Polk Audio 12" 300W Powered Subwoofer

This review is about PSW125 subwoofer but it refers to older bigger brother - PSW505 which I had a chance to own as well. Pros: dense, fast and highly controlled bass, low distortion, big but aesthetically pleasing, price Cons: not for large 500+ sq.ft rooms, spring loaded speaker terminals (does not matter if LFR RCA input is used), I ordered my PSW125 sub as replacement for PSW505 which did not meet my expectations despite of several hundred five star reviews posted on this website. you can read my experience with 505 model on product page. Here is my short story about PSW125 first hand performance experience. First in music. I played several CDs and it was finally what I long wanted to hear - the PSW125 has highly controlled, tight bass. The Dire Staits Brother in Arms in both CD and SACD, blew me completely as Money for Nothing drums never sounded so rich. Movies. The sound of lifting off Bubble Ship in Oblivion warmed my heart and ensured In am getting closer to sub notes heaven for unbelievably low price. Few manual adjustments on speaker levels on my Yamaha receiver made movie soundtrack almost perfect. The true ultimate bass experience I enjoyed with Pacific Rim on Blu ray. The bass was always controlled, no resonance or bugging vibrations, just super rich, dense bass complementing my front and center bookshelf Polk speakers. Sitting on my couch I felt those pleasant vibrations precisely following the action, never too much or less than needed, just perfect balance throughout entire sound scene. Now for the look and build. The sub is huge but surprisingly feels lighter comparing to PSW505 which I still have recently returned, most likely due to smaller woofer assy. The cherry finish was not my favorite choice, but I could not pass additional $100 discount comparing to black version. One thing worth to mention is that the cherry finish is not wood veneer like one one my beautiful RTiA3 speaker pair, it is cheap dull imitation covering directly MDF from which subwoofer cabinet is made of. But for the price I paid, I did not expected miracles. I think that the key to great sounding PSW125 in my HT setup were two things: - firstly, bass port facing the floor; this causes omnidirectional bass distribution on my hardwood floor where sub is positioned so no matter where I am in the room, I hear and fell the same amount of bass which is exactly what I have expected. Bottom port also makes subwoofer less sensitive to its location. A thick rug covering center area if the hardwood floor in my media room attenuates parasitic resonances allowing unspoiled bass distribution. - secondly, subwoofer frequency response reaching 250Hz enabling higher low notes to be produces with intensity which my main bookshelf speakers can never achieve. With 125Hz bandwidth limit on PSW505, the important part of bass range was just insufficient. Seems like PSW505 might be good for large room setups with big floor standing speakers capable of producing enough med and high bass notes to fill areas of 500 sq.ft or more. But for my 18 x 20 ft. room with RTiA3 series speakers, the PSW125 is just perfect match. With its unbelievably low price, I was able to save at least 500 bucks on the sub I was planning to get if PSW125 would not work either. This is great versatile sub for amazingly low price. Best budget class you can get for music and movies. For me, the PSW125 was a great reward after big disappointment with much more powerful older brother. I highly recommend this product.