I'm vexed: Sony WM40 or Polk PSW202? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Campbell]

Here's the deal:

I bought one of those lovely Carver 5.1 speaker sets at Costco many moons ago. The five main speakers have been a dream, but as many of you who own this set know, the subwoofer has been a total bust. I had the amp replaced by the authorized repair center in Washington a few years ago, but it appears that the amp is now dying a slow, distortion-and-hum-filled death. Speakers are being driven by a Sony 30ES receiver, I believe 80w x 5.

I'm currently in an apartment, with my living room about 12x14. Subwoofer budget is $200 or under, and the primary application will be home theater with little musical play. I've auditioned the Sony WM40 which had great depth and volume, but seemed awfully boomy and inaccurate. I then auditioned the Polk PSW202 which didn't have quite the amount of volume as the Sony, but was more accurate. I would definitely check out the DLS at PartsExpress if they were going to have it in stock anytime soon.

My question is, which "lesser evil" would be more tolerable, boomy volume or quieter accuracy? Would the polyfill mod really make that much of a difference with the Sony? Any other brands/models to suggest?

Much appreciated,

Chris

 

[Jeff-Watson]

I have the WM40 and I definitly recommend the polyfill mod. It is super simple to due and with the mod I am able to reach down around 25hz. Not bad for $150.00. It also has plenty of kick for the average size room. I am about to purchase an SVS in the next few months and I thought about the DLS 10" just for fun to compare it myself with the Sony but with an SVS coming I figure why waste the money. Go with the Sony. You won't be disappointed.

 

[SeanWillis]

I'll plug the polk sub. Very nice budget sub that has no problem filling a small to medium room. I would prefer the PSW404 over the 20, but the wife has spoken.

Cheers,

Sean

 

[steve nn]

Yes the polyfill will make a difference. If you are ready to pull the trigger now and will not wait, then I would go with the Sony. I think the DLS will not ship until the middle of February? Sony.com still might have there special going on for $125 shipped. There are a few hoops to jump through but nothing very major. It might be over though. If you cant find a good deal on the Sony then you might want to reconsider waiting for the DLS to ship?? I know, it is hard to wait. Good luck.

 

[Mathew Shelby]

FYI, The deal is over at Sony's website, but you can still get this sub decently priced. I purchased it for $104 shipped off of ebay. Dicey, I know, but will tide me over until student loans allow an SVS.

 

[Kincade]

Well - i can probably comment on this, since i'm currently auditioning both side by side in my living room. The polk psw202 is untouched, the sony wm40 has been polyfilled.

My honest opinios are the following:

-the polyfill definitely helped the sony - much less boomy than before - and definitely worth the $10 in polyfill and glue i used.
-the polk, IMHO, looks 10x better than the sony - sony cabinet is much more unrefined, the polk looks great.
-comparing the two, the polk sounds better - it seems to have much more of a linear response, and seems to sound more accurate overall. the sony is the louder sub, but at the expense of accuracy and what i perceive to be significant resonance of the cabinet.
-at high volumes, the sony seems to distort, and the polk does not.

i'm going w/ the polk. i went into this comparo wanting to keep the sony, as it seems to be THE budget subwoofer of choice - but i prefer accuracy and a linear response over volume and exaggerated frequencies.


HTH,

 

[steve nn]

From my side by side Meter, ear and ascetics comparison. The DLS is definitely my new budget subwoofer of choice. Its all been said on another thread so I will let that be. How much did you get the Polk for?

 

[Kincade]

I have my choice of either sub for $50. A good friend is the local sony rep, and gets very good deals on sony and polk (via another friend)...

 

[steve nn]

WOW! That's definitely a deal to be had. There are deals and then there are deals.

 

[Kincade]

Yeah - I'm pretty happy about it! ;-) It'll get me through for a year until i can build my own...

 

[Chris Campbell]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I think I'm going to audition the Polk again, and try to listen to the Sony in a different (i.e. not Best Buy) environment. I tend to lean towards accuracy over volume, so the Polk seems to be tugging my chain.
Now, if that DLS would get in stock, we'd have a whole new ballgame...
Chris

 

[Geoff L]

Hi Chris,

=========>
I would be interested in selling your COMPLETE dead sub if another repair is out of the question, as long as it is in good to excellent cosmetic condition.
=========>
Do not feel ALONE, as litterly 1000's of theses subs are in the scrap heap. Mama Carver destroyed the Carver name, as Bob set on the board of directors and could do nothing about it as they cut corners on everything they built. Its a sad story....

Thats why/when Sunfire was born.

Just click on (email) in my box above if interested and we can discuss it.

Thanx & Regards
Geoff


Regards
Geoff