Short answer: the Polk Reserve R500. It ranks #26 of 54 floorstanding speakers by sound quality at $699; the Magnepan LRS+ ranks #48 and costs $1300, so there is not much of a tradeoff to weigh.
What the Polk Reserve R500 offers: Dual 5.25” midwoofers paired with a ring radiator tweeter in a floorstanding tower design. Watch for: A bump around 4-6kHz gives a “shouty,” mildly sibilant quality in the lower treble.
What the Magnepan LRS+ offers: Thin, two-way planar-magnetic open-baffle/dipole panel design (about 48” tall, just 1” deep). Watch for: Extremely current-hungry and power-hungry: even a pair of 600W Macintosh monoblock amplifiers only averaged about 90dB output - a robust, high-power amplifier is essentially mandatory, and budget amps won’t cut it.
Buy the Polk Reserve R500. It ranks higher for sound quality than the Magnepan LRS+ and costs less, so there is no real case for the other one.
If sound quality matters at all to you, skip the Magnepan LRS+. It ranks near the bottom of the 54 floorstanding speakers, so look higher up the list instead.
Specifications Side By Side
| Polk Reserve R500 | Magnepan LRS+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $699.00 | $1300 |
| Ranked | #26 of 54 in Large Size Floorstanding Speakers | #48 of 54 in Large Size Floorstanding Speakers |
| Bass Extension (-10dB) | 33Hz (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) | 67Hz (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) |
| Bass Extension (-3dB) | 51Hz (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) | 74Hz (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) |
| Dimensions | 40.3"H x 6.8"W x 12.4"D (1023.6 x 172.7 x 315 mm) | 48"H x 13.5"W x 1"D (1219.2 x 342.9 x 25.4 mm) |
| Impedance | 4.1 ohms minimum above 80Hz (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner; 8 ohms nominal per manufacturer) | 4 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) |
| Sensitivity | 86.2dB (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) | 85.1dB (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) |
| Drivers | Two 5.25" Turbine Cone woofer, 1" Pinnacle Ring Radiator tweeter | Full-range planar magnetic dipole panel (48" tall x 13.5" wide); quasi-ribbon design, two-way with separate mid/bass and tweeter ribbon sections |
| Weight | 39.2 lbs / 17.8 kg each | 30 lbs / 13.6 kg |
| Woofer Cabinet | ported, rear | open baffle |
Related Speaker Comparisons
More useful head-to-heads from the same speaker class:
- Polk Audio Reserve R700 vs ELAC DF63
- Revel Concerta2 F35 vs ELAC DF63
- Monolith Encore T6 vs JBL Stage 2 280F
- Magnepan LRS+ vs JBL Studio 698
- ELAC DF63 vs Magnepan LRS+
The Two Speakers In Full
Polk Reserve R500: $699.00 Amazon
Pros: Dual 5.25” midwoofers paired with a ring radiator tweeter in a floorstanding tower design. Surprisingly neutral overall compared to Polk’s smaller bookshelf models - notably more even-handed than the brighter-sounding R200 the reviewer tested previously. Good linearity on-axis, within about -3/+2dB. Sensitivity close to 86dB, easily driven to adequate levels in a small-to-medium room with a 100W-capable amplifier. Takes very well to EQ - a single band of correction (about a 2dB cut around 4-5kHz) resolves the main tonal issue and transforms the sound. Dynamic range and compression performance is solidly “medium,” holding up fine through about 20dB of level increase before higher-frequency and bass output start to taper at extreme volumes.
Cons: A bump around 4-6kHz gives a “shouty,” mildly sibilant quality in the lower treble. Counterintuitively, toeing the speaker out to reduce brightness makes this worse rather than better, since the ring-radiator tweeter’s directivity narrows rapidly above about 6-7kHz - pointed on-axis retains enough top-end air to balance the bump, but toed away that air drops off and the shoutiness stands out more. Bass is adequate for its 5.25” woofers but lacks real weight below about 40-50Hz; a subwoofer is still needed for movies and bass-heavy music. A cabinet resonance around 160-170Hz subtracts from rather than adds boom to the mid-bass region. Vertical listening window is fairly narrow - sitting more than about 10-20° above or below the tweeter axis causes a suckout in the 2-5kHz range, reducing clarity and attack. Multitone distortion ramps up noticeably around 1kHz, and crossing over to a subwoofer at 80Hz doesn’t meaningfully reduce it - likely a surround-related effect rather than excursion-related. Without applying corrective EQ, the reviewer says the 4-6kHz brightness would make it harder to live with day to day.
Full Polk Reserve R500 review and specifications →
| Bass Extension (-10dB) | 33Hz (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
|---|---|
| Bass Extension (-3dB) | 51Hz (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Dimensions | 40.3"H x 6.8"W x 12.4"D (1023.6 x 172.7 x 315 mm) |
| Drivers | Two 5.25" Turbine Cone woofer, 1" Pinnacle Ring Radiator tweeter |
| Impedance | 4.1 ohms minimum above 80Hz (measured, Erin's Audio Corner; 8 ohms nominal per manufacturer) |
| Sensitivity | 86.2dB (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Weight | 39.2 lbs / 17.8 kg each |
| Woofer Cabinet | ported, rear |
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Magnepan LRS+: $1300 Magnepan
Pros: Thin, two-way planar-magnetic open-baffle/dipole panel design (about 48” tall, just 1” deep). Delivers a uniquely dramatic and enveloping soundstage with genuinely three-dimensional depth effects that work across all music genres, not just classical or orchestral material as commonly assumed. Extremely tight, locked-in center-phantom imaging when set up correctly. Open-baffle design avoids the “boxy” enclosure coloration of conventional cabinet speakers. Multitone distortion is remarkably consistent from low to high frequency, a characteristic the reviewer hasn’t observed in conventional cone-and-dome speakers. Compression at high output stays modest (about 0.5-1dB) through the midrange and treble, giving roughly 20-26dB of usable dynamic range in that region. At its price, a strong contender for a dedicated secondary listening room, even if not a main-system replacement.
Cons: Extremely current-hungry and power-hungry: even a pair of 600W Macintosh monoblock amplifiers only averaged about 90dB output - a robust, high-power amplifier is essentially mandatory, and budget amps won’t cut it. Bass rolls off very quickly (F3 74Hz, F10 67Hz, described as falling off “like a rock”), making a subwoofer an absolute requirement for any low-end content. A roughly 3dB dip in the mid-bass (100-300Hz) region thins out vocal body and fullness compared to a conventional bookshelf speaker. A resonance/bump around 400Hz adds a mild boxy quality, though it responds well to about 2dB of EQ correction. Extraordinarily fussy about exact positioning - both seating height (must align with the acoustic reference point between the panel’s lower tie-down points) and horizontal aiming are unusually critical; moving just a couple of inches can cause treble content above roughly 500-600Hz to nearly vanish. Distinct off-axis cancellation zones exist directly to the sides of the panel, where very little sound is audible at all. Fails badly under extreme dynamic-transient testing in the bass, and the reviewer blew fuses pushing the speaker during testing - not built for high-volume or highly dynamic playback. A genuinely different category from conventional hi-fi speakers, requiring more setup patience and experimentation than a typical monopole design.
Full Magnepan LRS+ review and specifications →
| Bass Extension (-10dB) | 67Hz (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
|---|---|
| Bass Extension (-3dB) | 74Hz (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Dimensions | 48"H x 13.5"W x 1"D (1219.2 x 342.9 x 25.4 mm) |
| Drivers | Full-range planar magnetic dipole panel (48" tall x 13.5" wide); quasi-ribbon design, two-way with separate mid/bass and tweeter ribbon sections |
| Impedance | 4 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Sensitivity | 85.1dB (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Weight | 30 lbs / 13.6 kg |
| Woofer Cabinet | open baffle |
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