audio69

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $125.00 from Garage Sale

Summary:
I was very lucky to find this sub brand new at a garage sale a couple years ago. I have Linn SARA Isobarik speakers (which I also got at a garage sale!) and this sub is musical enough to blend right in with the Linns. For those of you who have or have ever heard of Linn's, this is not faint praise. I've found many subs to be too home theatre like for my taste. Just weren't tight on music. I've tried a Paradigm Servo 15 and while louder and deeper I didn't find it as musical. I have an Adcom 555 amp that puts out like 300 wpc into the 4 ohm load on the Linns and this amp with 65 watts has no problems as loud as I want to listen! So if you can live with deep but not thunder-like bass, but very fast and musical, I highly recommed this sub.

Strengths:
Fast, blends in well with much more expensive audiophile speakers, adjustable, small, powerful for 65 watts, very high build quality. Should last 20 years.

Weaknesses:
Can't think of any. Maybe not the lowest octave for thunder, but how often do you sit around and listen to thunder anyway?

Similar Products Used:
Paradigm Servo 15, Carver Sunfire Sub, NHT sub

Price Paid:  $450.00 from A & B Sound

Summary:
I have been using the PSB Subsonic 5 in my system for about 2 years now. I feel that the sub and the cable have had a long enough "burn in" time to write a fair review. I have made a hobby of trying to reproduce recorded sound accurately. Whether it be music or DVD's. I've had the opportunity to audition a lot of subs and hear them in various systems. I consider this subwoofer to be a "musical" sub as opposed to a "movie" sub. Don't get me wrong, it does the DVD thing very well. I'm just primarily into music. I'll spare trying to describe subsonic ambiences and whatnot and just say it is a very transitionally smooth, naturally rich and accurate subwoofer. Not at all trying to be flagrantly noticable or colorful. If it is calibrated properly with the bass management in your amp and you use a decent cable, I think you'll find it adds wonderful depth to music. Not the thunky un-natural "I am a weapon of mass destruction" sound of some home theatre subs I've heard. The build quality seems good for such an inexpensive piece although the plastic feet are attached with an adhesive and mine have come off a few times. None the less, it sounds wonderful in my system and it didn't cost me a fortune. A good purchace. Currently: Sub: PSB Subsonic 5 Mains: JBL S312 Centre: JBL S-Centre Back Surr: JBL S-38 Centre Back: PSB Alfa AV Reciever: Marantz SR-9200 Upsampling DAC: Musical Fidelity A3-24 (192k) DVD: Marantz VC-5200 CD/Recorder: Marantz DR-4050 Cables: Kimber 8TC (mains) Kimber 4PR (rest). Sub cable: Monster M351

Strengths:
Musical. Smooth. Natural sounding.

Weaknesses:
Stick-on plastic feet.

Similar Products Used:
Sunfire. Hsu. JBL. Yamaha

Price Paid:  $450.00 from Home Audio store

Summary:
This review is actually for the PSB SubSonic 5i. I just hooked it up last weekend, and am very pleased with the results. It has great response for both music and video. Not boomy, but adds depth and presence to my CDs and DVDs. It has all the basic features you want in a quality subwoofer; auto power-off, high-level and LFE inputs, phase switch, built in cross-over, etc. It also has a fairly small footprint which scores high on the spousal-unit scale.

Strengths:
-Value -Build quality -Tight bass reponse -Small footprint (for a 10" sub)

Weaknesses:
-None noted yet

Similar Products Used:
-Paradigm PDR10

Price Paid:  $0.00 from online somewhere

Summary:
I have PSB stuff all around for my HT: 4Ts up front, 8C center, 1B surrounds. However, I thought the Sub5 was a bit pricey for a 10" sub so I considered a couple others like the Paradigm. Truth be told, I didn't find the comparable Paradigm much different--probably a little louder, but not quite as musical. For pure HT use, I might have gone with the Paradigm. But since I do music as well, I went with the PSB. My living room has a funny shape to it and is entirely open to the kitchen in back, so while the "standard" sub to go with the setup I have is a 12" (the Sub6), for me, this is more than enough. This thing can easily rattle all the windows in the room when something in a movie explodes--no power issues for me.

Strengths:
More musical response than others in price range.

Weaknesses:
Not quite as loud as others in price range

Similar Products Used:
Paradigms. Also listened to consumer-grade stuff like Infinity and Polk, which isn't even in the same class--avoid.

Price Paid:  $350.00 from Great Metropolitan S

Summary:
Superb! First subwoofer I have owned, and to go along with my PSB Alpha front, rear and center channel speakers. It has everything one could need in a subwoofer. The bass response is excellent and the nicest thing is that you can play it on very low "volume" on the subwoofer itself without it being agitating. Crystal clear bass!

Strengths:
Excellent Bass Response Very well priced for the product

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
none