Niles recently announced the introduction of two new compact subwoofers engineered with designers in mind, the SW6.5 and the SW8. The SW6.5's and SW8's ultra-compact sizes and fingerprint-resistant piano-black finishes present an aesthetically pleasing profile that is easy to blend into many décors. Pairing a long-throw front-firing woofer with dual long-throw side-mounted passive radiators, the compact subwoofers deliver the power of subwoofers reportedly four times their size.
Additional Resources
• Read more subwoofer news from HomeTheaterReview.com.
• See reviews in our Subwoofer Review section.
• Explore Bookshelf Speakers and Floorstanding Speakers in our review sections.
The SW6.5 and SW8 both feature automated turn-on via 12 volt trigger or audio signal sensing and include a built in CAT5 balun to enable audio delivery over easy-to-use CAT5 cable. Additionally, both models come with a built-in bracket-mount that is compatible with the optional OmniMount 30.0 ST-MP to allow easy wall or ceiling mounting. Installers can further increase the subwoofers' placement flexibility by going wireless with the optional Niles SW-T wireless transceiver and SW-R receiver that easily attaches to a built-in mounting port on the rear of the subwoofers.
As for the audio, the SW6.5 produces 200W RMS power and up to 800W peak power through a 6.5" active driver and two 6.5" passive radiators with a frequency response of 42-200Hz. This power is delivered from a cabinet that is smaller than 10 inches-cubed and weighs 11 pounds.
The SW8 ups the ante, producing 300W RMS power and up to 1200W peak power through an 8" active driver and two 8" passive radiators with a frequency response of 36-200Hz. Once again, this comes from a cabinet about 12 inches-cubed that weighs 16.5 pounds.
The subwoofer's long throw active drivers feature a black anodized aluminum cone that provides superior rigidity compared to conventional paper cone designs. The dual anodized aluminum cone passive radiators provide additional driver surface area that combine with the active driver to produce higher output than a larger single active driver. Both models include both LFE and stereo line level inputs and unbuffered stereo pass-through line outputs, allowing up to four subwoofers to be wired from a single receiver output. The adjustable frequency control features a bypass positions, eliminating low pass filtering within the subwoofer, and variable phase control (0-180) allows for precise phase matching with the main speakers.
Additional Resources
• Read more subwoofer news from HomeTheaterReview.com.
• See reviews in our Subwoofer Review section.
• Explore Bookshelf Speakers and Floorstanding Speakers in our review sections.