Product Comparison: BIC America F12 vs Polk Audio PSW505

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Best Pick

BIC America F12 Front Firing Powered Subwoofer

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Polk Audio PSW505 Powered Subwoofer

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General Specifications

Brand

BIC America

Polk Audio

Model

F12

PSW505 ( AM8505-A)

Origin

USA

About the Product

For more than 50 years, midrange and high frequency horns have been the hands-down choice for movie theater sound engineers. From the softest whispers... To the highest impact sound... Hrn drivers have no equal when it comes to clarity and dynamic range. The BIC Formula Theater Series carries on the legacy of the first Formula Series introduced in 1973. They offer an output capability of up to 116dB (live rock band levels), while offering refinements that surpass all of its predecessors.

The PSW505 is equally at home reproducing all the subtle nuance of a plucked string bass as it is belting out a rocket's roar. Full-featured and over-powered, the PSW505 will rock your world.

Key Specs

Power RMS

150 watts

300 watts

Driver Diameter

12 in.

Power RMS
Driver Diameter

Size & Weight

Color

Black

Height

14.8 in.

16.13 in.

Width

17 in.

15.13 in.

Depth

17 in.

18.19 in.

Weight

20 lbs.

48 lbs.

What customers say about "Size & Weight"

BIC America F12 Front Firing Powered Subwoofer

One awesome sub! I was surprised with its size and weight, but it was a pleasant surprise as this thing pumps out the bass at crazy levels.
This is a pretty good woofer at nice price, both quality and size/weight wise.
Build seems quality and has some weight to it.
It's big and heavy just like it should be!
Sounds great at normal levels, struggles when you push the volume. The cabinet vibrates and moves on the floor. Needs a little more weight to dampen the movement.

Polk Audio PSW505 Powered Subwoofer

Solid construction and good weight.
The weight is good though because it will never shuffle around the floor, even when pushing it.
I love the design and structure. The sub was well packaged and took a few minutes to set up.
Awesome deep bass creator and is incredibly heavy. The build is robust and works like a charm. Produces such heavy and deep bass that could shadow other heavily priced brands.
I also have one large complaint regarding the design. All of the speaker input posts are clustered so close together that it is virtually impossible to use high quality cables with good connectors. There is just not enough room.
Sound is good. Have had this for a few months now with limited use, and already 3 of the four cheap plastic feet have split and broken off leaving exposed screws that have gouged my floor.

Audio

Min. Frequency Response

28 Hz

23 Hz

Max. Frequency Response

200 Hz

160 Hz

Peak Power

475 watts

460 watts

Sound Output Direction

Front-firing

What customers say about "Audio"

BIC America F12 Front Firing Powered Subwoofer

If your looking for something reasonably priced to add a tremendous amount of clean low frequency presence it will be hard to find a better piece of equipment.
Powerful bass that will shake the floor, walls and ceiling (ceiling-yes. Vent cover fell out). The amp allows crossover frequency adjustment as well as volume. It does not muffle or distort any sounds unless you have it at max, which is not a good idea.
It's great for the average living room size if you like to play music and get the full experience of frequency range.
Sounds great as I expected. Plenty of power!!
Deep bass, not very controlled though. However, for the price it's a good buy; a good beginner's sub.
Lots off distortion even at low volume. Crossover set all the way down to 80Hz didn't fix it. I'm going to to assume I got a defective unit and will update after I get a replacement.

Polk Audio PSW505 Powered Subwoofer

Boy, did I make the right purchase. It did take a bit of tweaking, as it should for anyone. You need to find the right balance of power on the sub itself, the low-pass filter of the receiver, and the sub-woofer level of the receiver.
It is a powered sub woofer with more power than I ever expected. I like running wide open and this unit I can not it just blows me away. Very good and powerful sub woofer , I have a lot of respect for it.
This sub doesnt overpower even if you are in apartment. Just use volume and frequency control knobs at back to tame this beast. I live in apartment and i have no issues with this sub.
Very powerful and estheically pleasing so fits nicely in your room Has a nice kick so no need to turn the volume high to get that nice deep bass.
This subwoofer doesn't have the defined bass of a higher end sub. It can rattle the house but the bass sounds muddy at low frequency.
Returning this item as amp runs extremely hot, you can feel the heat from the knobs on the amp when trying to adjust the volume or crossover frequency.

Features

Box Design

Ported

Controls

Volume control, Crossover adjustment, Phase switch, Automatic signal sensing

Volume control, Bass adjustment, Phase switch

App-Controlled

Indoor Or Outdoor Use

Indoor

Extras

Patented BIC "Venturi" vent eliminates port noise

Slot Load Venting improves bass response.

App-Controlled

What customers say about "Features"

BIC America F12 Front Firing Powered Subwoofer

The back of the unit features a crossover control, phase switch, and auto-off feature. You can turn it on or off manually or you can set it to auto which is what I do.
The auto-off feature works pretty well
On the back of the sub you will find a pleasing variety of inputs and controls. It's easy to operate
I love this sub. Has all the features you want and a great price. Simple, powerful, perfect for a 5.1/7.1 system
Bought this sub a couple years ago and still love it. the only thing that i can think of that i don't like is that there is no remote to adjust the level of bass. this is a little bit of a problem because the bass level is very touchy.

Polk Audio PSW505 Powered Subwoofer

My favorite feature of this polk audio sub is the auto on and off switch. I think that is the coolest thing, since it gets used daily, I can just leave it on auto and anytime I turn the stereo on and start playing music, the sub will turn itself on.
The PSW505 has all the power and features I wanted: Auto off and an unfiltered line input
I have engaged the auto on/off feature, which works fine. It pops on almost as soon as I power on my receiver and shuts off about minutes after I turn everything off.
The amount of controls and options for different wiring configurations is quite nice
Amp is cheaply made. All the controls on it are what you find on cheapo electronics. Sound is dull and you can't really crank it, distortions kick in.
Typical BOOMY subwoofer, terrible pitch control, slow response.

Connectivity

Inputs

RCA LFE input, 2-channel (+/- for each channel) speaker level inputs

RCA in, Line in (LFE unfiltered/low frequencies filtered in)

Outputs

2-channel (+/- for each channel) satellite speaker outputs from the integrated amplifier

Low-frequency filtered stereo out for 2 external speakers

What customers say about "Connectivity"

BIC America F12 Front Firing Powered Subwoofer

I personally use the LFE input which is a standard RCA mono cable but if your receiver doesn't support LFE you have an option for using speaker wire terminals. Also on the back include built in crossover and volume controls.
You can connect via the standard RCA Coax if you have a Coax Subwoofer out connection on your AVR/Stereo
You can connect this "in-line" with your speakers -- that is connect the speaker wire from your receiver to the posts marked IN on the sub, then connect wires going to the speaker(s) on the posts labeled OUT on the back of the subwoofer.
I used a cheapo RCA cable which was sitting around to connect this sub to my receiver and everything sounded horrible

Polk Audio PSW505 Powered Subwoofer

Connectivity is versatile and works well with my receiver
You have the option to connect the HT receiver's subout to either the single LFE or the two non LFE connections. In my case, using a y connection into the two non LFE connection did not produce sufficient loudness.
As for the configuration, it was very simple to set up and get working. Connect your RCA cable, power, and flip the Auto or ON switch. This is honestly one of the BEST subs I have ever heard (or had the opportunity of owning) for an indoor stereo system.
Love the fact that I can hear what best connection to use via LTE cable, RCA Line In or good ol' raw speaker wire hook up.
I am not an audiophile but I think this product offers outstanding performance for the price. I used the 'direct' connection between the amp and the subwoofer so the hookup was very easy.

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

5 year(s)