Polk Audio Reserve R100 Loudspeaker Review

Polk Audio has been pleasing music lovers since 1972, often hitting an enthusiast's sweet spot with its mantra, “delivering the best possible sound for the best price”. While many things have changed in the last five decades, this company continues to stay true to its mission with the latest Reserve R100 loudspeaker.

The smaller sibling in Polk’s bookshelf range, this 2-way design comes in a choice of three finishes – namely white, black, or brown, with the latter being really more of a timber veneer finish. With a claimed frequency response of 58Hz to 39kHz (+3dB), it features a 25mm tweeter and a 145mm bass driver. Polk says that you can power the R100 with as little as 30 watts or as much as 150 watts. However, with a minimum impedance of 3.6 ohms and a sensitivity of 86dB, you will want to make sure you have an amplifier with decent load-driving ability. With a cabinet measuring 324x166x259mm, and each speaker weighing 5.5kg, you get a lot for the money.

Polk has crafted a superb-looking product, thanks in no small part to the excellent finish. The rounded edges of the cabinet are bonded together seamlessly to create a fit that screams quality, and the rear nickel-plated binding posts look solid enough to support the weight of a person (disclaimer – don’t do this). The speaker grilles aren’t push-in types, which leave rubber mounting holes in the front baffle, but instead are magnetic. They smoothly attach and detach, according to taste.

Polk’s Turbine Cone woofer has a unique pattern across the face of the foam-core injection cone, which the company claims increases rigidity without upping the mass. This is said to benefit transient speed and accuracy of movement. The tweeter is a so-called Pinnacle Ring Radiator type, which features a distinctive pointed shape that looks almost dangerous. Apart from perhaps deterring children from poking the driver, this is also claimed to provide wider dispersion of high frequencies.

Continuing the turbine theme, the rear of the cabinet features what Polk calls a patented X-Port. Looking like the nose of the 1989 Batmobile, this is said to extend bass response whilst minimising port resonance. All in all, then, the R100 is a handsome design that could easily be the centrepiece to your listening space – or discreetly placed back if you so wish.

For the purposes of this review, we hooked up our demo pair of R100s to the new Denon Home Amp, which provides a claimed 125W of power per channel into 4 ohms. Standard 14 awg pure OFC copper speaker cables were used, and the music source was lossless Tidal HiFi.

THE LISTENING

The R100 is a most enjoyable listen considering its price, with deep bass, richly textured mids, and clean highs. The bottom end has enough headroom to bump the EQ up a couple of notches without hitting the limits, even if some mid-bass punch is lacking. At the same time, treble sounds controlled, extended, and accurate – and duly delivers a most satisfying listening experience.

This said, the little Polk is unforgiving if your source material is poor. For example, if you’re playing so-so recordings and/or lossy audio formats, there is nowhere to hide – the R100 throws the window wide open to expose every flaw. One example of this is Stevie Nicks’ Edge of Seventeen. Listening to lossy Spotify, the kick drum sounded muddy and got a little lost behind the vocals, but when switching to Tidal Lossless, it had far better definition. All along, the guitar riff, conga rolls, and hat-taps maintained an attention-grabbing prominence.

Listening to a track like Luniz’s I Got 5 On It, the bass sounds extended and unflustered, although it’s not the most powerful around. When the source material has plenty of bottom-end thump – as with The Bad Touch by The Bloodhound Gang – the R100 sounds full and hits with plenty of weight. But more evenly mixed tracks can lack some force. If this is something that bothers you, then the addition of a small 8-inch subwoofer should be just enough to get the joint jumping, or you can try moving the speaker closer to the rear boundary wall.

The R100’s midband is vivid and engaging. Vocal performances thrive with this speaker, whether it’s the velvety richness of Seal’s Fly Like an Eagle, or the intense energy of Shania Twain’s If You’re Not In It For Love (I’m Outta Here). In fact, in the latter, I was surprised to find myself acutely aware of the supporting vocals during the chorus by the uncredited Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange, who was Shania’s husband and producer at the time. This speaker elevated the interplay between Shania’s lead and Robert’s supporting baritone to one of the song’s star attractions; there was a delicious richness to the chorus that is lost in lesser loudspeakers.

The R100 provides an expansive soundstage, too, even with less-than-ideal positioning. Aqualung by Jethro Tull is a prog rock track with a combination of aggressive guitar riffs, edgy vocals, and energetic drum rolls, along with one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. The Polk did all this justice, with vocals clearly ahead of the instruments and well delineated even when singer Ian Anderson really cranked things up. The size of the recorded acoustic was impressively large, and I felt like I could close my eyes and immerse myself in the music. Not bad for a budget box!

THE VERDICT

Polk Audio’s Reserve R100 is more than just a looker, then. As well as being one of the prettiest small speakers at its price point, it also boasts a seriously satisfying sound. It represents fine value for money, but just make sure you stick with well-recorded music and/or a decent front end, as it doesn’t suffer fools gladly.

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