I bought the JBL for $249 at BestBuy, but after researching, I returned it and got the 150 for $309 also at BestBuy. Has plenty of bass for my townhouse and the frequency response is much better than the JBL at 30. This one goes down to 23. Good value for the money.

This is an excellent sub-woofer. I bought it to go with a pair of outstanding Boston Acustics tower speakers. The auto on feature works well, but doesn't turn on if the volume is fairly low. You can make adjustments to fit your needs. With jazz, you need to adjust the high cut a little lower than with classical music. A jazz enthusiast will think Ray Brown is right in his living room.

This review is not for the YST-SW150, but for the brand new YST-SW150. All I have to say is wow. I don't know how they did it, but Yamaha has figured out a way to get BIG BASS using two little eight inch woofers. I was skeptical at first when I saw it in the Crutchfield. I went to the Best Buy and listened to their Yamaha setup first w/o the sub, then with. As soon as I heard it, I knew that was the one I wanted to buy.
You can feel the punchy bass from kick drums and kettle drums, and bass from rap penetrates your body.

This is a home theater quality sub. When I saw Jurassic Park in the theater 6 years ago, I got that rush and feeling in my stomach, the one you get when you see a good suspense movie for the first time. Well got that rush again with this sub in my home setup.

All in all, Yamaha knows what they're doing when it comes to music. Perhaps the previous model wasn't as good as this one. 300 bucks will get you a Polk with a little 8 inch and a little 75 watt amp and the little Polk logo with the cute little heart. It will also get you an Infinity 8 or 10 or whatever with a cheap little amp. 300 bucks will get you a Yamaha with two eights with a clean Yamaha amp and most importantly clean Yamaha sound.

Ok ok then Ill give the NEW and revamped YST-SW150 one point one star,ah round it up and you get...still one star!

Yamaha name plate(easy to re-sell)

Thin paper woofers, no bass response, port noise, weak amp(35 watts RMS@ best)Very large for little sound.

Here's what the Yamaha has: 150 watt amp?! Two(2)8" woofer cones, 40-140Hz x-over(the only thing that I find works as it should!), an auto on/off circut that turns the sub off unless the volume is really turned up. Boy do I feel like Yamaha took me for a ride on this one! The little Sony, with one (1) 6.5" woofer, and a 35watt amp blows this P.O.S. clear outta the water. Sorry Yamaha your name holds no merit to me any longer! I won't buy another yamaha product as long as I live. If you are looking for a high end
receiver in the same price per feature realm, please look at Marantz, or Onkyo! Do your self that favor!

Similar Products Used:

Sony sa-w305

I bought the Yamaha Sub after reading many reviews. Keep in mind that many people think they know how to setup their HT, and many think that louder is better. This is a great Subwoofer. It has an very good crossover control, and in combination with the volume control, it can be matched to many speaker systems with ease. I use my Sub with my Bose system, it really supplies much of what is missing from the Bose speakers. If I had it to do again, I would buy the same. The AV receiver I am using is a Sony DE-935.

No weakness...

Great product, good control of crossover.

Great response and power. Price to performance tough to beat.

Auto-On feature requires a heavier bass signal than expected in order to function.

Absolutely will not beat any top-end sub, but for the price it kicks all other mid-fi to the curb. While shopping for a decent sub for both HT and music, I compared the Yamaha to the following brands (can't recall models): Polk, Klipch, and Infinity. Used the "Shake Rattle and Roll" test on the Stereo Review Test CD. The YST-SW150 was the winner. As with any sub, you really have to tweak it's position in your listening room. This may account for some of the bad experiences some reviewers had. Fit right in with my Polk front and rear channel setup.

Yamaha makes very good products like the DSP-A1 and 2095.But their speakers areterribe at best.They try to sell a $20 driver in a $10(recycled)MDF box with a
$25 amp with a nice Yamaha plastic logo for how much?$800 what this sub sounds
terrible,cant go low,cant play loud(come on at least 95dB at 30Hz)and sounds like a wounded beast when pushed to any real world volume.I dont expect to
hear 20Hz at 110dB here or Servo Control tightness.At $800 you must demand
some quality somwhere.If you want a real sub at $800 take a good listen to the
HSU Research subs or the Paradigm 2200.Now you will get 25Hz and at a realistic
level if needed.And you pay for quality,not brand name hype.If you want a great
sub at about $1500 look at Paradigm Servo-15,Sunfire Mark2,REL and Velodyne subs.I rate this 1 star.

Good bass for the dollar.

I don't know what "the ear" was looking at but this is a $300 sub. To try to compare it to a $800 sub is ridiculous. I bought this sub to use in my second HT and it does an fine job. Plenty of low bass and suprisingly musical. As with any sub positioning is a key. If you are just starting out in HT this is a great sub for the dollar. I think it has been replaced by the 160 which I assume is even better with 30 more watts and new servo technology.

This sub really sucks. Was my first sub that I bought for HT. Used it for only about 3 months and then disconnected it from my Yamaha receiver. My old pair of Cerwin Vega E315 gave much more bass and went much lower. Please look at other subs before buying this sub. Just as a previously said, Yamaha makes great receivers, but not speakers.