New Polk sub.

scottvamp

PSW404
Has anybody heard this new sub. yet!
**First of all, the PSW404 uses a 200-watt high-curent amp to power a 10" front-firing woofer. One of the most noteworthy things about this driver is the big rubber ring around it; called a Hi-Roll surround, it gives the woofer more flexibility for back and forth movement, and means lots more sound for listeners! Another contributor to the PSW404's low-frequency impact is the slot-loaded enclosure. By reducing port turbulence and distortion, the Slot Load Vent sends out bass that fills your room and still retains detail and shape. **

Ya slot port - interesting how they went away from the Polk Power Port.
Anyway I am installing one for a friend this week and I will let u know how it sounds.
Here is a pick - nice large rubber surround.

scottvamp

LFE (Unfiltered) Input:

fireshoes

I haven't heard it yet, but I keep waiting for my store to get them. I swear we always get things a month after everyone else.

joe logston

they are coming out with a psw-505 to it have a 12" driver not sure how much watts it haves.

mantis

I believe Polk should put more effort into coming out with an Lsi sub.The psw line has nice sub's now,why keep bringing out new ones all the time.

It looks nice nontheless.Also I believe they should offer woodgrain cabnets like rosewood,cherry or walnut.Am I the only one sick of black sub's?

PETERNG

Originally posted by mantis

It looks nice nontheless.Also I believe they should offer woodgrain cabnets like rosewood,cherry or walnut.Am I the only one sick of black sub's?

Man, I'm second on this, look at the premium line of Cambrigde Soundworks subs, I know exactly what you means...let give us more options and choice of color please...

PETERNG

also, spend $499 on polk speaker starts on Nov 15th, you will get a free polk sub (psw 202).

phuz

I think the silver front panel is FUGLY.

What were they smoking? A silver front panel with everything else black? C'mon.

Oh yeah, and yes please. Give me a sub to match my Cherry LSi's.

weavercr

Dont forget Oak Subs

Dr. Spec

Without a bigger enclosure (or EQ and tons of amp a la Sunfire), this sub will never get below 35 Hz. It's just physics.

I really like the beefy looking driver, though, and the 200 watts of power.

This promises to be a pretty strong sucker in the 40-60 Hz range, and Polk susb have always had a nice sound, IMHO.

One thumb up.

Doc

fireshoes

Well, one day after bitching about not having them, guess what showed up today? I hooked up our 202's and 404's today about 10 minutes before the store closed. The 350 and 404 were set the same for crossover and volume position. Ashanti was in the cd player. It's got some pretty good bass, so I turned on a PSW350. Sounds good right? The 350 is a good sub. So I flip it over to the 404.

I wasn't expecting much since it just came out of the box (no break-in time). I was really surprised though. It blew the 350 away. The volume was the same, but it was so much smoother. It was just like they said, the slot port was very quiet, even at loud volumes, while in comparison, the 350 ports produced a very noticable chuffing sound.

For a 10 minute demo, I was very impressed. They've got a hit on their hands. Tomorrow, I'll see how it does with low bass with a U-571 workout. I can't wait to see how this sub sounds in about 2 months after it gets pounded on.

danger boy

i second or third that. i'd like to see a line of subs in cherry, or oak, of maple even.. with flames and a 404 w/dual carb under the hood.

burdette

I would think the black cabinets are the result of simple economics. Subs have really come down in price the past few years and the segment, in my opinion, has gotten much more competitive. Given that one of the selling points of subs is that you can hide them away.. and given the competition... basic black outside and more quality oomph inside makes sense. I know that if I were limited on budget (which I would be), I wouldn't pay more for a nicer cabinet.

I can see a very nice cabinet for the LSi line... people dropping that dough are probably not hiding their equipment away.. rather, dare I say, they're more likely to showcase.

I love nice wood cabinets ... but I think the companies are correct in using basic cabinets and increasing sound quality at the lower and middle price points.

phuz

Great discussion, but nothing explains the single silver panel on the front of these subs. C'mon Micah, anyone? I asked this question months ago and never got any kind of response.

Does anyone else find this odd? Is this the case for demo units only or what?

fireshoes

Nope, it's on all of them It actually doesn't seem that obtrusive in person though.

scottvamp

I personally like the silver. Well my friend that I was going to install the sub for decided to do it himself. Ya, it took him about 4 hours to blow it. He is having Cruchfield send him a new. I told his wife not to let him touch it to I get there.

scottvamp

HEY NOW!!!!!!!

capitan100

i heard one of these today. it sounded very good. the salesman told me they are a direct copy off of the velodyne subs. says the speaker is almost identical, and the slot loaded port was put on the back, b/c they couldn't copy velodyne exactly. The 404 was only 399 where i was looking. also said polk is outsourcing their amps now and have better high current amps in them vs the old psw line. i wish i had the money and could trade my old psw350 in for one.

fireshoes

Just think, you could buy $499 in Polk speakers to qualify for the free PSW202, and then pay the difference to upgrade to the PSW404!

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

- Without a bigger enclosure (or EQ and tons of amp a la Sunfire), this sub will never get below 35 Hz. It's just physics. -

If i reading dat right...ur saying the only way for a sub to get low is a huge amp...well if this is true every M&K sub must suck, because they all have low wat amps, but very good amps, like at 125 - 250 wat amps, more wats wit higher price, but the sub i got has a 125 wat amp, two active 12 inch drivers, and hits well below 20 hz, and can be turned all de way up wit out blowing, and it dont clip at all, and its 15 years old....newayz its like 3 am and im bored, so w/e...

Dr. Spec

Originally posted by MxStYlEpOlKmAn
- Without a bigger enclosure (or EQ and tons of amp a la Sunfire), this sub will never get below 35 Hz. It's just physics. -

If i reading dat right...ur saying the only way for a sub to get low is a huge amp...well if this is true every M&K sub must suck, because they all have low wat amps, but very good amps, like at 125 - 250 wat amps, more wats wit higher price, but the sub i got has a 125 wat amp, two active 12 inch drivers, and hits well below 20 hz, and can be turned all de way up wit out blowing, and it dont clip at all, and its 15 years old....newayz its like 3 am and im bored, so w/e...

You misread what I wrote. I didn't say the only way for a sub to get low is a huge amp - that's not true. ATCVenom pretty mch answered yor question: M&K subs have decent sized enclosures.

What I said is that there are generally two ways to achieve truly deep and strong bass:

1) With a properly sized (and that usually means pretty darn big) enclosure that has a natural tuning point at a very low frequency. This approach does not require lots of power, since the larger enclosures are naturally more efficient. The Infinite Baffle style subwoofers are the most extreme example of this approach, requiring in some cases only a few watts of input to achieve decent SPL at subsonic frequencies. Of course, the woofer driver characteristics must also be carefully chosen to match the enclosure size, and the user/designer must also decide up front whether or not it will be vented.

2) A smaller enclosure with usually two super long throw drivers and very high power amps (in the 1,000 watt and higher range) that have an active EQ curve built in. Like the Sunfire subs and all its various clones.

Even done properly, approach #2 tends to result in higher harmonic distortion than approach #1 since the small woofers are being pushed to extreme excursions with very high power inputs and a massive bass EQ curve to mimic what can naturally be done with a much larger enclosure, at much lower power levels, with no EQ, and without such extreme cone excursions.

If the PSW404 had a much larger enclosure, and the vent slot was resized accordingly, it would dig much deeper with the same amp and driver it has now. Polk is simply catering to the demographic that doesn't want to deal with placing/hiding an 8 cubic foot box. There's nothing wrong with that, but don't expect it to dig flat to 20 Hz.

Doc

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

ohhh ok, i see....read it wrong...

tomduvall

Originally posted by scottvamp
LFE (Unfiltered) Input:

i just got the psw404b and its night and day over the 8 inch

RuSsMaN

Hey Doc, aren't the Sunfire jobs 1 active, 1 passive radiator?

Cheers,
Rooster

(ps, dvd is in route tomorrow a.m.)

Dr. Spec

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
Hey Doc, aren't the Sunfire jobs 1 active, 1 passive radiator?

Cheers,
Rooster

(ps, dvd is in route tomorrow a.m.)

Hi Russ:

It's funny - it's kinda hard to tell from the website. Here is a description of one of the smaller single-driver Sunfire subs that makes a specific reference to the larger dual-driver models. I made the intuituive mental leap that the larger models have two active drivers. Maybe someone else could definitely answer this. If I'm wrong - I apologize in advance for posting misinformation.

"For those applications where our twin driver subwoofers won't fit, the True Subwoofer Architectural is a great fit. This design uses much of the technology found in the True Subwoofer MKIV and Signature, yet fits well into custom cabinetry with its single front-firing driver and removable cloth grill cover."

Also, here is the website link:

http://www.sunfire.com/products/index.html

My basis for stating the Sunfire and its clones have a higher THD was taken from an independent subwoofer review of the SVS Ultra, and the tester compared it to "Subwoofer X", which he described as 10" driver in a small enclosure with a very high power amp and an MSRP of around $1400. Sure sounded like a Sunfire model to me, but I could be wrong.

THD on "Subwoofer X" was 47% (!!) at 20 Hz at max SPL (98 dB), whereas the Ultra posted 13% at 20 Hz at max SPL (112 dB).

This review has tons of cool and informative instrumented testing of the Ultra sub, and "Subwoofer X" for comparison.

Here's the hotlink:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_9_2/svs-cs-ultra-subwoofers-5-2002.html

Regards,

Ed

RuSsMaN

Well, even just taking a guess at the driver contruction, there simply would not be room for 2 drivers, of that caliber, back to back. I'm sure the baskets and mag go 6+ inches deep.

It doesn't say directly, just refers to bore and stroke. I really think they are 1 active, 1 pr. Damn cool design regardless.

Cheers,
Russ

jpjacobs

Anyone compare the sound output/quality of the PSW404 (10") versus PSW450 (12")? The Polk website states the PSW404 is geared towards "midsize" rooms & the PSW450 towards large rooms. I have a RM6700/PSW450 combo in a 21x17 ft room - just wondering if a $50 addition cost for the newer/upgraded 404 is worth considering before my 30 days for swopouts are up. Cheers.

faster100

I seen and demo'd one of these today for fun, It sounds really good and tight unlike my free psw202, sounds more accurate then the psw450 they also had on display. Looks nice as well and i love that thick looking woofer and surround. This is a very nice sub and go's deep without distortion like the 450 did, and when i turned up the psw450 while a action dvd was in it made a hell of a pop. Thought i had popped the driver for a sec, This kicks the 202,450 to me anyways. I want one one day....

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

The only thing that catches my eye, is that effin surround!!!

shiu

I bought a PSW404 last week. I sounds great, my only complain is that it has a quiet humming noise. I tried having its power cord plugged into its own outlet, with nothing else connecting to it, I mean nothing except the power cord, it still made that same quiet humming noise. I went back to the store and listen to their demo, it also has the same noise. I listened to their PSW202 on the floor. The 202 is the lowest priced Polk sub, to my surprise, it does not has that noise! I am wondering if the noise come from that big 200W amplifier's power supply transformer.

shiu

I wrote to Polk and they answered my questions on Christmas Eve. I am impressed with their customer service.