Сабвуферы — Polk Audio Signature Elite ES8

Polk Audio builds the Signature Elite ES8 as the 8-inch member of the powered subwoofer group within its Signature Elite family, and the 2024 product literature carries the name of Masimo, the current parent company. The brand targets it at compact home theaters, smaller music systems and apartments where floor space is limited. It comes only in black, and its low, slim cabinet carries the same visual language as the loudspeakers of the series.

Key specs that matter

The long-throw, high-excursion woofer faces forward and uses a cone of mineral-filled polypropylene. A 100 W Class D amplifier supplies the power. At the -3 dB points the response covers 32 Hz to 180 Hz, and Polk also publishes -10 dB figures of 28 Hz and 400 Hz. Crossover frequency is variable from 50 Hz up to 160 Hz. Phase can be shifted between -135 and 180 degrees in 45-degree increments. On the rear sit an LFE RCA jack and two RCA jacks for a stereo line-level feed, with no speaker-wire terminals provided. Height is 383 mm, width 325 mm and depth 386 mm, and Polk lists the weight as 12.6 kg.

Engineering and use context

Processing is handled by a DSP running 32-bit floating point maths, which also performs the crossover filtering with a fourth-order slope. Polk's Time-Smart Phase Control offers eight phase settings instead of a two-way switch, letting the output of the sub be timed to the arrival from the main speakers more precisely. A single Power Port vents the enclosure, and Polk describes the box as acoustically optimised, with bracing inside that was shaped using finite element analysis to cut resonance in the panels. As the driver fires forward and the cabinet is narrow, the maker states the ES8 can go right up against a wall or be placed on a shelf. When no signal arrives for a while, an auto-sensing Power-Save Mode drops the unit into standby. The front grille is detachable.

Pairing

A home theater receiver or surround processor connects through the LFE socket using a single RCA cable from its subwoofer output. For stereo systems, the pair of line inputs takes RCA pre-outputs from an integrated amp or a standalone preamplifier, while amplifiers with no pre-out at all would need a different sub, since the ES8 has no high-level connection. In the Signature Elite range the ES8 is matched in styling to the bookshelf and floorstanding models, so a 2.1 system or a small surround package can be built entirely from the same line.

Alternatives

The Polk Signature Elite ES10 steps up to a 10-inch woofer, a 200 W amplifier and two Power Ports in a cabinet 438 mm tall.