First, purchased this unit at Goodwill for $20. Figured a 8" sub would be great for my living room to enjoy some deep rich bass while watching movies. Always wanted one. First sub ever for me. So I am very naive. I am looking for quality, constructive assistance or suggestions to help me solve a ongoing problem.

Hooked up sub to Dennon Dolby surround receiver that is worth about $300. Also have had it hooked up to Harmon Kardon and Sony. Each reciever I hook it up to I have selected to run speaker wire from receiver to sub and from sub to speakers. I have been careful to make sure its out to in and in to out, etc. Used 14 gauge radio shack speaker wire. Connected to 2 tower speakers. No center channel and no surround speakers yet.

1 problem, after about 30 min of good bass the sub begins to whine. Its subtle but enough to drive one crazy. So I turned it down and the frequency. Still the same issue. I suspect its a connection issue or that I am using wiring that is cheap or not right. The other issue might be the frequency settings. Another possibility could be a setting in the sub or reciever that isnt matching up right. Cross over setting??

I am sure that I can contact the local store that carries this product, but my fear is I will be given information that will support purchasing something either to expensive or that I dont need. I looked online for the manual and found a couple different items. They were slightly helpful, but still have that ugly buzz and whine sound. Wife wants me to throw the damn thing away. I still insist its a great sub, just a bad installer. Anyone care to provide some Sub/reciever 101 installation instructions I am all ears before this unit ends up in a dumpster from my wife! I am confident once hooked up properly that I will have one of the best purchases for $20 that I have ever come across. When it did work without the whine and hum it was awesome! Jurasic Park, Terminator, and music played awesome for about 30 minutes then the hum and buzz.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

I have this unit, 8 inch speaker measurement and 9.5" width of the cabinet.

Great sound
Tight, clean bass
For the money, even full MSRP, a great sub for anyone looking to get great, clean bass for under $700
Great compact size

The port can be a little airy when cranked up, or with improper placement
A little blah looking

This is by far the best deal I have ever gotten on an audio product. I purchased this sub at a local pawn shop 2 years ago for $10.00. I am not kidding, they thought that it was blown due to port noise, but I saw that they had it cranked way to high (for rap music nonetheless) and they offered to sell it to me for $10 bucks. I had done some research on DT products and had seen that this was a common problem for these little subs when used incorrectly. This sub blends perfectly with my system and I have never looked back since purchasing. Wonderful deep bass for movies, and tight clean bass for music (even rap when matched properly). Overall I love this sub and will probably be moving it into my bedroom soon, as I am getting ready to buy a DT Supercube III. System (Panasonic PT-52LCX35, Yamaha RX-V1700, Athena Technologies Audition Series AS-F2-1 fronts, Definitive Technologies BP6 bi-polar rears, Definitive Technologies Pro Sub 80

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Bowers & Wilkins, Klipsch, Cerwin Vega, JBL

Tight, fast, and deep for its size. Amp never runs out of juice, I have never turned it past 1 or maybe 2 oclock.

can't invert phase. captive power cord.

Just to quickly add on to what everyone else has said, I bought this sub over the 10" version Def Tech offered because when I auditioned it using bass-heavy music tracks such as Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode, I found the bass on the 8" MUCH tighter than on the 10", which sounded muddy by comparison. Yes, it was lounder, and a little deeper, but it was slower too, and less focused and articulate. I prefer music to movies, so a bigger sub might be better for those who need to fill their rooms with movie soundtracks, which use digitally generated bass that extends very low, down to below 20hz isn't uncommon, but movie bass tends to be explosions or other effects, which are not all that complicated to reproduce. For this reason, a 'slower' but more powerful and bigger sub may be more desirable, but to reproduce bass in music, not only is the note important, but the harmonics that surround it, and depth is not as important as timbre - remember, an electric bass' lowest note is 40hz. I would much rather buy two of these bad boys and have plenty of deep, tight and stereophonic (!) bass than a single 10" or 12". One last thing. Get good interconnects for it. Currently I am using Monster's Interlink 200 with great results. Using cheapo connections will result in wonky sound and the sub will sound very underpowered. But remember, this is a sub, not a main speaker, so spending more than 50-75 dollars on the interconnect is unnecessary.

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none at home, but many auditioned, ie paradigm, energy, mirage, kef

Price, Musicality, Bass response and Output,

None Whatsoever. What more could ask for the price?

People, people stop saying that this sub does not sound like a 12 or a 15 inch one or like a 500 Watts powered sub. Def Tech never claimed that it will nor it could never do it even if they claimed it would so please stop the silly comparisons. Ok that been said, this is a great performer. I had the Bose Acoustimass with the three down-firing drivers and all I had was a popcorn machine instead of a sub woofer. I played the U-571 Depth Charge Scene on this little "Box of Wonder" and suddenly my ears were listening but more importantly my walls were trembling and my guts were wrenching (sorry for the details) but that is exactly what good bass response will do to you if you have it. I have read other reviews and I can tell that may be the placement is not appropriate, also check your settings. If your receiver already has a crossover set at 80 or 100hz then make sure that the dial on the back of sub is at 150 to avoid conflict. This Sub will give you the pounding of your life for just over $300.00 if you set it up correctly. Another thing, Sub Woofers not only work with movies but with stereo music as well. Just combine these Sub with any of the Def Tech's Power Monitors and what sounded like a cool,lively day at the lake turns into a wild ride in bass Hell these thing Rocks while the Power Monitors roll. Just give a try where it matters most at your home and play with it around the floor until you find its perfect spot. The rewards are amazing

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Bose Acoustimass Velodyne Klipsch

Clean, tight, full Bass! Small size Bang for bucks Well built

Somewhat placement sensitive

Purchased ProSub80 to replace an older Paradigm PDR-10 (Version1 w/ 80 watt amp) that bottomed out on newer DVD movies with a lot of bass (it may also have had foam rot around the speaker surround). Nice full tight bass! After some tweaking, seems to have blended well with my Paradigm speakers (Titan V.1 fronts, CC-200 Center (older model center that went with V.1 titans and atoms), Atoms V.1 surrounds). There are better subs out there but you know you have to pay the $$$. For the price, small size (spouse approval factor), and bass output and quality. It is one of the best (if not the best) bang for your buck 8" subwoofer out there! For the guy who said that it does not compare to 12" or 15" subs, remember its an 8" sub. A $1,000+ 15" sub will go lower and louder (Duuh!)

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Paradigm PDR-10

Clean bass, deep

not much, tinny bit boomy, port noise & distortion when pushed to far

Not a bad little sub, it has supprised me, I would like to pick up another one. Good bass, goes lower than you would ever guess an 8" sub could.

Great sounding bass from a not-so-space-hogger sub unit. Great warrantee.

Poor website support.

Great bass coming from a small package. I have a small family room that is adequate enough to be enveloped by the rich full low bass of this sub. I auditioned the Velodyne CHT-80 as well. Both are great subs. The Velodyne however is bulky and heavier than the ProSub80. It also uses spring clips (cheesy connection) compared to binding post for the Deftech. One gripe for the Deftech is there website support. I connected the sub to my Harman Kardon AVR-320 via the one RCA LFE connection. It suppose to turn on when it senses a signal from the amp. It turns out, the lone sub connection is not strong enough to turn the unit on. I found out about it from - of all places, the Velodyne website FAQ! Faq's from teh Def Tech site. No sir. Have to call them directly and they were able to assist me w/ the issue. Kudos to them.

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Velodyne CHT-80, JBL sub.

Price. Size. Build. Tight sound for music and big sound for movies.

None.

Wow. That's what I have to say. This sub is my first in a setup that includes Boston CR 75s in the front, CR 65s in the rear and a CRC center with a Yamaha HTR5550 receiver. I have the sub volume set below half and I still get room-filling bass. As with all subs, placement makes a huge difference. At first I had the sub in a corner between two couches and it sounded a bit boomy. I moved it closer to the fronts on the other side of the couch and it's PERFECT -- Tight on music and room-shaking on movie effects. The price is great and the salesman whom I've bought from for years said that almost everyone who worked there either owned this sub or the larger Def Tech. Nice small footprint too. HIghly recommended.

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Listened to Klipsch and Boston subs.

Cannot bottom it out...I've tried. Very nice punchy sound...not as boomy as bigger 12"ers.

My neighbors are pissed.

If the term "Bang for the buck" is your creedo, this sub won't dissapoint. Yes, there are better, louder, bassier subs out on the market. But not everyone has the budget to spend over $1,000 on a single speaker. My first surround speaker system was an all-in-one Yamaha package. It came with a wimpy 50watt 6-1/2" sub. Movies like Star Wars: The Phantom Menace killed that speaker. It was a great setup to introduce me to 5.1 sound, but it was time for something more. I've recently upgraded to the PowerSub80. I watch Phantom Menace now with the volume cranked. Except there's a new problem. Instead of the subwoofer creating all sorts of unecessary vibration inside, my house is now falling apart...literally, the ceiling tiles are falling down. No distortion from the PowerSub80 tho :). I can't get the thing to crackle or make that damn farting noise my Yamaha sub used to make. Just pure beautiful bass. I just hope I never live in an apartment again. I'll be evicted for sure. Very punchy, clear, lovely sound. My friend has a Velodyne CHT8. Same price, but not quite as pure sounding as the PowerSub80.

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Velodyne CHT8 and Polk PSW350. Both owned by friends, and both agree my Definitive Technology PowerSub80 is way better.

Size. Price. Quality.

none so far.

Before I buy, I test everything and compare prices. This sub, as an 8", outdid other 10" subs that I tested. positioning and tuning are everything as they are on all audio components. The first year that I owned this was my senior year in college, so it saw some rough times of long high bass output. I have never had a problem with it. It rattles the walls in my apartment. The only time that I have noticed port noise is when it was incorrectly tuned based on my reciever settings. I have never had a problem tuning out the port noise without losing bass. There are a lot of reviews that say this sub does not sound as deep or thump as hard as their 10" or 12" that they traded it in for. There is one reason for that ...this is not a 10" or 12" sub. If that is what you want, buy the 10" or 12" model.

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none used, but many tested.