psw 350 question

caseymou
caseymou Posts: 327
edited April 2002 in Technical/Setup
I have the chance to buy a used, but well cared for, psw 350 for $220. I will be replacing a 10" KLH sub with it. Looking at pricing, paradigm, Klipsch, and polk (among others) all have 10" subs for around the same money. Probably going to get a biased opinion, but how does the Polk place in it's price range $3-400? Is it even worth replacing my KLH? By the way, how does Polk handle etailers on ebay. I saw some killer deals on new stuff.
Post edited by caseymou on

Comments

  • caseymou
    caseymou Posts: 327
    edited April 2002
    Anyone have any opinions? I will have to buy this weekend, as it is on the way to KY were I am going.
  • Ron-P
    Ron-P Posts: 8,516
    edited April 2002
    I am selling my Velodyne CT-120 (12") for $250. + shipping. A great sub if your interested. Here is a link to a thread in this forum.


    http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3381


    Peace Out~:D
    If...
    Ron dislikes a film = go out and buy it.
    Ron loves a film = don't even rent.
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited April 2002
    With Polk discontinuing some of it's RT speakers.. you can find some really good deals out there. I'd say buy it if you can... i have the PSW350 too. And it has lots of bass for it's small 10" driver.

    Although there are better powered subs out there... for the price you can't go wrong. If you're looking for deeper bass below 38htz,
    look at different subs. are you going to be using this with your KLH sub? or replacing the KLH sub? try running both and it should shake the room pretty good. I have mine about two inches from the couch. and I can feel the couch shake on DVD's.
    :D
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • OrangeToupee
    OrangeToupee Posts: 488
    edited April 2002
    Sounds like that Polk-for-Klipsch swap might be a lateral move, and therefore, not really worth doing. You'd be much better off taking Ron-P's big Velo. That thing will give you a lot more authority, and will hit far lower than either of the subs you're currently discussing, and at, I imagine, a competitive price.
  • Dr. Spec
    Dr. Spec Posts: 3,780
    edited April 2002
    The PSW350 is one of the most musical subs one the market - definitely not the "one note wonder" subs so typical in low end HT set-ups. It is tight, the 10" woofer is fast, it has low distortion and so does its amp (0.05% THD), not much overhang, plays loud for its size, and goes pretty deep.

    While there are notable exceptions, many DVDs have little significant signal content below 30Hz. Most of the punch and impact on LFE effects is in the 35-45Hz range, and that's where the PSW350 lives. Two of them in tandem have 200 watts RMS and move a lot of air and are very impressive in a mid sized HT room. I had a choice between a PSW650 or two PSW350s and despite the fact that the 650 clearly digs a half octave deeper, I went with the two 350s for the slight edge in RMS and peak power and air moving capability.

    Polk's 38Hz -3db reference is pretty conservative, at least in my room. Clearly subs are placement dependent, but in my room, my two PSW350s have a -3db point of about 32Hz, with a calibrated German SPL meter and a test tone generator. They even have palpable output at 20Hz (-14db). I'm not saying the PSW350 is a bottom feeder capable of rattling windows at 20Hz, it's not - but it hangs in there pretty well and the roll-off is pretty gradual in the last octave, actually.

    Check out www.audioreview.com and look at all the comparable 10" subs - the PSW350 stands out as one of the best. The HSU VTF2 is probably one of the few that plays notably louder and deeper than the PSW350 and is worth a hard look also.

    The comparably priced Klipsch KSW10, for example, has only 55 watts RMS, has a propensity for blowing hard-to-find 0.63 amp fuses, and doesn't play even moderately loud even in small rooms. It was pretty majorly panned by the reviewers and the PSW350 crushes it in comparison.

    A PSW350 for $220 is a screamin' deal - I'd jump on it unless you have a huge room or need high output below 35Hz.

    Spec
    "What we do in life echoes in eternity"

    Ed Mullen (emullen@svsound.com)
    Director - Technology and Customer Service
    SVS
  • BBUBBA
    BBUBBA Posts: 66
    edited April 2002
    Originally posted by Dr. Spec
    The PSW350 is one of the most musical subs one the market - definitely not the "one note wonder" subs so typical in low end HT set-ups. It is tight, the 10" woofer is fast, it has low distortion and so does its amp (0.05% THD), not much overhang, plays loud for its size, and goes pretty deep.

    While there are notable exceptions, many DVDs have little significant signal content below 30Hz. Most of the punch and impact on LFE effects is in the 35-45Hz range, and that's where the PSW350 lives. Two of them in tandem have 200 watts RMS and move a lot of air and are very impressive in a mid sized HT room. I had a choice between a PSW650 or two PSW350s and despite the fact that the 650 clearly digs a half octave deeper, I went with the two 350s for the slight edge in RMS and peak power and air moving capability.

    Polk's 38Hz -3db reference is pretty conservative, at least in my room. Clearly subs are placement dependent, but in my room, my two PSW350s have a -3db point of about 32Hz, with a calibrated
    German SPL meter and a test tone generator. They even have palpable output at 20Hz (-14db). I'm not saying the PSW350 is a bottom feeder capable of rattling windows at 20Hz, it's not - but it hangs in there pretty well and the roll-off is pretty gradual in the last octave, actually.

    Check out www.audioreview.com and look at all the comparable 10" subs - the PSW350 stands out as one of the best. The HSU VTF2 is probably one of the few that plays notably louder and deeper than the PSW350 and is worth a hard look also.

    The comparably priced Klipsch KSW10, for example, has only 55 watts RMS, has a propensity for blowing hard-to-find 0.63 amp fuses, and doesn't play even moderately loud even in small rooms. It was pretty majorly panned by the reviewers and the PSW350 crushes it in comparison.

    A PSW350 for $220 is a screamin' deal - I'd jump on it unless you have a huge room or need high output below 35Hz.

    Spec

    I thought it was rated at (all the polk subs) at 1% THD . I have one and it is very musical. I also picked up a PSW650 run them both.like a lot of bass. Movies need to move you!!!
  • Dr. Spec
    Dr. Spec Posts: 3,780
    edited April 2002
    BBUBBA:

    I was going by my owner's manual: 100 WPC into 4 ohms @0.05% THD 30-200 Hz with 260 watts dynamic power.

    Clearly, the website is different: 100 WPC into 4 ohms @<1% THD and 200 watts total dynamic power.

    What gives? Is Polk using different amp components?

    A 60 watt drop in dynamic power is pretty significant........

    Or are they simply changing the way they rate their amps?

    Any comments?

    Spec
    "What we do in life echoes in eternity"

    Ed Mullen (emullen@svsound.com)
    Director - Technology and Customer Service
    SVS