My Polk Lsi 705's needs an economy subwoofer

Trevorj800
Trevorj800 Posts: 10
Not a lot of money, and I have to order them because I live in a place with no audio stores. What's a good sub in the $150--250 range? I am particularly looking for something that performs well at relatively low volume. It will be in a large rectangular room with 11 foot ceilings and lots reflections -- a glass door and bouncy concrete walls.

Comments

  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    edited December 2017
    so...you want a miracle then ? :)

    Big room, sub to hit lower than the 705's, for under 250 ? Maybe Dayton subs, but I won't commit to the quality of the sound as compared to others.

    Subs don't usually do well for low volumes.
    My guess is your problem is elsewhere in your system, those 705's can belt out some decent low end. What are you driving the 705's with ?
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited December 2017
    There's your problem. Well, that and the room.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • What's wrong with my amp?
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    I've got CD/SACD players that weigh a lot more meaning your AVR doesn't have much of a power supply and it all starts with the power supply. AVR's are good for HT use, not 2 channel music.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    https://www.amazon.com/Bic-Acoustech-PL-200-II-Subwoofer/dp/B074131NKS/ref=pd_sbs_23_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B074131NKS&pd_rd_r=SM0P8T7AG7XC78PPF91W&pd_rd_w=plFX6&pd_rd_wg=bAM1J&psc=1&refRID=SM0P8T7AG7XC78PPF91W

    There will be compromises in a budget subwoofer, but they can be minimized for $249. At $150 there isn't much worth looking at. Check out Amazon for other offerings like the Polk PSW505, Elac S10, Klipsch R-10SWi.

    A subwoofer and low volume tends to not make much sense. Why have a subwoofer at all if you're not going to crank it up and use it? The LSiM705s will not benefit from an added subwoofer at low listening levels.

    If you decide to upgrade to better gear later to better suit the large room, move the bargain subwoofer to an office or bedroom system.
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    Hey Trevor, do you have a full surround setup or are you just running two channel? If two channel, I would definitely look at selling the avr and adding the $250 to what you get from the avr. Get a used integrated or a used pre amp and amp (like a B&K reference 30) and you will be much better off.

    Or, shameless plug, my yamaha that I am selling is much heavier and much better sounding than that onkyo. http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/179720/yamaha-rx-a1010-and-parasound-hca-1000a#latest
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es; Squeezebox Touch with Bolder Power Supply
    Game Room 5.1.4:
    Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra

    Bedroom 2.1
    Cambridge Azur 551r; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    Trev,
    Obviously your losing bass response at lower volume levels, which for the most part, is somewhat normal. A sub isn't going to help with that. More power will help some, and that receiver is pretty weak when it comes to power.

    Your choices as I see it, is....

    A- buy a better more powerful receiver. Make sure it has preouts to be able to add an amplifier down the road. Yours doesn't, which limits your abilities.

    B- if your system is just for music listening, move away from receivers and get a pre-amp/amplifier combo when the 'ol wallet allows.

    you can add a subwoofer if you want, but in your price range finding one that will dig deeper than your speakers is going to be tough. Especially if you have a large room. Bigger the room, bigger the sub needs to be to pressurize that room.

    As for what you have right now, some things you can check is....

    Are your speakers set to full range ?
    Are speaker levels set to 0 or slightly in the + side ?
    Is your receiver set to "no subwoofer" or none, if you don't have one now.

    Hope that helps ya out some, let us know how it goes.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    There are plenty of cheap (powered) subwoofers. I think that one gets what one pays for in that regard.

    Parts Express kind of runs the gamut vis-a-vis subwoofer options: from the ridiculous to the (relatively speaking) sublime, FWIW.

    https://www.parts-express.com/cat/powered-subwoofers/95

    FWIW, I have (had) a cheap powered subwoofer for a long time -- a 10" ported powered "Atlantic Technologies" brand buyout from Parts Express. It did its job, but was kind of one-note and not particularly 'musical' (for lack of a better term).

    Recently upgraded to something in another league entirely, though.


  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    Concrete walls, glass, and high ceilings also make it hard to achieve good controlled low frequencies. It may take two subwoofers to get decent sound, and I would be thinking in the $500 a piece range for subwoofage. A new receiver alone may not do much to control the room reflections.
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    Maybe Trev just wants a little more oomph when watching movies late at night at lower volumes.

    Still, imho....a big room, lower volumes, and a cheap sub = you just wasted your money.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • I’m really interested in the new Monoprice Monolith subwoofers. I know, I shouldn’t be, but they appear to be awesome for the money.
    Oh, Listen here mister. We got no way of understandin' this world. But we got as much sense of this bird flyin in the sky. Now there is a lot that bird don't know, but it don't change the fact that the world is happening to him all the same. What I am tryin to say is, is that the course of your life, well its changing, and you don't even see it- Forest Bondurant