Lots of bass, good sound for the price.

None.

Great sub for the price. I compared this to several more expensive models and the Sony had the cleanest sound.

My System:
Receiver: Pioneer VSX-D509S
Mains: JBL S310
Center: JBL S-Center
Surrounds: JBL S38
Sub: Sony SA-WM40

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Polk, Velodyne

none

you name it

first of all, the girl that's p#ssing and moaning about rob's review, obviously doesn't know what an audiophile is. you should do some research there chump. second, rob was too harsh comparing this against quality subs. but i do feel it's not worth anything. spare yourself the pain. i think anyone considering this thing should do a little research so their system in general doesn't sound as bad as this thing. you don't have to be an audiophile, just literate.

Similar Products Used:

just about everything out there

I already posted a review (look down a page or so to find it). I just wanted to comment on some of the "bad" reviews that have popped up the past few days.

If you are going to post a review, please refrain from submitting it more than once. It is quite annoying to see the same review five times in a row. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on this product, but that does not give you the right to lower the overall average rating by repeating posts just because you are unhappy with the product.

Doing things like this only shows your own immaturity, and makes your reviews (which had some good points) look less trustable.

This sub is not the best money can buy. I have definitely heard better subwoofers in my life. But none of these were anywhere near the price of this Sony model. It is unfair for an "audiophile" who uses only the best equipment (i.e. equipment way out of the price range of this model) to compare their subs to this Sony.

The bottom line is the fact that this sub does an unbelievable job for the price you will pay. It easily outperforms any other sub in the under $300 league, and even outperforms some subs costing much more.

I would not hesitate to recommend this product to anyone who is on a tight budget (I'm a college student) but still wants quality sound. I did plenty of research on several subs under $300 and even bought a few to audition in my dorm. The Sony SA-WM40 sounded the best.

My advice to anyone taking the time to read this long post to look over the ratings this sub has received from so many people. Also head on over to www.hometheaterforum.com and search for "SA-WM40" or "Sony sub" in the Hardware section. There you'll see several other opinions on this subwoofer.

This is the best $200 sub on the market today. The only problem is finding it. Stores are constantly running out of stock as soon as a shipment comes in. That fact alone should tell you something about this product. If everyone is buying it, how could it be so bad?

sounds better than most subs under $650 for music, auto on-off works perfectly

not a single one

I auditioned several subs for one that sounded good with music. I did not have alot to spend, wanted to keep the price under $500.00 if possible. My local Fry's had a Cerwin Vega that sounded O.K. CC had Polk, a couple of Velodyne's, DCM, and maybe a few others. NONE sounded as good as the Sony SA-WM40 with music material. I kid you not. The bass from this unit it tight. There is no lingering of bass notes or boominess. With the gain set at approx 25% (for my room that is) I get an excellent blend of low bass with my main speakers. This sub is much more than an excellent value. There is talk of this sub everywhere! Stores that carry this unit are having a hard time keeping it in stock. If you are looking for a budget subwoofer, or even if you're not, give this one a try. But hurry, before they are all gone!

Plenty of power for movies and music. All the bass of higher dollar subs for a great price.

Makes neighbors unhappy.

I live in a mobile home and found out a downfiring sub just doesn't do it. Read all the reviews on the Sony and decided to try it. Couldn't be happier. Get one while you can. Remember that Sears will match prices, shop around online.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity 12.

Powerful deep deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep deeeeeep BASS
Tight acurate clean low bass down to 17 hz, the specks say it only goes down to 20 hz but i tested it out with a freqency responder. And this sub goes so loud it will give you a pounding headache

none what so ever

when i heard this sub at my freinds place i was shocked
at how good this sub peformed. It peforms like $700 sub.
so u bought this sub hooked it up and played some Rap cd's
Hard Rock. Light Rock , Metal and wow it whent so deep
my head pounded for about an hour and i didin't evan have the volume at full blast i had it about a quarter volume
and it sound so awesome for 5.1 set up you dont evan half to place it in the corner just place it right beside your tv
. all off you how are looking to buy subs like Polk, JBL, Cerwin Vega, why spend all of that money on a sub that dosent even sound as good as this one and all of those other subs cant even reach down to 17 hz.

Similar Products Used:

My old Earthquake Magma
dual 10'' woofers

Everything

Nothing

I just bought this sub. There is absolutely no comparison to the old RCA. The sub literally shakes the whole house! I purchased it for $349.99 Canadian.

I noticed that some reviews on this site stated that the Canadian model has a 150-watt amp. In the sub's manual, it says 120-watt. On the sony.ca website, it says 150-watt. I can only assume that the sony.ca rating is a misprint. Why would they give a Canadian model with the same model number 30 more watts? Either way, this sub rocks. There is nothing that I have seen in this price range where you can get a quality, good sized and powerful sub. If you are considering buying this sub, BUY IT!

Similar Products Used:

RCA 50-watt approx 5-inch

Great sound, lots of clean bass. Not too big.

Lacklustre styling

I was going to buy a B&W sub but after seeing the reviews on this site decided to checkout the Sony. Glad I did. Good clean bass, loud and low. This sub is perfect for HT on a budget (you wont get better at anywhere near the price)and it's damn good with music as well. A great buy even at inflated Aussie dollar prices. I saved A$350 over the cost of the B&W sub and the Sony goes lower! The auto on feature is useful and if I ever want to kill my ears and hook up another sub the sub out RCA would allow it. Good one Mr Sony.

Similar Products Used:

Philips 50w sub

Price, quality of construction, brand name, clean sound, good frequency spectrum bandwidth.

A little ugly looking, Vent port should have been facing foward, low gain in amplifier.

I think this the best value vs performance sub in its class.
Haing said that I can now point out some details that I have noticed. I would appreciate some feed back on these comments because there is variation between product to product.

The sub can produce VERY LOW frequencies extemely well. This alone is very amazing because such performance is normally found in much more expensive subs. This low frequency performance is VERY CLEAR which is even more amazing for its price class.

The overall frequency response control works very good. However, the same cannot be said for the gain control. This is the only shortfall that I have noticed in this sub. It is also the reason I gave it a 4 star rating rather than five for overall performance.

It appears that the gain control has to be set at least at 50% or more of its range for a good response of LFE and music. I have tried this with two receivers, my good old Luxman R-113 and my new Sony STR-845DE. With both receivers volume set at 25% of max value, the gain control on the SA-WM40 had to be set at least to 50% or more, with the ideal setting being at around 70% or max gain. I though this was a liitle too high for a 120 Watt sub. Other subs that I have used a typically had the gain at 30 to 40% of max gain.

A question to all of you fellow owners out there: "Is this typical for all of you ?"

I have tried several good soundtrack DVD's prior to making these conclusions, as well as various types of music CD's. The DVD's I use were U-571, The Matrix, X-Men, Three Kings. he CD's ranged from Live performance of clasical to rock, to studio recordings of Jazz, and pop music.

I have decided to excange my sub for another one, just to see if it is typical of every unit, or is it just mine that requires such a high gain setting.

I have moved the sub around the room at various gain settings, but always, it apperas once I reach that 50% to 70% the sub comes alive no matter were I put. It then just becomes an imaging exercise that anyone with a dB meter from Radio Shack can resolve. (I never trust my ears !).

Overall a great amp, highly recomended, with exception of this minor issue.

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list, JBL, KLH, BA, etc.

Price, auto power save, woofer output for other woofer connection.

Haven't really found any yet.

This sub works nicely in my current setup.
13x14 family rm. with double entrances.
I set it a bit over 1/2 with cross over around 120.
Placement is under side table sitting on carpet.
would like to place behind sectional in corner against wall to see if any difference. but it sounds great where it is now, rubbles the leather sectional pretty good and you can feel the bass through your body.
1st floor is 1000 sq ft with open foyer and I could feel it across the floor 3 rooms away turned to about 60%.

Auto power save is a nice feature and works with no problem.
only using a RS Gold singe cable.
Digital audio is used with optical cable.

Not sure what kind of setup people have that need to crank it up to 75%, must be very large listening area.
I like to listen to my movies very loud but am restricted to when nobody is home. not very often. i have not needed to really turn this thing up for any long periods of time but during a few tests it could be a bit boomy at extremely high volumnes, so high that it would be difficult to watch an entire movie at those levels.

good bass dvd to see if yours is humming is Lost in Space.