myriad1973

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $99.00 from Radio Shack

Summary:
I bought this sub new in 1996, because it was cheap. I don't know what I was thinking at the time. I used it never looking at the specifications on it. I recently looked at them, and I was stunned to see why it was so cheap. Sensitivity 80 dB, crossover over 200 Hz. Although it doesn't sound all that bad, I ended up having to buy a better sub. I'm giving this one to my younger brother who's in college.

It's not a great sub, but not horrible either.

Strengths:
Low price, for those on a budget.

Weaknesses:
Boomy bass.

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Tandy

Summary:
I hear everyone talkin about how they stuff socks in the port to get rid of the booominesss but i like the booominesss and to make it even boomier i faced the sub into a much bigger box and the sound became fatter I then wired the speaker outputs from my amp into the tweeter outputs on the sub wich made the power of the sub even higher and if you put the sub in a bigger box you cant even here the distortion when the volume is high

Strengths:
good low bass with my extra big box setup

Weaknesses:
it doesnt blow up when you want it to!!!

Similar Products Used:
Its way better than my 2 15" car subs i have.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
The Optimus SW-12's are good subwoofers. I bought these subwoofer's for $50 and they still bump. My brother Chris said that Optimus suck and they'll blow and I have a 400 Watt JL amp and they havent blown. I had Cerwin-Vegas before on that amp and they blew the cones.

Strengths:
Very Low but pounding bass which is good. It makes the car sound like there's 3 12inchers in there but you only have 1.

Weaknesses:
None that I have found.

Similar Products Used:
12 inch JL Audio W0's. and 12 inch Cerwin Vegas.

Price Paid:  $99.00 from Radio Shack

Summary:
When they designed the SW-12,they underestimated the capacity for low-brow humour that audio enthusiasts can display when called to do so. But,in this case the derision is deserved. To put it mildly,this subwoofer has gas. I mean F-L-A-T-U-L-E-N-C-E. It so reminded me of a woman I once knew that I gave it to her. She really liked it! I had to stuff a sock in her to tone her down some,and looking back,I now wonder why I did not think of doing the same to this old subwoofer. I am sure it would have tightened things up a bit,making for a faster,more articulate bottom-end. Actually,a more professional looking plug is available nationwide in adult stores everywhere. It is marketed by Dr.Johnson in his line of marital aid products. I am quite serious in saying that this sub produces the flabbiest "bass" that can be imagined by the brain of a primate. Also,the fixed crossover is set at 200 HZ.,so this sub is really only suitable for the tiniest of speakers with no bass at all unless you want to detract from a larger speaker's "voice-region",for which the crossover should be set no higher than 100 HZ.,preferably 80 HZ. I became permanently immune to Radio-Shack audio- equipment after this purchase. But,at least I know that in one living-room somewhere,the SW-12 and Janice are making beautiful music together...

Strengths:
Yes,it is very strong.

Weaknesses:
Available in pawn-shops everywhere. Cheap.

Similar Products Used:
You get the picture.

Price Paid:  $68.00 from Ebay

Summary:
First off, I realize that I already posted for this but I needed to update my poast. If you need to remove my poast, please remove the first one and leave this one. Thank you.

Anyway, I got this off of ebay for 68 dollers with shipping. you can by one for 50 at radio shack. The price is unbeatable. it really pumps out the bass. i currently have it hooked up with my Pioneer sx-980 (see the reveiws on it). it brings out a thump in all music. The port is horribly tuned. Stuffing the port didn't bring the results I wanted. instead I took a slimfast can and duct taped it tightly to the port to effectively lenghten the port to nearly the right size. (this requires you to lay it on its side) I also took out the crossover (almost uneeded with the longer port) and wired the coils in series (would that be 8 or 16 ohms?). I have it hooked up to one channel only. (bass is normaly mono) and my main speakers use the other speaker outs on my amp which keeps all the bass in them. The blend is awesome. When I switch on the sub, the bass becomes deeper and punchier but otherwise, almost unoticeable except a little boomyness. I even have it underneath my desk which acts somewhat like a horn. I don't recommend you use this alone for bass. Your main speakers should go down to between 50-100hz. Otherwise, the midrage may seem directional. For all that you get, the price made this sub awesome.

My System:
CD Player = Sony CDP-CE335
Turntable = Pioneer PL-50
Tuner = Pioneer SX-980
Pre-amp = Pioneer SX-980
Amp = Pioneer SX-980
Main Speakers = Zenith Allegro
Subwoofer = SW-12

Strengths:
Price Loud, rather low bass. Price. Power handling. Price. Tweakable.

Weaknesses:
BOOOMY!!! freq. response should be lower on both ends. (250hz is too high for a sub). Badly tuned Port.

Similar Products Used:
Computer subs