The YST-SW1500 is Yamaha's current flagship subwoofer, and with good cause. This is no haphazardly made, low-cost product. Rather, it is expertly designed and refined to reproduce the bottom octave in a top-end home theater system, and it certainly delivers the goods.

Unlike most subwoofers that use plastic and thin veneer cabinets, the YST-SW1500's cabinet is constructed with 1-inch-thick wood. This reduces resonance and, when combined with internal bracing, dampens unwanted vibrations. The driver measures 12 inches in diameter, and it employs a dual-bias configuration and a long throw for added acoustic output.

The speaker is driven by a 1,000-watt amplifier designed for efficiency and cool operation even at peak output levels, and the frequency response is rated down to 16Hz. The bass output is precocious and ferocious, with more than enough boom for even the loudest action movie. At the same time, clarity is excellent, making this subwoofer ideal for critical music playback.

The YST-SW1500 includes numerous useful features such as a bass effect selector switch, normal/reverse phase switch, and auto power standby on/off. The subwoofer has both line- and speaker-level connections, the latter using rugged binding posts.

There is also a high-pass filter output to connect satellite speakers, with a cutoff frequency selectable at 80Hz or 100Hz. The low-pass cutoff frequency is adjustable from 40Hz to 140Hz. The low-pass slope is set at -24dB/octave; such a steep slope is desirable for removing unwanted upper frequencies from the subwoofer input.

Volume and other modes can be controlled using the supplied remote control. Although it is usually not critical in a subwoofer due to floor placement, the YST-SW1500 is magnetically shielded to prevent video interference.

With its expansive feature list and immense power, few subwoofers can match the performance of Yamaha's YST-SW1500.

Warranty
2 years