chess

i'm a true believer in the "you get what you pay for" law of home theater. but i may have just taken delivery of the exception.

the Sony SA-WM40 12" 120 watt powered sub might be the best kept secret in home theater.

$167 shipped

now, i know what you're thinking. "a decent speaker, much less a sub from Sony?!?!?!?" it's true, i swear it. but don't take my word for it, check out the reviews on www.audioreview.com. or do a search at the Home Theater Forum hardware forum. somebody over there tested this thing (working from memory here) to 91db at 20hz! granted, it is underported for that territory and was chuffing like crazy, but a $170 sub shouldn't be doing ANYTHING at 20hz.

it produces deep, clean, tight, responsive bass across the frequency range and is very musical. mine is crossed over at 100hz (via the receiver) and sounds fantastic with music and even better with movies. the cabinet has a real quality feel to it. the amp has yet to even get warm on mine and hasn't a hint of hum using the supplied composite cable. i just couldn't be more pleased.

my other sub (an 8" energy) cost me roughly two and a half times as much, and while it's a good sub for it's driver size/wattage, the sony is better.

i know some of you purists out there will scoff, and that's fine, but if you are looking for that first sub or want to augment your system but don't have a ton to invest in HT equipment, this sub IS for you.

hope this helps somebody enter the wonderful world of LFE.

regards,
chess

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

El Scorcho

Where'd you get it for $167 shipped and how long did it take? My JBL is looking like it might not come in for ages and all the Best Buy's in the area are out of stock on the SA-WM40

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Snoochie boochies? Nobody f***ing talks like that -- that is f***ing babytalk!

chess

hey DTSC.

been playing with my new toy all day. still amazed. haven't phased it yet, and most amazing of all, it sounds great with music.

ordered it from:

http://store.yahoo.com/shopsunshine/sonsawacsub.html

wasn't the most reputable looking place, but i couldn't find it in stock anywhere else. i ordered online, but would recommend calling it in so you can be sure they have it in stock. the only online info i got about my order was a notification from UPS saying it shipped.

also, the online confirmation through yahoo shopping quoted $148 plus $10 shipping, but they added $9 afterwards for an oversized box. not a huge deal but is poor business practice. i'm just glad they had the damn thing.

overall, not good, but it came in about a week and i'm happy now which is all that really matters.

the cheapest i found it was at www.inetshopping.com $130 plus shipping. drop them an email and ask if it's in stock. they gave me a pretty prompt response. unfortunately, the answer was no at the time so i moved on.

sears will often price match the above, which might be worth a shot. especially if you're getting impatient.

good luck
chess

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

El Scorcho

Damn you Chess, you went and made me do it -- I just got off the phone with inetshopping.com and they're going to ship one out when they get them in early next week. $154 total! Compare that to $200 at bestbuy and sears!

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Snoochie boochies? Nobody f***ing talks like that -- that is f***ing babytalk!

chess

damn me?

in a few weeks, you'll be thanking me.

early next week, huh?

gonna be a rough wait, but it will be worth it. good news is that they are in CA (i think) so shipping shouldn't take too long.

compare it to $200?

better yet, compare it to the nearly $300 you were about to spend on that JBL (with the suspect amp).

little anecdote:

my ex in-laws were in town this week, and during the street crossing scene in toy story 2 with the rolling pipe, my ex mother in law says "it sounds like an earthquake!"

the ex father in law was also blown away. he heard it the day before i hooked up the sub and voiced doubts about what the sub would add to the experience. he thought the system was already adequate and the sub would just add a bunch of random boom. i showed him jurassic park chapter 11 (t-rex) and he's planning on buying this sub now for his prologic system. that t-rex growl really shows off how tight this sub is. very distinct with rapid low notes where a lesser sub would likely turn it to mush.

he also was asking alot of questions about 5.1 receivers. i think we have a convert.

so anyway, let me know how it goes.

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

Infinity

Dude, I have been looking for a good sub that isn't too expensive! YES

THANK GOD I HAVE A FRIEND WHO WORKS AT SEARS!

X

Can you point it into a couch and still have it sound good?

chess

hope you enjoy it infinity.

x,

i'm not really sure why you would do that. bass is non directional, so you really can place it anywhere, but i've always liked to put some distance between myself and my sub.

is this a room layout thing?

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

LuCiFeR

Why can't we just go to sears and ask them to price match, will it work u think?

Cy Jervis

Yes, sears will price match just bring a printout of the web page with the price. I've had them price match a sony dvp-c660 5 dvd changer at $257 plus tax with a print out of a search at Yahoo shopping.

chess

depends on your local sears i guess. i have heard many success stories of people getting this sub pricematched, but i had no luck.

certainly worth a shot though.

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

El Scorcho

All 4 Sears stores (and all 3 Best Buy's for that matter) were out of stock on this product and wouldn't be receiving any until at least the end of the month. Sounds as if there may be a shortage on this Sub.

Anyway, a word on pricematching. I contacted Sears.com to see if they would pricematch inetshopping.com ($129 instead of $199), and the lady said that you have to email in your pricematch requests and at that point, a sales rep would examine the other store to see if it is a reputable store and not a warehouse or wholesaler or anything.

Now, if you go into the B&M, you may be able to find a schmuck manager who will price match anything. You might even want to try making your own "online store" if you're fluent in HTML and have Sears pricematch it. But that would be cheating the system and I don't advise that. Either way it doesn't matter for me since there aren't any SA-WM40's available in this whole damn state.

ANDREMIKE

quote:<HR>Originally posted by X:
Can you point it into a couch and still have it sound good?<HR>

Its a cat thing..

chess

quote:<HR>Originally posted by ANDREMIKE:
Its a cat thing..<HR>

that's too funny. i'm picturing a sub as a scratching post.

here's what i would do:

stick the cat's head in the port at about 30hz and 100db (otherwise known as leafblower mode), and it will never come within 5 feet of the sub again. you'll probably need a test disk for this.

be sure to do it when your significant other isn't home as this tends to disturb them a bit.

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

Scott

LOL picturing teaching the cat about the beauties of subs! Wouldn't you need four hands? Three to hold the cat, and one to turn up the volume? And I'm curious why the cat uses the sub as a scratching post, but not the couch. I know there is software that diables your keyboard if a number of unrelated keys are hit within a few milliseconds (like a cat walking on the board). Maybe there's a way to have the receiver sense that the cat is scrathcing, and then the beautiful bass comes on. My cats usually fall asleep ON the couch when the HT is in use.

I'd be happy to e-mail some doctored html pages showing better prices if you need them for pricematching. Just tell me which online store and product (URL, please) and what price you'd like to see. That'd be fun.

Scott

chess

isn't there some kind of "spray" to keep cats from scratching furniture? if so, you could spray the baffle.

but my original idea has guaranteed results. unfortunately, the PETA and the ASPCA might not approve (like you needed another reason to do it).

how derailed is this thread?

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

chess

i'll try to reel it back in with some pics:

your grandma could work this thing. controls:


nice port (a cat's head would fit right in there). both types of inputs. even an output for a second sub! also a handy switch for overriding the auto-off:


pretty solid looking 12" driver:


i don't see how they can BUILD much less SELL this thing for $150.

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

troll god

LOL picturing the cat thing!

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I just saw the Terence and Phillip movie. Who want's to touch me? I said, "WHO WANT'S TO FU(KIN TOUCH ME?!"

Patman

Has anyone done a measured frequency response for this sub? How low does it go?


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PatCave ;HT Pix ;Pat's DVDs


[This message has been edited by Patman (edited January 10, 2001).]

chess

Jack Gilvey over at HTF did a pretty unscientific test with a radioshack SPL meter and said he was getting 91dbs at 20hz. he was concerned about doubling, so he compared to 40hz and said he heard a distinct tonal difference from 20hz.

mine drops off pretty rapidly at 30hz, but at those levels, room placement has a pretty big impact and mine is placed kind of goofy.

but at least it's not a cat thing.

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

tbird2340

I got this sub priced matched at Sears for $159. I wish I would have read these posts first to find it cheaper. Anyways, the girl at Sears said that they might stop price matching internet prices because people are creating there own pages and printing them out (just like DTSC mentioned above). She called the manager and asked him if they were still doing it and he told her to look it up on the internet while I was there. She didn't feel like doing it and trusted me so she just matched it. It's not coming in until the 30th though. I couldn't wait so I went and bought the JBL PB10 woofer at Best Buy. I will take it back and get my money back once my Sony comes in. I get more excited hearing all the good reviews about it!!!!

El Scorcho

BTW, if you want an even cheaper sub that may or may not be considered better than the Sony, check your Montgomery Ward's B&Ms. DVDKrayzie posted in another thread that he got a 12" JBL floor firing sub ($479 MSRP) for $80, thanks to MW's bankruptcy.

tbird2340

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Drink 'Til She's Cute:
BTW, if you want an even cheaper sub that may or may not be considered better than the Sony, check your Montgomery Ward's B&Ms. DVDKrayzie posted in another thread that he got a 12" JBL floor firing sub ($479 MSRP) for $80, thanks to MW's bankruptcy.

<HR>

What does B&Ms mean??

chess

B&M = Brick and Mortar

it simply means "a physical retail store" as opposed to an online or mail order business.

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
61" Sony RPTV KP-61S75, Panasonic A-120U, Pioneer VSX-D509S, Energy e:XL-16 front and surround (birch), Energy e:XL-C, Sony SA-WM40

X

quote:<HR>Originally posted by tbird2340:
What does B&Ms mean??<HR>

It means a place that some people rip off as stated here:

quote:<HR>Originally posted by tbird2340:
It's not coming in until the 30th though. I couldn't wait so I went and bought the JBL PB10 woofer at Best Buy. I will take it back and get my money back once my Sony comes in.<HR>