Price, ability to loop other subs, power speakersize and most of all sound.

speaker quality only if your picky.

I have owned this product for a little over a year and with out any problems at frequent usage. Although the subwoofer has an average papercone 12" speaker, the sound quality is great and will bring life to any surround receiver that lacks bass power.The 120watt built in amp does justice for the unit and the level control knob on the unit makes it easy to control your bass output. I agree if you want to bring the house down stick another speaker in it or make alterations,but this subwoofer remains an excelent product right out the box.You will not be disappointed!!

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None

Very reliable. Goes low enough for most people, and bass reproduction is very natural after a few inexpensive mods. Can be purchased many places.

Slightly boomy out of the box for music.

It's great to see so many good reviews for this product. I wrote a review for this sub back in Jan. 2001, and have not had one single problem with it since I've owned it. So not only is this a great sounding sub for the price, it is also very reliable. I have had lots of time to find the best position for this sub, and it amazes me each time. I did do a slight mod to the sub by adding some sound dampening material to the enclosure and adding four legs to raise it up off the floor. I use this sub mostly for movies, but it also performs very well for music (DVD-V and DVD-A). It will only get boomy if the recording is boomy, and you can trust it to give you natural bass reproduction. In my opinion you would have to spend $700+ to get the same quality (taking into consideration the mods, but they are cheap) and sound that you can get from the Sony SAWM40. There are many good components of excellent value out there. The Sony SAWM40 is one such product. For around $200.00, including mods, you can have very good bass reproduction for both movies and music. Some who have replaced the driver with a better quality one have gone one step further to improve the sub, but I do not feel a need to do this. If you find the right position in your room, add some sound dampening material to the enclosure, and add some feet to raise the unit off the floor, you will get a very large return on your investment. In the last couple of years I have auditioned several subs in the $1000.00 or less category, and did not feel that spending the money was worth the gain these subs provided. The decision is yours.

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None. The Sony has kept me happy. But I have auditioned may other brands such as Polk, Velodyne, DCM, Paradigm.

great bass w/cheap price tag

haven't found any yet

This is a great sub with satisfying power, whether you are a freak and listen to freak ass music or a ner and listen to classic. I enjoy all types of music, and this sub works great on any of them! i actually think it is a little under-rated, it seems alot louder than 120 watts. Great Sub.

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acoustic research, jbl

I paid $205 for the SA-WM40, the Fosgate driver, Dynamat Extreme, and a 4year service agreement. Will stomp subs costing twice as much Flexible for music and movies Runs Cool Effective and easy to use controls Energy Saver A 4-star product at a 2 or 3 star price

Controls in akward location Factory driver is thin and low quality Largish footprint

My Equipment: Reciever: Sony STR-DA4ES Fronts: JBL S-26 Center: JBL S-Center Rears: JBL N-24 Sub: Sony SA-WM40 (modded) DVD: Sony DVP-NC615 Entertainment: PS2 and MP3 out from computer Orginally I had purchased a "home theater in a box" set-up...big mistake...the one I selected the Sony HT-DDW840 sounds hideous. Well I upgraded my 5 speakers 1st thing and was still not satisfied. After reading good reviews on this site and finding a great price I chose the strda4es for my reciever. Now my system rocked...the only problem was I was still looking for a competent sub to round out my system but I dont have a ton of cash to spend so my options were limited. My intentions were to buy the JBL PB-12 but the reviews on here swayed me from that. I just happened by the reviews for the SA-WM40 and all the in-depth descriptions of how it could be modded in to one fine sub. After 3 days I made up my mind and I brought home the Sony sub as well as a Rockford Fosgate RFP3812 (12" 8-ohm single voice coil auto sub) and a 4sq.ft. roll of dynamat. Removing the factory driver was simple and I was stoked...then boom...the Fosgate would not fit in it's new home...the frame for the new woofer is wider at the top and would not drop in. After reading about this problem on here with the JL speakers I was not shocked. I thought first about cutting the hole wider with a handheld saw, but then decided to use my black and decker sander and 60 grit paper to shave off some material and increase the diameter of the hole. After about 20 mins of careful sanding it fit. My next step was to take a moist cloth and dust off the interior and exterior of the cabinet as the sanding left it pretty powdery. I cut my 4sq.ft. roll of dynamat to cover most of the inside walls of the box...the only area left unmatted was underneath the port and the slivers of space on the front wall where the driver will mount. As I was ready to place my new sub inside I noticed the negative spade on the sony speaker is narrower, so it could not be connected as easily. My remedy was to cut the factory negative spade off, strip some wire and wrap it around the negative post...I'm sure you could dig up a correct size replacement if so inclined. The pleasant surprise was the stock mounting holes were in just about the correct positions. A couple screws did start in at an angle but found the holes and righted themselves and ended in well. Well now I found I had one sweet looking sub (grille off) as the RF woofer has an attractive design on the dustcap. Well it looked good, but did it sound as good as it looks you ask...I connected the unit and started with the level and x-over in the dead center (12 o'clock) I at once noticed the bass was tighter deeper and more well defined than the 8" 100watt sub it was replacing. I auditioned it using a recording on CD NYC Underground vol.5, a bass-heavy techno cd. I adjusted the level and x-over as I listened and found it sounded best with the level approx 1 o'clock position and the x-over slightly nudged to the right of 12 o'clock. With my old SW I was always having to adjust the level and x-over for music and movies, so I popped in Star Wars Episode II and referenced the opening scene where the large ship decends and then explodes, something that made the old sub wheeze and gasp for breath. I found the true vaule of this subwoofer here. The craft rumbled by like it was flying through the room, and when it exploded it rattled my cranium. I then went to the light sabre battle featuring Yoda and Count Dooku and I have one word which is WOW! I then went to a DVD-A recording Metallica's Black Album and the kick drums and bass transients were handled very well with solid bass. I cannot give a final rating to this sub after only 6 hours usage, but at this present time I have come to a couple of determinations 1. It has potential because it makes loud, clean bass. and 2. It may be a bit too much sub for my dorm room as its only 12x9 and cluttered.

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Sony 8" 100 watt sa-wm4 (HTIB unit) Optimus 12" passive sub JL Audio 12w3 car subwoofers Auditioned: JBL PB-10 JBL PB-12 JBL S-120 Infinity Entra Two Velodyne (don't recall model) Several sub

- Power - Price - Upgrade ability

- Boomy unless modified - Appearance

After reading all the reviews about this Subwoofer, I purchased one as a cheap solution for my home theater system. It appears that subwoofers of this power, and reliability are hard to find unless you spend 500$ or more. I’m very impressed with the depth, it added to the entire home theater system. After my the subs first trial I found it be boom , and purchased 1 pd. of polly fill from the local arts and crafts store. I stuffed the fill into the cabinet, and stapled it to the wall in a few places. It seemed to clear up the boom quite a bit. I found that a volume of 50%, and a frequency cut at around 90hz works best for my current system. I tried the LFE channel on the sub, but I simply could not get the volume to acceptable levels on the subwoofer. It may have been the crappy cable I used, or my receiver, still not sure yet. I then used the speaker jacks and it appears to work great. This subwoofer seems like a rock solid product for its price and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a sub below the price of 400$. I wound not recommend this subwoofer to anyone living in an apartment, or condo.

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Current system: Center - Infinity Entra One Front L&R - Infinity IL 10 Rear - JBL NL24 Receiver - Pioneer

Everything Buy it Less than $200 Great sound

May have to buy a whole new system to keep up with this Subwoofer. And neigbors may call the cops everytime you turn it on.

Just bought it, and im blown away. Even when I tried it out in the store, I never expected it to sound so good once I got it home. Best sounding sub for any use.

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Tested many subs, but none compare, especially for the buck.

Buy this

none for a sub under 400.00

Me, own a Sony Speaker??? This is the only sub out of 4 (all under} 400.00 that i kept. If you want a boomy Sub {I disagree with other reviewers that this sub is boomy) look else where. That's exactly what i didnt want. This sub goes VERY deep, moves a lot of air and was the only sub that kept the boomyness inside the box until it was tame enough to let it out. Also, I never thought in a million Years that it could be made by Sony. I like sony ES receivers, its just that ive never really cared for their speakers. I can tell you this, If you buy this sub and don't like it, replace your other equipment, or i truly believe you need to reconsider your listening habits...its that good! Also, one of the other subs...a JBL Unit (10") sub which was scored by cnet as an "8" was in no way comparable. Then again those guys at cnet have been listening to computer speakers to long. The Jbl was a big dissapointment and by FAR boomier than this sony

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Many

Great Sound Great low-end Great power This will rock your walls Great Price! Go buy this SUB!!!

A little boomy for music -- fixed with pollyfill

I was looking for an inexpensive sub to add some low end to my system. I got lucky with this Sony sub. I bought it before I read the reviews here and was very impressed with it out of the box. It was a bit boomy for music, but really rocked with the DVD movies. After finding the reviews here, I decided to do the modifications recommended by stuffing with about a pound of pollyfill (I used the sheet kind from Wal-Mart with staples). WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! This took care of the boominess during music playback. Still rocks as good as ever with movies. What a great deal! I've listened to subs costing 3 times as much that do not sound as good. My good friend has a high-end Velodyne that he paid big bucks for (at least $2500) and this Sony sub is just about as good (sorry Joe). I have carpet, so I kept wondering if it really could get any better with spiked feet. Answer = YES! I ordered the nice chrome spiked feet from parts express (www.partsexpress.com). Even tighter bass now. WOW! What a deal. Works great for music and movies now. It took a little time to dial it in. I bumped up the output from the reciever to +4, crossover set at 80hz, the volume on the sub to about half, and the cutoff at about the 90hz position. My setup: Onkyo TX-SR700 receiver Sony DVP-NS755 dvd/super audio cd player Old Onkyo 3-way towers for L/R mains Polk Audio Center speakers for Center and Rear Polk Audio bookshelf for L/R surrounds Sony SA-WM40 Sub - Monster Sub Cable for line-in input (placed in corner to the left of the left main, about 1 foot from wall, angled with rear toward corner)

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Yamaha Evaluated: JBL velodyne cerwin vega