tight, deep, musical, thunderous bass.
even the black finish looks damn good. take off the grill and it looks amazing

none

this review is for the new FB210
i love this sub. ive heard many subs which can play loud and go low but they sound muddy and sloppy. this sub is loud and goes low but hits every bass note with crazy accuracy. ive never found a sub which gives me goose bumps like this one does. it took a little while for this sub to come around but once it got broken in it almost made me cry. i had to turn the gain way down so it wouldnt shake all the pictures hanging on the walls in the house. this sub mates so perfectly with the silver series. if you decide to audition this sub or any monitor audio speakers, make sure they have been broken.

monitor audio
silver 8i fronts
silver 12i center
baby monitors rears
FB210 sub
Denon 3801

Similar Products Used:

many

Clear, fast, bass
No distortation even at high levels

For me, none
For others, the fact that it does not go below 20 Hz

One previous reviwer stated that he loved this subwoofer. I
can understand why.
I initially purchased the Monitor Silver 5s and Silver 10.
Very fast speakers. My old $400 sub could not keep up with
the Monitors( rumbling bass after the bass notes should be over). I auditioned several subs in the $600 to $1300 range. Based on positive reviews, I thought the sub of choice was going to be the Definitive 15TL. Listened, seemed like the bass was muddy. Listened to an M&K the same day, much better, but much more expensive (about double the Definitive). Went back to the Monitor Audio dealer. They
had just recieved the newest version of the Monitor 210 and
loaned it to me for a week. This sub was perfect! It is the
fastest clearest sub I have listened to. It is outstanding on music. On movies, it has plenty of punch to rattle the walls and yet the bass remains tight.
I know there are other good subs out there, but this sub
just blended so well with the Monitor Silver Series that it was the absolute best choice for my listenening (50% music,
50% movies).
I, too, love this sub. I would like to hear from other
Silver Series owners of what sub they purchased and what
they thought about the Monitor 210.

Very accurate bass, long life expectancy (metal cone & rubber surround), flexible cross-over.

Not offered in Chery or Mahogany finish to match the other Monitor Speakers.

After reading the other reviews posted here, and having owned this sub for over 6 months, I a very impressed by Monitor Audio (the company). I am sure that the complaints registered here (amp hum, black plastic finish, etc.) are true, but my unit has none of these faults. Monitor Audio not only listens to their customers, but they change the design to address the issues. My unit has no audible hum, and has a black oak finish like the Silver Series speakers.
As others have stated, the strength of this sub is its accuracy. I am sure there are other subs on the market that can play lower than this unit, but the list of units that are more “musical” or accurate must be very short. I replaced two 15” subs with this unit, and I don’t regret the change in the slightest. From a theoretical standpoint, 15” are too large to play accurately up to 80Hz. While you may be able to cross the sub over at a lower point in your system, using a THX processor will require your sub to play at least to 80Hz. Using the sub for music will leave other subs in their own dust. This sub blends so well with main speakers, that you will find yourself turning it off and on again to identify the cut-off point. It is a fairly non-directional unit (all subs should be, but many with only one driver or one port can be audibly identified in the room), and this sub does not have any nasty cabinet resonance.
If you are concerned that this sub does not have the size or power to satisfy your needs (as I was), don’t be. The quality of sound from this sub is so good, that you will never regret this purchase. Two of these units would be very hard to beat at any price for music or home theater needs.

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Infinity, M&K, Velodyne, HSU

Clarity, Precision, Depth, and Speed. Very solid build. Very tight Subwoofer that kicks ass.

Break-in time, only one kind of finish-black.

This is by far the best subwoofer I have ever bought. You have to make sure you play good quality cds and dvds or your sub will let you know in a big way that your cd sucks. I was not a believer in the break-in theory until I bought the sub. At first ten hours, everything was the same sickening thud to it -music and dvds also it seriously lacked power. It finally started to warm up around the ten-hour mark. And wow the subwoofer sounded good and started to have power. Now after a little over 24 hours of break-in it sounds fantastic and power is really reving up. ID4 kicks ass with this sub. I only have it set at about 35% power output right now I could crank it up but I want to break-it in some more. Now a warning to future buyers this sub is design solely to compliment your sound system and only do exactly what the signal sent to it ask it to do. It does not come on everytime a bass signal for the mains come on like most subs and overpower the sounds coming from your other signals- it is not a power sub it is a musical sub. It does not go on and on rolling off after explosions and cymballs crashing it just gives the initial blast impact which by the way is really how an explosion feels. This sub is by far the best sub I have known that can make animals snorts grunts and growls sound like they are really there. The t-rex is absolutely horrifying in Jurrasic park with this sub. I used various classical music like beethoven mozart tchaikovsky to break-in the sub. These classical music will also tune up your regular speakers as well i just got classical music same time i got sub-- after this time playing my speakers sound better than ever. Anyway this Monitor Audio asw210 subwoofer may not knock out windows or pictures of walls but it will give you very realistic sound effect that an audiophile demands. I am using piece of crap Technic 930 DD receiver and pioneer c302d dvd player and Klipsch bookshelf mains. Once I upgrade all these I'm sure that I'll be in Nirvana, I'm already halfway there now with thses subwoofer. You must get one.

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Denon, Yamaha yst-sw160, Kef tdm45b, aiwa

tight clean punchy bass

As with all the Monitor Audio products I've auditioned, there is a lack or richness about it.

This sub is an excellent match with the Silver 5's and that is why I purchased it. It didn't have the bass warmth of my M&k but was much tighter and cleaner. There is no lagging of bass notes, so one has to grow accustomed to a different type of bass. I'm not sure it warmed up the 5's like the Rel sub is claimed to do, but after some changing of locations, it integrated quite seamlessly and offered the 5's much more slam and bass depth. I understand the ASW110 is not as clean with the one woofer, although I have not been able to personally verify that.

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M&K VX7b

Fast,accurate bass.Did I say its fast?Perfect match with many minimonitor speakers from ProAc,Monitor Audio,Dynaudio and Spendor!Great for small bass deprived minimonitors!

Does not go very low.So so construction.PSSST the new GR Minitor Audio sub(about $2000)is AWESOME all the speed plus a gorgeous finish and a 400W RMS amp and TWO 12" heavyduty drivers in a compound configuration!!AWESOME

Ok for starters Monitor Audio and M&K subs are fast and musical.I compared so many subs in almost every price class and Monitor Audio stands out as a speedy sub.

It will integrate very well with small high definition minimonitors.When adjusted properly you will not notice there is a sub!The tiny speakers sound like large tower speakers.This will please a lot of small speaker owners.

The overall built quality is good,the finish is a bit on the weak side.A quality wood covering should be an option here.And above all the price is right.Often you can get these for a bit less,making this a killer sub for small speakers in a small-mid sized room.

Now just on a sideline if you want a killer sub with speed and musicality to play with the very best of them,Monitor Audio has a NEW Gold Reference sub!It uses 2 12" drivers(very high quality,aluminium comes,large voice coil,BIG magnetic structure,compound design push-pull.Its FAST,MUSICAL AND HITS HARD WHEN NEEDED.It is all the ASW210 is plus a lot more power,more quality,more value I would even say!

And you can get this new GR sub in quality real wood finishes!

Now the ASW210 gets a 4/5

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M&K 700(only as fast and as musical!)

see below

see below

I picked up the MA 210 to suppliment a set of Paradigm 100's in a 2 channel system. As stated above the sub is beautifully built. The gold Magallory 10" front firng driver screams "leave the cover off!!" There is a second driver on the underside for those of you living on the second floor. Admittedly, because this sub is being asked to agument a 2 channel set up, it will not be required to do any Jarrasic Park or Jedi scenes. More so I was looking for a seamlees and controlled assimilation to my current set up. That was almost too easy. Plug in, postion, set phase, gain and cross-over. Done. It was almost anti-climatic but for those looking for "easy" it would be a welcome oasis. Now to the sound...in a word musical. The amp section is well powered with its class A/B full bandwidth 200 watt MOS-FET "soft clip" amp. It is especially versatile as it uses a linear potentiometer phase control pod as opposed to a 0/180 switching device. (did I see that device in the "Spy Who Shagged Me?") This allows for more exacting control over the subs intergration into ones system. I won't bore you with all the other techy data but I will assure you that for most HT set ups and all but a few 2 channel systmes this baby will sing.
The design goal with the ASW 210 were a bit different than most. They are not designed as the lowest and loudest. And with 2 10" drivers that wouldn't be possiable with the likes of the SVS, Parardigms servo 15, HSU, and Bob Carvers "giant killers" lurking out there. But for those that are looking into a tight, affordable and very intergradable (oh did I say prrrruddy) it's worth looking into. I'm very happy with the sub-for-the-price but when it comes time to set up my HT I'll be looking elsewhere. With that said I have no question that this sub will be part of my 2 channel system for many years to come. (yea right;)
Because I picked my unit used (but not played) the $525 delivered price tage is no help to those looking to buy new I add that only for those looking into the demo/used market

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various

nice & tight bass due to push pull configuration of the dual 10 inch drivers

only comes in black

this is a great sub, especially for the price. if you can get it at a good discount like i did it is an outstanding value. of all the subs i listened to only the rel was on par with the asw210. these are both definitely musical subs first & slam bang movie subs second. not that the asw doesn't have high output - i can't turn it up past halfway or pictures start to fall off the wall in our living room. but, it blends perfectly with my monitor audio silver 5's and balances their slightly bright nature very nicely. i added this sub about the same time i added some very nice silver interconnects from pure silver sound. voices and instruments are now even more distinct from the silver 5's and when the bass kicks in . . . amazing. i am very happy with my system now, i think i have reached my bliss & can stop buying new equipment - i know this will make my wife very happy.

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sunfire true sub, velodyne hgs 12, definitive tl1500, rel storm

Fast, accurate subwoofer

very slight hum

Probably the title for this review should be, "Fifteen Days with Two Excellent Subwoofers."

The Audio Concepts (ACI) Titan sells for 799 dollars plus shipping. The Monitor Audio ASW210 lists for 995 dollars, but can generally be purchased for less through various dealers in North America. Both of these subwoofers represent terrific values.

Footprint is about the same, roughly 14 by 14 inches, but the Titan stands seven inches taller. Internal amplifier power is between 200 and 250 watts, but at this point their qualities divide.

The Titan has 12 in. woofer in a sealed cabinet. The ASW210 has two 10 in. woofers in a dual vented enclosure. The Titan is fine furniture with a high-quality wood veneer, in my case, beautiful natural cherry. The ASW comes in a finely crafted black veneer finish.

This review is based on 15 days with each subwoofer. They were mated with Magneplanar MG12 speakers and a Denon AVR3300 receiver. Connection was by the subwoofer out only.

Fifteen days is not adequate to break in the Titan. The sound over this time became tighter, warmer, and increased and in definition. Performance constantly improved but optimal function was still some time off. Clearly, the strong point of this subwoofer is its ability to solidly reproduce the lowest frequencies of any recording or DVD.

But the Titan let me down in two areas. The lowest crossover for the Titan is 50 Hz. The MG12 speaker's low frequency is about 45 Hz. There was clearly an audio frequency overlap. ACI recommends in-line high pass filters between the preamp and amplifier. I was unwilling to apply this solution.

The Titan also has a character that struck me as unpredictable. It is as if it became excited in certain audio passages and would go overboard in bass output. This is not to say it is a poor subwoofer. On the contrary, I give a high recommendation. But at the end the fifteen day trial period, it was returned to the factory. I received first-class treatment from the fine people of ACI.

The Monitor Audio ASW210 crosses over as low as 40hz, which mated well with the Magneplanar MG12 speakers.

It was also very easy to place in the room. The ASW210 has a very unique feature. There is continuous polarity reversal between zero degrees and a one hundred eighty degrees (not just zero or 180 degrees). I have no idea how this is accomplished, but it is very effective in optimizing the subwoofer performance in any room.

As I read the literature, the two woofers operate in push-pull design to cancel out the even harmonic distortions. I have no testing to confirm this product claim other that the qualitative review I can give in this forum.

Right out of the box, I would describe the sound quality as dull, accurate, fast, and tight. Initially, it is too fast and tight. But within the fifteen days it had mellowed to produce a warm and accurate very low end. The acoustic bass of "My Love" in Diana Krall's Love Scenes is detailed and true. The phantom train of "Ghostbusters II" runs right through our house. These are two very different types of bass and it performs magnificently.

The Monitor Audio ASW210 is always under control and well-mannered. This may disturb some audio enthusiasts, who prefer a deep, rolling sub, but my family fell in love with the accuracy of this subwoofer in the past fifteen days.

The only weakness is a very slight hum that I have not been able to eliminate. It is well below audio interference and a minor issue.

Presently, there is a great deal of enthusiasm over the Monitor Audio Silver 5 speakers. The 5's may be fine speakers, but this subwoofer is an overlooked gem. It represents a great value for less than $1000 (US).

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ACI Titan

Extreme bass

does not come in any other finish aside from black

This is one serious subwoofer! In fact, too much bass for my Monitor Audio silver 5i,3i,and center speaker combination. I recommend this for a concrete wall home instead of the traditional drywall homes. Causes too much vibration noise in poorly consturcted homes. This is the best subwoofer I've heard under $2000. I highly recommend it for any home theater system!!!

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Kenwood, Atlantic technology