Aaron SW-200Active SubwooferAaron’ssmallersubwooferproves verycompetitive atthe priceBy Gavin WomersleyAudio & Video Lifestyle Magazine68auditionequipment reviewVital StatisticsDimensions:315 x 445 x 460mmWeight:23kgPrice:$999Distributor:Betetec Industries Pty Ltd17 De Havilland CrescentBallina, NSW 2478Telephone:(02) 6686 0277Facsimile:(03) 6686 0285Website:www.aaronhifi.com.auThese days, most peopleare aware that being‘Australian’ is a fairlyloose term when itcomes to manufacturedgoods. Does it meanthat the company wasfounded here, or does it mean that thegoods are made within our boundariesor that ownership of the company iswholly Australian? Many of themanufacturers of the products I havereviewed are widely regarded asAustralian, but in fact only anincreasingly shrinking number of themare actually being made here.Aaron loudspeakers, based in sunnyBallina on the northern NSW coast, isone of those companies that stillmanufactures locally. The 25 year-oldcompany is Australian owned and allengineering, testing and some of itsmanufacturing is performed at theBallina factory. While many Aaronproducts are still made here, thesubwoofer for review here is assembledin China. The design and engineeringand choice of components are all donehere though, so you can still call theSW-200 subwoofer an Australianproduct.The SW-200 is the smaller ofAaron’s two new active subwoofers, theother being the larger SW-400 which werecently reviewed in Audio & VideoLifestyle magazine, issue AVL-145. Itfeatures a single 10-inch (265mm) long-throw driver with a very large 3kgmagnet. Powering the driver is a 150watt continuous class B amplifier. TheSW-200 is ported at the rear with onelarge port designed to minimise the‘chuffing’ created by rapidly moving airas it exits the cabinet. Aaron states thatthe enclosure is well braced and usescabinet walls of varying thickness,designed to minimise the cabinetresonances at certain frequencies. Prettymuch anything will resonate at the rightfrequency but if the device is made withwalls of varying thickness theresonances should be far less significantas only one part of the enclosure mayresonate at a certain frequency ratherthan the whole unit. The subwoofer’sexterior appears of good quality withthe review sample coming in a high-Reproduced courtesy of Audio & Video Lifestyle magazine