power, bass, ability to rock the building

clarity of sound

this thing is a beast!! It rattles the windows. I havent tried stuffing it with the radio shack fluff mentioned in previous reviews, but I will. I definately turn the crossover down low, as I have some pretty solid Infinity and Yamaha Fronts with Bose rears. I'm working the 6.1 on denon I just got and it puts enough energy thru this thing like you read about. keep the pictures hung well because this thing will rock the house. I'm purchasing a velodyne sub to put in a second house, so stand by for the comaprison

With the acoustic insulation fix I agree with some of the reviews that pointed me towards this sub. $1,000.00 sound from a $200.00 box. Truely amazing

Dust cap broke loose from the strong bass generated by sub. Like the acoustic insulation a better attached dust cap or altogehter different speaker would have been a vast improvement

Until I bought a single bag of acoustic insulation from Radio Shack and stuffed it in this beast I would agree that this was a pretty anemic, albeit cheap sub. I had read some odd reviews stating that this one single omission from Audiosource was all that was lacking. Yup..... Whoa! Scary sound! Clarity; solid bottom; actually, "Tear the dust cap right out of the middle scary sound." If you own one of these boxes give your system a new lease on life with this simple and amazingly cheap fix. It works! Gawd, does it work! Take your favorite low end cut. I use Chris Whitley's Rocket House CD for most testing right now, because of the outstanding sound engineering that went into a lot of the cuts. Try cuts #6 or #7 and stand back. Or try Violet the last cut from Seal's first CD. Both cuts, before and after the acoustic insulation fix will provide an adequate comparison even if you do not like either recording artist.

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Energy and Polk. Both very good; but the prices?? Forget it. Two of these modified and attached to an audiophile system will fill up an arena sized living room or sound room.

Price. At $99 you probably can't beat it.

Not a real subwoofer

I am amazed that this product gets these stellar reviews. This is an entry level sub that I purchased at Costso for $99. For $99 it is ok. It sounds nothing like a decent subwoofer should. It sounds like a speaker with a blanket over it. It does not give you a true reproduction of the low frequencies. Yah it will vibrate the house during a film but that is it. If this is all you can afford then great. This is what I had for three years. After I couldn't take it anymore I bought a much better one and the difference is amazing, night and day.

...price ...low frequency ...cosmetically attractive (looks good in my living room)

...you can 'clip it' easily if you're not careful with the settings ...rather large if you have it in a small room

I bought this subwoofer at the advice of a 'home-theater addict' who has components worth countless dollars more than me. The price was fantastic, and yes, it is 'big' and after some initial problems, I'm very happy with it. It goes a lot lower than the Sony 50 watt sub I had, but I'm amazed that I'm able to 'clip it' on many dvd movies...I figured that a sub of this size and power would be 'clip-proof', but I was wrong! I haven't made any modifications to it yet and I don't find it particularly 'boomy', but then, I've not had the chance to compare it against pricier audiophile equipment! For $154 dollars with free shipping, I think it's one heck of a deal!

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50 watt sub from Sony 'surround-in-a-box' home theater system purchased from Circuit City...I know, it was entry level stuff, but I never 'clipped' the sub on that system, for some reason!

Boom for the Buck; transportability.

Cone/driver. There are more massive speakers on the market. I may buy an after-market 15" JBL or other speaker with a ferro-fluid-cooled voice coil, and drop it into the cabinet if this driver ever fails. Otherwise, none.

Whoomp there it is, indeed. I have a small DJ setup w/Yamaha SV112 cabinets (12" woofer, horn driver), & 800w amp. I wanted to add thump to the SV112''s. They are great cabinets, but lack "bottom" in a large room. I didn''t want to buy a crossover, or new amp, as my gig-rig is completely full, no room to schlep a bigger box & has to fit in my car. After reading reviews here and on other sites, I decided to go with the SW 15. Added banana plug terminals, an after-market, round, black metal grill, and replaced the AC power cord with an 8AWG cord with quick-disconnect; also beefed up the internal wiring that passes the power amp''s juice on to the PA speakers. I will probably be adding recessed metal handles on either side of the box to make it fully portable. I usually hide the sub under the table where I set up my DJ rig. People can''t understand how 2 little SV112''s on speaker stands are generating so much bass! Lots of funk and 70''s and disco get played at the parties I do, and this thing really pumps it out. So far, I haven''t noticed a need for damping material, but since I use this thing in high-volume music situations exclusively, that may make a difference. If I had the room, I would have bought 2 and daisy-chained them. If you have a club or small DJ business and you want some bargain, big-sounding bass, buy this sub! For under $1000, in a club, you could strategically locate 4 of these bad boys around the dance floor and just feed''em a line-level from your mixer. The AudioSource guys are great. I emailed asking if the SW15 could hanlde semi-commercial duty like this. Their support dept. emailed me back with a phone number, & I chatted with them for several minutes, they said no worries.

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JBL EON sub/EV Eliminator i sub

Price Simplicity The "WOW" factor

None considering price

There''s no replacement for displacement. To produce frequencies below 80HZ you need (1) Cone Diameter (Multiply Cone^2) Example: 15" X 15" = 225 vs. 12" X 12" = 144 (2)Move Air CuFt (3)Power (Watts) There are many technologies out there today that advance in one area at the expense of another. Typically, the expense is yours in terms of $$$. This thing does all three well to produce big sound plain and simple at a reasonable cost. The amp is good not great the sub is good not great and the enclosure is good not great but the combination of all three produces a very good sound overall. Given the price of this sub, every piece of the puzzle was a great choice by AudioSource. (keeping costs down) Definitely add some fill to the inside to control the woofer''s excursion. It will sound boomy if you do not. AudioSource added some against the back wall but it''s not enough. This thing will rattle dry wall, pictures on the wall, and anything else not screwed down. It''s best to have a basement HT setup with concrete walls surrounding or well insulated walls. You''re going to piss your neighbor''s and wife off with this so be prepared! If not, choose a puny 8,10, or even 12" sub. The SW15 also takes up quite a bit of space too. If you''re like me, all of these considerations are worth the trouble. Within the next 5 years, I''ll probably replace the sub with one of higher quality including rubber surrounds and multiple layer cone for longer life. Don''t mess up and waste money on a $500+ sub unless you’re pulling 6 figures and like to brag about brand names. You''re going to pay at least 3-4 times the price of the SW-15 to get some noticable differences in quality and output. Construction will probably be easily beat by a sub twice as expensive. It looks like 5/8" particle board but I could be wrong.

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First HT Sub Car Stereo: 1) 18" Rockford Fosgate Pro 2) 15" Kicker 2) 12" RF Pro 4) 12" RF RFP''s mounted in isobaric configuration in 2.8 cuft aero port MDF enclosure (144 db)

When equipped with the sound insulation, This is a very tight performer with ample bass (once insulation is installed). Audiosource customer service is excellent!

Auto on takes a fair signal to activate the sub. Huge sub....but what do you expect with a 15"!!!!!?

Read all the reviews and thought, for the money, what do I have to lose? Tried it at home and was disappointed. THEN, I put the insulation in and it totally changed the sub! I also replaced the wires from the sub amp to the driver.....the OEM wires looked very puny! The result? AWESOME! I was going to buy an M&K sub as they are exceptional subs, but decided to save my money! I will eventually buy a more high end sub, but this is certainly fulfilling my needs for now! BTW, they have them on Ubid.com from time to time for about $120-150. System: Toshiba Cinema Series 65" HDTV 16:9 Toshiba 5700 Progessive DVD Sony DA-777ES Receiver AR S50 mains AR PS318 rears AR SC2 Center Audiosource SW15 Monster interconnects

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Velodyne

Tight and solid bass, ability to play very loud or soft and smooth to blend with your other speakers, PRICE!!!!, 5 year warranty.

4 months of research to pick it out of the crowd because it's almost a secret.(Not sold at Best Buy, etc.) Or is that a strength because everyone else paid to much!!!

I just want to say "thank you" to everyone who gave a review of the SW-15 sub. I would have never purchased or heard about the Fifteen if it wasen't for this site. I am very satisfied with my recent purchase.
I spent 4 months looking for a sub to complete my home theater system and to add to music cd's, it does both very well. If you've never had a sub and you feel like some sound or impact is missing from you system......buy a sub. You'll be astounded what a difference it makes. All of my purchases were made by a "bang for your buck" approach. The following is my setup:

Sony Trinitron 32" TV
Sony DE-STR845 reciever (I know, but for $200 new why not?)
Sony DVP-NS700P DVD
Fronts - JBL N38's
Rear - JBL N24's
Center - JBL S-center (One bad mother)
Sub - Audiosource SW-Fifteen baby!

I know there are some "better" components and speakers out there than what I have, but I'm completely satisfied. So if you're slammin' my system right now....that's cool. You must be conscience of what you believe when reading these reviews or listening to someone at your local retailer. Opinions differ because, in fact, they are opinions. Everyone looks for the same thing....great visual and sound effects. But, what differs is how people interpret the effects. Most people are bias to a brand name or think if you pay more you get more. They, in most cases, are DEAD wrong.
The bottom line is what YOU will be happy with. Not what some pimpily-just out of high school kid at Best Buy or the "dude" that has spent his kid's college fund on his system down at the specialty shop likes. If you need a name like Kiplisch or B&W to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside then go buy'em! They make great speakers! But if you are like most people and don't make six or seven figures or have better things to spend your money on; this is the "best boom for your buck"......period.
I was very nervous about purchasing this sub without hearing it. I'm so glad I took the risk. When I turned it on for the first time.....I felt like I was eight-years-old on Christmas morning. I found myself laughing because I couldn't believe I had 5, 6, 700 dollar sound coming from my 200 dollar sub. YOU MUST FILL THE INSIDE WALLS (top, bottom and sides) WITH FIBERGLASS INSULATION(or something similar) TO TIGHTEN THE BASS. At most you'll need 5 bucks worth (two - 1 yard by 1 yard by 1 inch)from Radio Shack and I used an adhesive to keep it on the walls. Don't cover and stay a couple of inches away from the amp. The only other mod that you may want to consider is replacing the feet. Spikes do well on carpet or go to Home Depot and for less than $2 you can find some plastic spiked feet to set the sub's stock feet on top of (They are near the felt protectors). Play around with the level (volume) and crossover until you are satisfied. It's easier than you think. I didn't find the sub as placement sensitive as some found it to be. When your buying a sub cable use one that has the kit for both left and right inputs, follow the directions and you'll know what I mean. You're done......now it's time to piss off your neighbors and make your friends jealous!!!
Thanks again for all of the posts for the SW-15. It's not often in this world you find a deal like this one. Go for it.....I wish I did 4 months ago.

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Researched and listened to Sony, JBL, Cerwin-Vega!, Velodyne, Yamaha, Infinity, Polk