one of the more popular reviews we have ever done on this channel was our take on Polk's r700 the
flagship speaker in their reserve line that review sparked an entire conversation about why we as
audio files continue to push ourselves to want more now the r700 remains one of our reference
speakers but they are increasingly difficult to find which is why we are taking a look at their
little brother the r600 so the question is can you get a similar experience for Less [Music] the
Polk r600 is a two-way tower speaker featuring the same one-inch Pinnacle ring radiator Tweeter and
six and a half inch turbine cone mid-range driver as the r700 only the 600 has two this is because
the r600 lacks the 700s Dual 8-inch woofers now both speakers have the same downward firing flow
Port all combined this gives the Polk a reported frequency response of 43 Hertz to 38 kilohertz
compared to to the r700s base which extends down to 38 Hertz the r600 is less weighty down low but
for a smaller two-way Tower 43 Hertz isn't too bad when it comes to power the r600s don't appear to
be quite as picky as the 700s with a sensitivity of 87.5 DB and an impedance of 8 ohms but it is
capable of Dipping down to four this means that the r600 needs a 4 ohm capable receiver or amp
to perform its best now we tested the 600 on marantz's Flagship processor in amp the av-10
and amp 10 are Onkyo rz50 the new Pioneer 805 and Audio Lab 7000a all were up to the task when it
came to driving the r600 so as long as you have a good quality amp or receiver with 50 watts of
power that is also good with a 4 ohm load you should be fine I'm not sure I've seen a finish
option that is more sought after than the matte white pair of r700s we were accidentally sent
while I'm sorry to report that there's still no way you can get a pair of r700s in y light
the r600s however can be built and finished to the same standards as the rest of the reserve
line the r600s are available in matte black and walnut as well you get the same magnetic grilles
and nothing beats the heather gray Polk has chosen to complement the white finish here making it one
of the more thoughtful Grille speaker combos I've seen while I'm not a fan of the feet design they
are integral to the speaker and its performance so their present isn't really optional but overall
this is a simple streamlined and well-crafted speaker that should provide for years if not
Decades of enjoyment now the r600s were easier to set up than the 700s I mean they're obviously
smaller they weigh nearly half as much and they aren't too picky with placement due to that
downward firing Port I still recommend that you pull them out into your room about 12 inches and
definitely avoid placing them directly in Corners unless of course you really want to load up the
base in our room they worked best around 18 inches off our front wall with nine feet between them
putting them roughly 10 feet from our sofa now Imaging in Sound Stage are two areas where I feel
this speaker excels though you don't have to apply a great deal of towin to enjoy either if you want
to bring out the top end extension pointing them directly at your listening Position will give the
600s Tweeter a bit more presence so how do they measure against the r700s well a few quick okay
I did eight sweeps from our listening position at a level of 75 DB and I mean wow for roughly
1700 a pair the r600s were impressive in our room from 200 Hertz on up the 600s are as neutral as
Speaker as I could ask for Rolling off just as you transition from the mid-range to the treble but
not as much as the r700s meaning the Lesser 600 should have a greater sense of top end presence
compared to the 700 something I know some of you watching are going to appreciate but like with the
700s the 600s have the Boost down low that helps the speaker feel weightier on their own and makes
Crossing them over with a sub pretty easy let's just get one thing out of the way the r600s are
not the r700s equal as much as I and I'm guessing everyone else here we're hoping for an r700 with a
bit less bass that's not exactly the case while both models have similar Sonic traits the 600
smaller cabinet volume and two-way design actually sound more like a larger pair of r200s than a
mini r700 but before you click off the 600s are capable of one thing the 700s don't always manage
their performance in the upper mid range to the treble give them a more forward in-room presence
that's never bright or fatiguing combined with the lack of bass the 600s are just more mid-range and
treble focused which is great for intelligibility if you find the 700s are too soft you know up top
the r600s may just be the speaker you've been looking for now adding a subwoofer to this 600
helps to round out their performance and in my opinion you should definitely budget for one
especially if your room is on the larger side we used our rp1000 from Clips which continues to be
an absolute Workhorse and pairs well sonically with every speaker we've thrown its way now if
you add a sub the Delta between the r700 and 600 does shrink but so does the 600s value proposition
even with the addition of a sub the r600 doesn't quite have the total coherence of the r700 on its
own while the mid-range is neutral and it doesn't alter the Timbre of instruments or vocals when
compared directly to the 700s the 600s do sound just a little bit leaner now adding a sub in my
opinion brings some needed weight to the 600s mids but if you like when performers take that step or
two forward in The Sound Stage you may prefer the 600s on their own as for the treble if you focus
only on the Tweeter the 600 and 700 are going to be more or less equal but because of their
lack of low low base the 600 treble feels less rolled off good news this is not a tweeter that
you're likely to find aggressive shrill or Worse painful in fact it is near perfect for all genres
of music and movies unless of course you desire that brighter sound as I said earlier The r600
Sound Stage is wide and deep with good separation between instruments and performers now it is
possible to bring everything into even sharper focus by experimenting just a bit with Towing
dynamically both Polk speakers like a little bit of volume to come alive the 600s don't need
quite as much as the r700s which makes them a hair better at lower volumes or when mated to a lower
power amplifier still for maximum grunt expect to turn these speakers up just a little bit more than
you may be used to if you're coming from say a Klipsch or a JBL if you've jumped to this section
of the review you need to rewind all the way back for all of the specific r600 700 comparisons I've
already made for everyone else the best Polk Reserve speaker is still the r700 and for an
extra 500 a pair I believe the cost is Justified now if you are in a smaller space or maybe you
already own a good subwoofer go ahead check out the r600s if you don't want more bass or maybe
you just don't want to mess with getting the base just right the 600s will give you more mid-range
and treble presence plus they come in white but for our room the r700 maintains Its Top Dog status
comparing the r600 to the eclipse 8000f Mark II both are two-way speakers however the 600s are
the more composed and dare I say audio file of the two the 8000 f2s definitely have more weight are
far more dynamically interesting at lower volumes and have that live sort of you are there sound if
you value neutrality and don't want a speaker that occasionally May wander into bright territory the
r600 will likely be a better fit which brings me to my favorite comparison and it's one that
I thought about a lot while listening to the polks of course I'm talking about arendahl's 1961 tower
now I prefer the overall style of the arendal but know that both speakers are space friendly
designs both have some base limitations both are four ohms both are crazy linear especially at
their price point and both sound excellent for music and movies now I prefer the sound of the
arendal but it may just come down to your budget so if you can't quite swing for the more expensive
1961 Towers the r600 is an option having heard the r200s the r700 and now the r600s from Polk's
reserve line I feel comfortable and confident saying that pound for pound taking price and
performance into account pulse entire reserve line may go down in HiFi history as being one of
the best budget-friendly loudspeaker series ever brought to Market I cannot recall another time
where an entire line of products were soaked just thoroughly enjoyable at every turn I honestly do
not think that you can go wrong with any speaker in the reserve line in the r600 cements that for
me so when it comes to obtainable loudspeakers say hello to one of the goats so that's it for
me and my take on Polk's r600 but before we go we can't get out of here without having your opinion
so what say you my dear oh well before I get into that I have I have a question for you oh
something that came up when you were through your portion of the review now that youth have heard
all three of the reserve speakers the r700s the 600s and the 200s and to be clear there
are a few more speakers in the line but oh there are yeah there's I think there's an even smaller
Tower and obviously there's centers oh yeah I knew there was a sinner yeah um yeah okay
but I think we've bracketed out of the three out of the three we have reviewed now yeah
um I'm curious if you couldn't get the r700s either because you just they they're not in stock
uh or they you know you don't have the space for them okay and since you talk about how you believe
that you still need a subwoofer with the r600 yeah yeah what would you get boy that is a good
question and honestly honestly um I think it's going to come down let I'm going to try and put
myself in the shoes of a prospective customer I think it's going to ultimately come down to
budget because obviously bookshelf speakers on stands take up the same physical footprint
um as at least a pair of our 600s they would still be smaller than r700s I cannot stress how
much larger that speaker really is um so you're not going to save any space going with bookshelf
speakers on a stand over the r600s so knowing that if you then factor in the cost of a subwoofer now
I have to factor in the cost of the sub that I use and recommend which is the rp1000 I want to
say that sub is pushing close to 800 bucks 750 800 in which case in which case um the the price
Delta is only a couple hundred bucks if you go to the bookshelves versus the r600s but I will say
that once you realize that there are 200 and 600 both in my opinion and in a room like ours need
a subwoofer not only just for full range playback for home theater use but for music as well I think
it really does help both of those speakers you are talking about a total purchase price that nears
the r700 on its own so which of the two would I do just one quick yeah quick clarification
it approaches the r700 or the r600 both the r200 and r600 with a sub and in the case of the r200
stands plus a sub you start getting close to two grand you really do in which case you're an r700
territory but if you can't get your hands on r700s or you really want that white finish having had
this experience I actually think I would probably go with the r600s so yeah that's that's I think
where I'm at okay okay that's great great answer uh one speaker that you did not mention okay
there's always one there's always one or a hundred or yeah some days you're better than
that some days are better than others uh one I want to ask you about is excuse me is the Q
Acoustics 50 40. that's all the brand new ones just reviewed it's yeah it's a seriously great
speaker for around 1500 bucks um you know honestly in this instance I am I'm gonna go Q acoustics
I am I'm gonna go Q Acoustics because they're not as linear in our room they're still very
respectable do not do not misunderstand but arendahl and the polks they're very good if
if you're one of these people that is like it needs to be neutral neutral
neutral neutral because anything that's not that anything that is character is bad
um arendal and Polk in our room and in our experience at least are going to be better
for that type of a listener that said the Q Acoustics are also very neutral leaning maybe
not quite to the degree that the Polk and arendal have proven to be but close enough for me that I
actually like some of the little hint of warmth that they inject or have in comparison to the Polk
and the other reason I choose the Q Acoustics is because for me I actually like the Tweeter in the
Q Acoustics just a little bit better that's not saying that I'm poo pooing on the Pinnacle ring
radiator Tweeter it is exceptional and I stand by the fact that it doesn't it just it works it
just works with all genres of music you can you can play it the worst MP3 you've ever had just
kicking around on your phone it's still probably going to be pretty listenable now I can't say that
exactly for the Q Acoustics it does it will kind of sometimes bring out some of that sibilance on
really poor recordings however it seems to be just a little bit more Airy and extended regardless of
like your toe in like you don't have to play with it as much and so it's just a little bit
more flexible in my opinion now for some of you who have let me know like you've gone and demoed
various Q acoustic speakers and you said they're still too soft if that's you if you're like hey
Q Acoustics is too soft and that Pinnacle ring radiator Tweeter is too soft then you need to be
looking at an entirely different set of speakers you know you may need to be looking at some focals
you may need to be looking at sonus Faber and stuff like that but in the comparison you asked
about um I'm going Q acoustics I would too yeah I I like that speaker a lot and it looks really nice
which is important to me yeah um and you do save a little bit of money so I think that's a great
that's always great I actually find or found the Q Acoustics to be a little bit more intelligible
okay for me I buy that then they are 600. as far as the Polk r600 or my take on it yeah yeah
um I would I would personally rather save a little bit extra money and get the r700s
okay if I if they were available and all the other things you know Stars aligned
um to me the price of the r600 isn't enough of a savings yeah from again that's for me
yeah and I did not find them as clear or as intelligible as the Klipsch 8000 F's oh yeah
um so if that is a concern for you yeah because I know a lot of people
have similar issues as I do when it comes to that you know understanding actor dialogue and
so on I would look at the Klipsch speakers way before I looked at the RCA r600s oh for in for
that specific purposes alone absolutely and I just think that I I love the Klipsch sound uh
especially that 8000 F I think it's a the Mark II The Mark II yeah yeah but the two
the two is better yeah the two is better the first the original model was also good yeah
um but I feel like they refined some of the bass control in the new um Clips 8000 F2 so I
would I would definitely get that over the first model um so yeah that's that's kind of where I'm
landing okay in this so if I'm understanding you correctly r700 still takes top honors for
you the big one the r700 in the in the reserve in the reserve line yes still takes top honors
um and then when it comes to the 600 because there's not enough of a price difference for you
you would also cross shop 8000 f mark twos or you would even go Q acoustic the new one over the 600.
yes I think that's fair I think that's completely Fair how do you feel though if I can ask I asked
myself this question for the for the conclusion so I am curious on the whole because you've had
the same experience with the reserve line that I've had that has now spanned almost
two years off and on with different things and we've even gotten some of the speakers back
um how do you feel about the reserve line you co-sign it oh yeah definitely it's it's really
good wholesale would buy it over anything from the Legend line oh yeah I I don't know I think that
Line's probably I don't have any official word on this but I would imagine the L line or Legend
line is probably close to being discontinued yeah I mean this the reserve series I think
is better in my opinion and it's not as expensive so yeah kind of
it's a no-brainer for me but yeah well done Polk I think that they've they've they've made an
entire series that is very difficult to beat yeah all right well that is now our take on Polk's R
600 tower speaker what do you guys think I know some of you guys have been asking for us to take
a look at this so I hope you found this video uh enjoyable worth the wait and informative but now
I gotta know I gotta know what do you guys think of the r600 and the reserve line I called it one
of hifi's goats do you agree with me sound off in the comments below if you like this video please
do give it a thumbs up like And subscribe go ahead ring that Bell so that you're notified when new
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and that is it for us today so remember the only person who has to like the sound of your system
is you so happy listening everybody thank you so much for watching see you on the next video bye