Yamaha NSSW050 Powered Subwoofer with 8 Driver - Black

I upgraded my home set-up to a Denon AVR-S760H and needed a new subwoofer as my previous Sony AVR had a passive sub so it couldn't be repurposed unlike the speakers which will suffice until I upgrade them. Having purchased the new receiver my budget wasn't large for a new sub I know Yamaha as a quality brand. I did some research and found a mixture of negative and positive reviews but at the price I felt it was worth the potential risk. After a few days of using the sub I have only positive things to say about it. Quality wise it's construction is sturdy and the design although unremarkable is sleek and unobtrusive. The power switch is the only issue, remembering to switch it on (although I leave it on all day). An auto power function would've been ideal but is no deal breaker. In terms of sound quality and power I have only had the volume set to 5/10 and it is more than enough volume. There is no distortion and the sound profile deals with subtle and overt mixes with great clarity. I've christened it with a viewing of Deep Horizon and Star Wars the Force Awakens which are both favourites of mine for 5.1 tracks, selecting the 4k Dolby atmos mix for both and it was pretty impressive. In short I've found it to be a quality sub with great sound reproduction at a reasonable price and have no complaints. I would recommend this Yamaha subwoofer to anyone on a budget who still wants quality bass reproduction.

I have a pioneer SX s30 DAB receiver and a few months ago bought and connected up yamaha NS-F51 floorstanding speakers. The receiver is a 2.1 system and has an RCA socket for subwoofer and therefore I was looking for a fairly simple, but well made/regarded sub to connect up. This sub (NSSW050) has this connection, an on off switch and a volume control and fits the bill. You cannot change the crossover at the sub, but I knew this was OK as my receiver has this control. So if buying this sub you need to make sure your amp/receiver can control the out put to the sub. set-up: The floorstanding speakers are advertised as going to 43Hz. My receiver allows you to choose speakers as small (bookshelf size) or large (floorstanding). then you can set up the cossover frequency (50, 80, 100, 150 0r 200hz)- I used the 50Hz since the main speakers also go quite low and some sources recommend a small amount of overlap. Next is setting up the volume control on the sub, it is recommended as 12oclock position (50%?) which works well- higher or lower adjusts the ratio between it and the main speakers. The idea is to have the sub as part of the system to compliment and not dominate the other speakers- good advise I used from youtube (Paul from PS audio) is that the sub should please in a way that you think it is from the speakers in general and not localised from the sub. Of course others may want their system to sound like a hotrod driving by and if that is the case the sub can be turned up, but this product will not work so well in those circumstances ( probably not large or powerful enough). I did try it and the quality decreases. In summary for just over £100 this product fits the bill in a simple setup when you want to add low frequencies to films/music and have the sound as a subtle addition in a medium living room (5m x 4.5m). The product is well made and blends in with my other speakers.

I have a Bluesound Powernode DAC and amp, alongside a pair of Mission MX3 floor standing speakers. I've been using Tidal HiFi with this setup for a year or two and was fairly happy with the sound, but sometimes the bottom end seemed a bit weak. The Mission speakers have a dedicated 5 inch woofer, compared to the 8 inch driver on the Yamaha unit. The Powernode amp has a separate sub woofer output, so I decided to purchase this Yamaha speaker to see if it would help. It's wasn't that expensive and seemed to be well reviewed. The Bluesound app lets you set the cross-over for the sub woofer, which I've set at 80hz. Well, it definitely makes a difference. Now the Mission speakers are handling everything above 80hz and then handing the bass over to the sub woofer. On some tracks, you suddenly feel the bass in your chest as the sub woofer kicks in, but more generally the extra bass just fills out the music. And, since the Mission speakers are no longer trying to handle the full dynamic range, they also sound better. So, my music sounds the best it ever has, which is all I can reasonably ask at this price.