Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Just love, love, love it for music. Tight and fast. Can''t imagine a better sub for playing music. As subtle as you could possibly want a sub to be for subdued passages, yet can shake the room as much as my 15-year-old daughter''s friends could possibly want for dance music. Good (but not great) for home theatre as well, but encounter doubling of very low frequency sound effects when going above moderate volumes. First noticed it in two places in "Fight Club", the first when Ed Norton''s on the telephone outside his apartment building, calling "Tyler", and the second when they''re in the car with the two guys in the back and drive off the side of the road. Second movie in which I noticed the limitation was in the Phantom Menace, throughout the pod race scene. Get this distortion at settings over "4" on the subwoofer, and only for very, very low-frequency effects. Granted, setting of 4 is still enough to shake all the pictures crooked within a fifteen-foot radius of the sub. Should also note that those are the only two movies, so far, in which I''ve noticed the limitation. Sub does perform beautifully for >95% of soundtracks (eg. the Matrix, U571, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park movies, "Arnie" movies, Batman movies) at any volume under which you don''t have to worry about shaking the nails out of your house''s frame. Should also note that sub is being used in a room that is effectively 14x30x10. In a smaller room (say, half the size) I''m pretty certain one would never require amplification levels that would result in doubling, no matter how low-frequency the effect. Hope to eventually combine the sub with a pair of Nautilus 805s in a smaller listening room and maybe see how a larger sub (maybe the Servo-15 or an M & K, if I can find a dealer within 500 miles) does with the big room. Might have tried the bigger sub to begin with, but couldn''t find a spot where the wife wouldn''t complain about it. Also preferred the sound of the smaller, mega-amped sub when demoing with music. Can''t say it''s a "5" overall, as I''m sure there are more complete subs out there, although probably not with a similar, small size. Maybe a "5" for its size, but a 4 1/2 overall. This review is probably "moot", anyway, given the apparent discontinuance of this sub...

Strengths:
Musical? Wonderfully. Very high spousal-acceptance factor due to extremely small size.

Weaknesses:
Low-low-low frequency sound effects distorted when playing at volume in a fairly large room.

Price Paid:  $1100.00

Summary:
This is an update to my previous review, now that I have owned the SS1500 for over six months now and have put some serious material through it.

Build Quality:

Just from looking at the unit, it is very impressive. It's shiny, it' attractive, and it is small. Try lifting this sucker; it is very heavy. The metal grilles for both woofers are solid and very snug to the cabinet. The control knobs are very smooth. Within in a few weeks of owning the 1500 I began to experience the rattling noise that others complained about. I took it to my dealer and they had a look. They told me that a few wires from the Xover were loose and they welded them down. Since, I have had no rattling.

Sound Quality:

I moved into a house from an apartment. The sub really started to "warm-up". Prior to the move, there was very little excursion from the active cone. Now that I can play the material, both music and DVD, there is a very noticeable improvement in performance.

I have the sub mated with Paradigm Studio 40 v2, NAD C350, Yamaha CDC775, and Tara Labs throughout.

Music. My taste is primarily for reggae and hip hop, but I also have LeAnne Rimes, Faith Hill, Diana Krall, Madonna, Dave Grusin, and John Pizarelli in my collection to name a few. My normal listening level is usually around the 10 oclock position, sometimes a wee bit higher. At this level, the deep bass provided by the 1500 is quite audible, easily felt throught the floor and sofa, but is not what you may refer to as "boomy". It's clean and very fast. Tracks that REALLY sound terrific are 'Let Me Blow Your Mind' (Eve f. Gwen Stefani), 'Got 'til its Gone' (Janet Jackson), and 'Respect' (Notorious B.I.G.). If I close my eyes I can picture the bass guitarist standing in front of me and see him plucking the strings. Alot of the other CDs that I have is nice and deep also.

For my calibrations, I usually like to disconnect the sub or turn the level down when listening to jazz (Krall, Grusin, Pizarelli). The acoustic bass is just way to powerful. When I just turn it down, the 1500 provides a good bottom end but without distracting from the vocals or lead intruments.

Home Theatre. This is like nothing I've ever dreamed of experiencing for what I paid for my system. It is modest at best, but simply breath-taking. I can't imagine how good some of you rich pigs' systems sound. Anyway, I'd have to give full marks to Mirage on this one because the 1500 handles what ever is put in to it and throws it back out with some serious force. Cast Away, the crash scene left me with my mouth open (kudos to the people in the mastering room). SPR, the final battle scene has phenomenal bass content which was easily handled by this sub. It plays low and it plays loud.

I still give this 5/5 overall and for value. I would give it more stars if I could. This sub may be hard to find now since it has been discontinued. I don't know what product Mirage has replaced it with.

Strengths:
solid deep bass, cabinet is compact and gorgeous, power,

Weaknesses:
the rattling, but was easily fixed

Similar Products Used:
see below

Price Paid:  $1100.00

Summary:
I auditioned this subwoofer v. Servo 15. I wanted a sub that was musically accurate but could also deliver while watching DVD movies. Both the 1500 and Servo 15 performed well with music (jazz, dance, reggae). The Servo could not be matched in terms of output, but to me, the 1500 had a musical presence the Servo didn't. Tested the HT character of the subs using SPR, U571, and Cast Away. I heard the Servo first and thought to myself, "incredible". The lowest of freq's could be heard and felt. Then the 1500. It held it's own. With both having performed well during the hour long audition, I decided on the 1500 because it was smaller and a bit more musical than the Servo 15.
When I brought it home, I immediately connected it and ran cds through it. After two days of break-in I couldn't wait to here it.
I have it connected with a NAD C350 using 10ft of Tara Labs Prism 55i; source is a Yamaha 775. Paradigm 7 v1 run the fronts using Alpha-Core HT bi-wired.
I am very impressed with the performance of this box. The swtiches and knobs and connectors are world class. As I stated before, there is enough output within the 1500 to rock the world. Bass guitar from reggae cds is deep, but not booomy, you can feel it but it doesn't give you a headache. Acoustic bass from jazz cds is tremendous: every not can be heard clean. I have watched Jurassic Park, Gladiator, Cast Away, Toy Story 1 and 2, all just magical. Explosion scenes, Thunder, impact tremors are all scary.
Mirage has done a wonderful job on this sub.
I can say that this sub is very versatile. If you are looking for a lot of bass or clean bass, or if you have a large budget but small space, if you like bassy music or if you need something for HT, this sub is worth a look.

Strengths:
size, wonderful finish, deep clean bass, lots of power

Weaknesses:
cabinet produces a rattling noise, only during extreme output levels

Similar Products Used:
JBL arc8, Paradigm PDR10

Price Paid:  $770.00 from Hometheater Store

Summary:
The unit puts out deep bass no matter what software is being used, i.e., DVDs, CDs, Phono, Tuner, etc. The only drawback is that the unit hums when system is in idle state (deadtime between songs, system placed in mute and changing selector switch on preamp for source to be played). I contacted Mirage's technician (Jason) to discuss this matter, but, he was not available for the timebeing. The sound is similar to AC Line Noise. I disconnected the unit and plugged it into my Essence Technologies Power Strip and the hum disappeared. It reappears when I disconnect it from the Power Strip and plug it into the wall outlet. I did not
have this problem with the subs I specified under "Similar Products Used." My rating would be "5 Stars" if this humming problem and cabinet rattles could be resolved.

Strengths:
Deep, deep, rounded, earthshattering bass response.

Weaknesses:
Humming noise, cabinet rattles during deep bass excursion.

Similar Products Used:
Canton Alpha One Plus, A/D/S MS3 and Mirage's BPS 12-190 Subs.

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from tweeter etc store

Summary:
overall and excellent subwoofer..truly one of the best subwoofers made for home purposes in the world! bas is tight and very deep if the source provides it! certain dvds really show it off...and it maintains its power and integrity right down thru the deepest sounds and notes...i have the gain set between 3 and 4 on the variable control and it has more output there than the bps 150i had at 6 or 7 on the dial...i am using this subwoofer with big cerwin vega floor speakers that are solid and deep down to 40hz or a little less and i have the 1500 set so it takes care of the real low bass from 60hz on down! my cerwin vegas are 5 yrs old and it was the best line they made as the new ones are junk! they are 98db sensitivity but this sub has no problem matching the high sensitivity at all!!

Strengths:
very small compact size...beautiful finish on cabinet..tremendous power and output

Weaknesses:
the only thing so far i noticed is a slight ocean noise type of sound coming from the sub when its on and just idling with no source playing...almost like ac line noise not being filtered out too well but there is no 60hz hum though and it is only noticeable when room is perfectly quiet and you are within a few feet of the sub itself..i will contact mirage and ask them if this is normal..i do understand that the ss1000 model may have the same problem as reviewed by another listener here in audio review site...

Similar Products Used:
mirage bps150i...and have auditioned countless others!!