Review: Polk Spare speakers in surround – High-end technology, affordable toppers

A whole setup

Receiving a surround setup for testing is always an undertaking. Especially in this case, because Sound United sent a full 5.x.4 setup, good for two large pallets that were delivered to the door by the courier. We received the R600 floorstanders, the R100 bookshelf speakers and four R900HT speakers that you can use as height speakers against the ceiling or as Dolby speakers that you place on top of your Spare speakers at ear height. The sound of the height channels characteristic of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X are then radiated upwards and reflected from the ceiling to your seat. Via a switch at the back of the R900HT you indicate in which role you are going to use them. Of course, you also have to properly set up your AV receiver which type of speakers you use for the height channels.

With our Denon AVR-X6300H, for example, you have to enter the distance to the ceiling for reflective Dolby speakers. For our test, we opted to use the R900HTs as Dolby speakers – mainly because our fixed Dali height speakers can hardly be replaced by other copies. We do believe that if you can choose between speakers high on the wall/in the ceiling or Dolby speakers, it is best to go for the first option.

Two centers

Polk also wanted to give us the opportunity to hear the difference between two very different center speakers from the Reserve line: the R350 and the R400. They are indeed two very different devices. Or rather, they fit in different situations. The R350 is long and slim, rather intended to fit in the space between a TV on the wall and a TV cabinet. It has a closed design and comes with brackets for wall mounting, so you can place it neatly under a screen. Also close to the wall. The R400 is a more robust center speaker that is suitable for ‘real’ home cinemas. Because it has other bass ports, it is rather intended to be parked on a TV cabinet or a stand a little further from the wall behind it – although it is possible if you do the necessary on the AV receiver to reduce the possibly too intense bass. compensate. In any case, the duel between the two centers has turned out to be fascinating. Every speaker in a surround setup has a role to play, but the center is really crucial in our opinion. An important part of the film sound is in the center channel. For example, think of most dialogues, but also all sound effects that take place centrally on-screen and in close-ups. And yes, of course, the subwoofer always supports the center speaker, but in our opinion it is better if the center is also able to reproduce lower frequencies itself. In short, because the R400 has more cabinet volume and bass ports, it will probably also perform better. But with its height and shape, it will not always be easy to place under a TV. Every speaker in a surround setup has a role to play, but the center is really crucial in our opinion. An important part of the film sound is in the center channel. For example, think of most dialogues, but also all sound effects that take place centrally on-screen and in close-ups. And yes, of course, the subwoofer always supports the center speaker, but in our opinion it is better if the center is also able to reproduce lower frequencies itself. In short, because the R400 has more cabinet volume and bass ports, it will probably also perform better. But with its height and shape, it will not always be easy to place under a TV. Every speaker in a surround setup has a role to play, but the center is really crucial in our opinion. An important part of the film sound is in the center channel. For example, think of most dialogues, but also all sound effects that take place centrally on-screen and in close-ups. And yes, of course, the subwoofer always supports the center speaker, but in our opinion it is better if the center is also able to reproduce lower frequencies itself. In short, because the R400 has more cabinet volume and bass ports, it will probably also perform better. But with its height and shape, it will not always be easy to place under a TV. For example, think of most dialogues, but also all sound effects that take place centrally on-screen and in close-ups. And yes, of course, the subwoofer always supports the center speaker, but in our opinion it is better if the center is also able to reproduce lower frequencies itself. In short, because the R400 has more cabinet volume and bass ports, it will probably also perform better. But with its height and shape, it will not always be easy to place under a TV. Think, for example, of most dialogues, but also all sound effects that take place centrally on-screen and in close-ups. And yes, of course, the subwoofer always supports the center speaker, but in our opinion it is better if the center is also able to reproduce lower frequencies itself. In short, because the R400 has more cabinet volume and bass ports, it will probably also perform better. But with its height and shape, it will not always be easy to place under a TV. because the R400 has more cabinet volume and bass ports, it will probably also perform better. But with its height and shape, it will not always be easy to place under a TV. because the R400 has more cabinet volume and bass ports, it will probably also perform better. But with its height and shape, it will not always be easy to place under a TV.

Incidentally – and that shows that home cinema use is really high on the menu – you will find a third center speaker in the Reserve family, the R300. This one is even more compact, but we have not tested it. In any case, it is not often that we see a loudspeaker family where there are more or as many center models than floorstanders or bookshelf speakers. When we approach Sound United about this, we are told that this has to do with the ambition to have the right offer all over the world. In some countries people live smaller and more compact home cinema options are necessary. By the way, the R350 can be used as an LCR; so you can place it vertically or horizontally against the wall, around your television screen.

Polk Spare speakers: Legendary Technique

When unpacking the R600, you immediately notice that a metal base with damping feet is already mounted. Usually you have to apply that yourself, so not here. If we turn the speaker upside down – no fear, we have a deep-pile mat in the test room – we immediately see why. The R600 doesn’t have a bass port in the front or back like most floorstanders. There is, however, a large opening at the bottom through which air can come out. The pre-assembled foot ensures that the speaker remains sufficiently far from the surface. It’s also just part of the whole port construction that Polk calls PowerPort 2.0. After all, the port of the Reserve loudspeaker has a special shape, including a kind of ‘pin’ or tube that points inwards. It’s something clever, tuned to counteract the gate and cabinet resonant frequency. The typical blowing noises (chuffing) that occur when playing loudly and with a lot of air coming out of a bass port should not occur here. We also see a simpler X-Port form of the PowerPort in the R100, but at the back. When setting up, we notice that while you can even place the R600 very close to the wall, the R100 is more sensitive to placement. But that X-Port lets the small bookshelf speaker – if we connect it in stereo – play impressively. the R100 is more placement sensitive. But that X-Port lets the small bookshelf speaker – if we connect it in stereo – play impressively. the R100 is more placement sensitive. But that X-Port lets the small bookshelf speaker – if we connect it in stereo – play impressively.

Polk Spare speakers – Now black, later white

As it should be, all Reserve speakers are finished in the same way. The surround setup therefore fits together well, so that your living room is not sufficient with a diverse design. Given their price point, Polk has managed to turn it into something really nice and to catch up on the latest interior trends. A somewhat matt, slightly rougher vinyl layer has been placed over the cabinets, and that is completely seamless. Even over the rounded corners, which give the Reserves a more modern look. Although there will also be white editions, only the black versions of the Polks are currently available.

The Reserve speakers look quite chic, both in terms of general impression and in the details. The speaker grilles hang magnetically, for example, and consist of a dark gray Scandinavian-feel fabric. Normally we leave the grilles in the box, but in this case the speaker looks nicer with. At the back you will also find solid speaker terminals. Only with the R900HT’s it is a bit of a mess to install cabling. You often have that with these types of speakers, just because they have to hang on the wall if desired.

Before applying the grids, we admire the special tweeter that Polk uses. It is a dome tweeter, but not a standard model. The whole is a bit deeper in a waveguide, with a very pointed protrusion in the middle. You have to be careful not to accidentally push in or damage this ‘pinnacle’, especially with the R900HT height speakers. Why the pointed shape? The pinnacle, together with the surround, ensures a better, more even distribution of the higher frequencies.

Equally striking are the midrange drivers. Or rather their cone, executed with a curious relief that Polk calls the Turbine Cone. Looks special, but it’s not made to stand out. That’s a bonus. The designers chose this cone with unevenness because it makes it stiffer and moves better up and down like pistons. You need that for a natural reproduction of instruments and sound. Plus, the Turbine protrusions avoid resonance around 5.5 to 6 kHz.

A little more power is welcome in new Polk Spare speakers

We arrange the Reserve 5.x.4 setup, supplemented with a Monitor Audio Silver W12 subwoofer, with Audyssey on the Denon AVR-X6300H receiver that is stationary in the test room. Nowadays we often turn to the Apple TV 4K as a source. But because it sometimes shows a curious bug where the center channel is not passed on, we also include the Oppo UDP-203 and the Xbox One X. All this is connected to the Sony KD-65A9 in the test room. One thing we quickly notice during testing is that the Polks do like to have some power. The Denon receiver is not the least, but we still have to open it further than usual to achieve a higher cinema level. The relatively low sensitivity of the floorstanders and center speaker probably has something to do with this. In short, it’s certainly not a bad idea to marry a Reserve surround setup with a more powerful AV receiver.

With that in mind, we start with setting up and tweaking the surround setup. We set the rear channels a little quieter than what Audyssey prefers, that is the main adjustment. We quickly get a homogeneous-sounding surround field, the Reserve speakers fit together particularly well in terms of tonality. That is a basic requirement for a surround speaker set.

We always go through different surround clips when testing, but we zoom in on the great ‘Captain Marvel’ (Dolby Atmos, Disney+) The Marvel movies don’t always have the best surround mixes – sometimes the surround field is too flat, lacks dynamics and it is not three dimensional enough. The mix is ​​very good with this film from 2019. It combines an enveloping sound field with well-positioned effects that are just too explicit, and that fits the genre’s overly frantic action feel. The Polks fit in well with this approach where atmosphere takes precedence over spectacle. For example, the height effects flow seamlessly into the surround field at ear height, and the integration between LCR is fine. Even with the R350, the dialogues are quite full. The R400 is indeed a bit more convincing,

After checking out more content, including the underrated ‘For All Mankind’ (Dolby Atmos, Apple TV+), we are pleased with the coherent and somewhat polite presentation of the Polks. Perhaps we should explain that ‘polite’. At first hearing the Reserves seem a bit withdrawn and a bit dark, but that may be because we were working with somewhat brighter Focals before that. They also offer something other than say Bowers & Wilkins’ sparkling 700 series. So we had to get used to the new Polk sound, which is certainly not clear but also does not suffer from excessive bass. In part that’s personal taste, but in the long run, we think this Polk sound is more authentic and ear-friendly.

Atmos music

One of the reasons we like to keep the Apple TV 4K in our test track: it plays the Dolby Atmos offer from Tidal. The streaming service is pretty much the only one to really push music in the Atmos format, with recent additions being the Star Wars film music composed by John Williams. The recent ‘John Williams in Vienna’ album can also be heard in the 3D audio format. So we have to listen to that (again) on the Polks. Besides the well-known Star Wars tunes, ‘Devil’s Dance’ (from ‘The Witches of Eastwick’) is a favorite track on this album, especially with Anne-Sophie Mutter on the violin. The Polks show themselves at their best with these tracks. The clean yet powerful basses provide good support for the orchestral works, and the R900HTs on top of the R600 deliver a spatial impression that is very convincing. Even in Dolby speaker mode, we get a lot from the Viennese concert hall.

Unfortunately, not all Atmos music mixes are equally impressive. For example, Gregory Porters’ ‘All Rise’ doesn’t use the full possibilities of a 3D space, while in the Atmos version of Lianne La Havas’ album we do listen with satisfaction to the beautiful vocals of the British singers coming from the front speakers. The Reserves do something here that is also important for film soundtracks: provide an enveloping presentation in which all speakers work together perfectly.

Polk Spare speakers – Conclusion

Compared to previous Polk Spare speakers, the new Polk Spare speakers are very different things. And we actually mean ‘better’ by that. The performance and finish are fine, especially given the reasonable price points. Film buffs and gamers will find a more accurate reproduction, a tighter bass reproduction and a wide appearance in a surround setup based on Spare speakers. Drive the Polk Reserves with an appropriate AV receiver and you won’t be disappointed. Another plus are the many models that appear under the Reserve flag, such as the three center speakers and the three floorstanders. This allows you to select the elements yourself to build a surround setup that really fits into your living room, whether it is a compact, slim system or a setup that goes for a maximum surround experience.