Polk Audio PSW10 10" Powered Subwoofer – Power Port Technology, Up to 100 Watts, Big Bass in Compact Design, Easy Setup with Home Theater Systems, Timbre-Matched with Monitor & T-Series Polk Speakers

I am a self-proclaimed audiophile with a serious inclination towards VALUE. This, my friends, is a product that has immense value.To give you an idea of what I mean by value, my previous set-up had KLH Subwoofers that were so under-rated and unknown that it wasn't until I spoke of them that people even considered them as KLH (being that KLH, for some unknown reason, has a bad name. Now, by no means would I consider myself cheap...I like value--inexpensive items that do as they say while preserving quality. Being that Matt Polk put the name of the Polk legacy on these, the quality should not be in question at any point.I think the only reason that these are at such a reduced rate is because of their meager ratings (50-Watt amp and 10" woofer...something else that is unattractive is the front facing port--don't they know that most new speakers come with the port to the rear to avoid port noise??!!) and, even moreso, reviewing its bigger brothers and sisters with downward firing ports means that although this sub isn't in the same class, there are offerings for more discerning listeners. If I had a good $1000 to blow on subwoofers, I would have probably bought two of the PSW110s without question...Ah, yes...TWO.The biggest reason that I look for subwoofers of value is so that I can purchase more than one (if you were wondering why I keep using these nouns in the plural). Although I am still relatively young <30y/o, I've been into home theater since the days when there was no such thing as Home-Theater-In-a-Box and Definitive Technology illuminated the minds of young, aspiring audiophiles with diagrams of their BP3000s tower speakers with built in 300-Watt Amplifiers and 15" Sub-/Woofers. Ah yes...those good ol' days...Now, Home Theater is the standard and it may be difficult to discern one product from another (trust me, most of it is trash--INCLUDING BOSE). The best way to go about building a theater system is not by adhering to the one-click feature-like HTiB. Piece by piece...step by step... It helps to buy speakers in a particular company's model family since they are normally making use of the same drivers and are normally tonally matched. Many companies claim their speakers as tonally matched without considering the effects of the difference in enclosure size and construction of a center channel and a satellite... Ah...that's info for you--but not why I'm writing this review...This review is about the two Polk Audio 10PSWs sitting here in front of me.They sound awesome for what they are. I'm glad that an earlier reviewer made it known that the 50w amplifier is continuously rated--not instantly...or even rated considering a massive amount of Total Harmonic Distortion--as many companies do and then say "@ 1KHz"...who sits home listening to 1KHz Sine signals?? At loud volumes even? Don't be fooled. Normally they follow that spec up with "30-20KHz +/-3db" As many of you probably know...that's HALF the power that they're quoting it at...3db = 1/2 Wattage (or twice the wattage considering the context...normally, it's LESS, not MORE).Many of you, I'm sure, have bought one of these and are either loving it or hating it (most loving from what I can tell). Indeed, with the varying types of music and source program I use, these fit the bill nicely. The sound is present...strong...detailed. I haven't experienced the muddy sound as other people have noted. I'm sure that it's not just luck...I have two...surely, one would be muddy if this was prevalent.Now, time for pointers (I love the reviewers who leave pointers...it's normally the nudge for most people to consider a truly awesome product--as this one is)Pointer#1: Buy Two (2)These are probably some of the least expensive, best sounding subs you can get right now. When in the market for a sub, you should at least have a budget of $200--$400 even...otherwise, you'll find yourself wondering what you paid for... Remember, there are materials (wood, cables), components (subwoofer driver, subwoofer amplifier), and labor that goes into that bass machine. If any of these things aren't optimally constructed, the overall device will suffer. You can understand this, I'm sure. The flip side of this, is that surely, there was a corner cut somewhere. Thus, why continue to hammer out your amplifier? The amp is often overlooked in all of this. Most people see the pretty cone of their subwoofer and totally disregard the reality that the real work horse of the build is the amplifier.Having two subs is not for more bass...but to conserve the life of the subwoofers you have. In addition, when the time comes to party or watch a movie, you don't have to worry about your subs (the drivers themselves) bottoming out or sounding as if they're straining. Thus, with two, you get the benefit of both worlds (longevity, present sound quality). Electronics have limitations...use them wisely and they will perform AND last a very long time...Pointer #2: Gain >1/2You should never have to turn your amplifier gain past half. Past half is where distortion and clipping are introduced. Sure, depending on your source, this may not be prevalent, but if you have a good, strong signal, there will come a time when you hear artifacts that weren't intended for reproduction (e.g. distortion, clipping). As a rule, if you have to turn your sub past half, you might want to adjust your settings in your receiver or see Pointer #1 again... A benefit of two, is that the both of them can be readjusted lower to account for the assistance or each other. My Polks are each at about 1/3 (and that's only because I really enjoy the sound right now...so I'm excited...otherwise they would each be at 1/4). The reason you only want "enough" volume is because headroom is what you want... this is the power that is used during explosions, kick drums--sudden bursts...this is what you bought it for, right?Yes, that's right. I know that there are many other reviewers--bless their heart--who are praising having it just past half or 3/4 of the way up. Mine are at 1/3 and it was like that when I only had one connected. Now that I have both connected, I'll have to half the volume of both of them to equal the volume of the one (and no, the gain knob potentiometers are not linear, so it'll have to be by ear).Pointer #3: Subs Fill, Not DominateSubwoofer modules are only meant to fill in where the other speakers in your system fail. My set-up has Mirage towers as my mains. However, the built in crossover of my Harmon/Kardon handles all bass traffic well--cut off at 60Hz (the point where bass can not be located by the human ear). Having the setting higher than this will not only put more stress on your sub but also the amplifier (lets not forget the amp). When adjusting the gain, you just want to ensure that the frequencies from the sub are at around the same volume as your main speakers. This will keep you from being bass hungry. That's not the point of a sub...this isn't a mobile system...this is home. The environment doesn't warrant that level of "hyper-bass"... If done this way, you will be able to reach higher sound pressure levels while retaining your dynamism...These pointers should help with any sub...this sub is truly a great, great buy...Hope this helps...

The Polk Audio PSW10 10” Powered Subwoofer is a solid choice for those seeking to enhance their audio setup without breaking the bank. Its compact design, versatile connectivity, and quality bass performance make it suitable for small to medium-sized rooms. While it may not be ideal for larger spaces, it offers excellent value for money in its class. he PSW10 offers excellent value for those seeking an entry-level subwoofer. It provides a noticeable improvement in bass performance over built-in TV or speaker system woofers, making it a worthwhile investment for enhancing audio experiences in smaller rooms.

There are lots of positive reviews of this sub. Mine is black not cherry. It looks great. (can't speak for cherry) It has a nice grill that is held on by 6 points. The 10" powered sub puts out a lot of bass if you want it to. Mine is set to 1/2 volume and the crossover is in the middle and I like a lot of bass. (have 600 watt RMS Kicker sub and amp in my car) Even though I had a "subwoofer out" port on my stereo, I hooked mine up to the speaker outs and hooked my speakers up to the sub. It can be hooked up with RCA cables however if you choose to do it that way. My speakers actually had an issue at very low volume where one of them wouldn't work right. (not efficient enough is my guess) This sub seems to have solved that issue.There is a nice 3 position toggle type switch on the back for power modes. There is On, Auto and Off. I have it set to Auto. It powers up right away when I turn up the volume. It says on for 15 minutes after the last time it sensed a signal. (and powers off each time reliably) I monitored this for a couple of days before writing this review. Auto is perfect for my application. I leave my receiver on all day long every day but turn the volume to zero. It turns the sub off when in auto. That was one thing I worried about when buying this.It has a nice built in crossover so you can choose the frequencies you want coming out of the sub. Right in the middle is good for me. I may change my opinion later though. The built in 100 watt (50watt RMS) amp seems sufficient to me. It literally rattles a mirror inside my house and I have this in my garage. (don't ask, I spend quite a bit of time in my workshop in the garage) I paired it with 2 full range 3-way Yamaha bookshelf speakers and overall, it sounds amazing. I recommend testing this or any sub with the song "Can you hear me" by Bass Dominator. (even from youtube if you wish) In fact there are tons of "bass test" songs on youtube but this one is not as annoying as some and doesn't have profanity or really annoying lyrics. This is subjective though.The nice thing about a 10" sub is that it can hit some deep lows but has really good bass response. (a 12 may hit low tones a bit harder but may be muddier and less responsive) This pushes quite a bit of air though. I can feel it in my body a few feet away.That being said, you can easily calm this thing down by lowering the bass setting on your receiver or simply turning down the volume knob on the back of the unit. I would almost consider this the equivalent of a gain control on a car amp.Now I didn't really read the specs or think much about the size of the ported box but when it arrived I was surprised since it is so large. This isn't a bad thing though. Ported boxes must have more cubic feet than a non-ported box so I'm not sure what I was thinking. To be honest what I was thinking was that this thing is only $100.00 so it can't be real big. I was wrong. I don't have much recent experience with Polk Audio but after this purchase I wouldn't hesitate to consider them for my future speaker needs. I'm not some super high end audiophile but I'm not a person who can listen to cheap bluetooth speakers or use the built in speakers on my phone. I like quality sound and lots of bass. I'm happy. For example, I require headphones from Audio Technica or studio headphones and I am a big fan of Bose.My plan originally was to use the cubes from a Bose accoustimass system with this sub but the full range speakers sound much better. I was missing the mids with the Bose cubes. The original Bose sub must be putting out quite a bit of midrange and I have this set to the middle on the crossover. Those Bose may end up being across my garage on the speaker B channel where their harshness won't be so close to my head.The Yamaha speakers I am using are MS-6490 and I've always liked how they sounded. I used to have Infinity bookshelves however that had an amazing amount of bass. The tweeter blew on one of those and they are hard to find for a reasonable price. I missed the bass from the Infinity speakers but this setup has way more bass than those speakers did. I feel like I have a 4-way setup with this sub and those Yamaha 3-way speakers. Normally I'm a big fan of 2-way speakers but I don't mind 3 way from Yamaha. (it isn't necessary always better to have 3-way speakers)I've been looking at these for quite a while and the reviews kept them on the top of my list. I finally pulled the trigger and I do not regret it.

This Polk subwoofer works well but my last subwoofer had more thump and power. This works well for the price range.

Sounds awesome with my onkyo receiver.