Customer Reviews

Yamaha YST-SW215 8" Powered Subwoofer

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just got this subwofer from Amazon today, and boy am I impressed! When I ordered it I was looking for something affordable, but with a decent amount of power and good sound. Since the price was right and I already have 2 Yamaha front speakers, I decided to give this one a shot. Well, the Yamaha SW215 fits the bill perfectly. At $99 from Amazon, it one of the lowest priced subs anywhere, yet it has more features and more power than the comparable priced Sony product. It is very ruggedly built, and sounds great. It is also super easy to hook up and use, and the automatic shutoff feature works flawlessly with my Sony STR-DE595 receiver. As some previous reviewers stated, the B.A.S.S. switch doesn't seem to do much, as I cant discern any difference in the two settings, but I like the location of the controls on the front of the sub. Overall, I would say this sub is a great deal. If you are looking for the best budget sub, this is it!!!

I got a pricy Carver amp and Tanvoy speakers a few years but held off on a subwoofer because of the expense. I didn't think a cheap speaker would be worth buying and I didn't want to spend the money for a audiophile-quality subwoofer. In the mad rush of after Thanksgiving sales, I saw this speaker and decided to take a chance. I am not sorry in the least. The speaker puts out a lot of sound for the size & price. It doesn't rattle the windows or vibrate things off the shelf but it adds that much needed depth in the low frequencies to my system. The controls made it easy to set the frequency cut off and volume to blend in well with my other speakers. It has a power-down feature which fortunately has a sensitivity switch because I found that in the default position, it wouldn't kick back on at low volumes even when it would clearly have made a difference. That was easily adjusted. It still powers down when not needed but not as readily. It has a movie/music switch which, for the life of me, I couldn't discern a difference. I wish they had explained how it worked so I could better determine if I could just leave it in one position or the other. Switching it back and forth for one or the other is an irritant especially when I can't detect a difference.

I didn't expect much from this fairly cheap subwoofer: I wanted a subwoofer for my home theater, and that's it. I was impressed with all of the options built-into the subwoofer. There is a "super-bass" option in addition to the usual volume option. There's a power button to turn it off without having to unplug it. The bass is directed downward which is exactly as one would want a subwoofer. There are RCA type plugs on the back so be sure your stereo receiver uses this type of connection. Pleasantly happy with the sound.

Don't let the small size fool you. This is a very nice sub. It sounds good with music as well as movies and brings a whole new dimension to my listening experience. Only discrepency I have is that the Yamaha website rates it at 150 watts, but I have seen it other places on the internet at 120 also!!??

Great sounding sub for a modest home theater/listening area. The sound is smooth but powerful given the relatively small enclosure. Will it's volume break windows? Probably not. But then if you value your hearing you wouldn't want this one! Yamaha incorporated some pretty spiffy technology into it. If you're looking for a sub that smoothly blends into your "sonic environment" this might be the one. The front mounted controls are a great convenience feature-only wish the cutoff and volume knobs were a little larger and more substantial. Easy and straight forward hookup for either speaker or line level. Might hook up another-one for each stereo channel! This sub's a winner!

I would first like to point out that I am not an audiophile and don't aspire to be one. I do, however, love watching movies with my home theater. I have this subwoofer paired up with an Onkyo receiver and JBL speakers and I believe that the performance it provides is fantastic. Like other reviewers have mentioned you have to go easy on the volume, b/c you will hear about it from your neighbors. On a side note, and I am not sure if other reviewers have mentioned this, but this subwoofer has two inputs (L/R), whereas most receivers only have one single out where you connect your subwoofer cable. The reason is that the Yamaha line of receivers has two outputs. Either way, I found that using an RCA Y-Adapter (1 female to 2 Male) provides better ferformance than just connecting the subwoofer cable (which you also need to get as it is not included) to the "L" input as specified by the instructions. These adapters (even the Monster Cable one) are relatively inexpensive and well worth the investment.

Finally, the build quality is excellent so do not think that you'll be getting some cheapo looking receiver. Besides, and from the research that I've done, you are better off spending the extra cash on your center channel and your front speakers than the subwoofer. Remember the limited, albeit essential, purpose that the subwoofer serves. Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

I bought this sub for two reasons. 1. Price. 2. The auto on/off switch. The Yamaha was replacing a 10" Eclipse forward facing sub. I couldn't move the Eclipse were I wanted, because it has a manual power switch.

At first, I put the YST in the same spot, to the side of the room. I was little disappointed. There was a lack of umph. It sounded muddy and very weak. Even with the volume turned up.

I then moved it into the corner of the room, behind the AV equipment. I really liked this. The YST was hidden and I didn't have to worry about turning it off and on. To my surprise, this new placement REALLY woke the little 8" up. It must be the shape of the corner of the room. Now it sounds fantastic. Crisp, sharp, and plenty of BOOM. I had to turn the volume down. I leave the cutoff a little on high side. At around 100 - 110. This is a good match for my main speakers. I'm now very happy with it.

So, try moving this sub around the room to see where it works best. But that's not a problem with the standby power feature. Try all the adjustments and take some time to dial it in.

Inexpensive, good quality, great performance. A very rare combination in this day and age.

Well constructed and full of the technology that can be expected from Yamaha. The auto detect can be turned on or off. The volume control sets the volume relative to the volume of the reciever. This means you don't have to re-adjust the subwoofer volume every time you touch the reciever. A very nice small wooofer, ideal for a small to mid size room (mine is 14x18). Works extremely well for surround sound and is good for music.

The purchase from Amazon was clearly the lowest price anywhere on the web since the subwoofer qualified for free shipping! The unit was for the bedroom and has a fantastic sound to complement my Aperion speakers. For a 16x14 room this unit has enough "oomph" to make me feel the bass. Don't be reluctant to get a sub for a smaller room- this unit is perfect, and for the price you cannot go wrong!

We recently upgraded our stereo system to a 5.1 surround. We are retired and live in a 1800 square ft. townhome. Space was natually a problem. Others included price and too much volume. We did, however, want a system that would give us natural sound and the best frequency range within our budget. After buying a new amp and Bose side-speakers, we only lacked a subwoofer. True subwoofers have a terribly high price tag so we began looking in the $100 range for a bass speaker having the fundamentals of their big brothers. Originally we considered the 8" Jensen but opted to spend a few extra dollars and went for the Yamaha. A decision that we will never regret. Reading other Amazon reviews, we agree that this speaker is perfect for small environments. We are using the subwoofer as a rear center. Although a mono speaker, it was designed for this set-up. It provides both speaker wire or coax pin connector inputs. The pin connectors allow the ability to use a Y-adapter and take advantage of passive and powered amplifiers. The 8" bass has an excellent frequency range, 30-200 Hz, controlled by a 10 cycle (Hz) knob. The knob allows the listener to cut off the subwoofer at a desired frequency. The bass then transfers to the front and side speakers. The center rear is left to provide only the low sound and physical feelings without drawing attention to it, as all subwoofers should do. It's hard to believe that this unit isn't a true and expensive subwoofer. The speaker itself, is placed to project downward with a port opening on the side. The range is perfect controlled by a 10 Hz cut-off knob. The inputs allow for passive, powered amp, or a combination of the two. The speaker even has it's own volume contol if your system amplifier can't provide that function. A fourth knob is used to change the subwoofer output based upon the input (music or movie). This control has very little affect and we often forget to use it. Other reviews state that the Yamaha does not rattle windows. That may be true. It does, however, provide the vibrations that one is looking for and the bass that completes the proper sound for a movie. If you are looking for a device that rattles windows and over-powers the other frequencies, buy a larger unit. We suppose that rattling could be provided with the Yamaha but the volume would drive many of us out of the house. This unit is small, handsome, terribly underpriced, and quite impressive. It's not a unit that we will ever replace. If you have a subwoofer in the trunk of your car that is heard blocks away, don't think about buying this unit. If, however, you want to enjoy a good movie with all the frequencies balanced at a theater level volume, the Yamaha could be for you. It certainly is great for those of us in condos and townhomes.