What's so wrong with Polk subs? (1 Viewer)

[Andrew_G]

I serriously am currious about this. I just purchased a nice little PSW202 sub for a secondary system and I really like it!

And back in the day, Polk subs sounded really great!

But honestly, why does everyone hate them so much? For the price of the PSW202, I got a REALLY good value from CC (130 dollars!) and it REALLY thumps a lot of clean and low bass for your dollar. And the amp is very powerful, believe it or not, and can power some pretty good tower speakers I had lying around.

I am not saying this out of the fact that I am a huge Polk fan, but out of the fact that I just really love how they sound. Just like all the other Polk speakers, they are some of the best for music I have ever heard, and watching Kill Bill 2 today really showed me that you don't NEED to spend 600 bucks upward on a sub to get good sound. Sure, it may not fill a large room well, but I will tell you my 600 dollar Velodyne sub basically performs the same but the sound is more filling.

Tell me what's so wrong with it! I really am curious why so many people seem to have something against Polk subs!

Andrew

 

[Jon W.]

You think a Polk sub sounds good?!? OMG put the crack pipe down! What are you, stupid?

Just kidding!

Really I think alot of these Polk haters are probably just spoiled. I mean look at some of the systems these guys have. Personally I'm an NHT man, The older ones anyway, but I have heard polks and they do sound sweet. As for their subs I have no idea. I love NHT speakers and their subs sound good but have virtually no output compared to the subs people talk about on here. Maybe thats kinda the same deal. I bet the Polk has great sound quality but just a little lacking on the output side.

If you like it, thats all that matters.

 

[ScottCHI]

the sub's amp isn't what's powering your speakers.

 

[Tony Genovese]

The perception re Polk subs is that they you can do much better for the money (although for $130 I don't know what you can buy). Their higher priced subs can't compete re output level and extension with some others.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

My perception has been that Polk makes small diameter, low-powered subs, although taking a closer look at their web site doesn’t necessarily bear this out.

I think the key probably lies in Andrew’s opening line (emphasis added):
Since Polk sells at places like CC, probably what you’re finding is a lot of budget-challenged people dropping PSW10’s, PSW202’s and 303’s into huge, open family rooms and can’t understand why the little thing has no extension and farts and belches when they try to crank it up.

As long as you keep the entry-level Polks in a small room they should do fine – as will most small, low powered subs.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[TonyWright]

I have to agree with Wayne. I am avoiding Polk for my sub purchase because I have a fairly large open room that opens to another room altogether.

From what I had read, the Polk subs just weren't necessarily the best choice for bigger rooms.

I have heard some of their subs and I thought they sounded fine though.

All in all, if you are happy with your purchase, you're all set. $130 for a sub that you like is an outstanding value.

Nicely done!

Tony

 

[John Garcia]

Polk deserve their reputation. They sounded good back in the day when few people knew what a real sub sounds like.

I also got the free 202 with a bunch of LSis I bought. IMO, it's about as basic as a sub gets, and even for a small room, it's whopping 50w is barely sufficient for an average sized room. Having said that, for casual listening and a smaller room, it is good enough to add some bottom end support. It is a bit boomy, and doesn't sound very accurate, but when dialed in, it works adequately with my g/f's LSi7s.

I have built better subs for less than what they are charging, but since it was FREE, I can't complain.

To get a decent sub from them, you'd need to move into the 505 territory, and when you do that, there are any number of other subs in that price range that will, quite honestly, walk all over it.

 

[ChrisRuh]

For the money, I would be you would be beter off with the $124 Dayton 10". JMO

 

[Ernest Yee]

Haha -

John: I also got a free PSW202 w/ my original R30s. Actually I got 2 since I got two sets of these speakers.

I would definitely agree with the assesment that they're boomy and the extension isn't great. But hey, the Ebay community didn't seem to mind..

 

[John Garcia]

I was going to Ebay it, but I had to try it out first to see if it would be decent with a little calibration and placement. Basically, it's better than no sub, so I just left it for now.

The extension in a typical room is roughly 40Hz, about the reach of the average tower speaker, so it doesn't go very low at all. If you use a lower x-over and don't crank it up, it will work fine, but it isn't going to give you serious rumble. I put it in the corner, but it was far too boomy, so I moved it 3 feet down the long wall in her room, and it tightened up a bit while loosing some extension.

Next step is to sell it for just enough to cover the Dayton sub

 

[Andrew_G]

Maybe I'm nuts, but so what if it's boomy?

I might just like it that way. I find that bass that is too subtle really doesn't enhance the bass for me. I need it to be out there. I find that the sound IS a bit boomy, but I also find that its output range is good. I mean, this sounds like to me that it is just as much a part of the music as the highs and mids. No?

I know, I know - I may be nuts. I may not be used to this because of how little headphones actually do output bass-wise compared to most subs, but I really like it this way.

Maybe I just have it set up correctly so that i can't speak for people that are trying use this sub in large rooms?

 

[Tyson Wetzel]

I'm not a big of the 202 but the 404 and 505 are great subs for the money IMO.

 

[Shiu]

I have a 404 and a PC ultra. The 404 sounds just as sweet and "musical", but it does not give enough reasonably clean output for even a small room like mine (11.5X18X8) if you play it slightly loud. At normal listening level it sounds fine but I am not sure if you can buy a better sub for C$450, or US$330. As for the 202, I was going to get it free but I found it boomy so I paid C$150 extra to get the 404.

 

[PeterK]

Is a 28X14X7" room considered big? just curious.