Powerfull bass, good response, low distortion, auto shutoff

yet to find out

Picked this up at Costco for $99 and so far I think it's worth it. I heard some bad things about KLH speakers and was unsure about the purchase. But for the price I had to pick one up. To my surprise, it sounded excellent. The bass had a good even tone and and did not sound boomy like some have said. I tried it with all kinds of different DVD's and they all sounded great. For the price I might pick up another one for the other side of the room. For a 10" this sure puts out big sound.
Good value.

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low price

sounds horrible

Purchased this at costco for under $100 and had to return it. The bass sounds too boomy and unclear. If not for the price i wouldn't have tried it out.

Value $99 bucks, sound quality after some easy modifications see below. If purchased at Costco, the return policy. They will even accept after 2-3 years as long as you have the receipt and they still have that product listed in their computer. Can't beat that. Its worth a try.

Bassy. Insulation sucks, but you can fix that.

After purchasing at Costco for a mere $99 bucks, why not. Let me tell you what I did first. I removed the cloth grille and layed the sub on its backside (where the heatsinks are located.) Removed the 4 philips screws and lifted the somewhat heavy 10inch speaker and set it on the side. The speaker wire should be long enough to do this. I was not suprised to see the useless thin piece of insulation they used. I found me some attic insulation about 2-3" thick(with no paper on it) and proceeded to cover the sides, top, bottom and the back of the case. It was cut to fit. It should support itself due to the thickness of the insulation, but can be held down with staplegun. Placed back the speaker and wow what a difference. I plugged it(always on) to my receiver switched plugs so it'll come on whenever I use the receiver.
Now the $99 120 watt powered sub can now compete with the $300 and up powered subs. I'm not kiddin try it yourself. And if you screw something up (doubt it) Costco will be glad to exchange or return your mula with no hassles, so why not give it a try.

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Audiosource, Yamaha

$99

Spring loaded connectors, amplifier, lack of acoustic insulation, boomy harsh sound

I bought the unit with the idea of adding acoustic insulation. The price of the components alone add up to more than $99. The addition of a little insulation and sweat sounded like fun, but before I could get going I popped the springs out of a couple of the speaker wire connectors and spent a couple of hours trying to reseat them. And then the amplifier died after spontaneously emiting a series of "woops". Finally I lost patience and returned the unit. You might want to check out the subwoofer kit at http://www.i-mcm.com/Hobbyist/hobbyist-frame.jhtml.
The kit amp alone is $99 and bears a striking resemblance to this unit's amp. In addition, to make a complete speaker you have to buy the enclosure, speaker and acoustic insulation. Incidentally, I bought the acoustic insulation. It will arrive in the mail shortly. Maybe I can put it in a wall somewhere.

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AR 112PSW

Value.

Poor acoustic insulation. Amp "popping" when inactive. A little boomy.

I am a HT newbie but I read the reviews on this product and decided to give it a try. After listening a while I decided to take some attic insulation to try and tighten this sub up a little. I placed it around the top, bottom, left and right of the speaker. Made a huge difference. This sub went from muddy to pretty tight and accurate bass. I am also using a Monster THX Sub Cable which I think makes a difference. If you are looking to add an entry level sub to your system ( a sub is a must have in any home theater) you simply can't beat the value.

low price, but for another $75 you can get a JBL 12" sub.

needs work and time to modify --- not worth it unless you have plenty of time, bass weak and muddy

This sub is very weak with unclear and muddy bass. I bought this at Costco for $100. Returned it to purchase a JBL 12" sub w/ 250 watts for $75 more. So far I am happy with my JBL's subwoofer's power and cleaner bass output. But from some reviews they tend to have a problem with reliability. I haven't had any problems as of today. May change if it blows up on me.

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JBL

Cheap, can be made to sound good

boomy without modification

Poorly controlled, boomy sound that can be tightened up considerably by simply stuffing the enclosure with dampening material (loose cotton, lamm's wool, foam rubber and the like). For $99 at Costco and a few bucks for dampening material, it can be made to sound like one of the better $300 subwoofers. Indeed, I'm using it with a pair of Energy C2s instead of one of the much more expensive Energy subwoofers, and it blends very well with the C2s. Not the ultimate in bass extension and definition, but for a bedroom system, pretty good, especially for the price.

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Entec, Energy, JBL, and others

Deep bass, plays VERY loud with no cabinet buzzing, $99 at Costco

Boomy, but careful placement, level/crossover setting and stuffing help a great deal.

Had dreams of Klipsch 12", but reality knocked me down to Acoustic Research PSW112. Sears in my area would not price match the internet, so no go. Had looked at the ASW10 for sometime due to that price, so I gave it a try; could always take it back. Besides, my mains are KLH sat/passive sub combo and center is KLH also. Surrounds are Atlantic Technology. Got it home, and was surprised. This was not the same sub they had on display. The woofer is much better quality, and the cabinet seems to be 1/2" MDF. The display looked to be maybe 1/4". 35lbs. Knocking on the cabinet produced a hollow tone. Not good. Oh well; I had an issue of Sound and Vision, great article on setting up subs I couldn't wait to try. Raced through the setup, and was disappointed at the pink noise level from the sub. I was already gathering up the packing stuff to take it back, but tried some music anyway. Damn! I thought the bass drum from my Bootsy Collins CD was going to bust windows! I jumped back over to the sub to turn the level down. Way down. Now it was bearable, but had to drop the crossover too.I was amazed at the sound coming from this sub! It hung on some notes but its not in the best location right now. Have it connected with a 26' Monster sub cable, mono jack. Yamaha receiver, all speakers set to small, all bass to sub. Movies were next, Star Trek VI. The opening score was fantastic, and there's an explosion at the conclusion that put a big grin on my face. I made adjustments during the movie until it sounded pretty good. Also watched Predator and The Matrix, very happy. Of course, I couldn't leave it alone; wanted to see how much boom I could eliminate. Went to Radio Shack, got a bag of acoustic insulation (fiberglass) and a sound level meter. Used the meter to calibrate all speakers to 75db. Found the actual setting for the sub was almost 90db, still sounded good at 80db and left it there.I was nervous, but took out the four screws holding the woofer and lifted. The cables are short, but they have clip connectors that slide right off the speaker terminals. Unfastened them and put the woofer aside. No internal bracing causes the hollow sound, but for $99... I lined the top, bottom, left and right sides. Added extra at the bottom next to the "port" (cardboard tube, $99...)got the whole bag in. Replaced the speaker and tried a movie I had just played (Predator, Rebel Camp scene). The insulation made a big diference, bass was clearer, and the motoring noise was gone. Final settings; level at 3, crossover at 85-80db, depending on the movie. $99, a little effort and time with adjustments and stuffing have me very happy right now. I know its not the best, but until I can freely spend $500 on a sub, this one stays.

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KLH passive bass module with (2) 5 1/2" drivers

Cheap and loud!!!! Sub drops to 24hz

higher distorsion level on the amp. (.9% at 50hz)

A few months back(4 months ago) I had bought the KLH ASW-120 from costco and had a myriad of problems from the port rattling and buzzing. It was really hindering the volume levels I could use the sub at. I saw a review here that had said something about the sub now dropping to 24hz.(Much to there surprise) The paperwork that had come with that sub I bought 4 months ago had said specifically that its lowest frequency was 30hz. I made a trip down to costco yesterday and found that the new KLH AWS-120 is a new revision B. I picked it up and gave it a go. Upon inspection it doesn't look any different than the old version on the outside. I didn't bother to look inside. The new revision is really a great value. The port did not rattle when I put it through some bass tests. I think KLH solved whatever the problem was with the previous revision of this powered sub. Go to costco and get this sub. It is the cheapest sub on the market and it sounds alright. I'm sure there is better quality out there. I have better quality sitting in the trunk of my car but for 100 bucks plus tax you get a sub that blends well with a low end or moderate home theater system. You won't be disappointed. If one doesn't suit you and you need more bass just get two.(If you have the room, of course)

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KLH ASW-120 rev. A?

had to much after thump ,as i call it ,the bass seemed to linger to long ,so i took the advice that i found here and added insulation and installed a monster sub cable , cleaned it up alot.then i got to looking at that port and stuffed a sock in it [that made it even sharper],so then i took out the sock and covered the port with high quality duct tape ,that was eved better, like it now ,even sounds decent with the fm ,

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