Maybe looks... Sounds Half Decent

Amplifier Quality

After about 6 months of use, this sub went completely dead. The problem was with the amp itself which died out. When it was working, the sound was decent. But, you do get what you pay for. For people who have this sub, if you put speaker stuffing it will make it much more tighter and the low end response will be very much improved. Like someone else mentioned, the porting is pretty pathetic.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Technics, AR

For the money, decent bass (see my review)

low power, unable to reproduce lower frequencies with any form of accuracy. At loud volumes, sub chirps from a poorly designed port system.

I bought this sub to boost an aiwa mini-system. In my opinion, if your audio needs only call for the sound quality which comes from an all-in-one mini system, then you probably will never have any complaints from this sub. As always, the old saying stands true: You get what you pay for. As stated in my weakness section, the sub is underpowered. If you have invested any money into a decent amp and speakers...don't fool yourself, this sub is NOT a bargain. It will ruin the sound of an otherwise clean system. This sub will reproduce respectable high frequencies with only minor distortion, but lows cut off way too short. At high volumes, it won't shake, it won't rumble, it won't peel the skin off your face, it won't make the neighbors call and complain. It will chirp and whine. I guess to make the sub small and stylish, aiwa decided not to follow any of the general rules of port design. Remove to front panel to see what I mean. The entire front of the sub is formed plastic. The port system is so riddled with plastic that even with a really nice speaker, and a 150 watt amp, this box will destroy the sound....but hey, it looks great right? At any rate, they did throw in a few goodies for the price...front mounted on/off, low pass selector(which by the way, has only three settings), volume control, auto on feature, and phase switch. And yes, the sub is stylish looking. But in all, it is a toy.

To sum it up, if you are a casual listener, don't like to crank it up, but are looking to perhaps fill in a little missing bass...this is for you. But if you have ANY respect for sound recreation, dear god don't buy this thing.

Very good sound, with impressive low end - for the price

None for price

This is a very good sub. It sounds nearly as good as my $300 Yamaha sub. I use it in my home office with $400 cambridge Soundworks speakers. It really makes a hugh differnce in ths overall sound. This sub is truly competent. I got it as an opened item for $75 at a Target department store.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha 175 watt sub

Nice looks, compact design, excellent bass with a digital preamp

cabinet material too thin.

I have had this sub in my system for about 2 to three years..it has excellent bass reproduction, I recommend using this amp with some type of preamp sub processor....this sub rocks in my system.....I can shake the hell out of my walls with it....but you have to have the right setup....my home theater section is as follows....I have 2 dolby digital and DTS amps 1 is a Poineer with 110watts x 5 channels. the second Dolby digital receiver is a Technics 120watts x 5 which is linked to a Technics preamp digital surround processor....I run the sub off of the preamp...i am able to boost the signal signigantly off of the amp and it sounds beautiful. The secret of my sound is that i take the audio signal off of my Pioneer dvd player and split it off too the 2 receivers....which in turn power the 18 speakers in my home theater setup....I can literally shake my couch up and down with this setup....i love this sub inthis setup!!!

Similar Products Used:

none

Crossover, auto power, speaker lever inputs and RCA input

not deep enough, needs more power

I bought this subwoofer for use with my kenwood mini-system. It is a great sub for the money. I use it for watching movies, CDs, DVDs and video games. It provides a decent low frequency and is perfect for a dorm room or other small room. I only with it had more power, another 50 watts would do it some good. I wish the speaker had a more convention look to it, but that doesn't affect the sound.
Overall this is a good speaker and will help out any mini system that it is added too. You won't realize the difference a powered sub makes until you add one.
It's not the best for watching movies, and it wouldn't be justafiable to add this speaker to a large system, but it is still a good product.

This is the first powered sub I bought about 4 years ago for $100 at one of those "sale of the century" venues at the local collosium event center. Mine had a 50W amp instead. This thing had auto-on, phase, and front volume (gain level)/crossover (3 stages 40/80/120). It used spring clips for high level inputs/outputs and just one RCA input for sub input. Though not very loud or very low (claimed 30hz but more likely about 40hz) it was quite clean and very musical with very minimal cabinet resonance and didn't shut-off as fast as most subs that I have encountered. This matched up to my Pioneer 455, Pioneer CSG 104 for front mains A, Pyramid HSG-15 for front mains B(removed the RCA connectors/in-line crossover capacitor and added 16g wire/RS crossover 40-1296/spring clip cup for connection to AVR), and Fisher 424 for center/rear for my first HT setup (a very budget oriented system). The funny thing is that this setup actually sounded better than a friend of mines BOSE AM-10 hooked up to Pioneer 906 AVR (he noticed this before I did and upgraded almost immediately after being wiped-out from this ultra generic setup). For a budget system this isn't bad or for like a kitchen, bedroom, or small apartment or hooked to a mini system (as stated by the previous reviewer) but I honestly believe that when you build a HT setup buy a very good sub as this is one of the few components that is rarely replaced as long as it functions. By the way this was replaced by an AudioSource SW-8X sub which played lower and louder but will soon be replaced. For the performance and price I will give it a 3, but for nostalga and sentimentallity of it being my first sub I will give it a 4.

I have just recently purchased this Subwoofer, and i must say that it is probably the best deal for a subwoofer that size and of its capabilities. My "system" is somewhat weird. I have 2 (very old, say 17 years old) Jbl 3-way floorspeakers, and i have yet to buy a center speaker, and some Sony bookshelf speakers as my surround speakers. So, to make my piont clear, it is hard to hear a subwoofer that doesnt cost over $400, exept this one. I can hear this thing even when i crank up my reciever while watching one of my favorite movies in surround sound "Armageddon" and still hear my subwoofer loud and clear. Lets not forget about music. It gives good bass to those Rock songs and Rap (if youre into that kind of stuff). And with its volume control and with its volume control, 3 tunover settings, auto on/off, a phase switch, and multiple inputs and even an output it makes this subwoofer a great deal for those 16 year olds that dont have too much money to spend on home theater equipment, this is the purchase for you/me.

I give this baby a 4 because well, its not the best, but its pretty darn good for overall, great for its price.

Very nice for the price

Edge is a bit tender to bo be distroyed

The power is good when down end volume. It delivers very low effect as what subwoofer should do. The problem is when we set high end volumes thats the time this thing connot handle which I always have wanted to do. The 12" ala B&W does that for me. I used both most of the time & I drive it with the Pioneer integrated amp. Buy the small budget this is already good enought but for high ends, this is not your subw. your looking for. Theres a lot to choices.....Goodluck!

Similar Products Used:

Custominzed B&W with Lanzar passive subwoofer 12"

I think it is the best subwoofer you can buy for a bookself system.It realy works good with my sisters Aiwa bookself system and if you don't have billions to spend

Controls on front, good sound, excellent value

only three high-pass options, could use more power

This sub is one hell of a bargain. It sounds much more powerful than its specs lead on. I added it to my NSX-V50 Aiwa mini-system and it enhanced the sound quality infinitely. The most noticable difference is audible in classical music and music which does not already have a lot of bass. This subwoofer is excellent at filling in sound frequencies on all songs, and good at providing punch to the bass in rap/rock music. It retailed for $130 when I bought it, but I got the sub half price because it had been opened and immediately returned by another user. I added a service plan and have experienced no problems in the system thus far. My friend has a home theater with a $300, 100-watt Mirage subwoofer and this one sounds a hell of a lot better and more powerful. The controls are very convient and intuitive; many subwoofers I have seen have controls on the back of the unit, which is not nearly as convenient. The subwoofer is also great for watching movies. If you have a home theater, I'd suggest a more powerful subwoofer, as it has to compete with five other speakers as opposed to the two speakers accompanying the subwoofer in my system. I also think this model is better than the one it replaced, so you should grab one if you can find it.