Audio Video News

In typical British understatement, product literature for B&W's new subwoofers mentions that "movies in particular can be very demanding of subwoofers and some special effects can test them to the limit."

Few action movie fans would argue with that. The company has responded to the home cinema challenge with three new active subs: the ASW300, the ASW600, and the ASW650. All three apply "B&W core technologies to the specialized task of low-frequency reproduction at sizes and price levels that cover a broad spectrum of high-performance audio needs." In other words, these affordable bass boxes rock.

The biggest of the bunch, the ASW650, sports a single, high-output 12" woofer. The 600 has a 10", and the 300 an 8" driver, respectively. All of the drivers are made using a paper/Kevlar composite cone material developed at B&W's Steyning Research Centre. The composite is said to offer incredible stiffness-to-mass ratio and exceptional strength - which translates to higher output levels with lower distortion. The new subwoofers also benefit from B&W research into low-turbulence porting, the result being a dimpled port construction ("FlowPort") said to reduce port noise to inaudible levels.

The subs have active second-order low-pass filters for fast, tight response to the most demanding soundtracks. Internal amplification is augmented by a "bass overload suppression" system and a "smart amplifier" feature that further reduce distortion. Available amp power ranges from 200 watts for the ASW600 to 100 watts for the 300.

The subs' floor-firing FlowPorts allow placement near walls or corners. Inputs include line-level and speaker-level, with an 80Hz crossover point for the high-pass output. Level and slope contour controls allow you to achieve the best compromise between bass extension and output level, and all the new B&W subwoofers have signal sensing circuitry for auto on/off operation. The two larger subs are available in black ash or light oak; the ASW300 is available in black ash or maple woodgrain. They should arrive at B&W dealers this month, with suggested retail prices of $700 for the AWS650, $500 for the ASW600, and $350 for the ASW300.