Edifier T5 or POLK AUDIO PSW 10E

[Rovineplaya]

Hello and thank you for taking the time to answer my post. I recently bought Edifier 1280T speakers to upgrade my audio setup in my bedroom and I would like to get a subwoofer to complement them. The best subs I found under 170 euro are the ones in the title.

Edifier T5(8'' driver) is around 117 euros and POLK AUDIO PSW 10E(10'' driver) 162 euros.

Is there a significative difference between the two to justify the higher price?

 

[circeseye]

eh...reviews say they are both ok and for small rooms. polk is 30 more watts but still only 100watt. but it is a 10in.
watching videos they both seem to perform ok for what they are.

[sm1th5]

Its not possible to add a subwoofer to these computer speakers. It's 2.0 channels only it appears. 

 

You need av receiver and passive speakers before you think about a subwoofer 

[circeseye]

5 hours ago, sm1th5 said:

Its not possible to add a subwoofer to these computer speakers. It's 2.0 channels only it appears. 

 

You need av receiver and passive speakers before you think about a subwoofer 

ummm wut? he can add a powered sub to his system if hes using it on a pc. at least thats what i was assuming hes doing

[Omon_Ra]

On 3/26/2023 at 8:42 AM, sm1th5 said:

Its not possible to add a subwoofer to these computer speakers. It's 2.0 channels only it appears. 

 

You need av receiver and passive speakers before you think about a subwoofer 

They can add a subwoofer, it just needs the correct inputs/outputs.

 

OP: Go with the Edifier T5 because it has RCA inputs and outputs, the Polk does not. You'll need to also get a standard RCA cable long enough to go from where you'll put your sub, to the right speaker. Use the RCA cable you have now to go into the subwoofer's RCA 'Signal In' jacks, and then run the new RCA cable from the 'Signal Out' jacks to your right speaker input. It should pair well with the bookshelves, though you'll want to play with the LPF/crossover to suit your ears/room.

[sm1th5]

I'll challenge you guys to find any evidence to support your claims.

 

There's a speaker wire for the left speaker. 

And two rca INPUTS. Aux and pc.

 

You'd need pre outs for a subwoofer which these don't have. 

[cmndr]

Of the subs listed the Polk sub is probably the best. Similarish subs from Polk go on sale for as low as $80USD from time to time. https://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?q=POLK+AUDIO+PSW

 

Not what I'd suggest but I don't know what availability is like in your country. 

If you're near a major city, USED subwoofers can be good. 

This is a non-awful list of candidates

On 3/26/2023 at 5:42 AM, sm1th5 said:

Its not possible to add a subwoofer to these computer speakers. It's 2.0 channels only it appears. 

 

You need av receiver and passive speakers before you think about a subwoofer 

I'll apologize if I sound critical in any of the following, it's enthusiastic nerd rage and not a personal attack. 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/rca-piggyback-cable/s?k=rca+piggyback+cable

 

$3-5 cable (note: depending on the config a similarly cheap but different cable might need to be used)

https://www.amazon.com/Speaker-Splitter-Conductor-Shielding-Flexible/dp/B0916WWN9Z

basically any splitter will work, all that matters is that you can mate the male/female ends of the plugs properly. This is just basically one bit of metal shooting off of the others. No crazy conversions, just electric fields flowing across wires and branching off at some point. 

A 2.0 signal will usually still carry the full range signal down below what the speakers being used can do. By basically splitting the signal in 2 you lower the gain to your main speakers but also get a working signal for the subs to play which will be the sum of the L+R frequencies. Apply a low pass filter on the sub (usually using the knob on the back) and BAM... you have a full range set up. 

For context I did a Polk R200 + SVS PB1000 + Aiyima A07 set up for a bit before I got around to hooking up my AVR while I was moving. USB-c -> aux -> piggback RCA -> speakers + sub; I also currently have one of my sub-outs on my AVR split off to both a sub and a bank of 3 tactile transducers.

 

On 3/30/2023 at 3:23 AM, sm1th5 said:

I'll challenge you guys to find any evidence to support your claims.

 

There's a speaker wire for the left speaker. 

And two rca INPUTS. Aux and pc.

 

You'd need pre outs for a subwoofer which these don't have. 

 

PC - (usually) green aux port on the back - aux to RCA cable. Piggyback cable plugged into the back of the speakers that is connected to the OTHER RCA cable and also to your subwoofer.

Add in extra cables as needed to get distance as needed. 

Same signal ends up going to both the speakers and the sub. If you want to dial this in reasonably well, go play bass sweeps from 20-200Hz on just the bookshelf speakers and then figure out where the sound pressure drops off (decibel-x or similar phone apps can help quantify this). That gives you a rough feel for where to set the variable crossover on the subwoofer. Hook up the sub, repeat the bass sweep. such that the overall loudness level - aka the gain on the subwoofer- (except near the crossover region) is similar on the subwoofer and the speakers at the listening position. Then play with the crossover up or down a little until the dB level is about as level as it'll get. 

 

 

 

You could also conceivably go piggyback RCA cables from sub to speakers and just plug in the existing aux/RCA cables into the back of the piggyback RCA cables. 

 

[Omon_Ra]

On 3/30/2023 at 6:23 AM, sm1th5 said:

I'll challenge you guys to find any evidence to support your claims.

 

There's a speaker wire for the left speaker. 

And two rca INPUTS. Aux and pc.

 

You'd need pre outs for a subwoofer which these don't have. 

<snip>

My friend has the Edifier bookshelves, I know how they hook up. The amp is in the right speaker, the speaker wire connections for the left speaker are for the left speaker only. As I said in my previous post, the Edifier sub will work with the OP's existing pair of bookshelf speakers; but they will need to go from their source (PC) to the sub, then from the sub to the speakers via RCA. The Edifier subwoofer has RCA line level inputs AND outputs. No need for piggybacking or preamp outputs for the sub. The Polk sub would require piggybacking or some other wonky way of making it work. Thusly, why I recommended the Edifier subwoofer.