Spec Overview and Comparison Table
| Model | PSW-6 | PSW-8 | PSW-10 | PSW-12 | PSW-15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speaker Type | powered, ported | (<-- same) | (<-- same) | (<-- same) | (<-- same) |
| Continuous Power | 75 W* | 90 W * | 120 W * | 150 W * | 180 W * |
| Peak Power | 250 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 |
| Response Range | 30 - 250 Hz | 26 - 250 Hz | 25 - 250 Hz | 24 - 250 Hz | 22 - 250 Hz |
| Driver Size | 6" | 8" | 10" | 12" | 15" |
| Warranty | (not specified) | (<-- same) | (<-- same) | (<-- same) | (<-- same) |
*When nominal/RMS power isn’t specified by manufacturer, we use an approximation of ~30% of the specified peak/dynamic power for comparison purposes.
Review and Discussion
Acoustic Audio’s Powered Subwoofer (PSW) Series features 5 models of varying size, with the aptly appending -X on each’s title denoting the size of the driver. We took notice of this lesser known company when one of these subs crept up the Amazon best sellers list, and we saw that, for the size and advertised specs, these subwoofers are selling for absurdly low prices that sound too good to be true.
And unfortunately it might be – the way we analyse and compare products tends to quickly reveal the common red flags. The first thing is that the manufacturer doesn’t specify the continuous power handling, which is the primarily important spec – peak power might seem impressive, but it only denotes what a speaker can handle in short intermittent bursts like a banging bass drum or movie explosion. While some good companies and speakers don’t always specify continuous power output/handling for whatever reason, it’s probably the most common way speaker sales pages fudge specs. Another weird design description is the “high” density… medium density fibreboard (that’s what MDF stands for, and it’s a common speaker cabinet material) – we really don’t know what that means.
But the big red flag that we simply can’t ignore is the lack of warranty information. Per their warranty page directly:
To ensure we have the lowest prices, we negotiate with our Authorized Acoustic Audio dealers to provide their customers with a warranty. All warranty and technical support is offered at the dealer level.
We’ve honestly never seen this – even the lower end audio companies directly offer at least a year or so of protection at a bare minimum against defects – and Amazon for example requires that you email their customer service to get the warranty information. We’re not even sure how a 2nd party would logistically honor a warranty as they’re not the original manufacturer. Send a new one? Send it back to the manufacturer themselves? In any case, when other reputable audio companies have 5+ year warranties, it just doesn’t seem worth dealing with this kind of a policy.
Our Overall Take, As Compared to the Competition
The price on any of these for the specs seems too good to be true, and it might be. When you consider also that there are so many other comparable alternatives sold by companies with good reputations and track records, it’s hard to recommend any of these subwoofers. Caveat emptor.
Check out the AA subwoofers more on Amazon
See our current picks for the overall best budget subwoofers
