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Yamaha YST-SW515 Subwoofer Review by Nick Townsend Overview Yamaha have been manufacturing subwoofers for many years, but sadly many of their designs have been best described as mediocre. They weren’t bad performers, but other manufacturers were doing a better job. However the last two series of subwoofers from Yamaha have seen large improvements, and they now make a number of excellent subwoofers suited to a range of applications and budgets. This review will focus on the middle child of the Yamaha subwoofer family, the YST-SW515. This sub sits above the compact YST-SW215 and YST-SW225, and below the awesome YST-SW1500. Specifications and Setup The YST-SW515 is conventional and relatively restrained in its looks, with the silver highlights around the front controls and side-firing port adding a touch of class. It actually looks like a small version of the YST-SW1500. Build quality and finish is first rate. The ‘515 would be classified as medium in size, measuring 350mm wide, 430mm high and 382mm deep. Weight is a chunky 19kg. It contains a 25cm (10") downward-firing bass driver that is driven by a 250 watt amplifier.
The panel on the front of the unit contains controls for volume and high frequency cutoff adjustment, as well as a ‘music/movie’ button. The ‘music’ mode tightens up bass at the expense of bass depth, while ‘movie’ mode allows for greater bass depth at the expense of accuracy. The ‘on/standby’ button is also accessed via the front panel, while the rocker switch to cut power completely is located on the rear of the unit. Both speaker level (to connect to amplifiers without a subwoofer pre-out jack) and line level (to connect to those A/V receivers with a subwoofer pre-out jack) input connections are provided on the rear of the unit, along with phase (reverse and normal positions) and auto standby switches. The latter allows the subwoofer to detect incoming bass signals from your amplifier. If it does not detect any bass signals, the unit will turn into standby after a few minutes. If bass is detected, it will fire itself up automatically. The ‘515 is also magnetically shielded, so you can safely place it near the TV without fear of the picture being affected. The ‘515 matches well with a wide range of speakers, whether they are satellite, in-wall, bookshelf or floorstanding speakers. A couple of minutes of fine tuning will see the YST-SW515 blending in seamlessly with the rest of your system, whether you are listening to stereo music or a multichannel movie soundtrack. For this review the ‘515 was placed in a room measuring approximately 4m x 5m, with 3m ceilings. The subwoofer was placed in the front left corner of the room, approximately 40cm out from each wall, with the port firing inwards towards the listening room. It was connected to an A/V receiver via a line level connection.
Performance The changes between the ‘515 and the subwoofer it replaced, the YST-SW315, appear minimal on the surface. Looks, dimensions, specs and power are practically identical, save for a larger diameter side-firing port and the upgrade to Yamaha’s YST II technology. YST II is said to "drive the speaker cone with even tighter control than in previous models", and produce "more stable and accurate low range response, not to mention higher sound pressure levels, for more natural and energetic bass reproduction". Whatever the Yamaha spiel says, it works.
When listening to music you want a sub that is ‘musical’ - i.e. one that produces tight, deep and controlled bass notes without sounding boomy or dominating compared to the rest of the music. Spin a track like Keith Urban’s ‘You’ll think of me’ with the ‘515 hooked up, and the slow but constant beat of the kick drum sounds deep and controlled – i.e. the bass note starts and stops very quickly. If you’re not a country music fan the kick drum in the Eagle’s ‘Hotel California’ has a very similar beat. Playing a faster and more complicated mix like Keith’s ‘Somebody like you’ is a more revealing test of a subwoofer’s ability, as the track combines both higher and lower bass notes. The ‘515 does not have a problem with this mix either, as it has the ability to separate out the lower and higher bass and produce both with minimum fuss. Less competent subwoofers deliver a performance that sounds muddled and less involving. And this is where the ‘515s’ predecessor, the ‘315, ultimately faltered. A great performer for movies, but a musical sub it was not. So Yamaha’s internal fiddling has resulted in the ‘515 passing the music test. The bass beats of hip-hop, rap, rock and modern artists come through loud and clear on the ‘515 – only a couple of the many tracks played pushed this sub to its limits – and this was only at extreme volume levels. Robby Williams, Foo Fighters, Missy Elliot, Janet Jackson, Arrested Development, Beyonce, NERD - the ‘515 handled them all and didn’t skip a beat. So have the improvements musically come at the expense of movie performance? Thankfully no, as the ‘515 belts just as hard as its predecessor, maybe even digging a little deeper with movie soundtracks that contain extreme bass. The cannon balls in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World certainly have plenty of weight behind them, and the bass-heavy explosions in Ronin - Gold Edition sound satisfyingly deep. The ‘515 will generate quite low bass, and this bass is easy to listen to and free of distortion. Sure, I have heard and felt subwoofers that go deeper, but they either cost a lot more, or the lower bass being produced sounds forced and distorted. The performance you get from your subwoofer is also dependant, to some extent, on where it’s placed in the room, so if you’re initially disappointed with the amount/quality of bass try moving your subwoofer around different parts of the room. You may be surprised at the result. Under extreme bass some ‘chuffing’ can be heard through the side firing port. This can be reduced somewhat by positioning the subwoofer in such a way that the port is firing outwards into your room instead of against the wall. Moving the subwoofer further away from your listening position will further reduce the chuffing that you may hear. This subwoofer is best suited to small and medium-sized rooms. The room for this review posed no problems, but bass depth and ‘feel’ will be reduced to some extent if you position the ‘515 in a room bigger than 5m x 7m.
Last Words As you may have noticed, I am a big fan of the ‘515 subwoofer. The updates over the previous model have resulted in improved performance, especially when it comes to music. This subwoofer performs just as well with the Eagles or Beyonce as it does with Star Wars. If you’ve been looking to add a subwoofer to complete your home theatre setup, or want to add a bit more thump to your stereo listening, or both, the Yamaha YST-SW515 is well worth a look and listen. For small to medium size rooms, you’d be hard pressed to find a better performing subwoofer at the price. And if you want more bass, there’s always the Yamaha YST-SW1500… ___________________________________________________ Product: Yamaha YST-SW515 Subwoofer Price: $899 Warranty: 2 years Availability: now Website: www.yamaha.com.au Components used in this review: Amplifier: Yamaha RX-V2500 A/V Receiver (RRP $2,499) DVD Player: Marantz DV4500 Speakers: - Paradigm Monitor 11 Fronts (RRP $2,499/pair) - Paradigm CC-370 Centre (RRP $749) - Paradigm Mini Monitor Surrounds (RRP $899/pair) Interconnects: Gecko and Dynalink |
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