Polk Audio - Polk Reserve R200 Bookshelf Speaker, 1" Pinnacle Ring Tweeter & 6.5" Turbine Cone Woofer (Pair) - Black

Great set of speakers. They have a fairly neutral sound which I love. Nothing is pushed forward or dropped out, mostly flat frequency response. I tried them with 3 different sources. A low tier AVR, which I think didn't have enough power to bring out the Polk's full capabilities. I would go with a more sensitive speaker if you will be using a cheaper AVR. I then tried out 2 different power amps, an older B&K that pushes 185 watts at 4 ohms and an Emotiva with 300 watts at 4 ohms. The Polk's never lost control or clarity at very loud volumes. Very impressive. Honestly I think they sound their best at high volumes. They are a full size "bookshelf" speaker. Take note of their dimensions if buying unseen. I put them on a set of 26inch Edifier stands I also bought from Best buy. The stands were pleasently solid/nicer than I thought they would be. I did turn the bottom base around so I didn't have to see the word Edifier on the front. So overall they are a good size, and even though their "special" port helps I do pull them out a little bit extra off the wall for critical listening. They have a very solid build..no resonance I can hear. They could be used without a sub, especially at close or nearfield listening, but with a good sub it is definitely better and more engaging, especially in a larger room. At this price it is hard to find a solid,nice sounding neutral speaker. Others recommended were the Elac Debut Reference or Revel bookshelves for a little more money. If you are patient these Polk's go on sale few times a year for an even better deal...that's what I did. You will never know if you like a speaker til you hear it in your system in your home. Room acoustics make such a huge deal of what and how we hear something. If you are looking for a less subjective review on these speakers I strongly suggest going online and typing Audio Science Review Polk R200, there you can see a Spinorama and measurements review...to see how this speaker showed from a technical side.

Great speakers. One of the best under $1k. Neutral sounding, big sound stage with clarity.

Superb sound for the price. I tried these out vs the ls50 metas and while the mids are slightly weaker, the highs are on par and sound better in some ways. The metas got slightly harsh at times(although at times also more detailed sounding) but these sound in-between a soft dome tweeter and a ribbon tweeter(doesnt have the harshness i hear in ribbon tweeters at certain frequencies though slightly less detailed). These are less than half of the price of the metas! The finish is okay but nowhere near the metas. They look good but you can tell this is how the cost was cut to meet the price. The bass is not super strong but clean and definitely better than the metas. Sound stage is great. The biggest weakness of these: speaker placement. They are really picky about how it's placed/faced. Horizontal dispersion is not great. It sounds different pretty quickly when you move out of the ideal sitting position. Vertical dispersion is not as bad; you can have the tweeter slightly below or above ear level but still not as good as most others I've heard. Overall, 4.5 (5 if based off of value for the price)