The first thing you’re going to notice and probably the only downside to the subwoofer is its appearance. The rounded shape, the four-pronged stand, the loud grill, and the green XA3001 letters painted down the side all give off the impression that you have a bomb sitting in your living room. Also, having six wires (audio and video running in and out of the unit) sticking out from the side, makes it hard to place without producing an eyesore.

Basic set up is fairly simple. However, depending on the equipment you have, there are two different ways to do this.

If you have a stereo or television that features both inputs and outputs, you can route your other devices to its input and then output to the subwoofer. Under the right circumstances, doing this allows you to synchronize the volume of the subwoofer to your TV or stereo. In other words, when you change the volume on the stereo, the bass level of the subwoofer will change too.

If you don’t have a setup that allows this, you’ll need to route the audio and video cables from your stereo, game system or VCR into the subwoofer and use the included cables to route the signal back to your stereo and/or television. Since this puts the subwoofer in-between everything, you will have to adjust the bass level manually every time you change the volume.

Unlike the 2.1 system, the XA3001 does not have a remote or provide preset levels for game or TV. There’s simply a volume knob that allows you to change the bass level and a phase switch which allows you to change the polarity and match the sound of the subwoofer to your speakers. This means that at first, you’ll be continually adjusting the levels trying to find a hefty bass sound that doesn’t drown out everything else. Not only that, but you’ll have to readjust it whenever you switch to another game or to a movie. Despite that, the difference the subwoofer makes is well worth the hassle.

I spent a great deal of time testing the subwoofer with everything I can possibly think of, and I must say that I’m really impressed how much this simple addition improves the sound of my old stereo. GameCube games all sounded great. Putting the bass up on Bomberman Generations and Eternal Darkness was a real treat. The low sustained sounds in ED resonate through the floor, the walls, and through your entire body in ways that you probably can’t even imagine if you’ve just been using the TV speakers all this time.

Older systems benefit too. The sound in the N64 Zelda games is considerably richer and deeper and just gives you a greater a sense of space when using the subwoofer. Going back even farther to Kirby’s Super Star on SNES, we had a blast whacking enemies with the hammer because of the added punch. For my final test, I stuck Return of the Jedi in my VCR this morning to see how it sounded with movies. Again, it took some adjustment, but it performed very well, and the sound of a Star Destroyer flying by has never been quite so ominous before.

My preferred set up is to use a good pair of headphones for the left and right channels and turn the bass on the subwoofer way up. This increases the effect of the bass without drowning out the rest of the sound. It works great with my stereo too when I want to relax more, but using the headphones can really pull you into games like Eternal Darkness.

If all you have is a television without any external speakers, and it doesn’t have a headphone jack, I’d really recommend you go ahead and upgrade to Altec Lansing’s 2.1 system or wait for the 5.1 system to be released. It’s better to save up a bit to get a complete system than to have your tiny TV speakers try to keep up. The sound just isn’t balanced.

If you already have a decent stereo, the XA3001 is a great option because it allows you to get a fuller, richer sound without spending a whole lot of cash.