Price Paid:  $400.00 from Computer Geeks.com

Summary:
This sub is awesome!! I don't know where all of the negative feedback is coming from. I've owned and or auditioned every brand of subwoofer imaginable, and this one was by far the winner. Don't get me wrong, the M&K stuff is awesome, and velodyne is good, if you get their top of the line stuff, the lesser stuff (vrp series) is overpriced junk, just paying for the name. The Yamaha yst-sw1500 is a wolf in sheeps clothing. So many so called audiophiles rip on the Yamaha because it's a Yamaha. Every manufacturer makes their share of junk, do you really think a 12" vrp velodyne is good? It's sold at circuit city, that should give you a clue. Just as Yamaha makes their junk, too, they also make some excellent unknown stuff, a.k.a. the yst-sw1500. Too many so called audiophiles listen with their eyes and look for the brand, oh, it's a velodyne, it must be good. This sub has tremendous output, on either movies or music, it doesn't care. One thing about the yamaha is it is very picky about room placement, as are most subs, but especially the yamaha. It will take some changing of position to find the sweet spot, but once you do, it will reward you with solid, tight, powerful bass. The remote control is a nice feature since every recording has different dynamics you can just kick back and alter your volume or your high filter cut. I have mine mated to a pair of Klipsch kg4's and it sounds absolutely stunning, I usually keep the volume at near halfway, and the high filter set at about 80 hz, and the sound is awesome. I have a very wide choice of listening, smooth jazz, rock, pop/rock, some country, it's all good. The Yamaha eats it up without a hiccup. I also watch my fair share of movies, it will shake the house pretty easily, but in a powerfully tight way. Anyone looking to expand the sound capabilities of their audio/video system should seriously check out the yst-sw1500, don't let the name on the front fool you. If you want the best bass period, check out the Miller and Kreisel line, if you can't afford that, like me, the next best choice is the big Yamaha.

Strengths:
Very tight and powerful. Remote control, auto shutoff / turn on, Good looking sub

Weaknesses:
Very picky about room placement, and I wish the woofer had a rubber surround instead of foam, but both are very minor gripes.

Similar Products Used:
Jbl studio series, Klipsch ksw and reference series, Polk Audio

Price Paid:  $435.00 from computergeeks.com

Summary:
yamaha YST-SW1500 sub not measuring up to the specs for power and depth that i had hoped for. i find the bass output to be modest and the am easily clips on loud passages. granted the bass is very clean ,tight ,controlled up to a point, but that point is nowhere near the 1000 watt spec the amp claims. its far too easy to overwhelm the amp during passages that should easily be handled by an am with such headroom. the other area is the bass extension claimed at 16 hz. in actual use ,the spl level drops off radically below 35hz or so andfeels really lacking if u run the highpass down to the 40 hz setting. there is little bass there, as for the 25 to 20 range it feels very weak even when maxed out with gain at full and reciever at full sub output settings. whatdoes happen is the sub tries to produce but clips easily under the strain.the bass "weight" of powerful and low reaching subs is just not there, and the wall shaking effects of the 20 to 25 hz range are somewhat possible but strained and the amp always feels on verge of clipping. this does Not have that bottomless reserve of effortless power you would expect from the power and depth specs.

Strengths:
its Beautiful! lovely craftmanship and build of quality. the remote with high pass controls and volume level as well as phase shift is great. IT LOOKS like it Should ROCK!. tight bass in either music or movie mode- i could hardly hear a difference.the highpass Really filters radically the crossover slope. no bleedover of voices thru sub. quality of bass is very good and you can really sense that its servo controlled and taught. i dont feel this a bad sub at all, just not what i expected, i was misled by the great specs. for people who dont demand too much, they may be very happy with it.

Weaknesses:
POWER or the lack thereof! ive demoed and owned various subs of different power levels. this one feels in truth no more than 250 watts. MAX. i have a 450 watt sub in the next room that would easily put the yamaha to shame as far as sheer output and spl. this yamaha, does Not have the impact during passages that SHOULD scare you or make you it up and take notice, or induce fear ect. the sheer horsepower is just not enough to make that happen, at least for me. part of problem Is the power rating, being very overly optimistic, and 2nd the true bass extension does not seem to be as stated untill you look closer at yamahas specs and see that the 16 hz is rated at 10db down and Not at 3db down as most manufacturers rate their subs. this means that If it is doing 16 hz , its at an spl level so mild and quiet that it would be meaningless in real world use.i notice serious power and spl drop off as one lowers the crossover to the 40 hz setting. i have to turn my reciever up to its max level of bass output and the sub up to its max to feel anything at all at these settings. and when it Does try to reproduce these lower bass notes, it easily clips. yes it begins to shake things somewhat, but its also almost on the verge of clipping while doing so. it feels powerful int to mid 35hz range, with rapid drop off after that point.

Similar Products Used:
klipshe sw-10 sub with 10"driver and 12 " passive, 150 watt. this sub i still have and it matches the yamaha in depth and almost same in output! swapped in mid movies to test on same passages and all i can say is , i ask why i bought the yamaha when the output and depth seem no imprvement over what i had.also used sunfire 2700watt. which would Smoke the yamaha in sheer pwr and spl output as well as besting it in depth.also mirage bipolar sub, and soundbridge 450 watt- this 1 has fierce power output! but not as deep as the yamaha or other subs. as far as demos? more than i can write abt.

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Norway

Summary:
Easy to use sub, with remote control. It has also got 3 memories, which makes it possible to store settings both for music and movies - if you use it for both. I have never used a sub for music, but for movies it is a must!
The Yamaha is powerful, reasonably fast reacting, good looking and reliable. I have had it for over a year, without any problems whatsoever. The first reviewer must have been unbelievebly unlucky to have problems after power shortages. I know several other who have got Yamaha subs, and I have never heard a word about problems like that.

Strengths:
Remote Control!
Good looking and powerful sub of high quality.

Weaknesses:
Maybe not the first choice for music lovers that want a sub only for that use. (It is really not that fast and precise.) For movies it is just perfect!

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Online

Summary:
Great Sub,Have had no problems as the guy above this review.Powerful,and as audiophile Mag.says,"The best looking sub around". Highly recommend.

Strengths:
Great looks,powerful 1000watt amp.

Weaknesses:
Some "chuffing" from the front port when overpowered.

Similar Products Used:
To many to list

Price Paid:  $700.00 from Etronics

Summary:
Avoid Yamaha's subwoofer's like PLAGUE. This is the SECOND one that has failed after a power outage.

The first one, I blamed myself as I did not have the sub on a surge protector.

However, I had the new one on a good surge protector and I was actually laying beside it reading a book when the power came back on. It sounded almost like something was ramping back up in power (almost like THE SOUND OF a hard drive starting up). Then there was a sound like a match lighting.

I turned on the entertainment system and sure enough, just like the sub this replaced, power is on, but it makes no noise.

I checked the fuse, it is showing about 4-5 ohms resistance, indicating to me it is fine.

Here's another worry for you. If you try and get a fair price on the internet, then YAMAHA claims you didn't buy from an authorized dealer. That means no warranty.

But who wants to be without their sub while they wait for Yamaha to fix it anyway? NOTHING else in my house fried EITHER time. JUST the Yamaha subs.

Avoid YAMAHA like PLAGUE.

-Tom Steele

Strengths:
Sounds incredible

Weaknesses:
Blow up anytime the power goes out and you are without a sub, and $500+

Similar Products Used:
Velodyne CHT 12