PSW505 vs PSW650

Inspector 24

I currently have a PSW505 and PSW300. There's a PSW650 on the local classifieds for a good deal, but is it any better than the 505 I already have? The original MSRP's suggest it is, but are the two tens with less wattage better than the one 12 with lotsa wattage?

If so, how?

anonymouse

I have never heard a 505, but I did have a 404 and the 650. I now have two 650's and no 404. The 650 toasted the 404.

rooftop59

If its a really good deal then buy it and try it out. If u dont like it flip it. I bet lots of folks here might be interested.
Peace

nguyendot

How have you never heard of a 505? Isn't it the most popular polk in recent history?

anonymouse

nguyendot wrote: »

How have you never heard of a 505? Isn't it the most popular polk in recent history?

I've heard lots about it. Just never heard (i.e. listened to) one in person.

Inspector 24

rooftop59 wrote: »

If its a really good deal then buy it and try it out. If u dont like it flip it. I bet lots of folks here might be interested.
Peace

I've considered that but I figured I would consult the experts first and maybe save some time. I'd rather not buy and re-sell something if there is nothin to gain

nguyendot

Lol read that wrong, my bad.

Inspector 24

anonymouse wrote: »

I have never heard a 505, but I did have a 404 and the 650. I now have two 650's and no 404. The 650 toasted the 404.

Must be a pretty good sub if you got two!

And I could see it beating the 404, two tens are definitely better than one, but are the good enough to beat one 12" with more power?

anonymouse

2 10s have a surface area of 157 sq inches vs. 113 sq inches for one 12. So just in terms of surface area, the 650 has more capacity to move air for the same excursion. The other advantage of the two cones is a certain degree of mode cancellation depending on where it is placed. All this said, the only way to know is to audition them both in the same room.

Inspector 24

Great point. Any thoughts about the difference in amplifier power?

comfortablycurt

I'd take the 505 over the 650 myself. The greater wattage makes for a very significant difference. IMO, the 505 is the best sub that Polk made up until the DSW series subs came out.

Inspector 24

That's good to hear.

Think it would be worthwhile as a 3rd sub? The room is ~800sq feet and I wouldn't mind a little more punch sometimes...

Uilleann

If you're after "punch" then a 12 is exactly what you DON'T want. Two 10's should be much quicker and "punchier". Even better - six 8's...etc. The smaller the driver, the quicker they are with transients. The trade off that you give up of course is that the smaller drivers also have a higher resonant frequency, so they won't sound as
"low" to the ear. They'll roll off sooner in other words.

If I were designing a system in terms of driver sizing, it might look something like this: 1" soft dome tweeter (mellow warm highs - personal preference), 3.5" (upper mids), 5.25" (mids), 6.5-7" (mid bass...probably two in a tower), 8" woofers (lower bass..three or four of them), and lastly a good 12-15" sub (for that ultra low slow rumbly HT style bass.

Obviously there's a L-O-T more that goes into design of an exceptional box, and driver size is only one piece of that large puzzle. But it is something to bear in mind. If you can try out the 2 10's, or better yet, grab four 8's...I think you might be happily surprised at the sound. As always, YMMV...

Cheers!

Bri~

comfortablycurt

Uilleann wrote: »

If you're after "punch" then a 12 is exactly what you DON'T want. Two 10's should be much quicker and "punchier". Even better - six 8's...etc. The smaller the driver, the quicker they are with transients. The trade off that you give up of course is that the smaller drivers also have a higher resonant frequency, so they won't sound as
"low" to the ear. They'll roll off sooner in other words.

If I were designing a system in terms of driver sizing, it might look something like this: 1" soft dome tweeter (mellow warm highs - personal preference), 3.5" (upper mids), 5.25" (mids), 6.5-7" (mid bass...probably two in a tower), 8" woofers (lower bass..three or four of them), and lastly a good 12-15" sub (for that ultra low slow rumbly HT style bass.

Obviously there's a L-O-T more that goes into design of an exceptional box, and driver size is only one piece of that large puzzle. But it is something to bear in mind. If you can try out the 2 10's, or better yet, grab four 8's...I think you might be happily surprised at the sound. As always, YMMV...

Cheers!

Bri~

This is kind of a faulty theory IMO. Driver size doesn't absolutely dictate whether or not a speaker is going to sound punchy or boomy. I've heard plenty of 12's that were very punchy. On the opposite side, I've heard plenty of smaller subs that were what I'd consider boomy and bloated sounding. There's a lot more than driver size to take into consideration. The construction and materials of the driver itself, the cabinet materials and construction, the quality of the amp used, sealed vs. ported designs etc. etc. (You did mention this yourself though as well)

As far as the "quickness" of the driver goes, generally speaking a smaller driver will be faster...but this isn't an absolute truth all the time. As mentioned above, there's a lot more to it than size. The overall excursion of the cone, the weight of the cone and numerous other factors play a big part in this.

Not to mention that I haven't seen too many commercially available subs that utilize four 8's. Regardless, even four 8's aren't going to be able to reach the low bass that larger drivers are capable of reproducing.

Uilleann

The theory is sound - and as I mentioned in my original response here, driver size is one factor of many. Obviously there are exceptions to any rule, and I have heard many of the same issues with various sized drivers you mention. Further I was not suggesting that Polk or anyone else offered a commercially available product made to any specification I described above. My comments were made in a general sense - apologies if that was not made clear - and were directed to attempt to shed a bit of light on possible/probable tonal outcomes with the OP's specific subwoofers in mind.

I stand by my statement (all things being equal) that an 8 or 10 will be perceived as more punchy, as opposed to a 12, 15 or 18. I agree wholeheartedly (and stated as such initially here) that larger drivers will have a lower resonant frequency and will sound "lower" to the hear - again, all other things being equal. With that said, some of the tightest bass I've ever heard was from 6.5" drivers that felt like they were slamming hammers into your kidneys. But "ultra-low"...they were not. To each there own. Best to all!

Bri~

TypeIIghost

PSW650 sub is phenomenal,this thing is a monster!!! I would recommend it.I have 2 of them and have been to the stores to sample against it and havent found anything to crush it for under 1000 bux so i would give it a wirl at a good price and u might just fall in love.The only problem i see is that this model is old so when u buy one u dont know what its been threw.Good luck

Inspector 24

Awesome! Another positive review!

Any idea how it might compare to the PSW505?

apphd

VJC reported

Inspector 24

Bringing this back up, a 505 popped up for sale locally.

Having spent some time with a 650 (acquired elsewhere) I was unimpressed with the addition it made to the room. It seemed that I needed to have it turned up to 8 or 9 to equal the bass the 505 put out at half volume. Perhaps this is a matter of placement in the room. Though I tried several different spots I couldn't find one where it significantly added something over the 505. That said, I'm considering buying that 505. He's got it listed for $210, thinking of offering $180 if it looks good and works. :cheesygrin:

zane77

You should be able to find the 505 on sale new for that price or less, if they are still for sale check Newegg

Inspector 24

Cheapest I could find online was $220 shipped on eBay, $250 on NewEgg, so I went and grabbed this one for $185.

Now off to play. Going to a/b it against the 650 in the same spot I've had the 650 Should be revealing.

jon s

I had three PSW650s... One had the amp die on me... I rebuilt it using a Dayton 250-watt amp. I had to rearrange the cabinet design, putting the power ports on the bottom since the new amp took up most of the real estate on the rear panel. After the upgrade, the FrankenPolk is definitely more powerful than the original design. In retrospect, I should have run the drivers thru Bass Box Pro and figured out the optimum volume for the drivers. If I had used an 18" cube iso 16'"x17"x18", the bass would have been flatter and a bit more extended than the original design.

Regarding the PSW650... It has a very fast bass response but unfortunately, while two 10" drivers have more area than a single 12", the 10" drivers do not go that low. I find that the PSW650 bottoms out at 35-40Hz. So if you are expecting room shaking bass, it ain't gonna happen.

Inspector 24

"So if you are expecting room shaking bass, it ain't gonna happen"

Exactly what I found. The 650 is a more musical sub, easily keeping up with the A9's where the 505 lags behind, calls too much attention to itself and is a poor match. Fortunately the A9's put out all the bass I need for music.

When it came to home theater and some DTS and Dolby HD tracks, the 505 provided the thump, rumble and shaking I like to have watching movies. The first 20 mins of Thor are a great test of the LFE channel, and the second 505 filled in where the 650 simply could not. The impact of Thor's hammer on the Frost Giants could suddenly be FELT in a way I hadn't before. It's as though adding a second 505 doubled the bass response, where the 650 was barely noticeable.

So the 650 got moved upstairs where I'm currently playing with settings to best match it to the RT800i's. Considering we mostly listen to music upstairs, so far it's a much better fit.

Loud & Clear

Newegg has the 505 now for $189.99 with the promo code. Free shipping. Tough to beat for the money.

Inspector 24

Loud & Clear wrote: »

Newegg has the 505 now for $189.99 with the promo code. Free shipping. Tough to beat for the money.

Promo code?? What's the promo code? I would have talked the guy down more had I known that!

ken brydson

Loud & Clear wrote: »

Newegg has the 505 now for $189.99 with the promo code. Free shipping. Tough to beat for the money.

last I checked they were sold out.

htownmmm

ken brydson wrote: »

last I checked they were sold out.

Jut picked up a 505 on the 21st from NEWEGG; getting it set up currently.


marty

ambiophonics

My 505 just showed up here at work - $189.99 shipped from Newegg. Can't wait to try it out tonight!

Inspector 24

Wow, they're back! Too bad they weren't in stock when I bought the last one, best price then was $220-230!

Great deal on a pretty dang good sub. It puts out a lot of bass for the money!

And I just picked up a third for upstairs...Came with LSI15's, LSI7's and a LSIc for $370!

chefkungfu

Congrats ambiophonics! I've never heard a PSW505, but for that price on Newegg I may have to buy it. That's a sweet price.
I'm currently running a PSW650 & a PSW1200! All I have to say is, wow!
I'm going to pick that 505 sub up & put it in the spare bedroom.
Let us know how it worked out for you, I'm really curious about that 505.
FT.

ambiophonics wrote: »

My 505 just showed up here at work - $189.99 shipped from Newegg. Can't wait to try it out tonight!

chefkungfu

I'm going to pull the trigger on the PSW505 tonight after work, or early Saturday morning. Just can't seem to have enough subwoofers! Plus, 179.99 after the discounts = no brainer! That's a solid deal! Anyone else in on this?
Frank.