B&W ASW 4000 Subwoofers

B&W ASW 4000 Subwoofers 

DESCRIPTION

15" Subwoofer - 450 Watt Amplifier

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-7 of 7  
[Jul 20, 2000]
Pete
Audiophile

Strength:

17Hz -3db point. Well braced cabinet.

Weakness:

Low pass limited to 40 Hz (should be down to 25Hz otherwise
depending on placement and main speakers, you will get boomy, 50-80Hz, bass. Should have an EQ and a linear phase control from 0 to 180 degrees.

There are a slew of subwoofers in the market and trying
to decide on one that will be used purely as a subsonic
driver, from 15Hz to 30Hz, is really hard to accomplish.
Most subwoofers are designed to operate in the Bass
region from 25/30Hz and up and are really just woofer
modules. Subsonic to me means pressure waves that you
only feel. So far the only subsonic drivers I know are
from motor driven ContraBass, Krell's new MRS and the Wilson Audio's XSs. So much for that!

I just picked up the ASW4000 and really haven't had
a chance to sit down and listen. I want to have it
go through the break-in period of a week or so before
listening to its performance. I am currently using
the HGS18, Energy EXL18 and Paradigm's Servo 15. For
subsonic extension of 25Hz and lower the Velos do the
best job of the three. Value rating was weighted
purely out of price against the other three. Overall
rating is still to be decided but a five for now.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne HGS18, Aerial SW12, Revel Sub15 and LE1,
Rel Studio II, Paradigm Servo 15, Energy EXL18.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Apr 26, 2001]
Jon
Casual Listener

Strength:

Its all good (trump tight)

Weakness:

Getting it out of my car (ripped up the door)

John at Audio Consultants was great, I knew I wanted to listen to this sub with the B&W 803's. My future speaker :) The sound was great, he had the sub set up perfect to match the speakers. Steve Winwood never sounded better. I had to have it. Got it home and it was even better in my family room. The 4000 showed me bass where there was none before, my car stereo subs (which hit sub 20hz) couldn't resolve some of the bass I was now hearing with the 4000 (to my pleasure). It is a fairly musical sub (not as quick as the REL), but they don't give you the impact of this truly great 15". I look forward to adding the rest of the 800 series to complete my theatre. Don't pass this sub up if you want powerful, clean and "quiet where it should be quiet" sub.

Similar Products Used:

Rel Storm III and Strata III

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 17, 2001]
David Leslie
Audiophile

Strength:

Shattering bass, Swathes of melting bass, Murdering sismic shifts.

Weakness:

Too heavy, Too much air, Port noise, Cabinet noise, Not capable of reaching as low as TDM 45B

when i bought this sub i was under the illusion of greatness, When i connected the sub to the system i left it to earm up. Then the next day i slammed titan A.E, i was not suprised. THe anticpation was never overridden as with the kef.

The bass was seismic, and when i switched all the other subs on the house was on the verge of falling apart. The bass was literally out of this world. When all the subs are connected no cinema can near it, how ever the B&W on its own sounds like a over excertive fan. The airy noises were really annoying the port on the sub is supposed to to cut down port noise, this was not the case. The sub lack major definition as with the kef on some areas. The sub really dissapointed me.

Similar Products Used:

Kef TDM45B, Paradigm S15.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jul 19, 2001]
luis antonio
Casual Listener

Strength:

quiet when it should be, magnetically shielded and ready to rumble

Weakness:

none

we are not expert audiophiles.we let ours ears and my blood preassure make our decisions, and we were not dissapointed. our system consists of: a pioneer pro 710,pioneer dvd 38a, a b&k ref30, a b&k ref7250ii,a krell 250,a pair of b&w 802,a b&w htm1 and four rock solid .the b&w asw4000 feels right at home.besides using our ears and our blood pressure as a monitor, we did good amount of research by reading many magazines and especially this website, audioreview which is a compilation by many contributors. Thank you very much.

Similar Products Used:

replacement for: yamaha dsp2070,a/d/s l1590,velodyne servo 15

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 21, 1999]
Eleftherios Tsironis
Audiophile

Strength:

Beautiful Finish and workmanship

Weakness:

Floppy bass, B&W type of bass

I could not wait to unpack the ASW 4000, B&W have raved about it for so long, at first sight this 75kg sub was imaculate in finish and workmanship. The amplifier now had the THX volume control, with the new 801 driver and improved amplifier, I was expecting miricales out of this subwoofer.

Testing this subwoofer with the EAD Theatermaster Signature, with Nautilus 802's, HTM1 and 604 rears, the results were shown.

I first began with the film's, first Lost in space ( DVD ).
This was a hard hitting bass yet it felt that it was very muddy and floppy at the low bass extension. Not like the bass of the Velodyne HGS 18. Yet I suppose I was spoilt by the quality and power of the Velodyne. I then tried a few other films and the outcome was the same.

I tried some dance music, which had very low bass extension and the bass went straight through me, everything in my house was shaking.

My conclusion is, that if you are looking for something that will rattle everything the ASW 4000 is for you, or if you want power, control and a elegant subwoofer, I would rather invest a little more for a HGS-15 or 18.

Similar Products Used:

ASW 3000

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
4
[May 24, 1999]
Tuda
an Audio Enthusiast

After side-by-side audited B&W ASW 3000 and ASW4000, I decided to buy 4000. 3000 feels fuzzy compare to 4000. 4000 have very clean and accurate bass response (as good as Nautilus 801, same drive unit from 801). And it works with my Nautilus 805 extremely well. This sub is very pleasant to listen, very musical. If you have the Nautilus series speakers, this is the one to match the sound quality and depth (3000 just can not deliver). I am very impressed by it’s bass accurately reproduce like cello, electric bass guitar, drum beat, or even piano low frequency vibration. By the way, either ASW 3000 or ASW 2000 still very good for matching the 600 series.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 24, 2000]
Michael Dryden
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Dead Quiet when it should be; Accurate & very Authoritative when given a signal; Handsome, for a subwoofer.

Weakness:

Large footprint; very heavy

Fast & Accurate.

Enormous connection capabililties; allowing parallel runs of LFE (from the subwoofer out on the pre-amp) and stereo speaker in, from your amplifier.

The speaker will uniformly augment the lower end of your mains, and step in quickly to deliver the ultra lows: I'm not sure that there is a bass note this unit can't reproduce.

I've tuned the sub to handle 50hz and down, coupled with my N802s: you can not discern when one drops off and the other starts; seemless music; and there is more source material below 50hz that I thought.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-7 of 7  

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