Subtle Depth With Good Bass Punch, Skinny Design Easy To Hide Behind Furniture, Price Is About As Low As The Frequency This Unit Puts Out.

Tweaking Is Time Consuming But A MUST!

WOW...everyone here seems to have fairly good things to say about this sub, and I would like to take the time to thank you all for offering your insight on this speaker. Your comments are what inspired me to purchase this unit and try it in my home!

First of all, just so you know how I have my system configured, here is a brief breakdown of my speaker system: I chose the Bose name for all of my speakers (other than my powered sub) because of my size restrictions do to the recent remodeling of my livingroom. I am running the 701's as my front speakers (see my review for the Bose 701 Series), the 301's as my surround speakers (see my review for the Bose 301 Series IV), the VCS-10 as my center channel
speaker (see my review for the Bose VCS-10), and my Yamaha YST-SW160 powered sub-woofer in the rear of the room. This combination has proven to be a superb system for both music and home theater. But this review is for the Yamaha YST-SW160 Subwoofer, so lets concentrate on this model for now.

Who would have thought that a small cabinet containing two 8 inch drivers could produce such a thunderous amount of bass that it could shake your pictures off the wall?!?! Well, this little gem does just that....but only when you want it to. I am completely amazed at the sound of this sub, and the versatility that it offers with its customizable controls is awe inspiring! However, those controls are also a pain in the A$$ when you are first setting up your system. I took me about 2 hours to tweak mine to perfection. However, without those controls it would be far more difficult to achieve such high quality sound from different locations of a room. At 150 watts, this beauty has the power it takes to thump your neighbors, but it has the subtlety to provide clean bass for your favorite music as well. I notice very little drop off in low frequencies, and what amazes me the most is that this speaker does not overemphsize certain frequencies like most other subs that I have tested do. The bass is always even and clean, and unless you crank them to the point of police intervention, you will not notice any distortion when equalized in a reasonable fasion.

I had major hesitations in purchasing such a cost efficient subwoofer, given the fact that I added this to a speaker configuration that was close to $2,000.00! However, the professional comments of the people of this review board inspired me to give this Yamaha model a chance, and I could not be more pleased. I have a 15 inch Acoustic Research Sub (model S115PS) sporting a Carver "Sunfire" 200 watt amp in my downstairs familyroom, and I can honestly say that I am actually more impressed with the tightness and overall tonal quality of this Yamaha sub! It just doesn't get better than this folks, and for the low investment to obtain this high quality sub, this purchase is a no-brainer! It fits neatly behind the corner table of our sectional in the livingroom, where nobody can see it. But EVERYONE CAN HEAR IT...including our neighbors! If you are serious about music and sound, and want a brilliant bass solution for your home theater system, then look no further than the Yamaha YST-SW160. It will impress all who experience it! My only advice; nail everything in the room down, or it may come crashing to the floor. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to pop in my DVD of "The Matrix" again and see if this Yamaha sub can drive my wife out of the house and into the arms of another man! =o)

Your Friend,

~ MARTY ~
M.P. Productions

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Infinity, Acoustic Research, Klipsch

Good overall low frequency balance, can go down to fairly low.

Slight boomy in some frequency

Considering the price, this is a very good subwoofer. Comparing to M&K V100 ( priced 3 times as much 5 years ago), Yamaha will out performed in playing some low frequency detail and clarity, although it can not play as fast and as loud as M&K.
You can using brick to tilt the position of subs to lessen the slight boominess, adding 4 spikes also helpful in carpeted floor, I like this sub and use this sub to add low frequency to my main bookshelf speakers (Totem Acoustics Model one, $1600), especially for playing large orchestral or pipe organ CD. This is the most bargain speaker, with plenty of space to modified the performance of it.

Similar Products Used:

M&K V100, and other Yamaha subs.

Low bass

starts to fizzle above about 70hz

This sub is a very good value for the money. It takes quite a bit of adjustment both in position and controls to get it sounding just right. It does a very good job on movies and is very adequate in music. I found that using a thx sub cable tightened this sub up tremendously. I currently corner load this unit to pull the most out of it. Enjoy.

CHEAP

SOUND AT HIGH VOLUMES

this is a great sub if you have a small room and a low budget. actually i found that it did music at low volumes just as good as mw klipsch ksw-12. but at volume the klipsch walks away from it in clarity and spl. the ksw even seemed faster than the dual 8's which i found surprising. i say spend the extra 100 dollars and get the ksw-12 or jbl pb 12.

Similar Products Used:

MANY

Very tight bass, easy to access controls

Not Alot

I bought this sub to make my crappy small shelf system sound bigger and badder. I was amazed at the sheer power of the bass it produced. It is comparable to much larger more expensive subs that take up more room. About 4 months ago, I bought a new high power receiver that I no longer needed such a help in bass, but I need a system in my truck. So I experimented with extension cords and such until I thought I would try actually using it permenantly. I went out and bought a 300W 500W Max power inverter (the maximum I could get without having it hardwired to the battery) and plugged it into my cigarette lighter(being careful to check that my wiring was sufficient). I was ABSOLUTELY AMAZED at the sound of this thing from inside and outside of the truck. The power inverter powers the thing just fine with no overloading. When I told my friends that I had 2 8's and 150W they thought it would suck.....But then they listened to it. My total investment into my system that compares to 4 and 5 hundred dollar systems cost me a total of $350. And I made no modifications to my vehicle. I love having the power inverter too so I can plug whatever I want into it also. I put 2 Limelight Nightlights under each side of the dash, and two under each seat facing rearward for 20 bucks. It really makes my truck look very custom.
But anyway buy this sub for any reason you need it. Its small, powerful, and it ROCKS

It did soung OK when it worked

Everything

I just got this thing about 2 weeks ago and ut blew up.. there was white smock coming out of the back of it... It scared the hell out of me... Do not by a YAMAHA. duh

TIghtness of Bass, Power, Tuneful Bass

Time to tweak to get best sound (that's OK, though)

I have used these (I have two) for about two weeks and am impressed with them. I only use them for music and they are subtle when they are supposed to and roar when they are supposed to. I have the cut off aset at 70Hz and find no looseness in the bass response whatever. I drive them in a balanced way with the speakers I have them teamed with and have heard no distortion at all. I suppose if you drive them beyond their capabilities, they will distort as others have mentioned. Mine, however, have not.

A word on set up for anyone who will or has purchased.

I have my cutoff set 15Hz above my speakers' minimum low end response and this has worked well with no boominess.
I have the volume set almost to 4 and the sound is natural and blends seemlessly with my other speakers.

As far as value is concerned, these Yamahas are a definite 5. Overall they are about a 4.75.

An excellent subwoofer for medium to small sized rooms. Solidly constructed with reasonable wife-acceptance factor.

Does require a fair amount of tweeking to find the right settings and position.

This sub goes quite well with my other speakers (all Definitive Technology) both in sound quality and appearance. It probably will not satisfy those individuals that prefer a low end that can remove filings from your teeth, but for all others this is a respectable performer at an extremely competitive price point.

I like to think my neighbors downstairs are thankful for the SW160's forward firing design. (they still complain sometimes, though). The design also makes for flexible placement. The output is appropriate, it keeps up with my rather efficient Klipsch Synergy HT. Sounds good with music, nice and smooth, but a little loose. I expected very tight sound from the active servo system, but it really doesn't deliver what I anticipated.

Sounds good with HT, but a bit boomy sometimes. The auto-on function has too settings - sensitive and not-so-sensitive. Each is too extreme. On sensitive, the SW constantly shut off and on, even with no source material. Power line variance, I guess. The other turns on the SW only with high input.

Looking at the spec sheet at the store, I was impressed. It went all the way down to 20Hz! Er, maybe not, that's at -10dB. I immediately was sceptical but for $220, I decided to give it a try. Yamaha is the only Asian speaker manufacturer that I have a bit of respect for(mass-marketers, anyway). Overall, I'm happy with it. My apartment is small. The forward-firing , vertical design met my needs and it performs well for the price. I recommend it for anyone with a mid-quality HT/music system.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch KSW-10, 12

Wonderful, full, low bass. Complements a small room with a not so expensive HT.

Varying placement and angle toward prime listening area changes sound too much

This sub has done it's job very well. It puts up with the torment I put my mid range system through. Working along with the rest of my Yamaha speakers and my Kenwood VR-309, it can hold it's own. It provides that floor rumbling feature that I love (Trinity in a Jam), but changing the angle or placement toward the listening area will change the whole presence of the sub, a lot of testing is required to get the perfect sound from it.

Similar Products Used:

AIWA 65w 8" ... Klipsch 100w 10"