Powerful and rhythmic bass, and can be tweaked with many adjustments. Complements a fine pair of stereo speakers for music and brings depth and fullness to the sound. I imagine with the power that it can pressurize a HT room too! I had the good fortune to pair Eosone RSF400 floorstanders, which are Artie Nudell’s creations (post Infinity and Genesis). I may be imagining it but the tonal qualities blend seamlessly to my ear when the crossover is set at 50-60Hz. rsf400 supposedly go down to 38Hz. They also match fine with my B&W 602 S3 which go down to 40Hz. [Power comes from a Roksan Caspian Mk1 amp and NaD C350 Preamp (to also Biamp the 602’s)].

Large and heavy sub. Bass not as tight or low when compared to the very best costing way more. However, I also have an old REL Q150E which goes lower and matches up pretty well (punchier but not as powerful).

The subwoofer is quite powerfull, it sounds great with music and movies. This sub is capable of 110+ db so it has quite a bit of headroom.

It has no output beneath 26 db

Low Cost per dB
Great Looks
Lots of Features
Great Performance all the way down to 20Hz

The driver surround feels a little flimsy when you take the grill off.

I recently purchased the Infinity SW12 for a master bedroom home theater. It is a smaller room so I was looking for a VERY cost effective solution. But, it also had to look good and match some of the existing furniture in the room. I did a search on Tom Nousaines Subwoofer List (Sound and Vision Editor) and found this subwoofer ranked extremely well against its better known competition like SVS and HSU Research. I considered both. But, after looking at cost, my application, my need for a cherry finish, and built in equalization, I decided to pull the trigger. The Infinity SW12 hits 87dB at 20Hz (not too shabby for a $400 subwoofer) and holds a 107dB average over the rest of the frequency range with little distortion. No other subwoofer I looked at at this price could say the same. Add the cherry finish and built in equalization which none of the others offered at this price point and it was a no brainer. I am very happy with my purchase and the performance is incredible for US$400, shipped to my door with no taxes or shipping charges. I am truly impressed with its performance after calibration. A very clean sounding subwoofer that keeps up with the rest of the system and fills the room more than adequately with low frequency bliss.

Customer Service

I have to say, Vann's provided some really good service. My first subwoofer that was shipped was dropped by FedEx. I sent it back with the emailed shipping label Vann's furnished and was thrilled to find out that Vann's had already shipped me a new one and I receive the new one the same day Vanns receive the damaged unit. Now THAT is what I call service. Everyone was very nice on the phone, took care of my problems, provided quick turn around, and to top it all off, the best price on the internet. Way to go Vann's. I would definately recommend them to my friends and will use them again!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch RSW15 and sw8

many adjustments can be made for tuning,

don't know of any

Upgraded my Iniifity speakers a year ago, I didn't have the money for the sub so had to wait. I just upgraded from the old 10" Servo Subwoofer, and what a difference. this thing is awesome. Great for music! i don't watch too many movies but I am sure it will rumble the walls.

Similar Products Used:

Inifinty Servo Subwoofer

Nice crisp bass

Weaknesses?

Coupled with the Yamaha RX-V1500, this sub rocks. Currently complimenting the front Beta 50s and Sat 1100s for the rears. Bass is very tight and crisp. This thing can be a monster with its 500 watt amp but it won't take much to get it to sing. This is a good buy and the cherry finish is visually appealing to the eyes.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Cerwin Vega, Polk

Sound quality. Build. RABOS makes it work great in any room.

No sound measurment kit included.

This sub was a big step up from my 10inch infinity entra. It simply excels in everything it does. To start, this is one of the tightest sounding speakers I have ever heard, you can feel it in your chest every time it hits. Yet it still is capable of playing down to 20hz. One thing I noticed was that once I calibrated the RABOS the response became flatter across the entire frequency range. Unfortunatly I had to tune it by ear because the only way to get the sound measurment is to purchase it seperatlly. But all it took was listening to some of my favorite songs for about an hour to get it tuned the way I liked. I read in a magazine article that it had a frequency hump around 50hz, so I just turned the dial to that range. From that point it was just a matter of adjusting the width of the frequency hump and the relative volume. That same article in sound and vision rated the infinity in the top three among other great brands such as energy, velodyne, mission, paradigm and others. The build quality seems top notch-the grill is sturdy and the switches have a solid feel. One thing I did notice was a little bit of paint chipping around where the grill atatches, but it isn't really noticable. I would say the biggest surprize for me is how well it plays music. Most subs I've listened to seem to sound great for movies, not as good for music.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity entra 10 inch B&W 150 watt 10 inch Acoustic Research 12 inch Aiwa 8 inch

Build Quality, Driver technology, and very intuative!

None so far.

Excellent Sub period! I did own the IL120s by Infinity, and the amp burned out. So since it was still under warranty,I called Harman Kardon and told them what happened with my IL120s. First they told me to take it to an authorized Infinity repair shop. So I did.One of the employee's came out and picked it up and literally threw it up on the counter! He then had me fill out a repair card and on the condition of product section, he checked fair. My IL120s was in perfect cosmetic condition before he threw it up on the counter and chipped the corner.I immediately took my Sub back and called Harman Kardon. So if you ever have a problem with your Infinity Speakers, and their still under warranty, be careful where you take it! Once I called Harman Kardon, they took the problem and turned it into a very pleasant experience by replacing my IL120s with a brand new Infinity SW-12! This Subwoofer is every bit as good as the IL120s if not better. I say that because once you pick this Sub up out of the box, you can just feel the quality. It has a very solid construted feel to it hence the weight for one. Also the rubber surround is thicker and simply more durable than the IL120s. The other difference is Infinity stopped using the B.A.S.H. amplifier, and they now use their own 500wt amp. I have not used the R.A.B.O.S system to dial it in yet, but it wasn't hard to figure it out with Infinity's intuitive design on the back of the SW-12. I used all the typical test DVD's if you will, ie; any of the Star Wars episodes, Saving Private Ryan, any of the Lord Of the Rings DVD's in D.D.ex and I think I've got it dialed in pretty tight. For music I used some old classic jazz with a "stand up bass" and it sounded absolutely wonderful! I really think Infinity has done an excellent job with their C.M.M.D. driver technology and I plan on staying with Infinity until some brand can rival this tech. I just sold my Interlude series and replaced them with the Kappa series. My fronts are the Kappa 400's, Kappa center, and I haven't bought the surrounds yet. I researched many other brands to see if I was missing anything, and just kept comming back to the Infinity's. The SW-12 will serve you well in any situation, wether your a heavy Bass freak and want to blow the doors off your house, or if you want a seemless 25hz - 20khz sound stage. It's a well designed sub with excellent intuitive quality. I hope this review helps you, as you just can't go wrong with Infinity's Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphram driver technology.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity IL100s,IL120s. Denon for my HT receiver.