Sub Woofer for Polk 10's ??

ajanzalone

Looking for a sub woofer to fill in the low end sound of my music listening and enjoy a bit of home theater.
I want fullness of definition and balance of sound out of my Polk 10's & sub.

I am not looking to "low end boom" my windows out.

But what Sub Woofer works well with the Polk 10's?
Any Sub-Woofer suggestions appreciated?

I am really not up to speed on current equipment.
How well do Polk sub woofer do with the older monitors?
What are your thoughts?

I am using older equipment .....
"Audio Research SP5" pre-amp
"Quad 405" dumping amp, (100 w rms). All purchased in 1977...

With only 100 w RMS, will my 100w amp have enough to drive my Polk 10's monitors & a sub woofer, or will I need a sub woofer with a built in amp?

Thanks
Tony Anzalone
Winter Haven, Fl

zingo

Any good subwoofer should do you fine, included Polk models. Your amp does not have enough power to drive your speakers and your subwoofer. The Quad 405 is old technology, but should be able to drive your speakers. Most of the subwoofers you can buy these days are powered anyway, so that isn't really a concern for you. Your Monitor 10s are fantastic speakers, but the rest of the system could definitely be upgraded. If you were to get a good integrated amp, your 10s would sing and you would appreciate the upgrade. Even something like this NAD 3400 would work well for you.

ajanzalone

zingo wrote: »

If you were to get a good integrated amp, your 10s would sing and you would appreciate the upgrade. Even something like this NAD 3400 would work well for you.

Good info
I thought the NAD 3400 was the same 100w RMS?
but I do realize it is newer technology

Thanks Tony

ajanzalone

Is Anyone using a Sub with the Polk 10's??

Please......... some input

IrishNiner

Tony,

I have a Martin & Logan Dynamo hooked up with my recently aquired Monitor 10's. A great little musical sub with tight,clean bass.

I'm using an Adcom 5400 amp and my Onkyo TX-SR804 as a pre amp with good results.

I agree with Zingo, the Monitor 10's are fantastic speakers and are rapidly becoming one of my favorite Polks.

Farrell

zingo

ajanzalone wrote: »

I thought the NAD 3400 was the same 100w RMS?

There is real no such thing as "the same 100w". Every amp sounds a little different and interacts with speakers a little different. The Quad was never a great amp to begin with, so a well rated piece of equipment by todays standards will really liven up your Monitor 10s. You are correct that feeding them more power can help improve the sound and imaging, but high quality power will make as much, if not more of a difference.

A good deal of the members here love their SVS subs. Other favorite brands include Velodyne, HSU, and of course Polk. Like I said before, a good subwoofer will not have a problem blending with a good pair of speakers.

Rivrrat

I still have my Outlaw hooked up to my 10b's.;)

I don't think you're going to get a lot of the kind of feedback you're looking for, because I really don't think there's many people here running 10's as their mains.

jon s

I think all subs sold now have built-in amps so your amps will not be a problem. But I agree, for a home theater system a sub is needed with a Polk Monitor 10 setup. According to Stereo Review's writeup, the Monitor 10s only went as low as 60Hz before dropping off at 6dB per octave so you would lose the deep bass impact.

Since you are using old gear, you will have to make sure you can wire the output to the sub and have the sub pass through the signal to your Monitor 10s. Your choice of subs will be determined by the size of your room and on how deep you want the bass to go. As a general rule, the bigger the sub, the deeper and louder the bass, but the speed or tightness of the bass may suffer due to the larger mass of the driver. There are exceptions to the rule but that usually involves a higher cost for larger sub amps.

My guess is that a 10-12" sub would be good for medium sized rooms, 15-18" for larger rooms (or use two smaller subs, easier to setup but more expensive). Parts Express sells their Titanic subs, relatively inexpensive, powerful. But for really good subs, you should look at Fathom or Velodyne. I think Polks are okay but do not really have deep bass...

Flash21

My 2 cents: I never, ever felt the need for a subwoofer with my Monitor 10Bs, which I ran for 20+ years. Those suckers went DEEP! Try running the movie U571 DVD and listen to the depth charges at high volume - amazing!

I have a Gjallarhorn CD which uses a very big drum on several of the songs. It is a very deep tone and I can't even hear it in the car because the speakers don't go low enough, but the 10Bs rattle the house with the deep bass drumbeats. A subwoofer would be superfluous.

rayslifecycle

I use a PSW404 sub to supplement the low end of my Monitor 10s currently employed in my HT. The Monitor 10s do a good job on their own - but for the low end of movies and even some music listening - I feel the sub gives a little support to the old beauties.

ajanzalone

Thanks for all the replies:
Thinking about finding a less than 10 yr old integrated amp and upgrading my equipment

Subs I am Looking at:
klipsch KSW-12
velodyne DSP10
Acoustech BIC H100
& still searching

Any Input appreciated
Tony

ajanzalone

Yeah
I just purchased a Velodyne VRP-1200
12in Sub-woofer
I am excited to see how this blends with my 10's

I will post my findings when I get it and test the new set up.

Thanks
Tony

ajanzalone

Thanks Polk Members
Because I found this site, I got my old stereo gear out of storage ...
I have finally added the sub woofer that I wanted, all those years ago.

I have fallen in love with this 30 year old system all over again.
I also hooked it up to my FIOS TV and am now enjoying better HT sound quality with all my media.

I have set the sub at about 55htz crossover and running about 50% on sub volume. Very tight deep and no booming.
I did get a bit of booming above about 75htz crossover.

So far I am amazed how the sub has really rounded out the bottom end of my dear old Polk 10's.
Even with this old OEM equipment and that lil bit of deep bass rumble is no longer missing.

I wonder what it would sound like with some newer equipment?
Hmmmmmm this can get expensive...lol

Thanks
Tony