Budget HT - BIC or Polk or something else

kidintraffic

kidintraffic

Audioholic Intern
Not to beat a dead horse, but I'm in the hunt for a new budget sub. I recently had my Dayton Sub-120 quit working on me and since I purchased it cheap, I don't want to spend the time or effort into fixing it. The Dayton suited me well for the 3-4 years that I owned it and for the price, the performance wasn't that bad at all.

So, now I'm looking for something to replace it around the $200 price point. I don't want to go over that, if I don't have to. The two subs that keep coming up in my searches are the BIC F12 and the Polk PSW505. The main use for the sub will be HT, at about 80% HT to 20% music. The room is about 14x22 with a large opening going into the kitchen. The only advantage of the 505 that I can tell is the I won't have to turn it up as much to get the same sound level and it can hit slightly lower notes. The advantage of the BIC is the 5 year warranty on everything.

Would one of these subs be better than the other for my listening needs and room size? Or will I be happy with either? Thoughts? Other suggestions?

Current setup:
Denon 4311
2x Polk Monitor 70s
2x Polk Monitor 50s
1x Polk CS20
 
kidintraffic

kidintraffic

Audioholic Intern
Going with a 10" sub, will I lose any lower end/rumble feel during movies?
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
Going with a 10" sub, will I lose any lower end/rumble feel during movies?
Based on the rated frequency response, no; the Energy will dig as deep (or slightly deeper) as your old Dayton. Keep in mind that driver size is only one (relatively small) piece of the puzzle. I'd pick a well engineered 10" sub like my old SVS PB10-NSD

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/subwoofer-tests-archived/994-svs-pb10-isd-2nd-unit.html

over a ermmm less well engineered 15" sub like this:

Data-Bass
 
Last edited:
afterlife2

afterlife2

Audioholic Warlord
At that price point, how would the BIC PL200 ($279 shipped) compare? I haven't heard a sealed sub in a house before, will there be any noticeable difference in listening experiences?
It will not compare to the Jamo. Read the review he goes into it. If I were in the market for one I'd get the Jamo. The price can't be beaten.
 
J

Jeff R.

Audioholic General
The description looks kind of rough on that unit....may want to reconsider....
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
Have you seen the FR plots at AVS?
Doesn't look too shabby, especially for the $250-$300 range. Of course, it's retail price is a joke, but that's another story. Wonder what kind of max output it can deliver. Might be biting off a bit more than it can chew with the OPs room, though I wouldn't expect it to be any worse than his old Dayton.
 
J

Jeff R.

Audioholic General
Open Box is gone.

Which part or desc is rough? Have you seen the FR plots at AVS?
If you added it to the cart it said the center of the cone was pushed in, the foot was damaged and the cabinet had multiple scratches and dents and you as the customer had to acknowledge that you understood the condition on the unit.

Jeff
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
If you added it to the cart it said the center of the cone was pushed in, the foot was damaged and the cabinet had multiple scratches and dents and you as the customer had to acknowledge that you understood the condition on the unit.

Jeff
Oh, That - Yeah - with such description would send me running :)
In any case it's gone now. Thanks for letting me know anyways - I will look more carefully at Vanns so called "open box" items more carefully
 
kidintraffic

kidintraffic

Audioholic Intern
If I decided to go the Jamo route, will I notice a big difference in the type of sound going from a ported sub (Dayton) to a sealed sub (Jamo)?
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
If I decided to go the Jamo route, will I notice a big difference in the type of sound going from a ported sub (Dayton) to a sealed sub (Jamo)?
Yes. Likely less extension (not as deep) but probably also a bit cleaner sounding. That is the general rule of thumb, but is not *always* the case. In this price range, I'd say it is a safe bet. Though the Jamo shows 24Hz, sealed subs tend to have less authority down low compared to vented.
 

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