The Polk Reserve R400 (see image) is the only one that is IMAX certified.
For those out to buy a center-speaker for your home theater system or just listening pleasure (these are not for studio purposes) under the $1000 mark, do look at the R300, R350, and R400 from the Polk Reserve series.
In summary, the fairly recent Reserve series from Polk is a line of loudspeakers based on some of the salient features from their flagship Legend series, albeit with a more affordable price tag and some unique features of their own. The Reserve R300, R350, and R400 are all center channel speakers from the series. All three sound remarkably balanced and clear and come with a legit high-end look and build. They differ in price and output power in ascending order (the R300 being the most affordable and less powerful of them all and the R400 the priciest and most powerful). All three are certified as Hi-Res. The R400 is the only one that is IMAX certified, though.
Let’s have a closer look.
Design
While the Reserve series doesn’t look as premium-luxury as the Legend series does, its overall appearance is definitely one that says 'high-end' at first glance in a quite surprising manner in this price range.
Those familiar with the Legend series will be no stranger to the turbine cone with the specially shaped fins inside designed to reduce unwanted resonances at higher resonances (the infamous ''break-up'' mode). More on that in the Sound section.
The overall look, though, is that of a solid, hi-fidelity center-speaker system that blends in as well into a posh, plush, leather living room decor as it does in a minimal, sparse aesthetic.
The removable rubber feet are a great addition as well, which help you keep it firm on smoother surfaces.
Color Options
The Polk Reserve R300 and R400 are both available in black and walnut brown. The R350 gives you an additional option of white.
The Polk Reserve R300 and R400 are both available in black and walnut brown. The R350 (see image) gives you an additional option of white.
Dimensions
- Polk Reserve R300: 19 x 6.8 x 8.9" / 482.6 x 172 x 226.5 mm (with Feet)
- Polk Reserve R350: 30 x 5.6 x 7.4" / 762 x 141 x 187.5 mm (with Feet)
- Polk Reserve R400: 24.2 x 7.7 x 13.8" / 615 x 196.6 x 350 mm (with Feet)
Weight
Sound Quality
Let me tell you something right off the bat.
The sound quality performance you'll end up getting from a speaker will always depend on your room acoustics - particularly room dimensions and speaker positions.
The impact of the combination of these two is actually so strong that in most cases, it doesn't even make sense to utter a single word on sound quality without speaking of them.
This is also why it's not unusual to see completely different reviews of the same speaker.
In one case the speaker might be placed in a sweet spot inside the room and hence the user might be satisfied. In other cases the same speaker might be ill placed and hence user might even have returned it.
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The point most people miss here is that it mostly isn't even about the engineering behind the speaker itself. It's about where you place the speaker inside which room.
So, in order to solve this problem, I've partnered with an Acoustics and Audio Engineering PhD and created Soundton - a simple, 2D, browser accessible online speaker placement calculator.
With Soundton, now there's a way to figure the sound quality of most speakers before you buy them.
Read more about its working principles at soundton.com.
The end colormap provides you the locations with the best (green) and worst (red) acoustics.