Polk Audio goes in on Dolby Atmos with nine-strong Reserve Series speaker range

Polk Reserve
(Image credit: Polk Audio)

Polk Audio has announced an all-new flagship loudspeaker range, the Reserve Series, to cover all your stereo and surround sound needs.

Reserve consisting of nine models – three floor-standing models, three centre channels, two bookshelf speakers, and a height module to Dolby Atmos-ify a system. The comprehensive range utilises many of Polk’s in-house technologies, pioneered in the Legend series, such as Pinnacle Ring Radiator tweeters (heralded by the company for their wide dispersion) and Turbine Cone Midrange drivers.

There are also some new features, such as ‘X-Port technology’, which uses a set of closed-pipe absorbers tuned to eliminate unwanted cabinet and port resonances. Polk claims it ensures “balanced, clean mid-bass for amazing detail and dynamics”.

The R600 and R700 floorstanding speakers include a downward-firing ‘Power Port 2.0 Design’, an application that Polk says enables bass frequencies to extend more deeply and at higher output levels than traditional ported speakers.

The range-topping R700 towers also feature point-to-point bracing with ‘Cabinet Resonance Control’ technology to help eliminate panel resonances. Driver-wise, each box has a 1in Pinnacle tweeter, a 6.5in Turbine Cone midrange driver and dual 8in woofers. The Polk Audio Reserve R700 costs £1999 ($1998, about AU$3649) a pair.

The R600, meanwhile, has a 1in ring radiator tweeter and two 6.5in Turbine Cone midrange drivers and cost £1399 ($1598, about AU$2549) a pair. Rounding off the floorstanders is the R500 with a 1in Pinnacle tweeter and two 6.5in Turbine Cone midrange drivers. Unlike its bigger siblings, the XPort is on the rear rather than being floor-firing in combination with a power port. The R500 costs £1199 ($1198, about AU$2199) a pair.

Polk's R200 (£649, $699, about AU$1199) and R100 (£499, $599, about AU$899) bookshelf speakers give you the choice of a 6.5-inch or 5.25-inch mid/bass driver respectively, alongside the 1in Pinnacle tweeter.

To deliver the pinnacle of home cinema surround sound that is provided by Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and IMAX Enhanced soundtracks, the R900 height module can be wall-mounted or placed atop any of the floorstanders, with a toggle switch correctly tuning the module to whichever placement you choose. It sports a 0.75in tweeter and 4in turbine cone midrange driver with a pair costing £499 ($499, about AU$899).

Reserve has three size options for centre speakers: the R300, R350 and R400. The largest of the three, the R400 takes a full-size approach and has a 1in tweeter, two 6.5in Turbine Cone midrange drivers, dual X-Ports and costs £599 ($599, about AU$1099) each.

The slimmer R350 is 5.5ins tall and wall-mountable with a 1in tweeter coupled with four 4in Turbine Cone midrange driver. It costs £499 ($399, about AU$899). Designed to fit in most TV cabinets, the R300 marries a 1in tweeter with two 4in Turbine Cone midrange driver and costs £399 ($399, about AU$749).

The Reserve Series are all available in matte black, and all models except the R400 and R700 also come in matte white. The whole range is available now.

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Mary is a staff writer at What Hi-Fi? and has over a decade of experience working as a sound engineer mixing live events, music and theatre. Her mixing credits include productions at The National Theatre and in the West End, as well as original musicals composed by Mark Knopfler, Tori Amos, Guy Chambers, Howard Goodall and Dan Gillespie Sells. 

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