[pauljames]

Got my BK XLS 200 on Friday, so here is my attempt at a review so far.

Firstly the packing. It arrived in its own box in a plastic bag with the usual polystyrene protectors at each corner.
This box was then, in turn, packed inside a bigger box with the gap filled by Styrofoam "snow".
Good strong cardboard, off to a good start.

Next the accessories.
It comes with an instruction sheet and the accessories listed on the site so no need to rush out and buy more stuff before you can set it up.
The audio leads were long enough for me to position it where I wanted it so no problems there.

My first impressions were very good.
The unit looks well built, very nice metal finish (gloss, but not sparkly, black).
All knobs, connectors etc are nicely made. Unit is quite small too.

My girlfriends first impression: "It's not as ugly as I thought". Not bad at all.

Set Up.

The sub has small metal screw feet as standard so a posidrive screwdriver was needed to remove them before the spikes could be attached by hand.

Low level lead attached to amp.
Low level gain set to 40%, crossover to LFE setting phase left at 0 (only cause I don't know what it does).

After setting the amp up to allow for the sub left it on the radio to settle in for a bit as I had to go out.

Next Day (gain at 50-60%)

Fired up some CD's (Korn, RHCP, Kosheen and various other stuff from my collection).
Base seemed very composed. Seemed hard to tell the sub was there - until I turned it off.
Sign of a good sub according to some comments on these forums.

But, there was a small hum when no CD was in.
This was fixed by searching these forums and plugging the sub into the same power strip as the Amp.
Hum gone. Hooray.

Next, time for some DVD's. Gladiator, Ice Age, Matrix, Monsters Inc all got their turn.
Sub was good but wasn't rumbling as much as I'd hoped.
Again searched on these forums and tried the following suggestion:-

Set the crossover dial to the Amps value or thereabouts
(something to do with shaping frequancy responses, didn't really understand it but gave it a go).

Bloody hell what a difference!
Re-tried all the same CD's and DVD's and the gain had to go back down to 40-50% because my ears hurt.
This is fantastic!

Conclusion.

I have had the sub for four and a bit days so far and, in my opinion, it's a Very good sub, especially considering the price.

BK's service was also excellent.
Delivered when they said they would, didn't charge my card until ready to dispatch.
Not sure about their customer service as I've had no complaints, but I get the impression they care about their products and customers.

Highly recommended!

Alternative Conclusion provided by my girlfriend:-
It makes such a difference doesn't it.

Paul
A very happy BK XLS 200 Subwoofer owner


Disclaimer:
I have not owned a sub before and have only listened to them in demo rooms (B&W 600 series, Kef Eggs, Celestion AVP305, Elac Cinema 3).