Cost

Self destructs after a few months

I too bought on of these at Best Buy for aroung $200, only because I was tired of not having a sub and I didn't have the money to buy a much better one at the time. It was the best sounding of the ones tried that were in the same price range.

Got it home and set it up using the active amp (my receiver only had a line level sub out.) It was decent for HT but slow and boomy for music. About six months later the amp bit the dust and the accompanying power surge fried the crossover on my left Infinity Reference 5 main. Total cost to repair the Infinity? $165. I was so disgusted I never bothered to try to get the KLH fixed; I figured it would just do it again. After reading the other reviews here I'm glad I didn't do it.

Still, I leave it set up for now (unplugged) cause it looks impressive in the corner. I'm saving my penny's for a Paradigm Servo Sub.

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This is a review of the KLH ASW12-120 subwoofer (I guess this is the right place for it). I bought this 12" 120 watt sub from Damark for $180. The first thing I tested it with was the movie "Twister", and WOW! what great HT bass! I then tested it out with music CD's, and to my disappointment, found the bass "slow" and somewhat boomy. I decided to take matters into my own hands and modify the sub myself (yes! KLH does recommend you disassembling their speakers, check out the service page of their web site!) I bought $6.00 worth of speaker batting from Radio Shack, took the amp off the back of the sub, and placed 2 squares (cut to the height and width of the sub)inside: one just behind the woofer and port, and the other at the very back, against the amp. WOW! What a difference! Very tight, quick bass! Now a very musical sub. Some of the power is out of HT now, and I suppose I could remove one of the sheets of batting for a closer balance, but I listen to around 70% music and 30% HT, so I think I'll leave it that way. A fantastic speaker for the price!Stars:
as bought HT - 5 stars
as bought music - 4 stars
modified HT - 4 stars
modified music - 5 stars

4.5 stars total

Costs $99.00

Costs $99.00

Audioreview doesn't list the SW-10 so I'm putting this under the SW-12. I've used mine for about an hour, and so far, it hasn't blown up, which pleases me. For the price, I have no right to complain. Overall, however, it's kind of a toy. You've got your cheap black 1/4" thick resonant (that's bad) particle board/MDF box with no internal damping or bracing, an even cheaper woofer with a smallish magnet and a thin stamped steel frame (I would know; I opened it up), an amplifier the size of a paperback novel, and a prominent one-note bass which might be okay for movies but is kinda awful for music. This KLH makes no humming noises while on or while off, and the auto-turn-on worked very nicely, neither of which I could say about my even-crappier Infinity BU-120 (which I swear looked like it was made in the same factory!).

When you consider that a real subwoofer made in a country where art is not defined as a likeness of Chairman Mao costs at least $800, for $99 at Costco, I'm very very impressed!

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Infinity BU-120

huge sound

pop when it comes on, pretty boomy

I bought this sub because of the price. went to an expo, saw that i could get a DD receiver, center channel, and sub for 500 bucks, about how much i was planning on spending on the receiver alone.
anyways, getting to the point...it is a good sub, I have never had any problems, and I have worked it pretty damn hard. it does pop when it comes on, and makes some noise when it is on without a signal...i could hear it while I was trying to go to sleep on the other side of the apartment, but it was not worth setting it to auto and hearing the pop every time i wanted to hear some bass. anyways, I am going to try stuffing some stuff in the cabinet to help with the boominess, but it is not really that big a deal.

in response to the guy who said that the sub is slow reacting, that is because of the sub cable. i bought a cheap Acoustic Research cable, and this was happening to me too, Really bad! so I cut the cable in half, reassembled the end, and moved the sub closer to my amp, and now it sounds fine. anyways, overall review, it is a good sub for the money. if you are looking in this price range and want a lot of sound, get this one.

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The box. An excellent chair!

This being my third KLH sub, I guess the consensus is that communist China can't build amps.

After blowing up my first KLH SW-10, I sent it all back to the manufacturer and asked for a replacement. I explained how it was wired an they agreed it was set up correctly. They sent me another with a 150 watt amp. I killed that one in two hours.
I then spoke with customer service, sent that one back, and recieved an SW-12. This one lasted about two weeks before the amp blew and the woofer started farting. Please!!! I don't listen rap (my goal was not to turn my room into Compton), so excuses for this kind of poor quality speaker is limited.

It's dislikes: Nine Inch Nails, Nile, Melvins, and anything else that has any balls.

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Two KLH SW-10s.

very strong powerful bass; price was VERY good

Using the line level input and sub quit working 3.5 months after purchase.

Not sure if anyone experienced a problem similar to this, but here's my story and I'm sticking to it.....had dolby surround sound equipment since 1995. Bought KLH surround speakers with passive sub running on Kenwood receiver. Nice. Upgraded to more powerful Technics receiver in 1996. Nice. Upgraded passive sub to active sub March 2000. June 2000-experienced "OVERLOAD" problem with receiver. Could not troubleshoot/resolve issue. Went out and spent $400 on new receiver-bought JVC 8000 receiver with Dolby Digital/DTS. Great! 3 weeks after purchase....sub stops working. Knocked entire system goofy (had to unplug DSS to reset system to regain audio). Sub still not working. Discover "old" technics receiver only shows "OVERLOAD" if active sub plugged into it. Unplug active sub from technics receiver - runs great(no overload error)! It appears active sub is getting power (makes popping noise when turning on and light turns green).....however.....sub emitting VERY obnoxious odor. 200 times greater than electrical smell when first fired up (making me nautious)....will try to see what store can do so I don't have to ship back to KLH. Currently I'm 99% sure it's the active sub-NOT VERY HAPPY IF THIS PROVES TO BE THE CASE! Will append a second review if I find out it's not the sub.

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variable crossover; level control; auto on/off; line level inputs; attractive design

pops when auto on/off activates; port "chuffs"; uneven frequency respone; uncontrolled output

I purchased this sub not ever intending to take HT seriously, but having all but finished my HS, I had to have something "electronic" to do. I purchased the unit new at a chain A/V store similar to CC or GG or BB, and found it adequate while my system was in it's early stages. However, as I progressed to separates and strted getting a little more serious with my HT as a system to be recconed with, this sub started to show me what it was made of. While setting the 5.1 channel levels with a power meter the sub fluctuates it's output so badly that I can't come close to getting an accurate reading on my SPL meter. The port huffs and puffs like an old man with emphasema sucking on a cig, and the popping of the amp when the auto on/off circuit activates is enough to make your butt pucker. It's especially annoying when the level you pick to listen at is just enough to confuse it as to whether it wants to come on, or go off...until you get sick of hearing it and turn the volume up already!
A few months ago mine made a sound like an elephant passing terrible gas...and it died. Turns out the amp took a dump, but for the low low price of about $75, KLH was good enough to send me a new amp. So now my $200 sub is up to $275 thank you very much. In this day in age where almost any audio component, speaker or otherwise carries a 5 year warranty, it was nice to know KLH saw fit to give this gem a 1 year instead. BTW, they didn't seem too surprized when I told them what happened either.
Aside from my apparent disliking for this box, I actually don't mind it all that much. HT is not exactly what I call critical listening, so most anything would suffice me there. Besides, it hides the hole in the corner where the cable comes in.
Now that I have read of modifications to this sub to make it somewhat tolerable, I think I'm off to walmart tomorrow to get some poly-fil and do some augmentation to the interior (IOW, I'm going to stuff it) and see what happens. Next time the amp decides to go on leave, I think I'll send back both amps to KLH and redeem them for one that's worth more than the wrap they sent the last one in.
All in all, it's a good sub for the money...if you can keep an amp in it. If it does decide to die again, there are plenty of aftermarket amps for subs that I'm sure will drop in just nicely and a new driver to boot.

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Cerwin Vega HT-12PWR