Ellsworth wrote:Thank you for the very helpful information. I haven't responded earlier as broke my right arm five minutes into an introductory skating lesson. Nevertheless I purchased a 12 inch powered Polk subwoofer that was on sale for about 50% off and am very happy with it as long as I keep the power down or it rattles the furniture. It is rated to 25 Hz which will be enough for a while.
I'm glad you found something that works for you, and at a sale price.
Reading of your rattling furniture I'm wondering if you have properly adjusted the level of your sub. Also, do you have your sub on the floor, or is elevated using something that can achieve acoustic decoupling? Getting it off the floor should help. I'm assuming you know that you should never hear the subwoofer, only its results, giving your main loudspeakers more of a full-range product.
Finally, the low extension rating of any sub (your Polk @ 25 Hz) is only a partial indicator of its performance in the lowest octave, down into the sub-audible range of the 32-foot stop. Some subs roll off more gradually than others. Are you at least aware that the lowest notes of a 32-foot stop are sounding when the sub is on? Have you A/B-ed with and without the sub to find out?
Most importantly (in my opinion), how has your new sub improved the lowest octave of your 16-foot stops? I think that's the number one reason for having a sub with a VPO. Extension to 16 Hz is, decidedly, number two in my book.
Dennis