108 MACWORLD FEBRUARY 2020
PLAYLIST REVIEW: POLK LEGEND L10013.64 x 7.78 x 11.29 inches (H x W x D) and
weighs approximately 17 pounds. By my
lights that’s stretching the definition of
bookshelf form factor just a mite. The
unusual depth is due to the bass
dispersion panel (the ribbed section in the
image below) that’s attached to the back
of the speaker, spreading low-frequency
waves emanating from the rear port.
You’ll need tall and deep shelves to fit
the L100, but you’d be better off placing
them out in the open, where the sound
from the rear port can spread out without
acoustical hindrance. Just sayin’.
Each speaker houses a 5.25-inch
woofer and a 1.0-inch tweeter. The woofer
is dimpled in an unusual pattern that the
company calls “turbine,” because the
pattern resembles the blades of a fan. The
tweeter is referred to as a “pinnacle ring
radiator”. That is, there’s a tall (and sharp!)
cone in the middle that disperses waves in
a 360-degree (vertically) cupped pattern.
The L100 are 4-ohm (3- to 4-ohm,
actually) speakers that will handle up to
160 watts per channel. Their gold-plated
binding posts can accommodate banana
plugs, spade connectors, or bare wire
connections. Frequency response is rated
at a somewhat ludicrous 43Hz to 50kHz.
Ludicrous because only very young
humans can hear 20kHz, let alone 50kHz.
Indeed, as a matter of course, inaudible
higher frequencies are filtered out as they
can wreak havoc with the frequencies you
can actually hear.
To be honest, though the L100 look nice
enough, their appearance didn’t shout
“$1,200 speakers!” to me right out of the
box. That said, I’m also not entirely sure
what $1,200 speakers should look like. I
don’t like ostentatious, though, and the
L100 will fit in just about any environment.
They’re just not conversation starters. At
least not until you listen to them.On the rear of the Legend L100 you’ll find a
bass dispersion plate. What appears to be
a hole is actually the inside of a cone that is
aimed directly at the rear port to spread bass
to the sides. It works quite nicely.