Home > Consumer Reviews > Klipsch Synergy KSW12 12-inch 105-watt Powered Subwoofer

Having heard this sub while back, I have to agree with the first reviewer. It's acceptable for HT use, but poor for music; regardless of their nonsense about dynamic power.

Although, movies may get away with "large, short-term peaks of power", many music will demand nearly constant, power. In virtually all movies, special effects and sound tracks last only a few seconds; all most all of it is a dialog between the actors. Certainly, there is no bass in dialogs. Music is different. I mean, how often do you hear a couple note of bass, followed by few more notes several minutes later?

I'm not sure where some of the reviewers get their information, but there is no such thing as a "crisp & sharp" bass. Crisp & sharp implies, fast rise time, which means there are significant higher harmonic(high frequency) contents in the sound. Anyone who understand the concept of harmonics and Fourier series should understand this. The "crisp & sharp" part of the "bass" comes from the satellites. The most common reason why some bass sounds muddy/boomy is because of poor integration between the satellites and the sub or due to the standing waves caused by the sub-room interaction.

I also don't get how anyone can get "imaging" from a mono sub. Even if you use two subs, low frequency sounds are difficult to localize. This is the very reason why you can place the subs significant distance from the satellites.

The rattling of the object in the room has EVERYTHING to do with the bass, regardless of the distortion. Obviously, the reviewer has never experienced the room pressurized by two 15" subs driven by 1000+ watt pro-audio amplifier. You can barely hear it, but you will definitely feel it. If you have never heard/felt a real sub, then you really don't have a good reference point to judge the other subs. All you can do is note the significant improvement KSW-12 made over the original 8-inch "sub".

That being said, the KSW-12's low end of the frequency response is bit lacking for an "almost-high end sub". It seemed to struggle with the loud rap, as well as the classical music. For movies, it wasn't as bad. It handled most action scenes well, but combat scenes with exaggerated explosions, the sub clearly ran out of gas.

Objectively, the specs are some what misleading. Why would anyone spec the subs at 1/8-space? I've seen half and 1/4-space specs, but 1/8-space? Also, how dynamic is the "dynamic power"? This sounds too much like my plastic 2" 100 watt(PMPO) multimedia speakers I had back in college.

In short, KSW-12 has respectable volume, but is unsuitable for continuous music with significant bass content. It also doesn't have the low end impact. It's spec are completely unrealistic and you won't get anything near the listed spec in a typical living/family room playing music, or movies with heavy action sequences. In the end, it's only a bit better than a typical consumer level 12" sub.

I see some of the ratings talking about the music sound quality compared to less expensive units.

First of all, read the title of the item. It says Home Theater. I love the thundering response on this unit when I'm watching movies.

Second, once you get the settings right on the subwoofer and your amplifier, the sound it great for music too.

I bought this sub based on the reputation of the company; BIG MISTAKE! Yes, the sub gives decent movie bass but it is almost useless with music. The bass produced by this sub is one note, slow and, although it hits fairly hard, it just doesn't hit you in the gut like it should, it is also somewhat boomy and the crossover is very loose. Overall: I PAID TOO MUCH FOR THIS THING and I am stuck with it. Again: it is decent, but that is all!

Replaced an old Onkyo sub with the Klipsch KSW-12 to mach the rest of the Klipsch speakers i have. A night and day difference compared to the Onkyo,i mostly use it for watching movies and it has more than enough power,shakes the couch from 15 feet away with more power to spare. Awesome sub,A++++++

I have Klipsch surround speakers in my family room and since it is a large room, I wanted a 12" subwoofer. I looked at and listened to several that were quite a bit more expensive. I am no audiophile, but to me the Klipsch sounded just as good as the more expensive ones. It made a tremendous difference in my sound. The only issue I have had is the size. It is so large I can't hide it in a cabinet or anything. But I would have had that problem with any 12" unit.