The 702F/X surrounds are neither bipole nor dipole but conventional forward-radiating speakers with an unusual, dual-face layout. I was repeatedly impressed by just how effective they were at both envelopment and discrete effects, smooth and non-localized to a degree that I had thought only dipoles capable.
As to level, the Polk system played far louder than I’d ever ask via my 150-watts-per-channel power amp without the least sign of strain or change. All three Polk models are of comparatively high sensitivity (at least as far as their maker’s specs go), and I could in fact play movie sound many decibels beyond “reference level” with no hint of stress — way, way louder than any sane home theaterphile would ever demand.
Note that at this point I haven’t even powered up the subwoofers yet. Connecting these to my processor’s subwoofer outputs and setting the front towers as “small” (hah!) with a crossover of 80 Hz had the expected result: tight, powerful, full-range sound. But with such wide-range main fronts, what’s the point? Instead, I returned the fronts to “large,” leaving center and surround crossovers at 60 Hz as before and allowing the subs to function purely as LFE-channel adjuncts, reproducing only the bass that sound designers judged to belong exclusively to a subwoofer channel.
Honestly, the net result wasn’t all that different — most of the time. The system sounded slightly leaner or perhaps “tighter” on more subtle deep-bass passages such as the sliding tomb door from the opening of Stargate. However, big-budget bass like the pod-emergence sequence from War of the Worlds went right over the freaking top, yielding a seismic, foundation-fracturing moment that was, frankly, somewhat alarming.
Do you need a sub (or two) with these biggest of Polks? Probably not — unless you’re a bit bass-hungry, that is. At any rate, Polk’s new flagship suite’s as-tested system price is well into “esoteric speaker” territory. Fortunately, the LSiM Series array I auditioned is a reference contender that should happily stand comparison with low-production- volume, high-end designs of similar heft and price, and even substantially higher. Just be sure you have a nice, big room, and solid foundations.
Polk LSI M looks like a winner. But the DSWpro sub have issues. I have 2 DSWmicropro1000s and they exhibit mechanical noise when driven hard. Compared to my new SPL 800 II from Velodyne, the Velo destroys the Polk subs. The one SPL 800 has higher output and do not distort and high levels.