Alexander

So. There is only one proper review of sound quality & and it is correct. The internal crossover in this sub is way off. It allows for enormous mid range. Allegedly the crossover is set to 150hz however it is actually allowing up to 315-400 hz. This creates mud and bad sound quality. Although Polk is a much lower end audio brand than I would use, the price point, construction & general look is good, So I will be Hot Rodding this thing with a new internal custom crossover, to roll off @ 100hz where its supposed to be. And I will be adding a longer speaker lead with better gauge wiring. heads up to audiophiles..

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Impressed! Takes paint well, sensitivity is awesome.

It took close to 1000w before it blew. I had it way overpowered. Robust internal crossover and took well over its rated watts for many years. Held krylon spray paint to blend in with decor very well. No flaking or peeling over five years. Sound was very impressive. If possible, locate near masonry wall for better sound. Was probably having too good of a time and blew the coils pushing too many watts through it. I would buy it again if it was on sale, but would look at other options at msrp if you have the watts. However, it's tough to beat the sensitivity rating. I left it outside through many winters and summers with no issues. The only thing I might change is to keep it away from direct noon sun in the summer. The crossover has electrolytic capacitors, and while both tested fine, one was bulging. The hot sun (especially after painting it brown and putting it against a masonry wall on concrete) is hard on electrolytes long term.

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Crutchfield response on

Really good, but blew years.

Very good! This did wonderfully by our pool. I had it overpowered and blew the coils though. However I did buy it used and it gave me 5 years of good service before it self destructed. I was playing at very loud volume. Bass really filled out the outdoor sound. It also (along with the satellite speakers) took brown krylon paint very well with no chipping, flaking etc. for the five years I had it. It does have a pretty robust internal crossover which did a very nice job. However, if possible locate it out of direct noon sun as one of the internal caps had bulged (but did not leak). Nonetheless, heat is hard on the electrolyte.

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Crutchfield response on

Design revoew needed

The sound is amazing. A little limited for outdoor applications and colors. The outdoor floor setting is not always a practical option for the money you pay. More earth color options would be nice. I will need to modify the mounting of this product for it to work for me. Design Engineers need to step up their game.

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Crutchfield response on

Pretty goid buy.

It was an open box item, but quite scuffed like someone rolled it on concrete. So, one star off, otherwise it's performance, delivery time and condition, including the various booklets and bits are Crutchfield perfect.

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Crutchfield response on

Music MAGIC

I love to look at the latest home audio stuff on Crutchfield and dream about bigger and better sound, I always look at the Atrium Sub thinking I need to get another one. The reviews on this sub have always really bothered me so here is my first ever review. I bought the Atrium Sub May 11th 2017 and paired it with an old pair of Polk T15 bookshelf speaker for a test run on my covered outdoor patio, powered by an old 7.1 channel receiver I setup the front speakers to bi-amp and the mode to stereo, two channels to the sub and one channel to each T15 equaled music MAGIC and the louder you play it the better it sounds! It sounded so good I didn't even replace the T15's. 4 years later it's been through Hurricanes Laura and Delta with debris piled on top and wedged underneath and even under water at least twice. After all that it's still music MAGIC! I Love this sub!

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Crutchfield response on

Polk Audio Atrium Sub100

Paired with Polk Audio Atrium Sub unbelievable sound

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Awesome!

I have a pair of Definitive Technology AW6500 on my screened in pack porch. They have always sounded okay but definitely lack the low end like all outdoor speakers. A Crutchfield rep was able to walk me through how to hook this up since the DefTech are powered via Zone 2 of my Onkyo. I ended up buying a a Russound 100w x2 amp and used the Zone 2 pre-amp outputs. The music sounds a million times better! I was expecting a difference, but now the change is pretty phenomenal. Thanks Polk and Crutchfield!

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Crutchfield response on

Polk Audio Atrium Sub100

Amazing bass! Plan to add at least two more to my system.

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Crutchfield response on

Love it

I bought this to compliment my 10 outdoor Bose speakers. I hooked this up to my Russound 290 amplifier. It sounded horrible until I lowered the vol behind the Rissound to half. I placed it on concrete and it was a little jumpy so I place a heavy flower pot on it and it sounds great.

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Crutchfield response on

Fullerton

Let me start with the fact that I'm using multiple Polk Audio speakers and I'm happy with all of them. I'm using MC60 / 80, RT-90 around the house. So I bought this sub to complement my outdoor speakers. They are pretty decent but missing the "punsh" at the very low end. I received the first Sub100, connected it to a full range amplifier as advertised and it sounded horrible. The bass was there but all higher frequencies sounded really bad. So disabled the amplifier for the wall speaker and was surprised that I could still hear "everything", it just sounded really bad. Measuring shows that frequencies up to 8kHz are still played by the Sub100, just with lower loudness, so that the complete sound is off. After talking to Polk support I decided to replace the Sub because the support confirmed that with this behavior the crossover must be broken. Today I received the replacement. Also this Sub100 plays everything up to 8kHz. After another long conversation with Polk Audio support they told me that the Sub100 is designed to be used with the Sat300 and not as stand alone and that is why it is supposed to play also the higher frequencies to some extend. The only possibility would be to use an additional crossover / low pass filter. So this is more a warning because I know how hard it is to find an outdoor subwoofer: Do not buy this product if you are planning on adding bass to your existing outdoor speakers. It will add bass but also make the overall sound horrible!

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Crutchfield response on 7/10/2019

Thanks for your review. Polk has indeed designed this subwoofer specifically to complement their Atrium Sat300 satellite speakers. Based on your feedback, we've tweaked our presentation to ensure that is clear.