Audio & Video Lifestyle Magazine
70
O
p
i
n
i
o
n
The ‘Opinion’ expressed here is that
of the reviewer, summarised in the
form of a 5-star rating system, and
should be considered as an integral
part of the full contents of this
Audition Equipment Review. As
such, each category should be
judged on its own merits and not
necessarily used as a comparison
with other equipment reviews in this,
or other editions of Audio & Video
Lifestyle magazine.
Shocker
Average
Good
Excellent
Perfection
“The design and engineering
and choice of components are
all done here though, so you can
still call the SW-200 subwoofer
an Australian product.”
Performance
Build Quality
½
Compatibilty
Value For Money
richness, even at higher listening levels.
You can get even better results if you want
to spend more, but the quality I was getting
here was fantastic for a $999 subwoofer.
Again though, like every other sub in its
size and price category, the deepest bass
eluded the SW-200. The final sub 30Hz low
frequency kick at the end of the sliding
electronic bass from the track
There Will Be
No Armageddon
was not reproduced fully
and lacked impact. But as with just about
all subs at this level, when it came to the
first footstep of the T-Rex from the
Fantasy
and Adventure Album
it did not even
attempt it - only bigger more powerful and
expensive models can.
When it came to movies the Aaron
performed just like I thought it would -
clean and with little overhang after the end
of sudden transients. As the manufacturer
promised port noise was very, very low - in
this regard, superior to Richter Thor IV
model. At moderate to high listening levels
in my medium sized room the SW-200 was
a great performer. At Reference Level it
did a great job on most movies although
with some of the most intense scenes there
was noticeable strain. An example was the
opening scene to
Star Wars II - Attack Of
The Clones
. Here the throbbing engines of
the big spaceship proved troublesome, with
a couple of ‘barks’ from the driver.
However backing off the volume by just five
decibels led to a faultless presentation with
plenty of power. Aaron makes a larger
SW-400 with double the power and a
bigger box and driver for those people like
me who punish their toys or have very
large rooms. In my more serious bunch of
test discs it ran into some trouble with the
only the most notorious scenes such as
Chapter 19 of
U-571
or the crash landing
of the spaceship in
Pitch Black
. These
things set aside; the Aaron had no real
issues that I could complain about. The
SW-200 did a good job of sounding
powerful and menacing whenever it was
called upon to do so.
At the ferociously competitive $999
price point the Australian designed and
engineered Aaron is up there in the front
row. In terms of sheer output and depth
of bass, a bigger subwoofer would do a
better job, however this may be something
that not all prospective owners may look
upon favourably. The Aaron is not much
wider than the frame of its driver. If you
are in a smaller room, or don’t often play
action movies at theatrical levels, the Aaron
gives you the option of the same high
quality bass but in a more compact
package.
AVL
“I started off
with a music
DVD,
Diana Krall
- Live in Paris
.
It’s a great
sounding disc
that features not
only the
fantastic Diana
but also a great
band with some
first rate double
bass playing
from John
Clayton. Tracks
like
The Look of
Love
and
Deed I
Do
showed the
little Aaron to be
nimble with the
well-plucked
bass. It held a
tune and was
able to
differentiate the
different bass
notes very well
for a $999 sub.”
Ancillary Equipment:
Rotel RCD-
965BX Discrete CD player,
Celestion A Series loudspeakers,
Toshiba 46WH08 rear projection
Widescreen Television,
Audioquest cables
