The name "Monitor" is special to Polk Audio. The original Polk Audio Monitor Series, produced in the mid-1970s, ushered in the modern loudspeaker era by setting the standard for performance and value. The original Monitor Series is the line that made Polk Audio famous with its simple, sturdy construction, clear, accurate sound, powerful bass and superior imaging, all at a price that made great sound available to everyone. The newly reborn Monitor Series by Polk Audio is classic Polk: a quality-built, affordable line of high performance loudspeakers for music and home theater. The new PSW10 complements the clean, stylish look of the whole line with powerful, efficient, accurate and musical bass in compact enclosures. Built for speed, power and value, the Monitor Series is a great introduction to high performance sound.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great Value, but you could do better
Comment: I went with the PSW10 since the rest of my speakers in set-up are Polk Audios and opted for the 10 inch so my sub wasn't taking up so much space. Some people say that subs don't need to match the other speakers in your setup, but I decided to be safe and match all of my speakers just in case.
For the most part I am very satisfied with this speaker. I would say for about 98% of the time the sub handles what is thrown at it, but I am also not maxing my system out.
One complaint is that on very low frecencies, and especially ones that last for several seconds, such as a scene with a chopper or any other low rumble you will get a lot of port noise from the sub. Taking off the screen covering the port helps a little, but not enough to complete solve the port noise. Again this doesn't happen very often, but when it does it can be somewhat annoying.
My second complaint, very minor, which other people have touched upon is that there is no LFE input which you will find on nearly every other sub. I just used a Y adapter and a RCA audio cable for my hook-up, but it would have been nice to have a LFE input.
You can definitely find other subs that will be better, but you will also have to pay more. If I had to do it again I would go with the PSW10 as it is a great bang for the buck and doesn't take up as much space as a 12 inch.
Customer Rating: Summary: Great sub for the price
Comment: The problem with a lot of reviews regarding home audio is that critics compare budget equipment to high dollar equipment (big surprise...high dollar wins).
This sub is a budget line addition to your home theater. If you are low on cash and need a .1 to add to your setup, this is your sub. That being said, this sub is amazing for the price tag. Great bass with no distortion (just don't go nuts with the volume). It suffers at the very low range but what budget sub doesn't. Main problem is the lack of an LFE input.
Here is the solution from Polk: Use the RCA inputs and turn the frequency knob clockwise, this will essentially create and LFE connection.
One unrelated Polk story: I recently moved to Austin, Texas. I had left my Polk audio home theater in Galveston. A prick named Ike came in and flooded my storage, submerging my Polks under sludge. When I got to them I noticed the water line was halfway up the tower speakers.
Hoping beyond hope I brought the smelly mess up to Austin where I took them apart and tried to clean and dry them out. Plugged em in after a few days and they sounded horrible. Sprayed some De-Oxit cleaner on the connections and BAM! They sprung back to life and just played through The Dark Knight with zero distortion. Polk will always be my number one choice in speaker.
Bottom Line: Great sub for the price. If you have a budget-mid range home theater, this is a great addition. If you have a high dollar set up, your probably not looking to purchase this product or reading this review. ;-)
Customer Rating: Summary: Enough sub-woofer; good value
Comment: I'd agree that the PSW10 might be stretched in any but the smallest home theater, but it does a great job on music in all but the largest rooms.
This is my second sub-woofer, the first being a Polk PSW505. The 505 is awesome, but it completely overpowers average size rooms when used to play music. The 505 really shines in a large room or in a home theater, where mine now resides.
In an average living room, mine is 13 x 21, the PSW10 provides plenty of clean bass for all types of music. With the PSW10's volume at 50% and no bass boost from the receiver you'll hear more bass than you would in a classical concert hall or jazz festival. Bump the bass volume up a bit & you'll hear all the bass you'd find in rock / pop venues - at a bargain price.
Customer Rating: Summary: Great bang for your buck!
Comment: I spent a lot of money on my Samsung 46A650 LCD, Polk speaker set, and Onkyo SR706 receiver. I didn't really want to drop a whole lot more on a sub but knew I needed one for the low end. Since I had polk speakers I figured this would be a good compliment. I realized that the price was low compared to a lot of other subs but noticed it had good reviews. Well I'm pleased to say that it looks and sounds great. For only a 50watt RMS powered sub it really puts out some low end. I have no complaints. It is quite big though (once again no complaints). It is very box (square) like, so it does take up a little room. It does look very sleek though. So for a little over a [...] bucks this is well worth it. Maybe down the road I'll waste a few hundred on a unnecessarily powerful sub, but for the time I'm very content!!
Customer Rating: Summary: Good entry-level sub
Comment: Couple of points up front: The PSW10 is NOT an audiophile-grade subwoofer, and shouldn't be graded as such. A true audiophile, if they have a subwoofer at all, will drop 2- to 3 grand on a Velodyne, Rega, Rel, etc. and then complain if they can't hear fingernails plucking the strings of a double bass. Next, the low frequencies produced in a movie are inherently different than those produced in music. Getting a subwoofer to reproduce both equally well can be tricky. My review of the PSW10 is from a 2-speaker, mid-level audio system perspective and not a 7/5.1 surround-sound home theater. I'm NOT saying the -10 won't work well in a HT set-up, but suggest you may need to use 2 different settings (see below).
This subwoofer will give you tight, punchy bass for most music genres. I used jazz, alt country, indie rock, and a little hip-hop to get my settings. The key here is to spend time during burn-in to get your crossover, phase and volume controls all married together. Once I found the right crossover setting, I learned that a little volume goes a long way with the PSW10. As many other reviewers have noted, too much volume will shake your walls with deep, boomy, unintelligible bass. You may want some of that for an action movie, but not so much for music. Next, I used the line-in with RCA's first, then swapped-out those for some heavy-duty Monster 10 gauge at the speaker-level connection. Jury's still out on which sounds better. Finally, if you're placing your sub on anything other than carpet (hardwood floor, ceramic tile, or even a shelf) seriously consider swapping-out the cheapo nailed-in feet. I have hardwood flooring, so I screwed in some nice 2" legs with dampers between the box and risers, and hard rubber pads making contact with the floor. Probably has a small positive sonic effect, and actually looks a lot nicer sitting up like that, too.
Lastly, got mine at [...], with free shipping. For that price, the PSW10 is a no-brainer. And remember, you don't notice a good subwoofer until you turn it off.
&im=http://ecx.images---mo--/images/I/51JGYWW4N4L.jpg&other=1');){kind=small}
View large
