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Rating: - Boom Boom Rumble Boom
First, a bit of credentials, as this is my first review here.
I have many years of experience in good sound. Back in the day, I built and used Dynaco tube power amps from kits, and have owned Marantz, Mac and Crown amps as well. I had Tandberg cassette decks (anyone remember audio cassettes?), and Technics turntables. For speakers I've used Klipsch, JBL, Tannoy, Polk, Yamaha, and the insanely expensive - and worth every penny - Magneplanars from Magnepan. So, except for the Magnepan's, not quite audiophile, but really good home sound.
So, why would I buy a hundred dollar subwoofer from Amazon you ask?
I was looking for something inexpensive to give some bottom to the M-Audio powered speakers in my computer room, and I have seen and heard some new Polk speakers that sounded good, each in their respective price range.
Mostly, I bought this subwoofer based on the positive reviews on Amazon.
Sorry to say, I must disagree with the majority for this one.
I tried tuning it, I tried many different room placements, I tried various expensive subwoofer rca cables.
Sadly, I must report that I was unable to get any musical output from it - ever. I wasn't expecting audiophile here, just the ability to hear bass notes when they are playing. No-way, no-how.
I give it 2 stars for it's well made box, and the fact that it gives lots of rumble and (sloppy) boom, - and maybe that's enough for some.
But I have an almost 10 year old Yamaha sub (pre rca inputs, around the same power and same speaker size) that I brought into the room as an A/B test. The old Yamaha outperformed this new Polk by far.
After all of the positive reviews, I'm wondering if maybe the one I got was defective, but there is no way to get inside it for testing without voiding the return policy.
So...I returned it.
Good luck!
Rating: - Respectable Bass Output
A 10"in speaker that has gained my respect. Highly recommended. This baby packs quite a wallop at high or low volumes. With a trained ear and some tweaking, anyone can appreciate this near set it and forget it subwoofer.
However, for the single subwoofer coaxial output on your receiver, you're going to need an RCA single female input to double male Left/Right channel output connector in order to connect this unit properly. I think they (POLK) should include this with the product.
If you own at least a midrange receiver of a clean 110 watt output or more, this solidly built Polk Powered subwoofer can take some serious punishment and is a perfect addition to any system.
I push a shared 300 watts through this subwoofer with a Yamaha natural sound receiver. Along with a main pair of Cerwin Vega CLS-12's, a pair of Cerwin Vega bookshelf speakers and center channel as they all combine harmoniously in the joy of blissful home theater Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. The additional subwoofer completes the audiophile pile thus making the living room walls, picture frames and furniture vibrate and shake while watching a good Blueray movie.
Bottom line: Rock Solid, tight and precise lows and low/mids and it really seems to hold it's own in the end. Well worth the research, reviews and purchase. I've had it about a month now and I like surprising guests when a big boom happens in a movie. It makes us all jump and go wide eyed when it's first felt, then heard! >;-]
Rating: - Great Bang for the Buck
I purchased this sub to supplement a HDTV set up in my great room. The products works great, allows me to modify the set up easily and has a pleasing design. Overall just a great buy with good sound performance.
Rating: - Polk Gets Down
The Polk Sub is a great piece of equipment and you can not beat it for the price that Amazon sold & shipped the unit. It does have a base bottom and begins to flutter a-bit when driven with my crown. However, it goes down and responds decently. I have a JBL 12" Sub and it is comparable.
Nice unit and Fat sound.
Warren
Rating: - Great!
I really like this subwoofer, it is relatively portable and easy to set up, and the improvement in my sound system was dramatic!
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