I love this sub. Musical and great for movies. As others stated above its Very hard to tell where it is with eyes closed. For classical music its hard to tell if its on until you turn it off, then WOW.

After upgrading to Dolby Digital & DTS it became obvious that my pair of Advent 10 inch subs just didn't cut it any more. I compared Velodyne,Mirage & M&K. The Mirage BPS 150i and the M&K V75 were the finalists in the price range I was looking for. In the showroom the winner was Mirage. It sounded much more musical than the M&K but didn't seem to get quite as loud. I decided to buy the Mirage for several reasons, great deal at $450, very musical sounding, best looking sub I've seen and all my other speakers are my by the same company (API). When I got it home and tried it out it sounded wonderful along side my Energy system. On music it blow me away, It was the most non-directional sub I'd ever heard (it's Bi-polar with two 8 in. drivers. Then I tried the DTS cd Movie Tracks that has some VERY low material and the Mirage fell flat on it's face. The drivers just couldn't handle such low frequencies at a fairly loud level.( granted these are VERY,VERY LOW. The disc has information down to 1/8 HZ,but my amp will only go to 5 HZ.) I then tried some movies and the Mirage souded great again even at loud levels,but when I turned it up to "kick your ass", it fell flat again. Well now to get back to the M&K V125. I returned the Mirage (reluctantly)and decided to try the M&K,but I felt that the V75 just didn't have the wattage that I would be comfortable with so I ordered a M&K V125. Put simply, it sailed through the "Kick your ass" test. I don't think it sounds quite as musical or blends with my other speakers quite as well as the Mirage but it does a verygood job. It's almost as non-directional as the Mirage. This sub will rattle the windows of the house next door. When I first hooked it up I ran to the restroom and it started sounding terrible. I ran in to turn it down but then it sounded fine. After walking back and forth a few time I discoved that I was my bathroom wall vibrating that sounded terrible (clear on the other side of my house!).
If you want thunderous sound to spare I highly recommend this sub. On music and movies it does a fabulous job for the money (I paid $635).
Although if you want audiophile bass at this price and don't need to rattle the windows of the house next door,I still would have to recomend the Mirage BPS 150i. Give it a listen.
I give the M&K only 4.5 stars just because I heard one in the same price range that sounded better. I give the Mirage 4.5 because it soud have played louder.

I've been shopping around for a new sub and just did a listening test with theV-125. Being from M&K my expectations were very high. Unfortunately this sub didn't even come close to the performance I was expecting. I had two other friends with me that noticed the same thing. We played other subs in like scenarios and really found this one to be a disappointment. I'm still an M&K fan, just not on this sub.

Bought the sub 2+ years ago, looking to make up for the pitiful bookshelves I had at the time. I felt I had to set the gain rather high in order to have some sense of satisfaction with it. It did have a decent sound, but I knew it was working too hard. Would have given it 3 1/2 stars until I bought a pair of Magnepan MMG's 60 days ago. I guess it is all what you match it with. My listening room is not the smallest in the world @20x14, but I now have the gain set at the 9 o'clock position and the crossover point at @52hz. Most people forget that we are only talking about 125 watts here. Once you start setting the crossover at 90hz+, forget about it. I would whole heartedly reccomend this subwoofer to anyone who has 3/4 range main speakers. I can think of no other type of speaker this is made for. It can keep keep up (and play very cleanly and unobtursively) with my maggies whether I play Muti conducting the Philadelphia, Buddy Guy, Level 42 (yea, I like 'em, so what), or listen to the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle corps (which will put any sub to its limit).
One main point here: if you are doing the home theatre route, buy the THX version. The "V" has the manually adjustable gain for us freaks who have to listen to music (not movies) as perfectly as we possibly can afford. It never was, or will be a home theatre subwoofer.

It is, to me, the perfect combination of subtelty and power to which I was looking for.
Just the way it is: 4.25 stars
Because it is not a Velodyne, or some pitiful B&W, 5 stars.

Terrific sub for music; clean, high-quality styling; high-pass speaker-level out

Not an Earth shaker

I've owned this sub for about 5 years. I use it exclusively for music in combination with a pair of NHT SuperZeros. This setup is a delightful combination that I've been completely happy with. I also auditioned (in home) a big Paradigm sub that turned out to be not so good for music, and a sub from Radio Shack, which was surprisingly plausible (all along with numerous in-store auditions). I like the M&K for its lack of boominess and neutral sound. It doesn't give a "Woo hoo! Now that's BASS!" effect, at least the way I use it, just a robust, musical bottom end.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm 15"

I've had this sub for 1 year now. Bought it for 525. Overall very good sub. It keeps up with my Paradigms. To me 125 watts is plenty. I compared this with the Paradigm ps100 (same price range), the M&K sounded much tighter, and crisper than the paradigm. For the money, you just absolutely can't beat it.

M&K makes great powered subwoofers. Subwoofers are what they make, and have for a long time, so this isn't a new fad thing for them. Response is excellent, crisp, clear, and no muddiness to it. Just because your speaker made noise when you feed it a 50hz signal doesn't mean that you got a real 50hz response. With the V-125 you will, even down below that to 20hz, I believe is the bottom for this sub. You will hear things in the music that you didn't know were there, and your home theater will sound like the real theater surround systems.

clean sound

I bought the M&K V-125 after a side by side comparison to a Paradigm (1200?). I'd first bought, due to its $400. price tag, a Mirage sub. The Mirage just didn't go low enough, so back to the store for the Paradigm and M&K test, both offered for $600. I'd read favorable reviews of each sub in Sound and Vision and in Stereo Review (now both mags are combined, and, I might add, the worse for it, but that's another review). The M&K does all I ask it to do, and is capable of putting out loads of deep, clean bass in my media room. That room is very "dead", lots of carpet, bulky upholstered furniture. Room is 14x22. I didn't do ANY of the sub placement testing I'd anticipated. I just
put it in the front corner, set the volume, phase, and frequency cutoff knobs, and mostly forget its there. But the bass IS there. Again, all the deep, loud bass I want in this easy to perform in room. Will it please you as well ? My bet is sure it will. But audition several subs, listening for musicality (not "one note" bass) as well as how deep and how loud each sub will go. And don't be afraid to return it if it doesn't sound as good when you get it home. Oh, I almost forgot. After about 1 year, my
M&K started buzzing. I sent it to the company, who fixed and returned it under what I believe is a 3 year warranty.
I just get the impression that this company is serious about their products. Happy listening!

Just purchased and about to return the v1250thx model...appears to be an upgraded thx version of the v125...I have AR P315 front speakers with 15inch subs in each acoustic suspension type.They have a Carver 500 watt amp each...This sub just doesnt make it..No real depth to it..Just cant keep up..will return it and get the ARS500 with a 15 sub and 500 watt amp by carver...I was really dissappointed with the M&K...Quality is up there but bass is not..prefer a floor loaded unit...

If you want a MUSICAL sub, the search is over. I tried other subs but found them all to have certain faults, usually the boominess and lack of tight low bass.The V-125 is very tight and smooth. And as with most M&K subs, you cannot tell where the piece of equipment that is producing that bass is located. No sense of direction rom this sub when set up properly. A truly great product at a great price. This things just kills the comparable Velodyne.