PSW10 10" Powered Subwoofer Home Audio – Power Port Tech, Up to 100 Watts, Big Bass in Compact Design, Easy Setup with Home Theater, Timbre-Matched with Monitor & T-Series Polk Speakers

Chose this product over competitors because of good reviews crucially, because it has high-level inputs which are required for hooking it up with old-school integrated amps like the 90's Marantz I have. Quite happy about this purchase - the bass is "musical" and works quite well for all music genres imo. My room is 160 sqft and it has way more power than needed for it - I run it at 20-25% volume setting. I haven't tried it in home theatre setup - can't comment whether it has the gut-rumbling bass for action movies. My setup: I play guitar to backing tracks, and the backing track music and vocals tend to overwhelm my Vox guitar amp which has a single mid-range speaker. This results in severe mush all across the range. So I pulled out an old but pretty hi-fi Marantz amp and Micromega Minium bookshelf speakers I used for classical music in the past. They sound great but lack the bass, so I decided to add a subwoofer. The Marantz - like many integrated amps of the era - lacks LFE/subwoofer outputs and the recommended setup is to hook up the subwoofer in parallel to the main speakers. This requires a sub that has high-level inputs, which the Polk does. Although my set up is a mix of different manufacturers, I found the Polk integrates pretty well and the overall nature and quality of the sound is organic. I did not have to play a lot with tuning things like the bass filter freq or the woofer location relatice to the speakers - it pretty much worked out of the box. Good product, good value. I recommend.

I agree with the others who have posted here. If your budget maxes out at $100 bucks, then this is the sub to get. Yes, Five out of Five stars in its category. Sure, it's not a $1600 digitally-driven Velodyne, but by gosh and by golly this little sub still has the potential to put a big smile on your face. I have it paired with a set of Andrew Jones bookshelf speakers (another great value) and my old NAD amplifier (via the high-level speaker in/outs) and it sits near the front right corner in my bsmnt workshop. Note: if you're not getting the sound you're expecting out of your subwoofer, then the first thing to do is to adjust its position. After that, fine tune the crossover (in your receiver if you're hooked to the LFE out), and finally the volume. Oh, if you're hearing a little rattling coming from the sub at high output levels, check the front grille. Mine buzzes when pushed hard, so I just permanently removed it. I play mostly music through this little setup (as it's in my workshop, and I don't want to cut my thumb off :-) ), but I did hook the sub up (solo) to my 7.2 Home Theater system for a while to test it with movies (two of my favorite scenes are the opening battle engagement in Master & Commander: FSOTW, and also the Limo/Plane escape scene in 2012. Yowza!). I must say that this little 10" did a pretty passable job (best in a corner again), but admittedly in a 600 sq ft room it didn't have the output to match the pair of 12" PSW505's that I normally have hooked to my HT system. I think the PSW10 would do well in a smaller room though. As far as music is concerned, I've really come to enjoy it for what it is (I certainly had my doubts when ordering though, given the lower specs than what I'm used to). But it seems to handle everything I've thrown at it very nicely, from Gaga's pounding monster beat in "Marry the Night - Zed remix" to her very visceral track "Teeth" Wow!!! On to Al DiMeola's sizzling guitar in "Splendido Hotel" and the electronic mastery of Jean Michel Jarre's "Concerts in China." How about Trance - you'll just love Infected Mushroom's "Army of Mushrooms," or Cosmic Gate's "Earth Mover" when played through a sub. Or remember Disco? (yes that kinda dates me, hehe!) Santa Esmeralda "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is IMHO one of the best dance LPs ever produced. Note: keep in mind that your speakers and esp your amp have to be up to the task as well :-) Rock, Pop, Country, Easy Listening etc aren't generally as demanding of a sub as some of the music I've mentioned, but yes this sub reproduces it all with some pretty good authority (remember, move the sub if it's just not cutting it, and re-check your phase all around!). This sub is the real thing and it should thump pretty darn hard for you. Yet the PSW10 is still accurate and mellow enough for Yo-Yo Ma's cello, or Rodrigo y Gabriela's wonderful dueling acoustic guitars in "9 Dead Alive." And if you really want a good test, check out Sheffield Lab's "Drum and Track Disk." You will not be disappointed. I played it again today, and I'm STILL smiling. :-) :-) :-) Good luck, and happy listening! J&H

I am a self-proclaimed audiophile with a serious inclination towards VALUE. This, my friends, is a product that has immense value. To give you an idea of what I mean by value, my previous set-up had KLH Subwoofers that were so under-rated and unknown that it wasn't until I spoke of them that people even considered them as KLH (being that KLH, for some unknown reason, has a bad name. Now, by no means would I consider myself cheap...I like value--inexpensive items that do as they say while preserving quality. Being that Matt Polk put the name of the Polk legacy on these, the quality should not be in question at any point. I think the only reason that these are at such a reduced rate is because of their meager ratings (50-Watt amp and 10" woofer...something else that is unattractive is the front facing port--don't they know that most new speakers come with the port to the rear to avoid port noise??!!) and, even moreso, reviewing its bigger brothers and sisters with downward firing ports means that although this sub isn't in the same class, there are offerings for more discerning listeners. If I had a good $1000 to blow on subwoofers, I would have probably bought two of the PSW110s without question... Ah, yes...TWO. The biggest reason that I look for subwoofers of value is so that I can purchase more than one (if you were wondering why I keep using these nouns in the plural). Although I am still relatively young <30y/o, I've been into home theater since the days when there was no such thing as Home-Theater-In-a-Box and Definitive Technology illuminated the minds of young, aspiring audiophiles with diagrams of their BP3000s tower speakers with built in 300-Watt Amplifiers and 15" Sub-/Woofers. Ah yes...those good ol' days... Now, Home Theater is the standard and it may be difficult to discern one product from another (trust me, most of it is trash--INCLUDING BOSE). The best way to go about building a theater system is not by adhering to the one-click feature-like HTiB. Piece by piece...step by step... It helps to buy speakers in a particular company's model family since they are normally making use of the same drivers and are normally tonally matched. Many companies claim their speakers as tonally matched without considering the effects of the difference in enclosure size and construction of a center channel and a satellite... Ah...that's info for you--but not why I'm writing this review... This review is about the two Polk Audio 10PSWs sitting here in front of me. They sound awesome for what they are. I'm glad that an earlier reviewer made it known that the 50w amplifier is continuously rated--not instantly...or even rated considering a massive amount of Total Harmonic Distortion--as many companies do and then say "@ 1KHz"...who sits home listening to 1KHz Sine signals?? At loud volumes even? Don't be fooled. Normally they follow that spec up with "30-20KHz +/-3db" As many of you probably know...that's HALF the power that they're quoting it at...3db = 1/2 Wattage (or twice the wattage considering the context...normally, it's LESS, not MORE). Many of you, I'm sure, have bought one of these and are either loving it or hating it (most loving from what I can tell). Indeed, with the varying types of music and source program I use, these fit the bill nicely. The sound is present...strong...detailed. I haven't experienced the muddy sound as other people have noted. I'm sure that it's not just luck...I have two...surely, one would be muddy if this was prevalent. Now, time for pointers (I love the reviewers who leave pointers...it's normally the nudge for most people to consider a truly awesome product--as this one is) Pointer#1: Buy Two (2) These are probably some of the least expensive, best sounding subs you can get right now. When in the market for a sub, you should at least have a budget of $200--$400 even...otherwise, you'll find yourself wondering what you paid for... Remember, there are materials (wood, cables), components (subwoofer driver, subwoofer amplifier), and labor that goes into that bass machine. If any of these things aren't optimally constructed, the overall device will suffer. You can understand this, I'm sure. The flip side of this, is that surely, there was a corner cut somewhere. Thus, why continue to hammer out your amplifier? The amp is often overlooked in all of this. Most people see the pretty cone of their subwoofer and totally disregard the reality that the real work horse of the build is the amplifier. Having two subs is not for more bass...but to conserve the life of the subwoofers you have. In addition, when the time comes to party or watch a movie, you don't have to worry about your subs (the drivers themselves) bottoming out or sounding as if they're straining. Thus, with two, you get the benefit of both worlds (longevity, present sound quality). Electronics have limitations...use them wisely and they will perform AND last a very long time... Pointer #2: Gain >1/2 You should never have to turn your amplifier gain past half. Past half is where distortion and clipping are introduced. Sure, depending on your source, this may not be prevalent, but if you have a good, strong signal, there will come a time when you hear artifacts that weren't intended for reproduction (e.g. distortion, clipping). As a rule, if you have to turn your sub past half, you might want to adjust your settings in your receiver or see Pointer #1 again... A benefit of two, is that the both of them can be readjusted lower to account for the assistance or each other. My Polks are each at about 1/3 (and that's only because I really enjoy the sound right now...so I'm excited...otherwise they would each be at 1/4). The reason you only want "enough" volume is because headroom is what you want... this is the power that is used during explosions, kick drums--sudden bursts...this is what you bought it for, right? Yes, that's right. I know that there are many other reviewers--bless their heart--who are praising having it just past half or 3/4 of the way up. Mine are at 1/3 and it was like that when I only had one connected. Now that I have both connected, I'll have to half the volume of both of them to equal the volume of the one (and no, the gain knob potentiometers are not linear, so it'll have to be by ear). Pointer #3: Subs Fill, Not Dominate Subwoofer modules are only meant to fill in where the other speakers in your system fail. My set-up has Mirage towers as my mains. However, the built in crossover of my Harmon/Kardon handles all bass traffic well--cut off at 60Hz (the point where bass can not be located by the human ear). Having the setting higher than this will not only put more stress on your sub but also the amplifier (lets not forget the amp). When adjusting the gain, you just want to ensure that the frequencies from the sub are at around the same volume as your main speakers. This will keep you from being bass hungry. That's not the point of a sub...this isn't a mobile system...this is home. The environment doesn't warrant that level of "hyper-bass"... If done this way, you will be able to reach higher sound pressure levels while retaining your dynamism... These pointers should help with any sub...this sub is truly a great, great buy... Hope this helps...

I purchased this sub to replace the Sony SA-SC9 because the Sony just didn't cut it for me--and I'm so glad I did! This sub plays the lows really smoothly. It doesn't get too thumpy or just too silent during movie dialog, etc. Just the perfect companion for an inexpensive sound system. I have two medium- size bookshelf front speakers and the sub complements my two speakers nicely. I still don't have the surround speakers but with only three my system sounds great. I have an older Yamaha receiver with 100w/channel so it's the perfect combo. I really don't think that for the money you pay for this sub you can get anything better to tell you the truth. Like I mentioned, I tried the more expensive Sony and ended up being quite a disappointment, even though it was supposed to have more power (115 W) and a better crossover with a range of 35 - 200 Hz. This sub is manufactured with great quality components, you can tell right away by looking an feeling them. The port in the front complements the soft lows better than a back-ported one--at least from I could discern from the Sony. Also, it comes with an "Auto/On/Off" switch, which is super convenient when you just turn off your receiver and don't want to turn off the sub. It took me a while to figure out that this switch had three positions ("Auto", "On", "Off"). The "Auto" goes off after a few minutes of silence although I haven't figure out how many exactly. The manual says 15 min. but I've checked the "On" green light after half hour or so and it's still on. On the other hand, this sub, even though it's 10 in, it belts out tight home-theater bass and sounds really, really sweet with music, too! The reason I'm giving this sub 4 stars is because the crossover range could have been a bit more "generous", as with other (albeit more expensive) subs. Yeah, I think 80 - 160 Hz is a bit too tight. I'd think 60 - 180 Hz would have been much better. Finally, the fact that this sub has still two audio-in RCA jacks, as opposed to just one, is perhaps a testament of how old this model is (2004?). I did have to spring for a "Y" adapter to connect the sub cable to the receiver although it wasn't a big deal. Don't take me wrong, even though this sub has been around the block for quite some time it doesn't mean it's obsolete, it's just that there's obviously new technologies/materials that have been developed ever since 2004 that are being used very successfully. In addition this sub's missing is a direct input that bypasses the sub's internal crossover. Again, not sure if you can find a sub that does that for within this price range. Anyway, all in all, this sub is great if your system is not high-end or if it's in a small room (like mine). It's great for movies and even better for music!

I run this subwolfer off the lfe out of a yamaha 501 and through the douk volume pot to control the volume without constant reaching behind. The sub is very musical with the front port filling the room, its not boomy at all. The room is 12x14 and is sound deadened. It does substancial fill work for rear b and w 602s , this sub is more than just a home theater stand in. Its musicaly acurate when properly fed through wbc quad cable. So far it punches way above its weight and is a great value and addition to a sound system. Power on and off is quiet with no noise or thump. Using the auto on off has been flawless , set it and forget it.

We needed a replacement subwoofer after our receiver bit the dust after a lightning strike since the previous sub had no internal amp. After some research, we decided on the Polk. Best decision ever. This thing is super! Hook up was beyond easy. Some people seem to be complaining about it not being great, some claim it sounds "muddy", etc. However, we haven't experienced these things and as long as you have your settings correct, it's fantastic for movies, music & games. Those complaining about the boominess or "muddy" sound likely do not have their equipment adjusted for the sub right or the knobs set properly on the sub for the room they have it set up in. We have a receiver with a single "sub out" jack and the Low-Pass knob on the back of the subwoofer all the way clockwise which creates an LFE input (since this sub doesn't have one). After a couple days of testing, we found that the best place for the sub's volume knob was just below half. With that, we've got GREAT bass all around for practically every situation whether we're watching movies, playing games or even listening to music (which seems to be the primary gripe out there for this sub...don't listen to 'em) and it doesn't make the rest of the range sound murky. Dialog is crystal clear & higher frequencies are distinct. Just set it up according to the manual & then make minor adjustments until you find what works best for the room and you. One point of note that likely won't affect many people...We have a PS3 hooked up to the tv via HDMI and the tv is outputting sound to our receiver with an optical cable. Games sound AWESOME on it with two exceptions...Rock Band & especially Guitar Hero. The output on those isn't tailor made for output in this fashion evidently & we find we have much fuller sound on those with a standard PlayStation output cable with the left & right audio RCA plugs going directly to the receiver. It sounds counter to everything one might have heard or understands about sound with this equipment, but it works great for those two game series. We just have the PS3 set up to output audio to multiple sources & whenever we want to play Rock Band or Guitar Hero games, switch the receiver over to that input and voila...fantastic, full, rich sound with plenty of bass while not drowning out the higher frequencies. All in all, this is a wonderful subwoofer, easily the best one I've had experience with in this price range. It won't break the bank and you'll LOVE it once you have it set up properly for your living room/den/entertainment room. HIGHLY recommended!!

There are lots of positive reviews of this sub. Mine is black not cherry. It looks great. (can't speak for cherry) It has a nice grill that is held on by 6 points. The 10" powered sub puts out a lot of bass if you want it to. Mine is set to 1/2 volume and the crossover is in the middle and I like a lot of bass. (have 600 watt RMS Kicker sub and amp in my car) Even though I had a "subwoofer out" port on my stereo, I hooked mine up to the speaker outs and hooked my speakers up to the sub. It can be hooked up with RCA cables however if you choose to do it that way. My speakers actually had an issue at very low volume where one of them wouldn't work right. (not efficient enough is my guess) This sub seems to have solved that issue. There is a nice 3 position toggle type switch on the back for power modes. There is On, Auto and Off. I have it set to Auto. It powers up right away when I turn up the volume. It says on for 15 minutes after the last time it sensed a signal. (and powers off each time reliably) I monitored this for a couple of days before writing this review. Auto is perfect for my application. I leave my receiver on all day long every day but turn the volume to zero. It turns the sub off when in auto. That was one thing I worried about when buying this. It has a nice built in crossover so you can choose the frequencies you want coming out of the sub. Right in the middle is good for me. I may change my opinion later though. The built in 100 watt (50watt RMS) amp seems sufficient to me. It literally rattles a mirror inside my house and I have this in my garage. (don't ask, I spend quite a bit of time in my workshop in the garage) I paired it with 2 full range 3-way Yamaha bookshelf speakers and overall, it sounds amazing. I recommend testing this or any sub with the song "Can you hear me" by Bass Dominator. (even from youtube if you wish) In fact there are tons of "bass test" songs on youtube but this one is not as annoying as some and doesn't have profanity or really annoying lyrics. This is subjective though. The nice thing about a 10" sub is that it can hit some deep lows but has really good bass response. (a 12 may hit low tones a bit harder but may be muddier and less responsive) This pushes quite a bit of air though. I can feel it in my body a few feet away. That being said, you can easily calm this thing down by lowering the bass setting on your receiver or simply turning down the volume knob on the back of the unit. I would almost consider this the equivalent of a gain control on a car amp. Now I didn't really read the specs or think much about the size of the ported box but when it arrived I was surprised since it is so large. This isn't a bad thing though. Ported boxes must have more cubic feet than a non-ported box so I'm not sure what I was thinking. To be honest what I was thinking was that this thing is only $100.00 so it can't be real big. I was wrong. I don't have much recent experience with Polk Audio but after this purchase I wouldn't hesitate to consider them for my future speaker needs. I'm not some super high end audiophile but I'm not a person who can listen to cheap bluetooth speakers or use the built in speakers on my phone. I like quality sound and lots of bass. I'm happy. For example, I require headphones from Audio Technica or studio headphones and I am a big fan of Bose. My plan originally was to use the cubes from a Bose accoustimass system with this sub but the full range speakers sound much better. I was missing the mids with the Bose cubes. The original Bose sub must be putting out quite a bit of midrange and I have this set to the middle on the crossover. Those Bose may end up being across my garage on the speaker B channel where their harshness won't be so close to my head. The Yamaha speakers I am using are MS-6490 and I've always liked how they sounded. I used to have Infinity bookshelves however that had an amazing amount of bass. The tweeter blew on one of those and they are hard to find for a reasonable price. I missed the bass from the Infinity speakers but this setup has way more bass than those speakers did. I feel like I have a 4-way setup with this sub and those Yamaha 3-way speakers. Normally I'm a big fan of 2-way speakers but I don't mind 3 way from Yamaha. (it isn't necessary always better to have 3-way speakers) I've been looking at these for quite a while and the reviews kept them on the top of my list. I finally pulled the trigger and I do not regret it.

This Polk subwoofer is an excellent choice (or was an excellent choice now that it has been discontinued) for any audio system, including home theatres, or digital audio workstations. The subwoofer takes some time to tune to the system it is used with. The crossovers are not switched, but are adjusted by a pot. So tuning consistes of making small adjustments on the subwoofer to pick up where your audio system rolls off on the low end. When you get it dialed in, you know you hit the sweet spot. The bass response for the inexpensive, unshielded, and self-powered speaker is pretty good. My DAW employs Neumann KH120A monitors and a matched KH750 DSP subwoofer. So when I judge the Polk to be pretty good, that means something. I was worried that the speaker woud not have the kind of kick I am used to. I was worried that it would sound cheesy and "fake". It took me a moment to figure out the speaker lines in and out of the box, but once I had sound, I cranked it up. It is neither cheesy or kickless. It is not what I would call a studio monitor, but anytime you extend the range of your audio system, it turns into a whole different experience. The new DAW I built that uses the Polk, employs a Sch**t Audio Modius DAC and a Saga preamp. Note that the spelling of the manufacturer is seen as an explitive and will not be published - A quick plug: Sch**t Audio has the most remarkable DACs, preamps, headamps, both tube and solid state. These products have the lowest THD and IMD I have ever seen on equipment priced as low. The sound is uncoloured through good speakers and pulls you into a simply amazing musical experience. OK back to Earth. Along with the Sh**t gear, I have a pair of relatively inexpensive Yamaha HS5 monitors, plus the Polk, and for a $2k investment, the sound is far better than I expected. The Polk brings in the low-end quite elegantly. Something interesting with this little 100 Watt Subby. I love physics, particularly when is comes to sound traveling through air. But even better is resonance. I happen to know the approximate frequency of resonance for the main structure of my home. Yes, my house. I decided to see if the Polk could do what my KH750 could do. Using a pure sine wave generator, I feed the subwoofer between 65 and 70 Hz and slowely increase the output. Moving the sub to enhance the "sound" of resonance generally puts it in the right location to transfer the sound into the structure. So up goes the output, then stuff starts to happen. Windows rattle, pictures on the wall move, and other weirdities start ocurring. I cranked up the Polk enough to find that I was able to mystify my neighbor to come over and ask if I was OK. It is a great speaker, and it totally transportable and is a fun physics tool to learn about LFE and how LF sonics work. Getting my house to resonate with a speaker is one of the coolest things I have ever done.

Best subwoofer ...

For the last 20 years I have been an budding audiophile, exploring systems, sources and music. With quality vintage systems throughout the house I think I have a good understanding of quality sound reproduction. My living-room system always seemed lacking although engaging and adept at reproducing all genres of music (Jazz, Blues, Classical, folk, Rock, Metal, etc.). This year I decided to explore adding a sub-woofer to the system and after much research selected the Polk Audio PSW10. It was necessary to take the time needed to setup a sub-woofer correctly in my living room to get the best from it. The affect is subtle on some recordings, were the sub is not discernible unless turn off and some fullness is lost. It interesting to note that given the length of low frequencies the additive bass from a sub appears to be coming from your speakers. The bass from the sub is truly not directional. Please note that the room itself plays a big part in the quality of bass. What works in my living room may not have the same result in yours. There may be better subs out there at higher prices, but the Polk Audio PSW10 has made a world of difference to my music enjoyment and I expect to be very happy with it for the foreseeable future.

C'est vraiment nul. Je vis en France et on m'a à nouveau (deuxième fois) livre un modèle américain

Ocorreu tudo bem.

Prodotto arrivato con alimentazione per USA. Restituito