PSW450 Does Not Help Me, Can I Tweak It?

[jrlouie]

Hey all,
I recently ran some tests. Turns out my PSW450 doesn't help my bass extension, but just makes the bass bloated between 35hz - 60hz. You guys probably already knew this. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this a couple of years ago when I bought it. I really knew hardly anything about home theatres.
I have a set of Lsi15's that have good bass down to 35hz in my room. Look at the specs of the PSW450, and it is only rated down to 35hz+-3. Tested it out, unplugged my 15's, sure enough the bass starts to kick in at 35hz and up.
Back then I was naive and didn't realize how important it was to buy a matching "in quality" or better sub. Obviously the Lsi15's are awesome speakers and I guess I didn't realize they could perform that good ;) So now I'm stuck with a sub that I use as a plant stand since I prefer a flatter response rather than fattening up any given frequency range.
Are there any tweaks anyone knows of for the PSW450 to get any extra hz's out of it? I can't afford right now to buy a different sub. That may be a stupid question, but I don't know. Thought I'd give it a shot ;)
Thanks if advance for any suggestions.
Have a good one!

[trubluluc]

You can get $200-275 on ebay.


-Luc

[cfrizz]

I almost did this when I went to get my dvd, center & subwoofer. Fortunately I took the specs of my Polks with me and the salesman showed me in plain english that the center & sub I was going to get were not enough. I needed a bigger center & sub in order not to duplicate my Polks.

Thank God I did that, because I had no clue until the salesman helped me out.

[Whadyasay]

You need to get a sub that does well down in the 20-30Hz region (who doesn't?). All the PSW is doing is gobbing on more to what your LSi15's are already outputting, thus causing more confusion and less definition. Ideally, one of the larger SVS cylinders would be great, if you have room for it.

Additionally, I highly recommend that you get an Outlaw ICBM, so that you can set different crossover points for your mains and center/surrounds. Perhaps 40Hz for the 15's (but also try 60), and maye 80 for the LSiC. The ICBM will also allow you to redirect full-range sound back to your mains even though you've got freq's below the crossover first going to the sub. That way, a 40Hz x-over setting on the ICBM for the LSi15's, plus switching the redirect on, will perhaps allow for a more seamless blend, in that you will be relying on the natural low-freq roll-off of the LSi15's, rather than the 12/24dB per oct rolloff of the ICBM's x-over.

Place the ICBM between your pre/pro and power amp, and you'll have a lot of possibilities.