Premier Acoustics PA-6F Review; Build Quality

Did the PA-6F System Drop From a White Van?

The powered sub in the PA-6F system is a surprising component. There is no sugar-coating the inherent ugliness of a subwoofer box, no matter how glossy the finish. A powerful sub capable of moving serious air is really just a big heavy cube probably sitting in one corner of the room. It's unlikely anybody ever said of an effective sub: "Gosh, that's an attractive subwoofer you have." The PA-6F is one big ugly sub, but that's a good thing if you're looking for powerful boom in your Home Theater.

The PA-6W is a powered sub, featuring a 12 inch driver with a 200 Watt amp that is capable of shaking most rooms. The specs say it only gets down to 24Hz - a small compromise compared to many more expensive 12 inch, 200W subs that are rated to go all the way down to 20Hz. For its rating I expected less than impressive chest-thumping sound, but found I was pleasantly surprised. I've used established name brand subs with similar specs (Boston Acoustics and Velodyne) that produced only a little more volume and had only a slightly tighter response to rapid deep tones. The Premiere Acoustics sub compares favorably to the big brands, when you consider that its price is less than half for only a minor step down in performance - in fact, this is a common theme among the entire Premiere Acoustics line. The PA-6W Subwoofer is clearly more capable of producing louder, low-frequency effects than some of the comparably priced name brand subs I've heard that come with bookshelf 5.1 kits.

The speakers look like a cross between PSB and Klipsch brands. (With the Klipsch style coming from the copper-hued drivers.) But whether or not the speakers are made to look a certain way, or actually use parts from a manufacturer, is irrelevant. You simply can't judge a book by looking at the cover, so let's dig into the sound quality of these speakers.

White Van and Build Quality

I must admit that when the speakers first came in the mail I was skeptical about Premier Acoustics and its products. Who is this company? Why do their speakers look like a hodge-podge of other products? It had me thinking of white van speakers. "Electronics sold from a white van" is a euphemism for a rip-off deal. White van products are usually made-up name brands designed to sound close to an established brand (think Klapsch or Philadelphia Acoustics), but which offer a ridiculously low price tag. Really though, theyre just a rip-off, likely built from spare parts that fell off the plane from a South East Asian sweatshop.

PA-6F bindings

Once unboxed, I took a closer look at the moldings around the drivers, the seams on the speaker boxes themselves and the speaker wire binding posts. From the perspective of build quality, I saw no apparent problems. Many hi-fi aficionados might balk at the very idea of any seams on speaker boxes, but hey, this system retails at just under $1000 for the entire 5.1 kit. This is a fact I had to keep in mind as I inspected the speakers and started making comparisons to more expensive models. The gold-plated binding posts were very secure, and the plastic casings that bolted them down felt solid as I put some bare 14 gauge wire through them. The PA-6F front speakers are bi-wireable, but I did not use them in this configuration. Each of the speakers is built with a ported design, so theyre fairly sensitive compared to others Ive used.