Archived Expert Review


This review is from our archive. The manufacturer has informed us that this model has been discontinued. However, it might still be available for sale. The MSRP and warranty were valid at the time the model was discontinued. We hope you'll find our other Subwoofers reviews and pricing useful.



Expert Review
Yamaha YST-SW1500 subwoofer

Enlarge Image

CG Award:  (what's this?)



Stores Selling:
$.00 - $.00


Expert Rating:  4  (what's this?)

Expert Review

Yamaha YST-SW1500 subwoofer

Date Published: 1/9/08

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



Expert Rating Scale

 
   Value
   Is it appropriately priced?
   Performance
   How well does it work?
   Ease of Use
   How easy is it to operate?
   Features
   What's included?
   Overall
   What does Consumer Guide® think?




Compare Prices on Subwoofers
Yamaha YST-SW216 Subwoofer Speaker photo
Cable, Subwoofer, Magnetically Shielded

Stores Selling: 5
$89.00 -
$130.00
Dual Electronics L12SW Subwoofer Speaker photo
Subwoofer, 120 Watt RMS

Stores Selling: 11
$117.00 -
$175.00
Sony SA-W2500 Subwoofer Speaker photo
Cable, Subwoofer, Magnetically Shielded

Stores Selling: 5
$85.00 -
$100.00



  Looking for More?


Explanations

Expert Reviews
Yamaha YST-SW215 subwoofer
Marantz SW7001 Subwoofer
Yamaha YST-FSW150 Subwoofer
JBL Venue Series SUB12 Subwoofer
Canton Ergo AS 650 SC subwoofer

Prices
Sony SA-W3000 Subwoofer Speaker
Polk Audio PSW111 Subwoofer Speaker
Yamaha YST-FSW100 Subwoofer Speaker
BIC America V-1220 Subwoofer Speaker
Infinity PS212 Subwoofer Speaker



Price Range


Brand


Store


Woofer Material


Power Output




Narrow Your Search


Price Range
Below $170 (64)
$170 - $300 (65)
$300 - $510 (62)
$510 - $900 (63)
Above $900 (63)

Brand
Yamaha (30)
Velodyne (46)
Polk Audio (30)
Definitive (26)
Cerwin Vega (17)

Store
Amazon Marketplace (224)
Amazon (96)
eBay (85)
Vanns.com (46)
OneCall (45)

Woofer Material
Polymer Composite (32)
Fiber (22)
Composite (10)
Poly / Plastic (12)
Kevlar (8)

Power Output
More Than 200 W (34)
161 - 200 W (10)
121 - 160 W (6)
81 - 120 W (17)
41 - 80 W (6)

Back to Personal Shopper







ATTENTION! We recently updated our privacy policy. The changes are effective as of Thursday, October 30, 2008.

To see the new policy, click [here]. Questions? See the policy for the contact information.

Magic Debugger

release: 8.4.3-qa1
content_id: 259530
type: review
category: l4-cp-subwoofers

brws title: Yamaha YST-SW1500 subwoofer Review: Powered by ConsumerGuide and HowStuffWorks

meta d: The Yamaha YST-SW1500 subwoofer features cabinet is constructed with 1-inch-thick wood. Shop wisely after reading Consumer Guide's review.

url: http://shopproducts.howstuffworks.com/Infinity-PS212-Subwoofer-Speaker/SF-1/PID-40892103