Mackie Swa1501

For a small and portable FOH sub, this is a good piece of equipment. It's not exactly light, but given the spl that it delivers, it is a pretty small package. The black paint layer is pretty thin, so either keep a black paint marker with you, or invest in some padded bags if you are going to take these on the road.

This is a 15" woofer, so don't expect the low frequency response you might get out of an 18" or a quad-10 cabinet. For a crowd of 300 to 500 in an enclosed space, a pair of these subs does just fine. The crossover built into the unit is less than great, so I would suggest using outboard equipment on that front that has a variable crossover point. I like my DriveRack PX just fine for use with a pair of these and a pair of SRM450V2's.

Overall, these do sound great, and they keep up with the SRM450's just fine. When they are driven really hard, however, they do tend to pop a bit, which is odd, given that it doesn't register as clipping and it is a built-in amplifier. Just know that the response drops off drastically around 60-65 hz. If you have dance music that is bass heavy, these are NOT a great choice. If you have rock music that is more full range of real instruments rather than synthesized bass, these are fantastic FOR THEIR SIZE.

As said, I have 2 of these, and one of them had a pole mount that was SLIGHTLY too small, resulting in the matching SPM100 pole getting STUCK in the mount. The same pole fit nicely in the other speaker, so this was definitely a speaker pole mount cup problem. The manufacturing tolerances or QA should be a BIT more stringent here. Unacceptable to have to heat and tap the manufactures mating pole out of the receiver... The handles are nice and bulky. Mackie should have put some lock-tite on the hex head screws that hold the amp onto the cabinet, since they vibrate loose. I lost several on EACH speaker over the course of my first few gigs out with them. As soon as I realized, I put some blue lock-tite on the remaining ones myself, and haven't had a problem since. Again - Mackie should have known better.

Overall, these are great subs. I replaced them temporarily with JBL VRX918SP subs, and was VERY disappointed. I have since gone back to these Mackies for corporate and small gigs. I toyed with the idea of the 1801z model, but they are significantly larger and heavier. For my larger gigs, I decided to go with passive subs and separate amplifiers rather than active speakers. There are tradeoffs both directions, but for indoor crowds of 300 to 500, a pair of these is generally adequate. Outdoors - not so much... If Mackie's CS wasn't so bad, I would consider buying these again, but since they have MAJOR manufacturing issues as of 9/2009, I would probably consider another company if I was back in the market for a self-contained transportable sub option.

Good quality sub. Non variable crossover. Variable attenuation.

Active. See Mackie for specs. About 70kgs heavy but ok with a trolley.

They sound excellent. After using JBL & Yamaha subs, these really throw out bottom end nicely. Very controllable as well.

Very solid handles & overall construction.

I've been using these for 4 years & they rock! A variable crossover would be nice but the DBS processor does that for me now. I use these with Mackie SRM450 mid-highs & it's an amazing sound!!

Powered 15" subwoofer. Wood enclosure.

This guy sounds fine. It's the construction and reliability I take issue with.

I have two of these. The speaker protection in them just plain doesn't work. Both of them burned up inside, and both of them rattled themselves apart. ARGH! My tech said he's had a ton of them in with the same problems. I broke both of these and the mains (SA1501z's) in the first 6 months of having them. The mackie warranty is useless, they are cutting down on authorized support centers, and they are really frustrating on the phone. DON'T BUY THESE!

I was a happier, richer lady before these crappy subs came into my life. I hear the QSCs and the Yamaha powered subs sound as good or better and actually have some customer support.
If you have these, I recommend getting DBX's driverack for powered speakers.

This is a powered sub speaker and I own a pair of them and use them with two 1530 3-way mains. I do not feel like they add much to the sound system. When I turn off the mains and listen to the subs only, there is not much volume and it does not really contribute much to the overall sound. They are heavy but manageable (I can't imagine wrestling with the SWA 1801.) They are durable. I just don't get it I guess. If you have 15" mains I don't think you will benefit much from the 1501 sub.

Check Mackie's website for specs.

Weak, meaningless to the PA sound.

Heavy, tough.

I would not recommend you waist you time with this product. It is expensive, cumbersome, and won't add much to your sound