LOUD bass

none

This sub is verry loud for me so since the sub drops off around 30hz i made a port custom made for me to add on to the rectangle port to tune it lower to add more deep bass.
Doing this will take away a few dB's but thats fine with me since the sub is allready loud for me.
i added a 7" in leanght some of the rectangle tube bends up.
after that i lined the walls from the inside of the sub with polyfill.
After doing this you will get more deeper tighter bass down to about 25hz which sounds amazing.
After 3 weeks of use i wanted more bass so i did what the reviewer did below i bought a new bass woofer to replace the sony woofer.
When looking for a driver you whant to look at the specs for me i was looking at the "fs" and "X-max" the x-mac means how much exscursion the woofer has.
I wanted of woofer that had 4mm or more of x-max and i ended up with the Eclipse W1238R from www.madisound.com it has 8mm X-max which is probably 3 times more then the sony woofer and has a low fs of 18Hz it's perfect it only cost me $61.
As soon as i got it i placed it in the sony cabinet and got everything hooked up.
There was a major difference in bass it was way way deeper and cleaner i played a 20hz test tone and no prob it did it with verry low distortion but there was a TON of port noise so i fixed that problem my taking out the port and sealed the subwoofer up then i filled the cabinet with about %80 of polyfill and then thats when it hit me i played fleetwood mac and the bass was tighter then my brothers Klipsch KSW12 it was smoother and it still could extend down to about 22hz it was awesome.
The hole sub with all the stuff i did cost about $230 inluding the subwoofer.

12 Inch Tight bass for a 12 inch sub

actually 90 watts not 120 as advertised

Good for the 200 bucks I paid looks like some people got a steal at 140 but I bought the plan for it since I hear tale of subs going bad after awhile, but this one is getting replaced if it goes bad within 4 years for free hehe. Very good NEEDS NO MODIFICATION! Sounds good and tight to me. And the 90 watts didn't please me but the 20hz part did cheapest sub that actually goes down to 20hz.

everything

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i just got this today at bestbuy, hooked it up in like a minute set all my surround speakers to small, put the sub in the corner then watched a movie, WOW!!!, the difference is amazing now it actually sounds just like a movie theather. this thing is real clean and tight sounding bass, shakes my whole room gives me goose bumps, i did a head to head test with the jbl pb10,(supposibly most popular sub) and this one is way more powerfull, and just as clean, at first after only seeing photos of this sub i thought it was ugly but when i went to the store to test it out, the photos dont do it justice its really nice looking, no problems at all.. way to go sony! anyone who thinks this doesnt give enough bass, is literality insane.. must be old and have loss some hearing ability and feeling ability as well.. anyone else lookin for a sub, for the money you cant beat this seriously.....

system:

JVC 27120 TV
TOSHIBA SD-1600 DVD player
SONY STR-DE845 Reciever
Polk audio r15i's front and rear
KLH center (cheap but good)
SONY SA-WM40 Subwoofer
whole thing cost $1300.00
excellent system i might ad. makes me happy.

im just a college student, low on cash, but even if i had more to spend i cant imagin it being any better.
**
fuk you idiots who compare this to 2000 dollar subs, your worthless bitcs, just wasting everyones time, go fuk yourselfs. get a life. this is 200.
**

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klh 10-120, jbl pb10

small footprint, nice looks fits into a corner nicely

dull bass, weak amp, cheap controls

Not what i expected from the reviews here thought it would have deep low clean bass which this sub does not have.
Well what do you expect for $199 nothing relly maby just a cheap sounding sub that has nice looks.
Found out that this $199 product had some cool features but verry cheap you get a 12" paper cone woofer a 120 watt mono amp with spring clips and a phase control with a crossover varible from 50 - 170 Hz and a rear port hole which should be in the front.
There are some pretty funny reviews on this page some dumb guy says this sub can go down to 17hz well i know for a FACT that he is lying this sub can't even go down to 30Hz and thats the TRUTH i felt that i was ripped off i did some researching and found i verry good sub online for $186 at www.dynadirect.com it's the acoustic research ar112ps morse price is $400 but dyna direct sells it for $186 what a deal i hope you go check it out and check out it's reviews i'm thinking of buying i heard it at sears and it was pretty impresive it had deeper bass then the sony with way cleaner output with qaulity construction go check it out.

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Sony saw-305

looks,movies,music

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I am a long way from being an expert in audio so I can only tell you of my personal experience with this product. I brought this thing home ,pluged it in and turned it up about 3/4 of the way. I started to set the peak level with my receiver and when I got about half way there my wife came in to the living room to see what was happening. She said she thought an airplane was crashing on top of us. The dishes in the kitchen cabinets were vibrating. I have granite counter tops and a couple of glasses that were sitting on them were vibrarting. These things will move some air. I found that for music I like them about 1/2 way up and then a little higher for movies. I am set up in my receiver for thx 7.1 and my reciever defaults to the small speaker setting and sends all hz below 80 to the sub. I have no idea how low this sub is going and really dont care. I do know I am getting plenty of bass and good sounding base. I did move the sub around some to find the best placement for my ears. I just do not see how this sub can be beat for 200.00. Maybe it's good that I am not an expert. I don't believe I could afford to be an audiophile. If you are just looking to get good base in your home theater for a very reasonable price I would highly reccomend this sub. I have no regrets whatsoever.

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pioneer,klh

Great Price and value, tight bass, easy adjustment, and good I/O's (high- and low-level inputs). The auto-off works as specified.

Below average user's manual, Sony has this product manufactured in China, Operational weaknesses: None

This is an excellent product for the money. Best Buy had it on sale for $189 ($10 off their normal price), but our local K's Merchandise in Champaign, IL had it for $149.00!

Very easy output level and rollover frequency adjustment . . . I am using the SA-WM40 with a set of older KEF C30s as the R/L speakers for my home theatre system. This sub complements the KEFs very well. Although I'm using the low-level (line) input, the high-level inputs work very well also with my NAD amplifier.

For someone unwilling to spend a large amount of money for a sub, but still expect tight, house shaking bass, this unit should be seriously condsidered. Only time will tell regarding long-term reliability, but it appears to be very well built, externally and internally, plus the built-in 120W RMS amp runs cool. What more could you ask for less than $150?

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NHT, Velodyne

100% perfect

none at all

100% perfect, no lie, before spending 300$ or more, just goto bestbuy & buy this, try it out, and return if unhappy

you wont return it

its perfect

i have the Crossover set to 50
i have the gains with the pointer pointing at the "N" in Normal

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Bose passive

Bass

??

I have had several people e-mail me for more information on the modifications I have made on my sub, so I am writing this for all to see.

1. For those who have not yet looked inside the sub, the Sony uses a LONG rear firing port to augment the lower octaves of the bass response (this has the effect of making the driver act like it's in a bigger cabinet). This port is located near the bottom of the cabinet, and extends to within 2-3" of the front of the cabinet. The energy from the rearward motion of the driver needs to reach this port somewhat in tact to be effective. Using a polyfill type insulator will absorb a good deal of this energy, and that's why I suggest using a foam type. It will help to reduce cabinet resonance, but still allow the air to flow to the port. I found some at partsexpress.com (no, I don't work for them)called Vertek XTC. 1 roll of ADF-8 cut properly just fits in the interior of the cabinet, using a staple gun to secure it to the side walls.

2. The goal with using spiked feet is to eliminate cabinet motion as a result of driver excursion. Idealy, the only part of your speaker that should contribute to making sound is the drivers. If you place a large box with a smooth flat bottom on a carpet, the result is a sliding cabinet as the drivers (woofers) move back & forth. Spiking the cabinet will help to couple the cabinet to the solid floor under the carpet. This will tighten up the bass & improve the imaging of your main speakers (If your mains are on stands, spike the stands!) Placing a heavy object on top of the speaker can also help, but may not be astetically pleasing.
I got the spiked feet from partsexpress.com, the 1/2" size worked well. You'll need a 1/2" drill bit & a 10mm allen wrench. Drill the holes about 1 1/2" from the corners, use the wrench to drive in the base, and screw in the spikes. Adjust the height so the cabinet is just off the floor.

3. EXPERIMENT WITH LOCATION! This sub is very picky about where it is placed in the room. I tried the traditional setup in the corner near the rear wall, and got nothing but one-note boom (maybe that's what the EAR was experiencing.
By moving the sub out of the corner, and out about 8" from the rear wall, I was rewarded with smooth bass. Remember, with such a long port, it needs room to "breath". Also, experiment with the phase switch to match the response with the rest of your speakers.This will also help to eliminate the "boom" factor. All sound generated is in waves. The lower the frequency, the longer the wave. Does your sub sound different when you sit with your head near the opposite wall? You may be experiencing a problem with standing waves. That's why it is critical to experiment with position to create the best response, and that's true of ANY subwoofer.

Now, as for all the bickering & name calling, GROW UP!
Does this Sony really sound as good as one costing $1000?
Frankley, I've never owned a sub costing that much money, so I can't say. My guess is you get what you pay for, and for the disearning ear, there probably are benefits to spending more $. Does this sub compete with those costing $500? With a few modifications & some experimentation, I would have to say yes. Lets face it, we all use this site as a forum to justify the decisions we have made, and to help educate others. My suggestion is to go to Yahoo, type in "Subwoofer setup" and "subwoofer phase switch" in the search box, and read some of the articles that come up. they have been very educational, and helped me achieve better sound overall from my system.

Hope this helps. Enjoy.

Craig

Price, Sound , looks , size, price, price, sound, bass, bass

havent found any

what a great valued sub you cant beat the price.
i dont own this sub YET but soon i will tested it for about an hour at sears it sounds great.
here's a list where you can buy this sub for good prices

BEST BUY: $199 or www.bestbuy.com
www.inetshopping.com - $155
www.simplycheap.com - $149
SupremeVideo.com - $184

Sears will match internet prices some people got this sub for $119 at sears do some researching then goto sears and the will match it

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tested jbl, polk, CV, DCM,

Amazing bass, very low frequencies...great value for the money

Some people say it's ugly, but how many subwoofers out there actually look good?

First off, I'd like to say that the last few of the reviews for this subwoofer are misleading. What do you expect from a $180 sub? For middle-end system, this sub works great. I can't wait til i go home for the summer (I live in a dorm) and really crank it without the neighbors complaining :)

It has extremely tight bass for being a 12 inch woofer, and the fact that it has paper cones is a non-issue... David Weier posted a review saying that he made the port hole larger and changed the cone. I don't know what idiot would buy a sub and then mess with it like that...he also mentions that the sub cuts off at 40 hertz... he has obviously not done some real tests with the sub. Other reviews mention it going down to 17 hertz..which is damn good enough for me.

Read the other 100+ reviews, and you will see a lot of satisfied customers..

My system:
Onkyo 8511 stereo receiver
JBL S38 bookshelves
sony wa wm40 subwoofer

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Car subwoofers