Customer Reviews

Yamaha YST-SW225 Advanced YST II and QD-Bass Subwoofer, Black

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

 

 

As I have surround sound systems in several rooms of my home, I own quite a few subwoofers. Although I have purchased subs from different manufacturers, I have found that Yamaha subs give the biggest bang (or thump) for the buck. The YST-SW225 is no exception to this rule and I have found it to be a superb little sub-bass speaker.

I purchased the YST-SW225 for our master bedroom, to provide some extra depth to the sound of our Yamaha YSP-800 Digital Sound Projector, which is mounted directly below our 32" LCD television. Both our TV and sound projector are mounted to the wall of our bedroom. The SW225 subwoofer sits on the floor, below the TV and sound projector, between our dresser and a curio cabinet. This sub enclosure measures 11 7/8" (W) x 13 3/4" (H) x 13 3/4" (D), and weighs roughly 25 lbs. Although it's not extremely small, this sub really doesn't take up that much room. It is a fairly square shaped box with a flat surface, so you can always sit something on top of it if you desire. I have found that the cabinet of the speaker doesn't vibrate much so we can sit things on top of it, provided that they are heavy enough to not jiggle around too easily. Since we are using this sub with the Yamaha sound projector, we use a mono subwoofer composite cable (RCA plug type) to connect the two devices together. It is magnetically shielded, so this subwoofer can be placed next to anything without worry of magnetic interference from the speaker itself.

The YST-SW225 subwoofer utilizes two technologies that are unique to Yamaha.

* Advanced YST - Advanced Yamaha Active Servo Technology is a unique system in which the speaker and amplifier work together to cancel out impedance so the speaker unit has a perfectly linear motion. Advanced YST helps to ensure the highest levels of sound pressure and overall performance.

* QD-Bass Technology - Quatre Dispersion Bass technology uses down-firing drivers with square, pyramid-shaped reflective plates to radiate the sound efficiently in four horizontal directions. The reflective plates negate any effects caused by the floor surface and reduce resonance between sound waves reflected from the floor and the unit.

I don't know much about Advanced YST and QD-Bass Technology, but I do know this subwoofer sounds great. Although relatively small, this little speaker box packs quite a punch, and fills the room with deep sound that you can feel as well as hear. Our subwoofer is used primarily for watching movies, and I am extremely pleased with the room shaking sound that the SW225 can produce during scenes with explosions, gun fire, or any other movie elements that require a lot of boom. I have also tested the SW225 with music, by hooking an iPod to the YSP-800 Digital Sound Projector. There is a button, on the subwoofer control panel, that lets you select "Movie" or "Music" mode. There is a noticeable sound difference between the two modes, so a user would definitely want to utilize this button when switching between watching movies and listening to music. The control panel, which is located on the back of the subwoofer, also contains a volume knob, an auto standby (on/off) switch, a high cut filter (on/off) switch, and a high cut filter adjustment knob. The auto standby feature is very handy, as it allows the subwoofer to power itself up when it receives sound and goes into standby (sleep) mode when no sound is present after about 5 minutes. Power consumption, while in standby mode, is only 0.5 watts, so I personally love the convenience of the auto standby feature. If you prefer to power the subwoofer on and off manually, the power switch is also located on the back of the unit, but is mounted lower on the cabinet, rather than on the control panel itself. Next to the on/off power switch is also a Phase Control switch, so you can select whether you want the sub to work in normal or reverse phase. I will not go into what phase changing does to the sound, but audiophiles will understand that reversing the phase would be the same as reversing the positive and negative wire connections on the back of a loudspeaker. It simply changes whether the speaker cone moves inward or outward to produce sound waves.

The high cut filter adjustment control works very well, allowing you to determine the high-end frequency cutoff of the speaker. Obviously a subwoofer is meant to produce very low frequency sounds, so being able to cut out somewhat higher frequencies can produce much cleaner, punchier bass sound. This control allows you to customize the bass sound to best match the speakers that you have producing the higher frequencies. When set correctly you should experience a full bodied sound, without any dropouts in the frequency range between the main speakers and the subwoofer.

Here are some technical specs of the YST-SW225:

* Advanced YST Technology
* QD Bass Technology
* High Efficiency Power Amplifier: 120-watts nominal / 150-watts dynamic power
* Multi-Range Driver: 8" Cone
* Phase Control Switch: Normal or Reverse
* High Cut Filter: 40 - 140 Hz
* Auto Standby
* Bass Action Selector System: Movie Mode or Music Mode
* Inputs: Line-level in (RCA phono x 2), Speaker-level in (push type x 2)
* Outputs: Speaker-level pass-through (push type x 2)
* Frequency Response: 28 - 200 Hz (-10 dB)
* Warranty: 2 years (parts & labor)

Overall I have been extremely pleased with the Yamaha YST-SW225 subwoofer. Although I wish the cabinet was available in a medium oak color, the black cabinet fits in well with most of today's stereo equipment. It is small enough to hide behind a piece of furniture but looks good enough to leave out in plain view. There is an air outlet port on one side, so you will want to make sure to place the cabinet in an area where the air can escape without restriction, otherwise the sound will be affected in a negative way. A few inches of clearance should prove adequate for the air to move freely. The speaker cone itself is located on the bottom of the cabinet, which fires down toward the floor and therefore doesn't require any special clearance. The bass produced by the YST-SW225 subwoofer is very solid and punchy, and gives very little audible distortion at moderate volume levels. However, when pushed to extremely high volume levels, the sound can become sloppy and distorted. I feel that this subwoofer is excellent for a bedroom or small living room, but would not be well suited for a very large room. Our master bedroom measures roughly 16' x 14', and this subwoofer is able to fill that room with rumbling bass very well. I leave the SW225 in auto standby mode at all times, as I find this feature to work very well. It should be noted, however, that there is about a 10-second delay before the subwoofer begins working, after it receives a signal from your audio source. This may prove annoying for those that use the subwoofer for music. But for movie watching it really isn't an issue since the sub only misses the first few seconds of the opening music score (usually a movie preview that comes on before the actual movie begins).

I would normally give the Yamaha YST-SW225 subwoofer a 5-star rating. However, during a recent thunderstorm my Yamaha sub stopped working. I would get a power light but the speaker produced no sound. Since the subwoofer was still under warranty I shipped the speaker to the closest certified Yamaha repair facility. The repair shop replaced a couple of electronic components and shipped the speaker back to me in about 3 weeks, at no charge. The subwoofer now works again but the sound it produces is not nearly as good as it had been before. It's hard to explain, but it is just sloppy sounding; distorting at even low volume levels. I contacted the repair facility and they claim that their repair would have no effect on the sound produced by the speaker, as they only replaced parts that provided power to the main control panel. It is possible that the speaker suffered some damage during shipping but it certainly does not produce the same high quality bass that it did before it stopped working. Therefore I have replaced the YST-SW225 with another Yamaha subwoofer (I went with the larger YST-SW315 model), and I am again very happy with the sound I hear while watching movies. Although I do not blame Yamaha for the thunderstorm that obviously damaged the speaker, I do find it concerning that nothing else in my home suffered any damage during the storm. We didn't notice a direct lightning strike during the storm, and the subwoofer was plugged into a good surge protector. Since no other electronic devices were damaged during the storm, I can only assume that the electronics of the YST-SW225 subwoofer must be extremely sensitive to even slight power surges. I am therefore giving this otherwise awesome speaker a 4-star rating. Considering the modest size of this subwoofer cabinet, the YST-SW225 delivers some amazing low-end thump. I highly recommend this speaker for those looking to add some depth to their existing sound system; if located in a small or medium sized room.

It booms, makes a lot of rumbly good sounds, and the controls are very accessible. I have mine hooked into the Yamaha YSP-800 82-Watt Digital Sound Projector. Hooked together the two are a great combo, and the quality is surprisingly good.

Great subwoofer for the size and price. I'm using it with a Yamaha amp and bose front, back, and middle. Bose doesnt like it and will tell you to use their entire system but it works great. The video shielding was a big plus for me because I have it directly under my Sharp Aquos monitor.

Great sound and looks.It looks as if it was made for Sharp 46 LCD.Bought to replace Bose non powered subwoofer and the difference is amazing