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Klipsch SW-115 Review


n8g

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Since I received my new Klipsch SW-115 today, I figured I would start a new thread. I have not had a chance to do any calibration or fine tuning. I plugged it in and left the settings the same as my last subwoofer, a Velodyne DEQ-12R. My wife had surgery earlier today so it will be a day or two until I can thoroughly set up the SW-115. I will give the sub some time to break in before I really put it through its paces.

Initial impressions:

This thing is HUGE!!! I had it shipped to my work. It arrived while I was out. When I walked in, everyone was standing around it. Their comments were along the lines of "Your wife is not going to be happy!" The shipping box was slightly damaged even though it arrived on a pallet by itself. The sub was not damaged. I had a hard time getting through the door. It barely fits. To get the box into the basement I had to lay it on its side and slide it down the stairs. I recommend finding a friend to help. The box is large because the grill does not ship attached to the sub. If it was, the box would be about 4 inches shorter.

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Unboxing:

Nothing special here. It comes with a manual and a power cord. I was disappointed that the supplied power cord is an 18 guage cord the size of a cable box power cord. I already had a 12 guage cord in place from my previous sub so I was not worried. To get the sub out of the box I had to open the top and flip the box over. I could not lift the sub out of the box right side up. It is too large and heavy for only one person. The sub had no cosmetic flaws.

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First listen:

I did no calibration and I have not re-run Audessey yet. I replaced a Velodyne DEQ-12R, a subwoofer that I really like. (It now lives in the living room.) But like most of you, it is tough to stop upgrading. The Velodyne plays down to only 25Hz. I set the new sub's crossover to 150Hz because it does not have a bypass feature. And I set the receiver's crossover to 80Hz. I set the gain to about the 12 o'clock position. Check my sig for the list of associated equipment. The SW-115 definitely has more authority in the lower octaves. I am not yet sure if the 40Hz - 80Hz is lacking or I am not used to a sub that can play down to 20Hz! My wife is still asleep recovering so I have not yet turned up the volume. But low volume listening is pleasing so far.

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I hope your wife recovers soon. I'm not just saying that because I want to read the bigger review....

When I saw the BluRay leaning against the sub I got a good perspective on it's size. Big! It fits into the room nicely. I think you have the exact same TV I have at my lake house.

Looking forward to the review.

Craig

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Please note: I have no test equipment other than my 5 senses. This review is purely opinion. Enjoy!

I finally had some time to play with the sub and its settings. I have it dialed in pretty good so far but I may try to tweak it a little to see if there is a more favorable setup possible. The only changes I made to the Auddyssey settings was that I turned the gain up to -3. I would definitely classify the SW-115 as a big subwoofer, but after looking at it for a few days, it doesn't seem to be as big as I initially thought. As of right now I am having the same issue as another person with on-axis response being a bit low. I sit about 15 degrees off-axis and the sub sounds great. Where my wife sits, directly in front of the sub, there is a considerable drop in decibels. While this may be a problem for some, it is great for me because I don't have to hear "Can you turn it down a little? It's too loud." This could be a problem with the room itself but I never noticed with the previous sub. I never critically listened to the old sub, though.

The first few video clips I tested are clips I have heard on many peoples' systems. They were all in the Dolby TrueHD format. The first clip was The Art of Flight, a video funded by Red Bull about extreme snowboarders. The scene labeled "Alaska" shows people heli-boarding fresh snow with a techno/dubstep sound track playing in the background. With the RF-82 II and RC-62II front sound stage the sub blended really well. There is no deep bass here so it gave me a chance to listen for 30-50 Hz response. In the past I felt 15" subs could not sound as "fast" as a smaller woofer. However, the SW-115 had no issues here.

The next clip was the Dolby Labs' Dolby Spheres Trailer. It is a computer generated clip to show off the discrete channels of a 7.1 system. The surround effects are pretty good as all the multicolored spheres bounce onto the screen from behind the viewer. The LFE track plays rather low. The SW-115 played the clip with authority. The bass was fast and as tight as the Klipsch SW-110 and other smaller subs I have heard from Velodyne, Paradigm, and PSB.

Affter hearing those two scenes, it made me dive into my DVD collection to re-watch a few of the movies I have seen many times. The next two movies were standard DVDs and their accompanying Dolby soundtracks. First was the scene in Transformers where the chopper labelled 4500X makes its way to the USAF base. I turned the system up a bit for this scene to hear what the sub could do. (I am sure it was well below a reference level.) The SW-115 created enough pressure in the room that it caused the door to the laundry room to pulsate. Not rattle from the bass. But actually open and close with the change in air pressure! The old Velodyne DEQ-12R could never do that!

The next movie was Tom Cruise's War of The Worlds. I picked the scene just after the lightning storm when the machines wake up for the first time. Again I was impressed. Not only does the SW-115 have more presence in the room due to its ability to play lower than I was used to, but its ability to do it rather effortlessly is impressive. The sub never felt stressed or its dynamics compressed.

I switched back to Bluray to watch the remastered scene from Jurassic Park where the T-Rex escapes its pen for the first time. If my parents would have had the same home theater system I have now, I would have crapped my pants as a kid. The level of dynamics the LFE track has in this scene is impressive. The breathing and growling if the T-Rex shakes the whole room. When I watched the movie as a child it was all about what your eyes saw on our 25" TV screen. Now it is about the emotional connection you make with the characters as the stomping of the dinosaur shakes you in your seat!

The last scene I watched a few times was DTS's DTS Paint Symphony. The bass in this track can make a less powerful sub distort. When the director turns on the "Master Audio" switch and the bass kicks in, it isn't a particularly pleasing bass note. I have heard the Klipsch SW-110 and SW-112 distort here. The SW-115 did not. In defense of the smaller subs that can't play this track with authority, they were probably too small and underpowered for the rooms they were in.

My older DEQ-12R subwoofer is a great sub. A sub I really like. I am glad I still have it in my upstairs living room system. However, the SW-115 is a good addition for my basement system. It can do everything the smaller 12" subwoofer can do. But it can play lower and louder with no signs of distortion or compression. The sub blends very well into my system but can really pound out the bass notes when it needs to. I am sure I could over drive the SW-115 but my ears, wife, and house's foundation would not appreciate it. I give the SW-115 two enthusiastic thumbs up! I was willing to sell it if I didn't like I didn't like it. That won't happen any time soon.

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N8g,

Great review.

Very objective opinions(hard to do without bias) and a thorough review with many different source materials. Some of those scenes(WOTW) are hard to reproduce without significant distortion but I am glad to hear the SW-115 could handle the workout.

Now a comprehensive review with more music source material is in order. A little Norah Jones and maybe Natalie Merchant to throw at the SW-115 some jazzy pop'ish pieces with good midbass and kick drums to really hear how musical this sub is.

Thanks again for the great review and maybe now the anti-SW115 "nay-sayers" crowd will be a little more objective with the comments.

Bill

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The next clip was the Dolby Labs' Dolby Spheres Trailer. It is a computer generated clip to show off the discrete channels of a 7.1 system. The surround effects are pretty good as all the multicolored spheres bounce onto the screen from behind the viewer. The LFE track plays rather low. The SW-115 played the clip with authority. The bass was fast and as tight as the Klipsch SW-110 and other smaller subs I have heard from Velodyne, Paradigm, and PSB.

The last scene I watched a few times was DTS's DTS Paint Symphony. The bass in this track can make a less powerful sub distort. When the director turns on the "Master Audio" switch and the bass kicks in, it isn't a particularly pleasing bass note. I have heard the Klipsch SW-110 and SW-112 distort here. The SW-115 did not. In defense of the smaller subs that can't play this track with authority, they were probably too small and underpowered for the rooms they were in.

Did you find these for download on the internet? I can not seen to figure how to download from utube any more.

Anyone found anywhere to download all of these to be able to burn on dvd? All I can do is watch/listen on my computer.

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Thank you for taking the time to critique this sub. It sounds like an excellent home theater sub, and it is reasonably priced with dealer discount.

I wonder what it would sound like in one of the front or back corners. Perhaps one of these positions would reduce the room mode effects some. It sounds like you are getting a good bit of cabin gain if your doors are aspirating open and closed. That's remarkable!

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Thank you for the review, it is so nice that you share the pictures when you are unpacking it. It feels like I'm getting a new piece of gear and I love that feeling. I know I didn't but I guess I get excited for other when they get something new. Good for you, ENJOY!

P.S. I hope the wife is doing fine.[Y]

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Nice review! Has anyone got experience of BK Monolith+ DF? How does this compare to it, here in Finland they share almost the same price.

I'm hunting a movie sub to my bunker and it's hard to decide since there are not any real audio hardware stores near to go and hear different equipment.

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I plan on listening to a bunch of music this weekend. And a few more movies. I will report back throughout the weekend. I am toying with the idea of an upgrade or two...

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