Looking for feedback from anyone who has actually listened to them
I own two PA-120s. I got them in 2009 when their cost was literally dirt cheap. I paid $130 ea. for them which was one of the best bargains I have ever landed for hi-fi gear. I was planning on buying four at first. Then I decided to buy 2 at a time and play it by ear. The bass in my rather large 30 x 20 room was very satisfying just from two PA-120s. I carefully placed them in the room by putting each sub in my seating area one at a time and crawled around the room until I found a location where the bass was the smoothest using bass test tones and an SPL meter. I don't think buying two more is going to improve things much. The locations in the room where I could place a sub were either excessively reducing or peaking the bass response at some particular frequencies.
The bass is top notch above 20 Hz. It is tight, controlled, and powerful. Below 20 Hz, it rolls off quite fast. I suspect the plate amp, which is rated at 250 watts RMS ( 600 watts peak), has a subsonic filter built into it perhaps in the 18 Hz to 20 Hz range. You can't defeat it. Perhaps that is a good thing. I have never bottomed out these subs at the loudest levels I dared to try. Those amps run remarkably cool after watching action movies for several hours without end. Spielberg's WOTW pod emerging from the ground sequence shakes my house and vibrates the inside of my chest with the volume level set to where I would normally have it to hear and understand movie dialog.
I listen to a lot of music too, perhaps as much as I watch movies, but not critically like an audiophile would perhaps. I was blown away by their performance. I listen to mostly classical and Latino style jazz. There is absolutely no muddy sound in the bass. Whether double bass strings, kettle drums, or kick drums, the bass is natural sounding. I experienced no listening fatigue after listening to music all day.
The bad? Well, obviously they did cut corners to keep the cost down. Just to be nit picky, the cabinets are made from MDF which of course isn't bad. But, the finish is not veneer. It is pressed on sheet plastic backed with simulated cherry or black ash wood grain. It looks like veneer though and looks nice. It had me fooled at first. But when I took the grill covers off, I could see on one of my PA-120s where one edge of the plastic was folded in on itself. It was not visible if the grill cover was on. So just be careful when moving the sub around not to ding it. The grill cover itself has four plastic studs one at each corner that fit way too tightly after putting it back on. It is thus a bear to take it off. It wouldn't take much effort to break off one of those plastic studs. No big deal for me. I don't take the grill covers on and off very often. The volume, phase, and crossover frequency controls are poorly marked. They are a pain in the arse if you leave the sub in postion and try setting the proper levels because the tick marks being tiny and indistinct are very difficult to see and read. Another beef I have is that there is no bypass for the crossover frequency circuitry. Of course the work around is to set the crossover frequency to 200 Hz and then let the AVR control the crossover points. Last but not least, is the 3.5 in. diameter port. Although I have not heard any bottoming out, I have heard a little chuffing from the port on only one occasion. I could not hear it unless I was right next to one the subs while putting out very loud bass from only one movie I heard so far: Valkyrie, the scene during which von Stauffenberg and his family head down into the cellar during an allied aerial bombing raid. The first bomb blast is about the loudest, most intense bass I have encountered so far. It is far louder with more impact than the emerging pod scene in WOTW. However, if I was seated at the sweet spot, the chuffing was not audible. I suspect anyway that the port is suboptimal. However, a larger diameter port would require a longer tube for that rather small 71 liter box (2.5 cu ft). It may need to have a right angle built in to extend the lenght. That would change the design and probably making it cost a lot more. Just for kicks, I had one of those large 4" foam tennis balls that are used for training kids to hit the ball properly for practice at tennis. One of those fit snugly in the port. It did indeed solve the problem. However, the bass output dropped too by at least 3 db. I would had to step up the volume level on the sub to compensate. Otherwise, to my surprise the bass sounded darn good with the port plugged. Increasing the SPL 3 db means doubling the amplifier power. Well, I figured that might be putting an unnecessary strain on those little plate amps. To do the job right, I would need to buy a better, more powerful plate amp. Well, pricing one that puts out 500 watts RMS into 8 ohms cost a bundle, even more than the sub itself. If one goes that route, one may as well buy a good SVS sub or some other premium grade brand. Thus one is better off to leave the port as is and don't plug to defeat the chuffing noise. It is so rare that it makes little sense to fix it. I would say the plate amp along with it having just enough power to do the job with no bells and whistles, is what kept the cost down in the PA-120s. Premium grade subs have far better quality plate amps.
In summary the PA-120 is a fantastic sub that has powerful well tempered, smooth, tight bass for movies and music alike. It is definitely well made inside too if you care to take a look under the hood. You'll find it well braced and adequately damped with sheets of polyfil. If you drive it too hard, you may hear chuffing noise emminating from the port which is really about the minimum diameter for this sub. It should be at least 4" instead of 3.5" in diameter. You could plug the port using any 4" foam practice tennis ball if a little loss in bass output isn't a concern for you. Even at $300, it is still a good buy. However, if you want bass that you can feel below 20 Hz, you will need to spend far more on a larger 15 in. sub.
