If you’re on the hunt for a subwoofer that won’t break the bank, the Dayton Audio SUB-1200 is definitely worth considering.
This compact subwoofer is designed to deliver clean, powerful bass that will add a new dimension to your favorite movies and music.
With a downward-firing flared port design and a heavy-duty long-throw 12″ woofer, the SUB-1200 is able to produce a remarkable amount of sound for its size.
And with the selectable “Auto-on” mode, you can easily set it up to turn on and off automatically, so you don’t have to worry about wasting energy when it’s not in use.
But what really makes the Dayton Audio SUB-1200 stand out is its unbeatable value for money.
Despite its impressive performance and quality features, it’s one of the most affordable subwoofers on the market.
Plus, its unobtrusive textured black vinyl finish means it will fit in seamlessly with any decor, so you can enjoy great sound without sacrificing style.
Dayton Audio Sub 1200 Review
I recently purchased the Dayton Audio SUB-1200 12″ 120 Watt Powered Sub for my home theater system, and I have been extremely impressed with its performance.
Installation and setup of the subwoofer were relatively easy.
I connected it to my receiver using the line-level input and set the crossover frequency to match the frequency response of my speakers.
The subwoofer also has speaker-level inputs and outputs, making it easy to integrate into any system.
The first thing I noticed about the SUB-1200 was its powerful bass output.
I played a variety of movies and music genres, and the subwoofer provided deep, rich bass that enhanced the overall listening experience.
The bass was not only powerful but also very accurate, and it blended seamlessly with the rest of the audio spectrum.
I particularly enjoyed watching action movies with this subwoofer.
Explosions and other sound effects were much more impactful and immersive, adding to the overall viewing experience.
I also noticed an improvement in the clarity and detail of the dialogues, which were more distinct and easier to understand.
Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase of the Dayton Audio SUB-1200 12″ 120 Watt Powered Sub.
It has exceeded my expectations in terms of performance and build quality.
If you’re in the market for a powerful and accurate subwoofer for your home theater or music-listening needs, I would definitely recommend giving the SUB-1200 a try.
Here is some detail about the features I personally liked in this subwoofer:
Design:
The SUB-1200 has a compact, unobtrusive design that makes it easy to fit into any space. It features a downward-firing flared port design that helps to produce clean, powerful bass.
The textured black vinyl finish gives it a sleek, modern look that will blend in well with any decor.
Driver:
The SUB-1200 features a heavy-duty long-throw 12″ woofer that is capable of producing a remarkable amount of sound for its size.
The woofer is constructed from high-quality materials that ensure durability and longevity.
Power:
This makes it a great choice for those who want to upgrade their home theater without worrying about their electricity bill.
Auto-On Mode:
The selectable “Auto-on” mode is a convenient feature that allows you to set the subwoofer to turn on and off automatically.
This helps to conserve energy and ensures that the subwoofer is always ready to go when you are.
Sound Quality:
The SUB-1200 is designed to produce clean, powerful bass that adds a new dimension to your music and movies.
The downward-firing flared port design helps to eliminate port noise, while the heavy-duty woofer ensures that the sound is clear and distortion-free.
Whether you’re watching a movie or listening to music, the SUB-1200 is able to deliver impressive sound quality that will enhance your overall listening experience.
Frequency Response:
The SUB-1200 has a frequency response of 25 Hz to 140 Hz, which is impressive for a subwoofer in this price range.
This means that it is able to reproduce low frequencies accurately, giving you a more immersive listening experience.
Crossover:
The subwoofer’s crossover can be adjusted from 40 Hz to 140 Hz, which allows you to fine-tune the sound to your liking.
This is a useful feature that can help you get the most out of your audio setup.
Build Quality:
The SUB-1200 is constructed from high-quality materials that ensure durability and longevity.
The woofer is protected by a steel frame that helps to prevent damage, while the textured black vinyl finish is both stylish and resistant to wear and tear.
Ease Of Use:
Setting up the SUB-1200 is a breeze, thanks to its simple and straightforward design.
Whether you’re an audio expert or a casual listener, you’ll find that the SUB-1200 is easy to use and offers great performance right out of the box.
Overall, the Dayton Audio SUB-1200 is an impressive subwoofer that offers great performance at an affordable price point.
Its compact design, powerful driver, and adjustable features make it a great choice for those looking to upgrade their home theater or listening room without breaking the bank.
Dayton Audio Sub 1200 Review
- Downward-firing flared port design for clean, powerful bass
- Selectable “Auto-on” mode
- Heavy-duty long-throw 12″ woofer
- Perfect for small home theaters or listening rooms
Whether you’re watching movies or listening to music, the SUB-1200 is able to deliver clean, powerful bass that enhances your overall listening experience.
So if you’re in the market for a new subwoofer, the Dayton Audio SUB-1200 is definitely worth considering.
My Journey With The Dayton Audio Sub 1200
1- Ordering
A meager $179, plus delivery, is required to purchase the SUB-1200 from the manufacturer.
There is a warranty covering both the parts and the labor for one year included. It is possible that purchasing the SUB-1200 from Amazon, where it is offered at a lower price, might be more prudent than doing so from Dayton Audio.
Amazon is a wholesaler of all kinds of electrical goods, as was described earlier.
It implies the SUB-1200 is accessible to the majority of us with only a few clicks of the mouse.
2- Unboxing
The SUB-1200 was packaged in two separate boxes. There has not been any typographical error there.
This is not a statement I am making because I believe they should not do it; instead, I am saying it because that was my initial reaction.
Review units have been sent to me that cost four times as much as this one did, and some of them were just a single box.
Already, I’m quite impressed with you.
Blocks of soft foam were used to cover the entirety of the top and bottom surfaces of the inner box.
These were on the more slender side, but the one at the bottom had a unique detail: it was custom-molded with indentations for the feet Pretty slick.
Moreover, a mylar bag was used to enclose the SUB-1200. The only thing that was provided was the user’s manual; there were no further accessories.
3- My Impressions After Unboxing The Dayton Audio Sub 1200
My initial reaction was that the SUB-1200 is extremely lightweight and compact.
The first item should not come as a surprise because, after all, this is a subwoofer designed with a very limited budget in mind, but the second item was somewhat of a surprise.
The majority of bass reflex subwoofers have a 12-inch driver “driver is likely to be larger than this one, so unless your space is quite small, it probably won’t stand out among the others.
The MDF that was utilized has a thickness of almost. Seventy-five inches and the front panel has not one but two extra layers that are.5 inches thick.
There is one, “The left, right, and top panels all have dampening material bonded to them.
The construction on the inside was of the highest quality; everything was neat and orderly, and there was no evidence of sloppy workmanship everywhere.
The second thought that sprang to mind was that Dayton Audio made an attempt to differentiate the SUB-1200 from the plethora of boring square boxes that are typical of the category known as affordable subwoofers.
This one has a very unusual appearance because of the rounded vertical edges that it possesses, as well as its characteristic grill.
Even the vinyl wrap was put flawlessly, with not a single mistake in sight.
The only defect in the manufacture that I noticed was a very little dent by the right front foot, but even that wasn’t all that noticeable to the human eye.
The owner’s manual is rather brief and consists of nothing more than a booklet of any significant size.
Although each control and function is explained very briefly, this should be enough for the majority of individuals to get to where they need to be in terms of setting things up.
In all candor, the amplifier doesn’t have a particularly large number of knobs and dials, which means that adjusting things isn’t a particularly difficult process.
4- What i Disliked!!
But, two aspects that I do not like are the power cord that is permanently linked to the device and the Standby mode, which does not perform all that well, in my opinion.
It requires very little prodding to return from the Off state; thus, that aspect functioned appropriately.
The issue is that it falls back to sleep far too rapidly, often in as little as thirty seconds after the audio stops having any meaningful bass.
Because of this, watching sports, which is something I do very frequently, became an exercise in pointless futility.
Even pressing the mute button for only one minute would be enough to cause the amplifier to turn off by itself.
Because, thankfully, it does not become warm if kept in the On position at all times, I did that for the entirety of my evaluation so that I could properly evaluate it.
5- Listening Experince!
My living room’s dimensions are 13x17x8, which gives it a volume of 1768 square feet.
The distance between the primary sitting area and the subwoofer is roughly 11 feet.
After at least 15 hours of use, the apparatus was prepared for any and all testing that was to follow.
When the cost of this subwoofer is taken into account, I can truthfully say that I do not have any major issues with it.
Although the dynamics are a little muffled, and the low bass won’t shake your fillings loose, considering the price, you probably wouldn’t have expected it to do any of those things, either.
The SUB-1200 excels at doing everything well, yet there is nothing about it that stands out as particularly remarkable.
Despite the fact that this likely comes out as a lukewarm endorsement, rest assured that it is anything but.
Because I was never able to blow the SUB-1200 out of the water, I can only assume that Dayton Audio spent a lot of time fine-tuning it.
This item simply refused to do what it was unable to accomplish, regardless of the volume level or the amount of bass that was being played.
There were no bothersome noises of any kind, including port chuffing, terrible driver sounds from over-excursion or any other kind of noise.
In each and every instance, it was a willing partner, regardless of the specifics of the situation. Imagine a dog who has been rescued; they may not be very unique or fascinating, but they are always there for you.
6- Movies i Watched
I play through each test scene twice; the first time, I am seated in the position that corresponds to my typical listening position, and the second time, I am positioned a few feet away from the subwoofer.
This not only enables me to hear it as I normally would, but it also provides me with the ability to judge whether or not the subwoofer is exerting even the tiniest amount of effort.
The volume for both of the tests is kept at the same level throughout, which is significantly louder than I would often employ in my day-to-day life.
I made the decision to test the SUB-1200’s durability by subjecting it to some of the most taxing Blu-rays in my collection.
The SUB-1200 gave the impression of being virtually immune to any potentially damaging activity.
To my complete astonishment, it kept its head held high and asserted, “no, I will not waiver.”
I should have probably chosen different test material; gut-wrenching bass is not this subwoofer’s forte, yet I handled it as though it was.
In retrospect, I probably should have picked different test material. It took on the air of a mission to some degree to determine whether or not I could cause the SUB-1200 to lose its composure, but in the end, I was never successful in doing so.
In that respect, it is virtually indestructible, and I have to give credit where credit is due to Dayton Audio.
7- Music i Heard!
This aspect of the SUB-1200 was by far the one that took me by surprise the most.
As the quality of the musical performance is typically the first aspect to be compromised in order to attain a low selling price – and in this instance, an extremely low selling price.
I didn’t have high hopes for this section of the evaluation when I got to it.
My expectations were blown away by the performance, even if I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as musical, at least not in the traditional sense.
After taking some measurements and observing the results on the spectrograph, I was able to confirm that it did not appear to be very sluggish or lacking in precision very often.
In any case, consumers who spend this little on a subwoofer typically aren’t seeking musicality, but the SUB-1200 will almost certainly sound better than expected.
It is not frightened of noise; thus, whatever it is capable of doing, it is also capable of doing loudly.
Conclusion
The Dayton Audio SUB-1200 is a ‘bottom line’ subwoofer — meaning the people who are most likely to purchase one are interested in the price, first and foremost.
So, I’ll skip directly to my bottom line (as in what I think about it); buy one, or Better yet, buy two.
At this price, you can almost certainly afford a pair.
How is it even possible for a company to sell something with an amp, driver, and enclosure for less than $130 and still make a profit? Usually, it’s a piece of junk, that’s how.
Dayton Audio has managed to hit that price point all right, but without the last bit, the SUB-1200 is not a piece of junk.
Quite the contrary, actually. If forced to describe the SUB-1200 using a single word, it would absolutely have to be “value.”
It’s often said that DIY (Do It Yourself) is the least expensive way to get a good subwoofer. In a lot of instances, I would concur, but not in this case.
I don’t believe anyone could build something capable of doing what the SUB-1200 can for the same price.
If you’re on a tight budget and can do without the very lowest octave of bass, this is the subwoofer to own.
