Very deep bass,sounds very good for the price and the looks

Auto turn on doesn't work some time

Bought this product in Germany almost $200 cheaper than here in Amsterdam.I have the cherry one and mine wife likes it very much!She was the reason that I waite for buying an subwoofer because the most are quit big and mostly black.But after reading ,looking and listning ofcourse I find this Yamaha.And Iam very happy because it gives that ekstra dimension (read Kick)witch I needed so badly.And about any port noise I hear totally nothing!For those reviewers with these problem have you used the earthwire?Yesterday I bought the Gladiator in DTS .It is realy amazing what an sound !For those people who like that dimension and doesn,t what to much spend money this is the only choise!Believe me I did many research.Ofcourse the are better like Rel but don't forget you pay more than double.
Go for it!
Mine System:
Sony DVD 7700
Sony STR-v555ES
B&w 601S2
B&w 603S2
B&w cc-6S2
Yamaha yst-sw800

Similar Products Used:

B&W ASW 1000,Boston PV 800 and Canton Karat AS 300

Unbelivable bass extension, works well at lower volumes, a small size for the amount of bass you get

I have heard some "Chuffing" from the port only at VERY high volumes. You might need to re-enforce your walls :)

I first found out about this Sub on the Yamaha web site whilst looking for AV products. When I read the specifications on it I knew that I had to have a listen.

My previous Sub was a 75watt Celestion with no AV amp, just plain old stereo and I was happy. When I upgraded to a Denon 1601 the bass performance died off so I listened to a few REL's before finding a store that had an 800.

The listening test was several DVD's (Matrix etc) and the Cardigans "Gran Turismo" album. The first track on that album needs to be played LOUD because it starts off very quiet then at about 40 secs a 20hz to 60hz bass line kicks in. With the sub at 3/4's (In an upstairs room) the ceiling tiles downstairs started to fall apart and the sheer punch the Sub had almost made it difficult to breathe.

I've had it awhile now and with 4 inches of extension powered by 800watts, I can't think I'll ever need another sub.

Overall, a great Sub but you might need a desert island to play it loud.

Similar Products Used:

Used a Celestion Mk1, Heard REL Q100/Q150

Big slam for movies, great value.

Not much at 20Hz, not a music sub.

I´ve had all of these at home for testing and the only really good one was Dali SWA 15. It shined on music (probably due to the sealed design) but it lacked that gut wrenching kick for movies. I have had problems matching these with my Canton Ergo RC-L fronts that are almost flat down to 20Hz.

At stores I´ve listend to Paradigm PS-1200, B&W ASW 1000, not impressed, and the mighty Linn AV 5150 which was really good but at $4000.

This one I bought unheard (risky) on a co-shopping site. I thought the old Yamaha YST-SW300 was good for it´s price, so I figured their newest and biggest sub for almost the same money couldn´t be all bad and I see it as an interim sub while saving up for a better one.

Well, I think the SW800 beats all I´ve had at home on movies but it´s not even close to the Dali for music. Like a lot of it´s siblings it should have a warning sticker saying "For cinema use only".

The power is tremendous and it never runs out of steam, my friends NHT almost brakes apart and starts bottoming while testing with Toy Story2 but the SW-800 just keep knocking those pictures of the walls. So for it´s intended use it´s a really good sub.

Similar Products Used:

AR S500, Dali SWA 15, Yamaha YST-SW300, Wharfedale Topaz 15, JPW SW120, some old NHT.

Killer Bass, Very tight and lots of power

Poor Instruction manual

This is my first subwoofer. I purchased it mainly based on reviews I found here. It originally caught my eye with the 1000W amp and after reading what other user have posted, I bought it unheard. After hooking it up I threw in my Toy Story II DVD and on the opening scene my whole house was shaking. (Of course, I probably had the volume set a little high.)I tried it with several DVDs and some of my favorite CD titles. I found it ideal for HT. Audio responce was good as well.(I am more of a HT fanatic then audio)

Before I purchased it, I listened to serveral other models, Paradigm, B & W and also Difinitive. All priced higher then the Yamaha. I could not find a store that carried the Yamaha, where I could listen to it before buying it. SO I resorted to the good 'ol internet. I was a little sketical about buy a subwoofer with only a 10" driver, but this thing blows all the 12's and 15's I heard away. Aside from the very basic instruction manual this is a great value

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a great sub at a good price.

deep rich smooth clear roomfiling bass, 4 inch voice coil,
1000 watt amp, 10 pound magnet, goes down to 15 hz

the nextdoor people complain

when i tell you about this sub it's so good your gona wana buy one.
First of all this sub can compete with subs like sunfire, Velodyne, and Hsu. The yamaha has a 1000 watt high gain servo amp ( velodyne HGS sub use that same technology ) a heavy 10 pound magnet with an awesome 4 inch voice coil this sweet sub can go down to an amazing 15 hz with no distortion at any level of volume this sub shakes my hole house the bass is verry rich and smooth and clear and roomfilling thunderous ground shaking bone snapping BASS.
the 10" sub cone sounds like it's a 12 inch or a 15 incher great sub yamaha .

Similar Products Used:

Hsu Research VTF-2 , Velodyne CT-12 , M&K, sunfire

Could't say right now!

This is not a real review but more a question!
I can't decided between Yamaha YST-SW800 sub and B&W SW1500/SW2000 sub. I read all the reviews and listen all three of them. I thing B&W are both quite good for HT but for music the bass is to moody - not natural. I also listen Yamaha but a couldn't hear the none of the stated power. The speaker barely moved on full opened amplifier and the sound .., i think the main speakers had more bass. The signal we used was low power signal from Marantz amp.. What could be wrong?

Similar Products Used:

B&W SW1500, B&W SW2000

800 W Sinus (!) power rating, Design, Quality....

Some important Controls (BASS-Switch) at the back

I first did not believe the Power Rating of 800 Watts (Why does everybody here write 1000 Watts? Do they have a different rating system in the US? Yamaha Germany also writes 800 Watt...), but when I first heard it in my Home, i really FELT the power. The THX demos got a new quality with this baby, and with music I heard frequencies of which I didn't even know they existed... The Sub is designed mainly for Home Theater, but with the BASS Selector set on Music, its very good (precise!) with Music as well. Ok, there may be better subs, but then, you have to spend at least 2000$. In Germanys AUDIO&VIDEO Magazine's test, this Sub even beats subs that cost more than twice the amount of money I payed for it. So, if you want a sub for less than 2k and want to use your living room as a disco sometime, GET IT....

Awesome, great package with a small footprint.

Could do with better located switches like the infamous music/movie switch in the back.

At first I found it hard to beleive that a sub which looks about quarter the size of my dbx powered 18" subs could make any kind of bass. One audition at my friend's place changed that and I bought one for my audio only system comprising of the Yamaha AX-1095 amp and NS-300 speakers. The bass is tight and defined, much more so than my dbx yet in terms of quantity gives my 18" dbx a run for money. I highly reccomend it to anyone looking for serious bass and as an update to the system. Handles classical and modern music with equal poise and low notes which I thought never existed before are coming alive. Yamaha needs to change the size and location of the music/movie switch. Doesn't matter to me as it always stays on music but for people with DSP integrated systems it is a pain.

Similar Products Used:

SONY, ONKYO and dbx

Lots of power, surprisingly musical.

At first I thought that the speaker didn't put out very much.

I decided to wait 2 months before saying anything about this subwoofer. After two months, I feel I can comment about it.

My first impression was that this subwoofer didn't do me any favors. No added extra bottom end (so it seemed). However, I wasn't really listening to dvds with a lot of lower frequency. That changed when I put in Jurassic Park and the Phantom Menace LD. The apartment shook and the people next door (hell the people in the apartment three doors down) felt it. Another Japanese earthquake? No, just a great little subwoofer that I dare say can hold its own with other brands.

Music was well done too. I used a variety of genres, from rock to classical. The Eagles DTS concert came out very nice and a recording of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos were gorgeous. Saint-Saens Organ symphony had the prerequisite deep, organ sounds you would expect from the lower end of the low frequencies. The Fantasia 2000 dvd was beautiful and Stravinsky's Firebird had the necessary terror in a deep full-throttled way.

Hookup was easy and there is no reason to believe that a child could put this into a system.

As a subwoofer in this monetary range, it would be foolish to pass up. Go thee hither and get thyself one.

Similar Products Used:

None

Crisp and clear bass, power, wife acceptance factor, can go really low.

Bass selector switch on the rear

Great sub for music as well as movies. Even at 40% vol the whole house shakes. I have not noticed any port noise as described by a reviewer. Great wife acceptance as it really looks beautiful. Some low bass notes which I hv never noticed is coming very clear. I already hv 2 nos sw 160 hooked up thru my front speaker terminals(r/l) and an sw 45 on my rear speaker terminals and the movie effect is fantastic. I have connected sw 800 thru my LFE of Yamaha dsp a5. Great subwoofer and comparable with the best in the world and at what price! For any serious listner go ahead and buy and don't think about any other option.

Similar Products Used:

YST SW-160, YST SW-45