Subwoofer recommendation for Polk Monitor 5 setup

A friend was looking for a recommendation to add a subwoofer to his Polk Monitor 5 setup. I believe they are 5b's with the beveled edges and SL-2000's.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,638
    Few questions. Room size, type of music, and mainly budget?
  • heartattackcity
    heartattackcity Posts: 8
    edited February 2018
    small bedroom used as an office--10x12ish, jazz, dad rock, indie rock, budgeted as if your wife was watching every penny you spent.
  • teekay0007
    teekay0007 Posts: 2,289

    Sorry Ken, I'm not so sure that a $500+ solution qualifies as a "budgeted as if your wife was watching every penny you spent" answer. And, a 12"-driver sub in a 10'x12' room? Sounds like overkill to me.

    I'd recommend a Polk Audio PSW111. Lots of people around here have used them and are very happy with their performance, especially when used for music listening (vs. needing the huge thump/boom for home theater applications). With a quick look around on the internet, I notice that they've gone back up to $299 in most places. However, they were recently, and for a long time, at $165 on Amazon and other dealers for new ones with full warranty.

    They often come up on our local craigslist in like new condition for anywhere from $40 to $80-$100.

    Check the feedback/reviews online, people are very happy with this tiny sub. I thought mine (now owned by Club Polk member gudnoyez) performed in a much larger room than 10x12 quite admirably.
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,420
    Try your local Salvation army. I picked up a Klipsch sub for $25 for my garage.
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)


    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    I really like older mirage and energy subs, especially the s10 version 2 or 3. Can be had for a very reasonable price on that auction site. Fairly musical, not boomy, and digs into the uppers 20s hz.

    Other suggestion is keep a lookout for a martin logan dynamo original I got mine in got shape for $200 shipped, and they pretty regularly go for around that price. They have great connectivity options, built in high pass feature, and are linear and flat to about 25hz. Comes really close to that SVS @ken brydson linked, but with a better feature set and crossover (SVS is not known for precise, accurate crossovers). Really hard to beat for the coin imo...
    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
  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,638
    I'm of the do it once and do it right camp. Overkill for his current room? Maybe... turn it down. I also think $500 for a new quality sub is "lower" budget. Warranty, generous trial period.... Buy used and roll the dice. JMHO