Subwoofers — McIntosh PS2K

The McIntosh PS2K is a powered subwoofer that stands 199.7 cm tall and weighs 207.7 kg, built as a sealed box around four 13-inch woofers. A dedicated 500 W Class D module drives every woofer, for 2,000 W in total. McIntosh designed it to match its Reference two-channel and Reference home theater systems in sound and appearance, yet it also suits high-output loudspeakers from other makers.

Key specs that matter

Frequency response is 20 Hz to 500 Hz with the LFE input and 20 Hz to 100 Hz without it. Maximum output exceeds 120 dB. Amplifier distortion is rated at 0.05 percent THD. Input sensitivity is 1 V balanced and 500 mV unbalanced. The cabinet measures 48.9 cm wide and 57.2 cm deep, and the shipping weight is 422.7 kg. The finish is highly polished piano black on an anodised aluminium base.

Engineering and use context

Its cones are multi-layer carbon fibre with extra long excursion, chosen for rigidity and high power handling. Their large magnets use the McIntosh patented Low Distortion High Performance (LD/HP) Magnetic Circuit Design, which the company says lowers distortion while raising power handling and efficiency of the driver. The connection panel offers one balanced stereo pair and one balanced mono subwoofer input, plus one unbalanced mono subwoofer input. Outputs mirror this with one balanced stereo pair, one balanced mono sub output and one unbalanced mono sub output, allowing the feed to continue to main speakers or a second subwoofer. Low pass and high pass filters are adjustable from 40 Hz to 100 Hz. A two-band parametric EQ works between 30 Hz and 100 Hz with variable bandwidth and a range of plus or minus 8 dB. Phase is continuously variable and output level is adjustable. McIntosh Power Guard and Sentry Monitor circuits protect the amplification. The cones have integrated voice coil joints, and extra long voice coils work with long excursion suspensions. The woofers are stacked vertically on top of the amplifier module, and the sealed enclosure uses a baffle nearly 38 mm thick. A meter shows power output in real time. Several units can be daisy chained, and Power Control links the PS2K to other McIntosh components. The price was USD 58,000.

Pairing

The balanced stereo input and output let the PS2K sit between a McIntosh preamplifier and the power amplifier of the main speakers. In a home theater, a surround processor feeds its LFE channel through the balanced or unbalanced subwoofer input.

Alternatives

The McIntosh PS1K is a smaller powered subwoofer with two 13-inch woofers and a 1,000 W power rating.