About the Polk Audio Reserve R500

A wallet-friendly entry point to the excellent Reserve lineup
A wallet-friendly entry point to the excellent Reserve lineup
The Polk Audio Reserve R500 is an affordable entry point to the excellent Reserve line of tower speakers. Two 5-1/4" Turbine Cone™ midrange/woofers are ensconced in a carefully braced cabinet with a rear-firing patented X-Port for distortion-free bass. A 1" Pinnacle ring radiator tweeter offers clear, crisp highs, with an integrated waveguide to improve dispersion and help create room-filling sound.
A pair of R500s are a strong choice for a stereo music-listening system, or they can anchor a voice-matched Reserve Series surround sound system as the front left and right channels.
Give them plenty of power
Good amplifier power is crucial to getting the most out of these speakers — it helps them get loud, and precisely controls the stop-start motion of the drivers to achieve exquisite sonic accuracy. Polk suggests you give them around 100 watts apiece, and I highly recommend using a high-output power amp or integrated amp to drive these speakers and help them sound their best.
Got wire?
The R500s don't come with speaker wire. Read our article about choosing and installing speaker wire.
Shop our selection of speaker wire.
Product highlights:
- 1" Pinnacle ring radiator tweeter with an integrated waveguide for clear, crisp highs
- dual 5-1/4" Turbine Cone™ midrange/bass drivers
- bass-reflex (ported) enclosure with rear-firing X-Port for distortion-free bass
- frequency response: 49-36,000 Hz
- nominal impedance: 8 ohms
- sensitivity: 87 dB
- high-current amplification from a quality power amp or integrated amp is recommended for best performance
- recommended amplifier power: 25-200 watts
- binding post speaker terminals
- compatible with optional R900 height module
- removable magnetic grille
- outrigger feet for a sturdy foundation
Dimensions and warranty:
- dimensions (measured by Crutchfield): 10-1/8"W x 41-3/16"H x 13-11/16"D (with outrigger feet)
- weight: 39 lbs.
- warranty: 5 years
- MFR # 300033-03-00-005
What's in the box:
Polk Audio Reserve R500 owner's manual
- Floorstanding loudspeaker
- 4 Outrigger feet (pre-installed)
- 4 Rubber feet (pre-installed)
- 4 Spike feet (pre-installed)
- Grille
- Hex-key
- Owner's Manual
- Online Registration
Customer reviews for Polk Audio Reserve R500
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More details on the Polk Audio Reserve R500

Features & specs
General | ||
---|---|---|
Enclosure | Ported | |
Finish | MDF/Vinyl | |
Color | White | |
Tweeter | Ring-Radiator | |
Tweeter Size (inches) | 1 | |
Midrange Size (inches) | N/A | |
Woofer Size (inches) | 5.25 | |
Woofer Composition | Polypropylene | |
Woofer Surround | Rubber | |
Built-in Powered Sub | No | |
Dolby Atmos Drivers | No | |
Connector Type | Binding post | |
Bi-amp Inputs | No | |
Parts Warranty | 5 Years | |
Labor Warranty | 5 Years | |
Specifications | ||
Power Range | 25-200 | |
Frequency Response | 49-36k Hz | |
Sensitivity | 87 dB | |
Impedance (Ohms) | 8 | |
Subwoofer Amp Power | --- | |
Height (inches) | 41-3/16 | |
Width (inches) | 10-1/8 | |
Depth (inches) | 13-11/16 | |
Weight | 39 lbs |
Product Research
Features
Two-Way Driver Design: The Reserve Series R500 floorstanding loudspeaker utilizes a two-way driver design and inherits the 1" Pinnacle ring radiator tweeter and 5.25" Turbine cone woofer from Polk's flagship Legend series for renowned clarity and imaging.
- 1" Pinnacle Ring Radiator Tweeter: The 1" high definition Pinnacle ring radiator tweeter, developed by Polk Audio, delivers ultra-clear, crisp highs without unwanted coloration or distortions. The Pinnacle tweeter features a finely tuned waveguide that dramatically improves the dispersion of high frequency energy ensuring a broad "sweet spot" and while the critically damped rear-chamber helps to defeat any unwanted resonances. Hi-Res certified, the Pinnacle Tweeter is designed for today's two-channel music listening as well as multichannel 3D audio found in music, movies, sports, and video games soundtracks.
- 5.25" Turbine Cone Woofers: The floorstanding loudspeaker houses two 5.25" Turbine Cone woofes to handle midrange, midbass, and bass frequencies. Polk developed the new Turbine cone to ensure the natural reproduction of the midrange, the frequencies our ears are so sensitive to. The Turbine cone combines Polk's proprietary foam core and the molded Turbine geometry which dramatically increases stiffness and damping, without adding mass - resulting in a smooth, detailed midrange and effortless bass.
Hi-Res & IMAX Certification: The Reserve Series offers excellent sound reproduction for both music and movie soundtracks with Hi Res & IMAX Certification. With Hi-Res Audio certification, the Polk Reserve R500 delivers clear and detailed high-end response. Female vocals are particularly smooth, with exceptional clarity and without coloration. Plus, a minimum support of 40kHz perfectly reproduces the latest Hi-Res Audio files with improved audio extension. IMAX Enhanced certification guarantees a huge immersive and dynamic home theater experience when enjoying IMAX Enhanced movies, television shows and music.
Polk X-Port: The R500 floorstanding loudspeaker employs a bass reflex cabinet with a rearr-firing port. This new patent-pending Polk X-Port delivers deep, effortless bass compared to traditionally ported speakers. Polk's newly patented X-Port incorporates an Eigentone Filter (ETF) offering distortion-free, effortless bass. The X-Port consists of a set of closed-pipe absorbers that are specifically tuned to catch and eliminate traditional speaker distortions. Polk's X-Port design ensures that the upper bass and mid-range are free of port and cabinet resonances for smooth, detailed audio.
Acoustically Inert Cabinet: Polk believes a speaker cabinet should be beautiful and add nothing to the playback. The Reserve Series speaker cabinet is carefully cross-braced to eliminate unwanted interior resonances, while rounded exterior corners help disperse sound broadly around the room with minimal diffraction, creating an open sound stage. A cloth grille attaches magnetically to the front of the speaker enclosure..
Binging Post Terminals: The Polk Reserve Series R500 floorstanding loudspeaker is equipped with a set of nickel-plated, binding-post terminals that will accept bare wire (16-10AWG), pin-connectors, spade-lugs, and banana-plugs (single only).
Rubber or Spike Feet: The Polk R500 comes with rubber and spike feet for a variety of flooring. The spike feet should be used on carpet floors, while the rubber feet are designed for hardwood, vinyl, laminate, and tile floors. The feet will need to be screwed into the bottom of the speaker cabinet. The rubber feet come installed on the spikes. In order to expose the spikes, simply pull the rubber feet off. The feet are adjustable so you can level or angle the speaker to your preference.
- Dimensions with Rubber Feet: 10.125" (w) x 41.1875" (h) x 13.6875" (d)
- Dimensions with Spike Feet: 10.125" (w) x 41.0625" (h) x 13.6875" (d)
Note: Make sure to always utilize either the spike or rubber feet for optimum sound quality and maximum stability.
Application & Placement Options: The R500 floorstanding loudspeaker can be used in a 2ch stereo application, or in a multichannel home theater setup as front, surround, and/or surround back channels.
- In a 2ch stereo setup or as front speakers in a home theater application, you'll get the most realistic stereo image by placing a pair of speakers as far apart as your listeners are sitting from them. You may choose to angle the speakers toward the middle to support a more solid center image
- You can use a pair of floorstanding speakers as rear surround speakers in a home theater setup. Ideal rear channel surround speaker placement is along a side wall, slightly behind the listening position. If you cannot place rear surrounds along the side walls, position them along the rear wall of listening position.
Reserve Series: The Polk Reserve Series offers modern styling combined with Polk's premium Pinnacle tweeter and Turbine midrange/midbass driver that deliver high-resolution detail and imaging. Plus, Polk's new X-Port and Power Port 2.0 technology help to deliver deep and effortless bass for a more immersive experience. The Polk Reserve Series consists of three floorstanding loudspeakers (R700/R600/R500), two bookshelf loudspeakers (R200/R100), two center-channel speakers (R400/R300), a LCR loudspeaker (R350), and a Dolby Atmos height speaker module (R900) - all sold separately.
Optional Power Subwoofer: Add one of Polk's powered subwoofers (sold separately - see Accessories Tab) for bigger, deeper, and more impactful bass when listening to your favorite movie and music soundtracks.
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Build system with Onkyo TX-NR696 receiver ,Polk R300 center, Polk R500 front, R100 rear channel. Wow! Building a media room around the system. Everything sounds clean and crisp, from Mozart to Tool. Couldn't be happier with the system and the service from Crutchfield.
Walter from Ennis, TX