Polk Audio Legend L800

Features

L800 Floorstanding Loudspeaker: The Legend Series L800 floorstanding speaker features new patents that build on Polk's original SDA (Stereo Dimensional Array) mission of maintaining full stereo separation all the way from the source to your ears. As a result, the L800 renders the most lifelike detailed, stereo imaging you have ever heard from Polk. The speakers seem to disappear as the sonic images fill your listening room with startling realism. It does this by minimizing the inherent distortion found in most stereo speakers known as interaural crosstalk (IAC) by utilizing a second column of transducers called a dimensional array. Conventional loudspeakers restrict what you hear due to their failure to maintain complete stereo separation from the source to the speaker to your ears. 

• SDA (Stereo Dimensional Array): Polk SDA speakers were the first true stereo speakers because they were able to maintain stereo separation all the way from the source to your ears. By acoustically isolating the two stereo channels, each ear hears only the correct stereo channel. The left ear hears left channel, and the right ear hears right channel. Recordings literally come alive in your listening room. Musical images are reproduced with clarity and pinpoint accuracy. You are immersed in an awe-inspiring three-dimensional sound stage that extends from wall-to-wall (width), floor to ceiling (height) and extends both in-front and behind the speakers (depth). With Polk's SDA speakers your can you hear all the spaciousness and life-like imaging of the original performance. More importantly, the image is neither smeared nor torn by excessively wide speaker positioning.
• SDA PRO: SDA PRO, the next evolution of SDA, creates an expansive soundstage and detailed stereo image, while delivering a natural multi-dimensional sound experience. A wide, detailed soundstage is accomplished by revealing the original recorded signal. By positioning additional drivers to deliver a precisely derived interaural crosstalk cancellation signal to your ears, SDA PRO enables you to hear the sonic image just as the recording captured it. Individual instruments appear across a wide stage, as if the performance were in front of you at that very moment. In addition to processing two channel audio, it also integrates with 5.1 surround sound and is compatible with modern decoding technologies.
  • Enhanced Dimensional Array: To further improve interaural crosstalk (IAC) cancellation, Polk's new SDA PRO technology has enhanced the bandwidth of the dimensional array to more completely match the relevant frequencies of the IAC through the use of a pair of tweeters and a pair of midrange drivers.
• Angled Baffles: SDA-PRO utilizes a 15-degree baffle that angles both the stereo and dimensional arrays. By angling the baffle, Polk Audio has enhanced the quality of the stereo arrays by aiming them more precisely towards the listener (similar to toeing a pair of speakers). It also allows for a narrower speaker (reduces the width by 25%) while still maintaining the correct width and positioning of the dimensional array. The Angled baffles allow the main stereo speaker arrays to point directly at the primary listening area, providing the best natural dispersion of the stereo signal.
• Head Shadow: SDA-Pro employs special "Head Shadow" filters in the Dimensional Array to more exactly match (and hence cancel) the IAC (interaural crosstalk). When the IAC passes across the listeners face, it is modified in the same manner as light trying to go around an obstacle. This is known as the "head shadow". The Polk L800 speaker features sophisticated dimensional HS (head shadow) crossover to more precisely match and cancel out IAC noise, creating precise, immersive and expansive imaging.

Note: The original recorded left and right stereo signals are intended for the left and right ears, respectively. With conventional stereo speakers, sound from the left and right channel cross paths and are heard by the opposite ear. This is called Interaural Crosstalk (IAC). IAC distorts the imaging process, causing a narrow, shallow sound field. SDA Pro technology employs an acoustically inverted "dimensional" signal to cancel IAC, without impacting the original recorded signal. The result is that only the correct, original recorded signal reaches each ear, and the full width and depth of the sound stage is accurately reproduced.

Two 1" Pinnacle Ring Radiator Tweeters: The Polk Legend Series L800 floorstanding loudspeaker features two new 1" high definition Pinnacle ring radiator tweeters. Developed by Polk Audio, it 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.

Dual 5.25" Turbine Cone Midrange Drivers: The L800 floorstanding loudspeaker uses two 5.25" Turbine cone midrange drivers to handle the midrange frequencies. Polk developed the new Turbine cone specifically for the Legend series to ensure the natural reproduction of the mid-range, the frequencies our ears are most 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 smooth, detailed midrange.

Dual 10" Long-Throw Bass Woofers: The L800 floorstanding loudspeaker houses two 10" long-throw woofers to handle midbass and bass frequencies. The two 10" woofers extend the performance of the floorstanding loudspeaker, delivering rich midbass and deep bass for impactful sound.

Enhanced Power Port: Traditional bass ports make noise (chuff) and mask the low frequency bass notes you want to hear. The new enhanced Power Port design smoothly transitions air flow from the speaker into your listening area for louder, cleaner bass while minimizing turbulence, distortion, and port noise. Polk engineers worked tirelessly, fine-tuning the Enhanced Power Port to smoothly transition airflow from the speaker. You get what your music and soundtracks demand - tighter, louder and cleaner bass that can be heard and felt. The L800 floorstanding utilizes a large down-firing Enhanced Power Port.

Carefully Engineered Cabinet: The Polk Legend Series utilizes MDF/wood veneer speaker cabinets that are internally braced and carefully engineered to minimize unwanted internal standing waves and eliminate unwanted resonances. The result is a cabinet that rigidly holds the drivers while faithfully reproducing movie and music soundtracks. The speaker cabinet is available in a black or walnut finish.

Magnetic Grille: The Polk L800 includes an anti-diffraction magnetic grille for unaltered sound. The integrated magnets make it easy to attach and remove the grille from the floorstanding loudspeaker.

Speaker Terminals: The Polk L800 is equipped with dual binding post terminals for the high, mid, and low frequency drivers. It also features a set of dedicated binding post terminals for integrating Polk's L900 height speaker module (sold separately) on top of the floorstanding loudspeaker. In addition, there is a proprietary connector on back of the speaker and an included 15' interconnect cable that links a pair of L800 floorstanding loudspeakers together.

• Dual Binding Posts: The Polk L800 is equipped with two sets of sturdy binding posts allowing to bi-amp or bi-wire the floorstanding loudspeaker. These binding posts ensure a secure connection to many types of cable and connectors. The binding post terminals will accept banana plugs (single only), pin-connectors, spade-lugs and bare wire (16-10AWG). If you decide to bi-wire or bi-amp, you must remove the jumpers between the terminal posts (failure to do this could result in damage to your amplifier and loudspeakers).
  • Bi-Wiring: Bi-wiring can provide noticeable improvements in the overall transparency of your loudspeakers. Run separate speaker wires to the low & high frequency drivers from a single amplifier (the upper set of binding posts are for the high frequency drivers; the lower set of binding posts are for the low frequency drivers).
  • Bi-Amping: Bi-amping allows you to use separate amplifiers for the high & low frequency sections of your loudspeaker for greater dynamic range & lower distortion. We recommend that your separate amplifiers have identical gain to preserve the speaker's voicing balance.
• Height Speaker Terminals: There are height speaker terminals on the back of the L800 for connecting the Height/Elevation channels of a Dolby Atmos/DTS:X enabled AV receiver when integrating the Polk L900 height speaker module (sold separately) on top of the L800 speaker. The high speaker terminals consist of binding posts that will accept banana plugs (single only), pin-connectors, spade-lugs and bare wire (16-10AWG). There is also an internal speaker cable terminated by a two-pin Phoenix connector for connecting the Polk L900 height speaker module with the L800 floorstanding speaker. The Height Speaker Terminals will not be used, unless you are integrating the Polk L900 height speaker module.
• Proprietary SDA Connectors: There is a proprietary SDA connector on the back of each L800 speaker and each speaker comes with a 15' interconnect cable. This proprietary SDA connector and the included cables connect a pair of left and right L800 speakers together, so that both SDA drivers can cancel out unwanted signals from the opposite speaker. You can use only one of the 15' cables to connect both speakers together, or you can use both cables for a total length of 30'.

Rubber or Spike Feet: The Polk L800 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. The feet can be adjusted from the top of the floorstanding loudspeaker's integrated plinth (base) using the included hex-key.

Note: Make sure to always utilize either the spike or rubber feet for optimum sound quality and maximum stability.

Placement Options: Place a pair of L800 speakers along the same wall facing straight forward. No "toe-in" of the loudspeakers is required. They should be parallel to the plane of the wall and listener's ears. Experimentation with speaker-to-speaker and listener-to-speaker distance is necessary to find the best combination for a listener and the listening space. A recommended 6-8' speaker-to-speaker placement and 10'-12' speaker-to-listener placement is a good place to start. Find the combination where apparent stage width, timbral accuracy and direct-to-reflected ratio is the best. Keep side wall reflections as far away as possible, or absorbed if necessary, for maximum performance.

• By decreasing the distance from the speaker to the rear wall you will increase bass response. By increasing that distance you will experience less bass. The speakers will generally sound best when placed close to the back wall. Also, the front baffles should be at least 2" forward of any obstructions, such as cabinets.
• The speaker distance from each other should be at least 4', while 6’ to 8’ is optimum in most listening rooms. In a "live" room (lots of hard surfaces, not too many curtains, cushions or sound absorbing materials), the SDA speakers often sound best placed closer together.
• The listener distance from the speaker should be greater than or equal to the distance between the pair of speakers.
• Speaker distance from the side wall should be at least 3'. Placement closer to side walls will interfere with three-dimensional imaging. If you can absorb the sidewall reflection, closer placement to the wall may be possible.

Applications: The L800 can be used in a dedicated 2ch stereo setup, as well as the front stage and/or side and rear surrounds in a home theater setup. Add Polk's L900 height speaker module (sold separately) to elevate your sound and create an immersive 3D surround sound for Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and IMAX Enhanced soundtracks. You can also 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.

Legend Series: The Legend Series is a cumulation of more than 45 years of speaker innovation and research by Polk. The Legend Series by Polk delivers exceptional imaging, incredible detail, and impactful bass response for stereo and home theater applications. The Legend Series features Polk's new Pinnacle tweeter, Turbine cone, Enhanced Power Port design, and SDA-PRO technology (L800 model only). Polk's Legend Series consists of two floorstanding loudspeakers (L600 / L800), two bookshelf loudspeakers (L100 / L200), a center-channel loudspeaker (L400), and a height speaker module (L900) - all sold separately.