Calling all Polkies:Official Polk thread - Page 429

Since we are on the topic of subs. I am in the market for a new sub. I have $300-$500 to spend on it. I was looking at the BIC F12 and Energy 10.3 originally but don't want to be spending more down the road by not doing it right this time. I had intended on doing a DIY Rythmik 15 but after some figuring realized it was $750+ and I can't justify that cost at this time and it's really a bit above my current system.

My room is fairly large and I would like a 12 or 15 if possible. I listen to 50% HT 35% Music 15% Gaming.

For my setup I have M70 fronts, M30 rears and CS2 center with RM6751 satellite speakers as front presence speakers. Any suggestions appreciated.

Off the top of my head (so might not be totally accurate) SVS PB-12, Elemental Designs A-350, Outlaw LFM-1, Epik Legend, Epik Empire.... lots of options under 750. I would be looking in the 500 price range.

Also HSU VTF-1

Well for about 500 you could get two S10.3's with the sale that newegg is running at the moment, lol. I only have one and I love it.

Price range is $500 tho not $750. I'm looking at the Epik Legend so far but will look at your other suggestions. Thanks.

Very nice! I had congratulated you in an earlier post when you mentioned they were on the way. Pretty sweet right? I've got Skynard playing on my A9's right now


Well, I haven't ridden on the street for a very long time, but I've been racing and instructing on track days for a very long time.

I've got the Empire, can't begin to tell you how impressed, happy, satisfied, wife pissin off ability this sub has and I only use a fraction of it.

How do you like it for music? How accurate is it? Thanks for your feedback.

For music in movies it's fantastic, really awesome. For 2ch listening, I've got a pair of RTiA9's that I set to full band so I'm not using the sub when I listen to CD's.

It's supposed to be pretty good musically but I don't mess with it, I dig my 2ch set up. But like I say, music sounds great when I'm listening in 7.1, especially when the disc has an HD Master Audio sound track.

All of those should be well below 750 with many in the 500 dollar range. Elemental Designs has a couple right in your price point as does HSU that will sound very nice.

Also hit up audiogon and the classifieds here to see if someone has a used sub for sale .

Thx Geoff... yeah, I saw that but didn't respond right away. As I said, it's a long story, but for whatever reason the surrounds arrived over a week ago and they didn't ship the fronts until called and asked where they were. I was ticked and didn't want to say too much here, if you know what I mean.


I've been listening to music in stereo direct mode also. Some material sounds better in surround and others do not. I think I made the right decision on the RTi10's. Audyssey set all the RTi's to fullband and I have been using them that way (no sub) for CD's. They are a bit more power hungry then the Monitors and a step up to A9's most certainly would have required an external amp and new AVR with pre-outs.

They are still breaking in and I could tell a difference after just a couple hours of listening. They have a nice bottom end even without the sub. The high end is a bit shrill but I hope that will even out in time. After all, my old speakers had eight tweeters each and it was the "muddiness" of the Monitors that I found most unlikeable. It's all in the tweeter. Same reason I found the Tsi's (CS10, CS20) made better centers than the CS1 and CS2.

Now I have all these Monitors to get rid of.

Wow, how frustrating that must've been.


Ooooh yeah, Pure Audio on my receiver and having those 9's amped with an XPA-2, I can CRANK those thing til I feel the bass in the floor and in my chest and they don't break a sweat.


Mine did that at first, I once even thought "crap, I'm I gonna regret this?" But that shrill did even out, I even noticed it when I went from the XPA-3 to the XPA-2, don't know if it was coincidence or what. But it was about two weeks of wondering and then, nothing but total bliss.



Well, we could get together and have a Monitor blow out sale

You take the left coast and I'll take the heartland

I'm sure the A9's are terrific, esp properly amped. Wish I could fly out there but I think I'll be happy with this setup once the drivers wear in. Same thing happened (first and most notably) with the M40's in the bedroom... after a couple months I noticed "wow, these things never sounded this good before", then the M70's did the same thing.

I have somewhat of an advantage in that within a few years my sense of hearing should begin to diminish from age. Otherwise this could get real expensive. Fortunately I only blew about the same amount of dough on these RTi's as I got selling my 40 year old AR's, and what I wasted on Monitors is probably under a grand total... and I'm still using some of them too, so if I can sell off a few it'll just be icing on the cake.

Best of all, my wife likes the RTi's too

Anyone have the csi a6 center channel? How good is it with dialogue?

Love it! Be prepared. It's a beast sound and size wise

@ Rob Lee Word, my wife likes my upgrade as well, bonus.

Don't worry about your hearing going old man, you've got your self "loud" speakers. your next purchase.....amplification to turn and burn the volume.

I'm 51, it's my sight that's beginning to suffer, my hearing is still spot on.

What sub would you guys choose between running two PSW505's or one DSW660wi? Or do you not really care for the polk subs?

I don't really care for Polk subs just cause of the negative things I've heard aobut them however, I have heard the DSW line is more respectable over the PSW line.

Yeah, they say that's the second thing to go....... and I can't remember the first

+1 on Geoff's comment. DSW is decent and the 660wi is respectable as well.

Personally I would go with another brand though and be willing to spend 500 - 600 on one good sub rather than 500 on 2 semi decent ones.

I also use the RTiA9's full range for 2 channel music and don't run a sub.

just got my monitor 70s 40s & cs2 today & have been listening to cds, lps 5 hours solid now & am totally happy with these great speakers! they have good bass, ok treble but the avr compensates for that & altho i do have a bic f12 sub, it just complements the polks!! have listened to everything from Kansas to soundtrack from Agora to Foghat & everything inbetween. has brought new life to my albums, cds & next is to rewatch movies & get the real shabang lol. altho these are the series I speakers, i got them off polks ebay store so it saved me about $100 over series II so i ain't complaining. compared to what i was listening to, mordaunt-short carnival 2, 3, 5 setup, these 70s have Ooomph! & i Love it!!! one happy camper here audyssey did set them at 40, the center at 40 & the surrounds at 50 but i set them at 40/60/60 & seems to sound better. i'm sure after a couple months will fiddle with them more just to see how they sound, all about fine tuning i guess.

Congratulations!! Very nice set up and pretty sweet looking!

Don't worry about the series, enjoy the savings, no difference in sound.

I did the very same thing as you, went through my entire library of movies and music with nothing but smiles.

Enders thanx for the Reply......But, Here's a ? ( And for anyone else that Might have a Reply, which is Appreciated ) ........My Amp, seperately from my Processor, is rated at 100WPC to the fronts.....How exactly do i know how Many watts is being sent to the Fronts....I can Understand that Throughout a Movie the WPC will Vary....

Set aside that a 200 WPC amp will Not distort when trying to Put out 100 WPC, Versus a 100 WPC amp trying to put out 100WPC ( MAX )..... I hope I worded this correctly for it to Make Sense, LOL.........


So, the Question, Is....How do I Know???? I Mean could someone sit through a Movie that was 100% of the time at 100WPC???

You'd need some specialized equipment to measure the exact wattage going to your speakers. Generally you'd want to know the "average" which is likely to be only ten or twenty watts. But what you need the big amp for is the instantaneous or peak output, and even at that it's not to be driven to maximum but instead to have reserve or "headroom" of about double the peak wattage that would actually be sent to each speaker.

The reason I ask is I already have a psw505 and I'm trying to decide if it would be better to upgrade to one better one or just add a second psw505 to the one I've got. Do you guys think there's a sub that will outperform two 505's for $500 or less?

Yup, lots of em.

HSU STF-1, STF-2, VTF-1 MK2, Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Plus, Elemental Design A3 - 250, to name a few

And to name one more; EPIK Legend, sorry, just a tad bias with my empire:-)

http://www.epiksubwoofers.com/legend.html

Anything can look good on paper. I spent some time on the sub woofer thread asking questions.

After lots of research, getting a lot of personal impressions of various subs and filtering everything down to my wants and needs, I brought it down to a pair of Epik Legends or a single Empire. I went big and although it's usually the other way around, I still occasionally wonder what it would've been like had gone with the pair of Legends.

Still, no regrets in fact, my next purchase will be a second Empire

Just got in my new Polk Audio Rti8 speakers - and it does not appear I am getting anything out of the tweeter on one speaker. Sounds very different in the Audyssey setup. Am really bummed....

Geo, how big is your room? I have the same issue, not sure if two Legends will be better for me, or just go with one single Empire.

My room is 33 x 15 x 8.5 on a basement.

Suggestions?

Just swapped the speakers (left/right) and its definitely the tweeter on one of the speakers. Darn. I am really upset. That was a lot of money and now I have to deal with sending back???? arrggghhh