When selecting a low priced sub (MSRP<$1000) one must choose either home theater or music...And if music, Pop/Rock or Classical/Jazz...To get it ALL means price well over $1000...My criteria was 75% classical music (some pop) and 25% HT...For the definitive HT room rattling thump in the gut, at least a 12" is needed...But for music, low priced 12" sounds like mud...No 10" (even two) is going to provide a visceral sock in the gut...So, what does the PSW650 offer...It was the most cost effective, mostly music, adequate HT sub I could find...The two 10" woofers provide a surprising level of musical detail (considering price), combined with the bass volume (though not subterranean) needed for a thoroughly enjoyable HT experience...If you need both at a reasonable cost, this unit should be at the top of the list...Be sure to look for the later version (shiny front/back) rather than the early version (faux ash grain)...Supposedly there were worthwhile structural/electrical improvements...

Strong, accurate bass

A bit heavy

I decided to get a subwoofer to add energy below the frequency of my Polk Audio RT7 mains. After reading around I decided on the PSW650 (espcially since it was on special at Crutchfield.com). After a bit of experimentation with placement I found a very good location for the sub. I have it in my living room. It is essentially coupled to the foundation. It took about twenty-four hours to "burn in" to give the best sound. Since I have owned it I have used it primarily as a music sub. It perfroms admirably in my system providing deep punchy bass. My living room is medium sized (18x16x11ft). I would imagine anything smaller than that would be almost to small for this sub. I decided to purchase a very bass heavy recording (BassConnection greatest hits)to test it. Dang! Track four shakes the house literally. When I crank that song up it vibrates the cabinets in the kitchen over thirty feet away. The house seems to breathe in the strange rythmic dance with the heavy bass. Madonna's Vogue really pounds. It has done well with rock music also (Rush, Joe Satraini, Stevie Ray Vaughan). For me it tends to run a little hot for home theater requiring me to turn it down for most movies, but that is ok. I just had to remove one of the woofers to have a look inside. The magnets are huge! Also, the amplifier(s) are very robust with four large 15,000 uF capacitors. Very nice indeed. Two thumbs up for Polk.

Sounds good to me and thats all that matters

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I just have an interesting setup that i'd like to let you guys in on. First of all I plan on using three of these bad boys , right now I have two. I have a yamaha Rx-Z1 receiver. I run the main outs to one of the subs, then have have Totem Rokks connected to it as my mains. Then I have my rear outs goin to my second sub, which is against the center of the rear wall. I then have a pair of Totem rokks coming out of the rear sub as my rears. I also have a Totem Mite T sitting on my rear sub as my rear center channel. Now, what I want to add in the future, is another polk sub connected to the LFE output of my yamaha receiver. I also am going to add a pair of Klipsch quintets for my front effects. I know three of these polk subs maybe over kill. But basically, i have one dedicated for bass of the mains and one for the rears, and the the third will handle all the LFE effects. Plus the rear sub also doubles as my rear center channel stand.

1- Awesome bass for home theater. You can shake the room without distortion. 2- More than enough power for a large open concept room. 3- A wide range of hook-up options. 4- Auto on/off is really convenient. 5- A very conveniently located front volume control. This would be nicer if it could be read from the top. 6- A useful +3db switch that I use when changing from music to home theater. This would be nicer if it were placed on the front next to the volume control. 7- Competitively priced and in my opinion the best for the money. 8- Very good looking and well built.

1- The biggest problem with this sub is that I would not describe it as particularly tight or punchy for "most" music. If the subwoofer volume is set too low, you lose the nice high quantity bass punch that should be present. If the volume is set too high, it has a non-definitive boomy presence which can be a benefit for home theater but not for music. There doesn't seem to be an ideal setting that works really well for music. The only way that this sub can perform anywhere close to my expectations, is if the volume level of the subwoofer is kept quite low and the crossover is set to 40Hz. This way my LS70 mains handle a good portion of the low frequencies and the overall quality is pleasing and can be described as "somewhat" punchy. 2- If your looking for a great sub for music, look elsewhere and expect to pay more, a lot more. 3- It is big and heavy.

My system: A/V RECEIVER: Denon AVR-2803 DVD CHANGER: Denon DVM-1805 CD CHANGER: JVC XL-M700 MAINS: Polk Audio LS70 CENTER: Polk Audio CS100 SUBWOOFER: Polk Audio PSW650 SIDE SURROUNDS: NHT Super Zero A450 REAR SURROUNDS: Polk Audio RC55i SPEAKER CABLES: Monster Z Bass 100, XPHP-CI & XP-CI AUDIO CABLE: Monster Interlink Lightspeed Reference Summary: I have tried every setting (of which there are many) to get the best possible sound for music and for home theater. I have mixed feelings about this sub. My initial expectations when I began my search for a new subwoofer were much higher. Reality quickly took control. After side by side comparisons with about a dozen other subs priced from $350 to $1500, I settled for this sub. The PSW650 easily delivered the most volume out of the comparisons I made. The $1400 Velodyne SPL1200 was possibly a little tighter but a lot more expensive.

Too many to list. I love this speaker.

hummm...... maybe its a little too pretty. lol

The Polk PSW650 is an awesome speaker. I think its a great deal for the money. I considered many other subwoofers Paradigm, Velodyne, Sony, JVC, Kenwood, etc...

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Marrantz, JVC, Harmon Kardon, Sony, Kenwood... heck I dont know what I havn't used, ? well, I havnt used McIntosh..

Crisp bass output. Multiple inputs. Auto-on/off. Competitive price for the quality of sound

Size really pissed off my wife. Heavy to move and position. The rumble moves things on nearby shelves.

Incredible natural sound and accurate reproduction of surround tracks. Attractive design. Several options available for inputs and set-up. Great with movie sound tracks, yet responsive enough to appreciate SACD and 5.1 audio recordings without a muddy undertone.

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Velodyne-

Great bass. Great options to tweak the sub and to match your speakers. Multiple ways to hook it up to your receiver. Great looks, it doesn't look like just another big bulky speaker. People actually think it's table. Great for music and exceptionally great for movies.

A little heavy, makes set up and moving around a drag. Higher power amp might yield even more power (don't know it that's even wise). Anti-girlfriend. Might break some stuff around the house. Might kill hamsters and dogs. Other that that, it's a great sub.

After 8 months of waiting, I finally bought this sub and it is simply amazing. I originally had the Sony DAV-C900 and the system is fine, but the sub really sucked. So I researched a few subs from Polk, Klipsch, Velodyne and Boston. When I finally decided on this sub, I found out that you can't add a subwoofer to the dream system reciever. So I ended up buying a Sony STR-SL7 reciever (I had to get this one because my dream system speakers would've blown with any other one)and the Sony DVP-NS71P DVD player (I reviewed both of these components, look for it in their respective categories)Hooking up the sub itself wasn't too hard, but I had to hook everything else up, too, and move around some furniture so it took me well over two hours to finish up. Once I was set up, I had to dial it in. Tweaking it was fun, though. The amp is only 250 max watts and 165 RMS, and that really seems like it's low power, but let me tell you, it's not. I can't imagine this thing with more power. It has various ways to connect with your reciever. Speaker level, line level and LFE inputs. It has a phase control (I haven't really noticed a sound difference yet, though), a crossover frequency that you can tweak to match your speakers. It has a 3dB bass boost that you can easily switch on when you watch movies and switch off when you listen to music. The high pass crossover is a way to further match your speakers and get the most out of the sub. I use this sub for watching movies, not listening to music. With music I usually set the volume down between 4-6 because it DOES get boomy and loose. The bass in movies isn't as demanding as in music so I put the volume up between 6-8. The upper range (9-11) is boomy at high volume with both movies and music and it gets very annoying (probably kills small woodland creatures as well). It is not magnetically shielded, so you can't place it too close to your TV. It looks really great, it shines and just looks like a nice table. The volume control in the front is a great plus, too. Forget the bad reviews, those guys just didn't know how to tweak it, or weren't patient in doing so. they probably all set the volume at 11 or something, you gotta set it at a reasonable level and it will sound great. Buy it. It's as simple as that. You will NOT be let down.

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Sony DAV-C900 Dream System.

It would move some air and shake the walls and it looked so good in my living room

horribly dirty thud like bass,really heavy and overpriced for the sound quality

No matter how i tweaked this sub i could not make it sound good. The bass was short and thud like not clean and tight. I spent over a week trying different placement,volume levels,playing with the crossover, you name it i did it even when running monster 400 sub cable from my sub output to the sub in on the speaker this guy did not impress me at all ! I even disconected all other speakers from my system and left the sub connected just so i could here the the pure bass output of this thing. i sent a pure signal of a 808 kickdrum to the sub and instead of hearing a long clean deep booming bass all could get out of this thing was a short dirty thud like sound. granted it did shake the floor this sub does move some air and if you were standing OUTSIDE my apartment you might be impressed but inside it the bass was almost non-existent unless turned up all the way. I have heard better and cleaner bass that shook the wall just as much from an 8" yamaha than this overpriced dual 10". i wanted this sub to work really bad it looked so good in my living room and it was a DUAL 10" but in reality my old (bought at a pawn shop for 150$ ) 1987 optimus cabnet speakers produce a cleaner bass sound than this sub. my system: SONY STR-DE 835 rec/amp SONY DVP S530D SONY 5 disk cd exch CDP CE375 OPTIMUS 10 BAND GRAPHIC EQ MONSTER DIGITAL COAX from dvd to rec optical line from cd to rec a MONSTER 400 18" SUB CABLE SONY SS-SR490 center and rear speaker set FRONT SPEAKERS OPTIMUS 990 12" WOOFER AND HORN TWEETERS I am replacing my front speakers simply beacause the are old and lack midrange when used with 5.1 digital surround but with a frequency reponse of 20hz to 20khz the have done me proud for many many years. Now back to the psw 650 i definately dont recomend this sub to anyone in an apartment or condo cause your neighbors will complain. And i dont recomend this sub to anyone really that wants clean SOUNDING bass If your only goal is to rattle the walls and not to care how it sounds to the ear then be my guest ! but i recomend finding a sub that has both long deep clean sound and will shake your walls

Strong, Clean. Looks gorgeous. Very glossy and mysterious. Sub woofer equipment bridges the gap. I bought this unit without listening to it, only after reviewing just "the specs"- just the facts..

None- well just one..my dog doesn't like it. He hides in the bathroom.

Nice piece of equipment. The sound fills the room. I'm very happy. I stayed up until 2 AM the first night after I connected “it”- listening to “America’s Greatest Hits!”. Tech note: My sub out, pre amp is rated at 1V, 2.2 K ohms on my older Onkyo TX SV414. I was somewhat concerned about the sub output parameter on the receiver, but it works well. Correspondingly, the auto-power works well on the Polk. Compare this to the top-of –the-line Onkyo receiver which has a sub out rated at only 36mV. Apparently pre-amp voltage is not that important for this application- clean pre amp signal is the big ticket item. This may seem elementary for some of you. $705.89 from Crutchfield.com with shipping and 12' MONSTER 300!! M O N S T E R ! I've been instructed to listen to Metallica next! Maybe Vladimir Horowitz ? !! V/r Robert Bove Just for Today..Today is a Gift..A true Present.

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Onkyo TX SV414 (Older) Infinity (Bookshelf)

Excellent bass tight, punchy

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Awesome sub especially for the price(demo unit) You might be able to find a good deal on these now that they have been discontinued (that is what the salesman told me) I currently live in a condo and this baby has way to much bass. I have to turn it almost all the way down. I wish I had a house to put this in. More than enough power.

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jbl