Thoughts on PSW10

colin808

I read some other reviews about the PSW10 but wanted to hear straight from the Polk community. Originally I was planning on going with the PSW505 since the output was 300 watts RMS. Since I dont have that much to spend on a sub right now I saw the PSW10. Im not able to listen to it before I buy so I was wondering if anyone had any input on the PSW10. Just looking for a good sound quality sub.

roost28

colin808 wrote: »

I read some other reviews about the PSW10 but wanted to hear straight from the Polk community. Originally I was planning on going with the PSW505 since the output was 300 watts RMS. Since I dont have that much to spend on a sub right now I saw the PSW10. Im not able to listen to it before I buy so I was wondering if anyone had any input on the PSW10. Just looking for a good sound quality sub.

The psw10 is a decent sub, i was surprised at how well it sounded for a sub as cheap as it is. you will not be dissapointed with this purchase.

RuSsMaN

The PSW10 will give some low end fill / reinforcement in an entry level system, no problem. Can you do better? Sure. For the money, street prices, it's a gem. The 10 is entry level, but musical within it's limits. What's the rest of the system consist of?

Cheers,
Russ

hochpt21

Yea, depends on your budget and the rest of the system. If your really not looking to spend much and the rest of the system is somewhat entry level, and your doing mostly home theater...its a pretty good option. I have one, but I don't use my ht that much...

colin808

RuSsMaN wrote: »

The PSW10 will give some low end fill / reinforcement in an entry level system, no problem. Can you do better? Sure. For the money, street prices, it's a gem. The 10 is entry level, but musical within it's limits. What's the rest of the system consist of?

Cheers,
Russ

Im new to this whole home idea. I picked up some Polk 11t or 11tl monitors and a Pioneer VSX56 from craigslist. To be honest, never really listen to the Polks yet. I just tested one speaker for about 5 minutes. For right now, I dont really want to spend too much on a sub. There is a brand new Yamaha sw315 on craigslist for $150 and with some talking down maybe $125. Only reason Im thinking about that is its about 150 rms vs the 50 RMS of the PSW10. But Id take quality over loudness.

bd1886

This sub needs to make no apologies as it truly is one of the best entry subs out there. It's made well, projects bass decently tight, and doesn't roll off badly. I wish my entry level center had been as good! This sub will stay through a couple upgrades of my mains for sure.

grimmace19

I hated my psw10. I've voiced it a number of times around the forum. Even paired with monitor 50 speakers it didn't do anything worthwhile for me. Low output and poor sound. Just my opinion. Save the money and wait for something a little better.

Jim Shearer

Depends om what you are looking for from a sub. I have a PSW10 which I sometimes use with smaller speakers which have an f/3 about 60 Hz. The PSW10 fills in the bottom end of the music quite nicely. But then, I don't have aspirations of going deaf (i.e. don't listen at ear bleeding SPLs).

Can't say much about HT use, as I don't do that. I suspect that for HT it might come up short--on big explosions a PSW10 won't make the windows in your room bow in & out.

Cheers, Jim

cnh

For its discounted price and entry level, I pretty much agree with Russman above. Try to do better! But it, along with grimmace, it does have limitations:

It's easy to overdrive and it can put out some nasty port noise so you have to keep your volume at "reasonable" volumes and experiment a LOT with placement. You need to find the spot in the room where the port noise is "minimal"! That can be tricky!

Do you mean you have RTA 11s or RTA 11ts (are they thinner tall towers or shorter, broad speakers like the Monitor 11). Either way. Those speakers can probably hit below what the PSW 10 can so you would be better off moving up to the PSW 505 if you want some "real" bass reinforcement there!

cnh

colin808

I actually heard the PSW10 at Best Buy. I didnt think much of it. I couldnt really hear the bass maybe cause it blended so well. I tried turning off the sub and there was a difference but not much buy maybe thats a good thing. Although I couldnt hear much bass, I had a mean headache after. Im not sure I can gauge how good it sounded since it was basically in a massive room. I dont know the potential of my 11t's (not exactly sure yet which model I have but I think I just have to find out which tweeter I have and then Ill know). Especially since I dont think I can spare the $100 right now, Im going to work on fixing my room then seeing what the speakers can really do then maybe decide on a sub. Maybe my Christmas time there will be a good sub on sale.

colin808

cnh wrote: »

Do you mean you have RTA 11s or RTA 11ts (are they thinner tall towers or shorter, broad speakers like the Monitor 11). Either way. Those speakers can probably hit below what the PSW 10 can so you would be better off moving up to the PSW 505 if you want some "real" bass reinforcement there!

cnh

they are tall thinner towers. I talked to one of the Polk people and they said if I can get the tweeter model then that should tell which model I have. I could post a pic. Does anyone know how to? I tried to use one from my computer but on this it wont let me navigate to find it. Forgive me if this is a stupid question but for some reason cant upload a picture.

colin808

Ok disregard that. Somehow the upload worked.

Mudfrog

I opted for the BIC F12 over the PSW10. Granted the BIC is twice the cost but it's still under $200. The PSW10 just did not have the backbone needed for HT duty.

cnh

Some kind of RTA 11s (or 11ts), which can easily match the bottom end of a PSW 10. You're probably OK just running those as full range speakers till you can afford a bigger badder sub!

cnh

colin808

cnh wrote: »

Some kind of RTA 11s (or 11ts), which can easily match the bottom end of a PSW 10. You're probably OK just running those as full range speakers till you can afford a bigger badder sub!

cnh

not sure if i should start a new thread for this but since you brought this up i thought id ask here. what settings should I use for the RTA 11? I know you say full range but what should I set the high pass to? 60hz? or just turn it off?

skrol

I really haven't played with the combination much but the RTA-11TL does dig deeper than the PSW-10. My PSW-10 is relegated to my meager HT rig. Adding the PSW-10 to the RTA-11T will probably add some reinforcement if you can blend it in well. However, in general I don't like the same frequency range being produced by multiple sources.

I'd be curious if anyone has come up with mods to improve the PSW-10. I originally bought mine with the intent to do just that but never got around to playing with it.
Stan

OOsemka

I am just like Mudfrog above. Was not impressed with PSW10 so sold it for cheap and went with BIC F12. BIC is also cheap but can handle lows much much better.

Joe08867

colin808 wrote: »

not sure if i should start a new thread for this but since you brought this up i thought id ask here. what settings should I use for the RTA 11? I know you say full range but what should I set the high pass to? 60hz? or just turn it off?

For the front speakers leave them at Full. Center 80hz rears 80hz and then play with it.

I would also wait for a better sub. The 11T's will push as much or even more bass then the PSW10 can. I would get a PSW505 before any of your other choices here.

[Deleted User]

I've got a black PSW10 at home and have it to power my TV audio in a 2.1 set up. It took a little tweaking, but I'm happy the the output now at low to medium volume levels. We have kids in the house, so we can't do much blasting in the TV room. The stereo room is another story...

vadang

I'll echo most of the suggestions. If you can get away with spending a little more, then do that, but when I first bought my PSW10 for my old house, I hated it. I was so disappointed with it.

I moved and needed a sub for the living room to hold me over until I bought a new one, so I threw the PSW10 in there and I am quite happy with it. The acoustics of the rooms made a huge difference for me. It is unfortunate you cannot demo before buying.

colin808

Joe08867 wrote: »

For the front speakers leave them at Full. Center 80hz rears 80hz and then play with it.

I would also wait for a better sub. The 11T's will push as much or even more bass then the PSW10 can. I would get a PSW505 before any of your other choices here.

for my first impressions of the 11t, i felt it lacked alot of bass..definitely nothing close to the psw10. I probably wont be able to really test them for a week or two til i finish my room.

jimbo1421

I originally bought the PSW10 to go with a 42" SurroundBar (now gone), but now I mostly use it for the LFE channel and to assist the center channel. The CS400i is set to small; my fronts and surrounds are set to large (see signature). Although, according to the specs, the SDA-CRS+ reach lower than the PSW10, I found that low frequency effects were punchier with the subwoofer. I don't use it at all for music.

Jim

11tsteve

i have a pair of RTA 11Ts, nearly fully modded (Xovers, wires, gaskets, spikes, RDO-194) and they are not in an ideal place in my office(corners), but they were what i had to work with and they are sounding super nice. the room is just a bit of a bass trap, and quite honestly, the mods tightened the bass, but the low end "feels" is lesser. i have been playing with batting placement, and actually, the rewire to 16 AWG has helped.
so, i picked up a PSW10 on the cheap from Agon... happened to be a local guy. my impressions for my set up are ....

anything above about 85 Hz and it sounds like mashed potatoes. depending on the recording, but in general, no more than half on the volume before it again starts to cover what the 11Ts are doing and i lose punch. it is (as somebody said above) adding a bit of fill, and it is doing it adequately. if i hadn't gotten it cheap, i might be disappointed. it gets loose and boomy quickly.
again, though, i have a hard room. plaster walls, wood floors, short throw.... i am doing the best i can. right now there is a small piece of carpet under the sub and i need to start looking into wall treatments.