i am thinking about this one, but at costco it looks ok, ports kinda small but thats ok, but i looked inside the ports, and i see the fiberfill just packed against them, on all models blocking the port, and the ports have plastic sort of grilleson the inside end. would someone please email and tell me about these problems?

For only $200 this sub kicks. Even for $400, it kicks. (you could buy 2!!!!!)It is MUCH MORE sub in every way than the small Velodyne I had before!!
No when I play my DVD's they really BOOOOM! I haven't conpared it to many
others but, for $200 you cant go wrong try it!

I was watching Star Trek yesterday when I my dog kept jumping on my lap and shaking badly. I soon realized that he thought all the deep rumbling sound was thunders!
This sub makes a lot of bass. Sometimes too much of it. I will only use it with Dolby Digital movies, but not with music. For music, I found the bass was not tight enough and did not blend well with my main speakers (B.I.C DV5.2). I tried to use the manufacturer's CD to calibrate the volume and crossover. But I could not get a flat loundness level when I played the 20-200hz tone. Initially I blamed it on the B.I.C speakers. But later I found the same problem happened to another pair of speakers. I concluded that either the CD does not have a uniform output level or my hearing has a hole in the spectrum. I wonder if anyone else experienced the same thing?

I used another test CD to see the how deep this sub can go. I found that at 30 Hz, there was good level of output but not much at 20 Hz. But then the accuracy of the test is as good as the accuracy of my hearing. I can't fully certify that.

I would give it 4 stars for its performance but a solid 5 stars for value.

I've had this sub for about 3 months, and was happy with its performance, but not esctatic. Something was missing. It was a bit boomy. Instincts told me to pull it away from the wall. However, I found something that worked even better and brought tears of happiness to my eyes; shove that bad boy right UP to the wall, but lower the input level drastically. At 25% power, it blends in beautifully with my speakers. I knew I had it when I couldn't tell that the subwoofer was on; What I mean is, all of the low bass seemed to be coming from my Vandys! That was when I began to smile. Those of you with boomy problems, try this out. I hope it works for you. 5 stars with my little tweak trick.
system: NAD C340
Vandersteen 1C
straight wire chorus II
audioquest F16
AMC CD8a
software: REM automatic for the people
Ed's Redeeming Qualities: Big Grapefruit Cleanup Job
Assorted Mahler/Chopin (Bernstein, Arrau)
Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, Joan Baez
12 x 16 dedicated listening room

This woofer really shakes the walls... I recently picked up a pair of JBL SVA-2100's, which have great bass from the dual 10 inchers and INCREDIBLE highs, but really don't have that "holy crap" bass effect I get with this woofer! I play techno music, so the sub is really NOT fast enough for much of the bass in the 60-100 range; however, there's not much "fast" bass below this, so it's perfect for rounding out my frequency response! I've heard many Velodynes that will kick this sub around the block for fast transit music, but for home theater and very deep bass notes, this speaker is UNBEATIBLE for the price! 4 stars for overall sound (music is a little lacking, DO NOT USE WITH LIMITED RESPONSE SPEAKERS) and a 5+ star for value. If you want to make the neighbors furniture move, this will do it!

I couldn't pass this one up. I was looking for a small sub for my computer room and for the price this seemed like a good buy. Here is my review...
Construction is typical for a low priced sub, although there is some bracing inside the cabinet. It appears to be built from 3/4" MDF with vinyl veneer. There is also some fiberfill batting stuffed behind the ports which looks like it was done as an afterthought. The small amp seems to be driven hard given the high temp of the heat sink after long use. Fortunately there are several controls that allow some tweaking to improve the sound. In fact, some of the features of this unit can only be found on much more expensive subs. The phase switch and the line level pass-through are examples of these features.

As far a quality of sound, this unit is worth the $200 at costco. The sub is quite boomy, especially in the 80-100 hz range. To solve this problem, I stuffed the enclosure with 20 ozs of polyester fiberfill. This greatly reduced the boomyness and flattened the response quite a bit. I highly recommend this adjustment. Placement, as with any subwoofer, is a critical issue with this unit. Be sure to try many different locations before you settle on a permanent place. The included CD is totally useless as far as a test for frequency response. You are much better off using a tone generator (you can even find one for your computer on the net) as a more accurate test.

Personally, I find this sub an awesome bargain. I had budgeted for a small (8") powered sub and ended up with a monster! I can recommend this unit to anyone looking for a good home theater sub who doesn't want to spend $700+. I base my five star rating on quality over cost.

I am impressed with the deep lows that fill my living room which are created from this sw. I had to take a chance at Costco with this sub and I'm glad I did. I was worried it would be too boomy which might be true with satellites, but the only thing I notice now is how huge the thing is in my living room. I would recommend this sw to most anyone who likes to hear their music and movis with depth and authority (in which it does both well),and has more than a little space for placement. One drawback to it though is the lack of power...it gives me just the right amount but not any louder. I have a decent sized room but was expecting more of a house quake. It sounds quite musical though, performing with clarity and transparenity. As I said before give this deal a try. I have the x-over set at 40htz and it sounds nice. If you experiment with the placement you might end up happy-like me. 5 stars for price. 4 overall

Taking the advice from a previous post, I filled it up with a pack of Radio Shack speaker filler (the same stuff as the home fiberglass insulator). The improvement is very noticeable. It sounds a lot more tighter. Before I did this, a bass drum note would shake the wall for a couple seconds ( or it seems that long). Now it is just a deep but short note. It integrates with my small bookshelf speakers much better too. I could hear the good bass, but I can't tell it comes from the sub! I am much more satified with it.
With regard to the "lack of power" as one reviewer said, I honestly don't think so for any house less than a mansion. I have a 20x40 great room. The volume level is only set in the middle, otherwise the bass would be too strong. For movie you may want to turn up the bass a bit, but there is enough for it too.

Based on the simple improvement I made, I revise my review to 5 stars!

The best way to discribe this sub-woofer is with one word, awesome. My friend recomended this sub-woofer to me and after hearing it I went and bought it the next week. I purchased it from costco for 199.99. With the MSRP at 499 I would say I got a pretty good deal.
The base response on this sub is absolutely amazing. With the frequency ranging as low as 20Hz it produces everything it is sent. Songs that I have listened to for a long time have bass notes that I never heard before. The other speakers weren't able to produce lower sounds.

I think everybody should own a sub-woofer, this one in mind, no one should live without the lower frequency sound ranges. It adds so much to sound!

Buy one!!!

I have recently been upgrading my stereo system to do double duty, both music and home theatre (music 80% ht 20%). After listening to many satellite speakers I went with they Dynaudio 50's. When I got them home and into my room 15X25 with ajoining room and large vaulted ceiling, the bass disapeared. Knowing they are not full range speakers I knew I had to get a sub. I had narrowed it down to an HSU research for about $900-1,000. Buying new TV and VCR had depleted my options because I had run out of cash. Low and behold I come across the reviews for the Audiosource. I was skeptical because low cost fixes usually sounded poor, but for $200 at costco I took the plunge. Needless to say it is a great bandaid. It filled in all the lows I was missing. On different music I have to play around with the volume and crossover, but until I have the money for the HSU, this thing is keeping me happy. Highly recommended for the price. Placement, directly in between the two front satellites, 3-4 feet from back wall, 10-12 oclock on volume, 10-12 on cross over.