and answer questions.

 

[ryanosaur]

Thanks Shady!
Can’t wait to see what the electrical behavior of these will look like.

 

[shadyJ]

Thanks Shady!
Can’t wait to see what the electrical behavior of these will look like.

You know me, I'm always down for some electrical behavior!

 

[afterlife2]

Looking forward to your 100 and 200 line reviews ShadyP. These are all over YT this morning.

 

[ryanosaur]

You know me, I'm always down for some electrical behavior!

Hubba Hubba!
Can't wait to see that phase angle at impedance minima!
*cat-calls

 

[Pogre]

Some interesting looking technology from top to bottom. The tweets look like have their own little phase plugs?

And I just love these cut away images. That's a unique looking port design too.

 

[panteragstk]

You know me, I'm always down for some electrical behavior!

Hubba Hubba!
Can't wait to see that phase angle at impedance minima!
*cat-calls

No talk about ports? The most irresistible part of a speaker?

Where's @Danzilla31 when we need someone to talk about ports?

 

[cbecker33]

Any idea when they will be available?

 

[Pogre]

Any idea when they will be available?

The speakers or shady's review? The speakers are available right now. I'm not sure about shady's review tho. I think he's kinda backed up right now.

 

[shadyJ]

The speakers or shady's review? The speakers are available right now. I'm not sure about shady's review tho. I think he's kinda backed up right now.

Yup, there are plans for me to review these, but it won't happen for a little while.

 

[Danzilla31]

I really really like the look of these Shady

If they can come close to the Legends I'm going for them

Perfect for my bedroom setup

I always really like the signature 60's they didn't have the best measurements and they had some issues nothing major and definetly a house sound but I still liked that sound so I've been waiting for Polk to come up with something new that performed better but didn't have to be they're top of the line speaker

Very hopeful for these

 

[beaRA]

@shadyJ if you get a chance to review either of the smaller towers (R500 or R600), can you confirm the crossover configuration? All of the listings say 2-way, but "New Record Day" on YouTube says a Polk engineer told him they were in fact 2.5-way. Thanks!

 

[shadyJ]

@shadyJ if you get a chance to review either of the smaller towers (R500 or R600), can you confirm the crossover configuration? All of the listings say 2-way, but "New Record Day" on YouTube says a Polk engineer told him they were in fact 2.5-way. Thanks!

We have given the Legend series quite a bit of coverage already and probably won't be doing anymore reviews on that series. We fo have a lot planned for the new Reserve series though.

 

[beaRA]

We have given the Legend series quite a bit of coverage already and probably won't be doing anymore reviews on that series. We fo have a lot planned for the new Reserve series though.

Thanks for the reply. Yep it's the Reserve Series R500 and R600 crossover configurations that I am interested in.

 

[beaRA]

Nevermind, Mike Greco from Polk confirms the R500, R600, and R350 are 2.5 way at about the 54 minute mark in the video below.

 

[Adam2434]

Interested in how the R400 center and R700 floorstander measure and perform.

Napier Lopez at thenextweb.com did spins on the R200 bookshelf and was very impressed.

I'm really curious about how the R400 center measures, given that it's a 2-way MTM.

I really wish Polk had a 3-way center in the Reserve series, as the L400 is pretty pricey.

Also curious why Polk didn't use their "Cascade Tapered Array" crossover (different crossover frequencies on each woofer) on the R400 to reduce comb filtering, like they have done in previous MTM centers. I have an old Polk CS400i center (not in use) with this crossover type.

 

[beaRA]

Interested in how the R400 center and R700 floorstander measure and perform.

Napier Lopez at thenextweb.com did spins on the R200 bookshelf and was very impressed.

I'm really curious about how the R400 center measures, given that it's a 2-way MTM.

I really wish Polk had a 3-way center in the Reserve series, as the L400 is pretty pricey.

Also curious why Polk didn't use their "Cascade Tapered Array" crossover (different crossover frequencies on each woofer) on the R400 to reduce comb filtering, like they have done in previous MTM centers. I have an old Polk CS400i center (not in use) with this crossover type.

If you're interested in the Reserve series, I'd suggest grabbing an LSiM 704c before they're gone. You can get them for $300 or less now that they are discontinued. The ring radiator tweeter in the Reserve series is a slight modification of the one on the LSiM line. Both series have been measured to be fairly neutral so they will blend well.