Dayton Audio SUB-1200 12" Powered Subwoofer

Updated review: I wish I would have puchased two Dayton Audio SUB-1200 Subwoofers 4 years ago, instead of only one. These subwoofers truly deliver low frequencies which you can actually feel & hear, unlike the bass shakers which only vibrate to the bass frequencies & produce absolutely no sound. You can verify this youself with Parts Express Technical support. Additionally, this is simply plug & play w/o having to purchase an additional amplifiers as required with the bass shakers. However, you'll definitely need to use an SPL Meter to calibrate your subwoofers separately. Remember to disconnect your other subwoofers, before calibrating! I recommend using the Digital SPL meter by Radio Shack, which makes calibrating very easy. Use C weighting with slow response. I recommend positioning the back of the subwoofer exactly 7 inches away from the wall corner & exactly 4 inches away from the side corner of wall for maximum bass response. (or vice versa depending upon space restrictions) I positioned the subwoofer in an used closet behind my sofa with the door shut. This is considered a NO NO, but using an SPL meter will definitely be required to eliminate closet door vibrations or the unpleasant boomy sound. I recommend postioning the front of the subwoofer 4 inches away from the back of your sofa, if your sofa is not placed near a corner wall, if you want to experience the bass shaker effect. Note: Postion the SPL meter by the subwoofer as if you were sitting in front of it about 4 inches away & at ear level position. If you use a Hometheater PC you may need to adjust the equalizer settings, if you use to maximize the effects &/or to reduce the effects. If you patiently do everything I suggest, you should be thrilled with the results you get. The sound & bass shaker effect appears very natural & realistic. Please let me know if this review helped you in any way by clicking the yes button. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Original Review "The Dayton Audio SUB-1200 Subwoofer Delivers Deep Quality Bass 25-30Hz... You'll Feel & Appreciate (But Not Your Neighbors) Are you kidding me? A subwoofer for only $129 with free shipping claiming 25Hz frequencies? Try comparing against HSU, SVS, Klipsch, Velodyne, BIC & Polks 12 inch Subwoofers. As you may know you'll pay 3x & more for a subwoofer which can truly produce 30Hz & lower bass frequencies. True this subwoofer won't reach beyond 25Hz, but the audio frequencies of almost all music & movies typically don't extend beyond 30Hz with a few extending as low as 25Hz. The frequency output is predetermined. 30-25Hz will satisfy virtually everybody- even serious audiophiles. Which is why this subwoofer is a true an underrated little-known gem. Note: I highly recommend ordering this subwoofer as it truly does delivers deep bass 30-25Hz for an absolute bargain. This is rare to find such a hidden value like this especially if you appreciate high end audio. I really you won’t be disappointed. Continue reading if you want to discover tips which may appreciate trying. Here’s My Story: I'm thinking, this must be total garbage or it's completely constructed out of cheap low grade materials. (However, my assumption was wrong) Do you have any idea how much a quality subwoofer costs which can really deliver 30Hz & under low frequencies? These are the frequencies you need & want for surround sound effects & for the effects of live music. Do you realize you'll pay on the average $500-$1000 & more for such a subwoofer, which does not include the high cost of shipping? I accidentally discovered this subwoofer after reading another Amazon reviewers positive review with a high end system posted elsewhere. At the time I was just searching & had limited funds, but the review sold me on testing it. So I decided it was worth taking the risk under Amazons return policy. I honestly I felt like an eager kid ordering a pair of X-ray see-thru glasses from a comic book with great expectations. Within 4 days of ordering I received a HUGE heavy box. The shipping alone would cost almost the price of this subwoofer to ship an item this heavy & securely packaged! After unpacking the box sealed within another box. I placed the subwoofer in the front right hand corner of my living room for maximum bass amplication. Note: Don’t use equal distance for best results. For example: Place 6 inches away from front wall & perhaps 9 inches away from side wall with driver aimed toward wall for bass amplification. However, this may or may not work for you depending on your sound acoustics/environment-just test it. Now I turned the crossover frequency dial to the max to allow my receivers crossovers to control the low frequencies. Then I turn the subwoofers phase switch off. Note: Leave on the phase switch, if you have another matching subwoofer placed diagonally across the corner from the other matching subwoofer. For best results for calibrating/fine tuning the frequencies of the subwoofer to match my surround speakers. I used a Radio Shack SPL meter (sound pressure level meter). Use either analog or digital. I have both but prefer the digital. Don't be cheap & rely on your ears, audiophile or not. Today’s receivers have this already, but I don’t trust the accuracy. I recommend using the Radio Shack SPL meter & no other substitutes. From experience other SPL meters are simply not accurate. Expect to pay from $15 to $50 used & $50 new. You won't be disappointed. The Radio Shack SPL meter will help unlock the full potential of any subwoofer like The Dayton Audio SUB-1200 Subwoofer. For example, instead of hearing the music I can literally feel the music even at low volume levels. It's like experiencing the sound impact of an IMAX theater. It's hard to believe or even explain. Definitely test your favorite music & movies as a demo. The Dayton Audio SUB-1200 Subwoofer will compel you to feel like you’re actually experiencing a movie like "Saving Private Ryan". It almost literally feels like you're there experiencing the action. Whatever you do, absolutely use the Radio Shack SPL meter along with an audio calibration disc for aligning matching the frequencies of your subwoofer & satellite speakers to get true 3-D surround sound. Or use the SPL meter within your receiver’s remote control. Furthermore you'll want to use an audio calibration disc from either Avia or Video Essential together with the SPL meter to match the loudness of your subwoofer with your front left speaker for seamless audio. Actually I recommend you get the "Disney WOW: World of Wonder [Blu-ray or DVD sold on Amazon with rave reviews. Save your money & just order the 1 disc version as you don't need the 2nd disc. You can download WOW Technical Manual from disney.com, which you should read before receiving your disc. [...]Thanks!

Well this WAS offered at an incredible price. I don't know if it still is. this is a great subwoofer! Its rather large, and it has a great sound as a result. It has clear lows and its a powerful unit. I keep the gain knob down on this one. Especially for late night movie watching. I found this subwoofer in a rather round a bout fashion. I have a nice Yamaha 7.2 Surround Sound system for my 47 inch HDTV, and up till now I have been buying only Klipsch Speakers for it.Ffor this is my "main" system. Of course I can'tt afford the real high end Klipsch line, so I have bought the more affordable Icon and Synergy speakers. I never bought my subwoofer as I kept watching the Klipsch brand subs and they were just too expensive for me.. However I saw one Klipsch subwoofer on "sale" but while reading through the reviews, this one reviewer commented that unless you pay top dollar for a Klpisch Sub, this Dayton Audio Sub-1200 was impressively less costly and had an incredible sound that he matched up with his other Klipsch speakers. He highly recommended the Dayton 12 inch and said the Dayton 10 inch was not really good. So I clicked over to the Dayton 12 inch, and saw there was like mostly 5 star reviews. A couple of four stars and nothing lower. So I bought this. It came in very fast, and really well packed. It has this very nice almost furniture finish to it. It has a very nice look to it. It is very easy to use, as I just plugged it into my subwoofer out port on my Surround Stereo, and it started working right away. It does have other types of possible connections, but I am not a tech specialist when it comes to super advanced wiring of speakers through Subs, etc.. This Subwoofer did need a "break in" period. Most of the speakers I buy need a good 100-200 hour break in period. Especially the Klipschs. At first I didn't hear the bass clearly but after using it for about a week, it started breaking in, and rapidly became incredibly clear and crisp and very strong! It has a regular front end speaker in it, and a "down-firing" open port.. There was a little confusion as to whether the speaker itself was aimed downward. I know it sounds silly, but I just wanted to clarify that the speaker is not "aimed" downward. This is a great Subwoofer that will really be a great addition to anybody's Surrround System. When its all on and its during the day or early evening when I won't be torturing my neighbors, I turn the volume up, pop in a Blue Ray disc, and I swear! It sounds like I am in a movie theater. This Sub really makes the whole system sound very "Real." I highly recommend it... Now that I have it, I cannot even imagine not using it.

Cuando compré este Subwofer mis expectativas no eran realmente altas, siendo un equipo económico en comparación con otros Subwofers del mismo tamaño, pero debo reconocer que superó por mucho mis expectativas. Su diseño es muy peculiar y atractivo visualmente al no ser completamente cuadrado, ni rectangular, encajando perfecto en una sala de tv. No es quizá el mejor subwofer para escuchar música con punchs rápidos como el rock, teniendo mucha mejor respuesta en géneros que presentan bajos prolongados (todo esto quizá a la acústica particular de mi casa), pero si de efectos especiales de películas hablamos, definitivamente este sí es su terreno. Si quieres tener buenos bajos y no tienes posibilidades de gastar en Subwofers más caros, entonces esta es tu mejor opción por relación calidad-precio.

Estuve checando los sony, casi compro un pionner, no te dejes ir por la marca "Desconocida" la verdad truena durísimo, estoy usando el gain (volumen) a la mitad y sacude los libreros :D excelente compra..... 7 AÑOS DESPUES .... estoy pensando en compar otro igual para otro cuarto

Works great as a budget sub that can dig down to below 30hz in room. The subwoofer input jack is a bit finicky and requires a bit more voltage to actually engage the auto wake up feature, so I just left the sub on instead of on auto.

Esta fue mi segunda compra despues de probar el subwoofer pionner de Andrew Jones. Conserve todas las bocinas menos el subwoofer, lo cambie por este Dayton y el sonido mejoro mucho! Realmente se aprecia la diferencia, yo creo que valio la pena el costo extra ya que la experiencia sonora gano mucho.

Buen producto, le hace falta mayor calidad de ensamble! Suena muy bien pero eso no lo hace el mejor de su categoría