The Polk Audio R700 is a beefy, three-way tower speaker sporting a one-inch Pinnacle Ring Radiator tweeter, a six and a half inch Turbine Cone midrange and two, yes TWO, eight-inch bass drivers –much of which is carried over from Polk’s costlier Legend Series. The speaker’s four drivers and bottom-facing port combine for a reported frequency response of 38Hz to 38kHz, with a sensitivity of 88dB and a minimum impedance of 3.6 Ohms, meaning this large tower isn’t necessarily impossible to drive, though a competent amplifier will give you the best results. Instead of Polk using a dome tweeter that we have seen in countless other speakers they went for a 1″ ring radiator that they have been using in their Legend series. Ring radiators are not widely used but they surely have some differences over traditional dome tweeters. The tweeter’s distinctive pointed shape guides the dispersion of high frequency sounds around a room for efficiently widening the sweet spot. In a 2ch stereo setup or as front speakers in a home theater application, you'll get the most realistic stereo image by placing a pair of speakers as far apart as your listeners are sitting from them. You may choose to angle the speakers toward the middle to support a more solid center image

Note: Make sure to always utilize either the spike or rubber feet for optimum sound quality and maximum stability. Power Port 2.0: Polk's new Power Port 2.0 is the latest version of their successful Power Port technology. In addition to Power Port's carefully engineered down-firing port design that smooths the flow of air as it exits the cabinet through the port, X-Port adds a set of closed-pipe absorbers that are specifically tuned to unwanted cabinet and port resonances. Together, these two technologies combine to function as Power Port 2.0 to deliver smooth, detailed audio. Combined with dual 8" woofers, you’ll get louder, cleaner bass while minimizing turbulence and port noise. we thought were easily the best speakers that Polk had made to date. However, it wasn’t all that surprising that we found them to be Obviously with a mix like this the R700 have a lot of work to do across the entire frequency range but the end result did not disappoint. The front speakers created a sound wall in front of us that was not only powerful and full of energy but also had great extension and depth which put us right into the middle of the action.Overall these are some nicely crafted speakers. Yes, with the grilles on they look uninspiring and dull but when the drivers are exposed they look really good. The cabinet is of high quality, the stand is sturdy, even though slightly bigger than we would have liked, and it seems that Polk Audio make them look of higher quality than many of their previous releases. So far so good. Internal Hardware Our pioneering turbine design delivers a significant increase in cone rigidity without increasing mass. This innovation means the woofer can move with increased accuracy and speed to deliver enhanced sound resolution, enabling you to experience a breathtaking level of detail in your music and movies. Do I wonder if say the L600 sounds better than the r700? Yeah. But from my own at home comparisons I am sure it would be extremely minor.

Turbine Cone Midrange & Woofers: The floorstanding loudspeaker houses one 6.5" Turbine Cone midrange driver and two 8" Turnine Cone woofers to handle midrange, midbass, and bass frequencies. Polk developed the new Turbine cone to ensure the natural reproduction of the midrange, the frequencies our ears are so sensitive to. The Turbine cone combines Polk's proprietary foam core and the molded Turbine geometry which dramatically increases stiffness and damping, without adding mass - resulting in a smooth, detailed midrange and effortless bass. Bi-Wiring: Bi-wiring can provide noticeable improvements in the overall transparency of your loudspeakers. Run separate speaker wires to the low & high frequency drivers from a single amplifier (the upper set of binding posts are for the high frequency drivers; the lower set of binding posts are for the low frequency drivers). You can use a pair of floorstanding speakers as rear surround speakers in a home theater setup. Ideal rear channel surround speaker placement is along a side wall, slightly behind the listening position. If you cannot place rear surrounds along the side walls, position them along the rear wall of listening position. Tl;Dr l800 has better deeper bass due to larger cabinet and 10in woofers. Soundstage is much larger and expensive and SDA effect is awesome.We switched gears and next film we tested was Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring, again in 4K UHD which uses a reference level Dolby Atmos mix. Meet Stuart, Yvonne, Nathan, and Vaughan. But more importantly, meet the solution to your audio dilemmas. Enhanced audio precision: Turbine Cone Woofer provides increased accuracy and speed for impressive detail.

The l800s are a lot better than the r700. but it's for reasons imo not typically said as to why one is better.. I'll try to do my best to explain. I have l800s up front and r700 side surrounds. Awarded Excellence: 🏆 Honored as Australia’s Hi-Fi Retailer of the Year in 2021 and 2022, and hailed as Queensland’s Best Hi-Fi Retailer. Not just accolades, but a testament to our dedication.Let's be honest, these speakers need power — it helps them get loud, and it precisely controls the stop-start motion of the drivers to achieve pinpoint sonic accuracy. Polk suggests you give them around 100 watts apiece, and I highly recommend using a high-output power amp or integrated amp to drive thesespeakers and help them sound their best. Got wire? A true test for these speakers would obviously be their low end output during the most demanding sequences. Now, obviously if we had a subwoofer, especially a good one, there is no question that we would get much better and deeper low end but for what these speakers have to work with, what we heard was far better than expected. The Polk Reserve R700 floorstanders deliver a bold sound, performing equally well with both 2 channel stereo and home cinema surround sound setups. A one inch Pinnacle dome tweeter provides crisp highs for detail, while the 6.5 inch Polk Turbine cone delivers clarity in the all-important midrange. The turbine cone combines a foam core with moulded turbine geometry to dramatically improve stiffness and damping, without adding extra weight. The Turbine cone lets you experience a smooth and detailed midrange and bass.

The speakers we tested were relatively new but we could not confirm if they were past their break-in period. Most manufacturers do suggest between 50-70 hours of break-in time before speakers can reach their peak performance but we always suggest to wait until around 100 hours if they are new to be completely sure that what you hear is what the speakers can ultimately give you. These speakers are both very accurate and neutral, no listener fatigue from boosted mids and highs but no loss of detail or focus either. The bass is tightly controlled and powerful and the overall impression is that the speaker is just effortlessly cruising along totally unflustered by even a full symphony played at high volume. They are a massive improvement on my previous B&W DM603 series 2 (22 year old version). Before buying I auditioned similarly priced B&Ws and Klipsch and the Polks were clearly better especially when listening to symphonies at high volume. I recommend these highly especially if you value accurate and effortless reproduction. Reply For our first test we decided to try out Battleship in 4K UHD that comes with an explosive DTS:X mix. You can say whatever you want about the film’s quality but when it comes to its technical merits I think we all agree that they are flawless.

Design

Personal Touch: Our commitment is to craft an audio experience tailored to you. Forget one-size-fits-all. As far as how each 'sounds', they are near identical in the fact they timbre match NEAR perfectly. Hell to me even the r200 vs l200 sound near the same with the L200 sounding a touch cleaner and sharper. More refined is best I can describe it. But not enough to make a timbre difference with mix matching in a setup. Keep in mind, these differences only popped out when I was doing very critical side by side testing and they are minor. Day to day use I have never noticed a timbre difference in my reserve and legend surround mix of speakers. All flows perfectly. Option for freedom: Expanded sweet spot allows for exceptional acoustics from anywhere in the room. To be with you at every step. From envisioning a serene evening with your favourite album to setting up the ultimate cinematic audio for movie nights. And once that’s clear, we’ll guide you on making it a reality - harmonising your budget, room dynamics, and dream. The low end was once again one of the highlights and the R700 would hit the low end strings like a hummer and never letting go until the end of the performance. If you want a pure 2 channels setup with no subwoofer then the R700 will do great and surely there were moments that we didn’t think that we would like to have a sub for extra depth.