AudioSource SW Fifteen 200-Watt Powered Subwoofer

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Product Details

Product Manual [233kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 20 x 16 x 20 inches ; 61 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 54 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001OXQE
• Item model number: SW Fifteen
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,407 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 15, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Review
The AudioSource SW Fifteen pounds out 200 watts of low-end power, bringing high-impact slam to action DVDs and greater ambient detail and instrumental heft to your favorite music.

A variable low-pass filter (LPF) lets you tailor the sub's output to your existing speakers. By setting the LPF high (toward 180 Hz), you can fill in the bass for bookshelf speakers that may have little bass output. If you use a lower setting (toward 40 Hz), the sub supplements and perceptually deepens the output from larger, floorstanding speakers.

You get more than just the basics here: the SW Fifteen comes with a phase-invert switch for placement flexibility (to help align the crests and dips of the different sound waves when the SW Fifteen and your main speakers are in different places) and auto-on signal sensing for power conservation.

You can hook up the SW Fifteen in one of two ways. In the first case, you can feed the sub one or two RCA-tipped line-level signals from your preamplifier or surround receiver. (The sub has two inputs, but many receivers offer only one subwoofer output, which is fine.) Using this method, your receiver can most effectively route the LFE (low-frequency effects) channel from Dolby Digital or DTS surround programs directly to your subwoofer. The SW Fifteen offers two RCA outputs (really just throughputs) in case you want to send the signal along to a second subwoofer or power amplifier.

Alternately, you can run speaker cable from your receiver to the SW Fifteen and then from the sub's outputs to your front-left and -right speakers. This results in a more seamless transition from the subwoofer to your speakers, as the signal arriving at your speakers has already been filtered through the SW Fifteen's internal crossover (the variable LPF discussed above). If you plan to listen to stereo music with your subwoofer, this might be the way to go.

Our biggest gripe with the SW Fifteen is that it offers clip-type speaker terminals rather than banana-type (five-way binding posts). It still sounds good, but just be sure you have pin-tipped cables or bare-wire tips if you intend to use the speaker-cable hook-up method.

The SW Fifteen has one feature that few subwoofers at any price offer: a variable-crossover knob that clicks when turned, allowing greater precision in selecting points between 40 and 180 Hz (the 80 and 120 Hz points are marked).

The SW Fifteen does an excellent job with power handling. There's plenty of reserve here, and the bass itself plows quite deep. What the sub gains in depth and power, however, it loses in definition--fans of taut, punchy bass might want to look elsewhere (but be prepared to sacrifice some of the ultradeep tones if you stay at this price.

With careful placement and painstaking adjustment of both the level and the crossover frequency, the SW Fifteen can be quite pleasing, though, especially when it's supplementing nearly full-range speakers with extra body and low-end solidity. --Michael Mikesell

Pros:

• Great value
• Lots of power
• Produces deep bass
• Fine-tunable crossover knob
• Rugged construction
• Flexible set-up options

Cons:

• Clip-type speaker-cable terminals
• Slightly tubby sound
• Lacks the bass definition of better-made subs

Product Description
For over 25 years, AudioSource has provided high quality amplifiers, preamplifiers, equalizers, indoor/outdoor speakers, in-wall speakers, powered subwoofers and surround sound processors for value conscious audio enthusiasts. Powered subwoofers have become a necessary part of any complete audio/visual system, particularly for home theater. Your normal speakers can only pick up a certain range of sounds, leaving the very lowest frequencies unheard. Powered subwoofers fill in those blanks. For years, AudioSource has been offering fine powered subwoofers at excellent prices.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended without reservations., July 11, 2001

By	Jesus M. Guerra Cuellar "V Generacion" (Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought my SW Fifteen at Amazon...The thing was very heavy and quite large. I decided to place it as suggested, at least about 3 feet from the side and rear walls. My main speakers are a pair of Klipsch La Scala’s which are extremely efficient and can play very loud with very low distortion but are somewhat restricted in the very low end, so the ideal match would be a subwoofer which could play equally loud and that could go deeper into the low end. After reading the consumer reviews on the Audiosource SW Fifteen I decided to give it a try. After a lot of tweaking with the crossover and the level setting I got the most balanced sound at about 45 hz for the crossover and about 1 o’clock for the level control. Because I wanted to use it for home theater as well as music I went with the high level connection. I had an Audio Pro SW-50 subwoofer for about 8 years until very recently I decided to give it to my kid brother. This subwoofer was very revolutionary in its time and I paid [lots of money] for it. There is just no comparison. The SW Fifteen is absolutely fantastic. There are opinions about it being boomy, maybe because the crossover is set too high. I think it is better suited for systems with bass capable main speakers. In my case, with the setting at about 45 Hz, it sounds better than anything I have ever heard (including the velodyne’s and the M&K’s). The included test CD is helpful up to a point because the test tones have center frequencies to far apart. I found the Stereophile’s test CD to be better for fine-tuning the subwoofer blend with the main speakers. After the tweaking I played one of my favorite movies on DVD, Crimson Tide (chapter 18 has some fierce explosions). My room was shaken. Quite an experience. In the included test CD, tracks 10 to 14, the bass is extremely well defined and extends quite deep. How can Audiosource develop such a marvel for less...is a mistery. The bottom line is that it is one of the best subwoofers I have ever heard regardless of price. Recommended without reservations.

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for the price, January 16, 2000

By A Customer

This is a fair quality subwoofer. It is a very good price and has a lot of power. On my system the SW15 plays frequencies as low as 22hz, which is impressive. The bass is not as punchy or resonating as higher-priced models (Cerwin Vega, Velodyne) and sound reproduction is not as clean. But this sub is good for the price, especially if you don't want to spend much more than $1000 on your stereo system.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars T-Rex A'Comin!!, November 21, 2001

By	"trigger_books" (The best part of California) - See all my reviews

Our main interest in buying this subwoofer was to give our home theatre system some of the low-end impact you feel at the movies and for that use it's a success. I spent the first evening running through bits and pieces of Jurassic Park, Top Gun and Independence Day, messing with the crossover point and level control and eliciting some interesting harmonics from our china cabinet. Yeah, it's that powerful. I'm going to replace the cheap speaker-wire clips with binding posts: hence the 4 stars. At this price I'm not worried about whether or not doing so voids the warranty! Other than the terminals, I'd give it a five. Oh: be prepared to let your subwoofer replace an end table or something: the guy is big. BUY this sub if you want the true theatre low end but don't expect to hide it under the couch.