Smooth tight bass, LED power status on front of speaker, LFE, compact size, and affordable.

None

This is an amazing subwoofer! I recently spent $$$ upgrading my home theater. There was something missing in the sound effects from my 8 yr old sub as it did not provide the low bass impact of a good subwoofer. I read many reviews and was set to buy a used Velodyne CT 100. However, I read the January 2001 issue of Sound and Vision which said the PB 10 was "Impressive" but I was interested in the more powerful big brother due to my large family room. Cnet also gave a favorable review of th PB 10. I found an open box of the PB 12 for $339 at Best Buy in perfect condition so I bought it without listening to it. I set it up and I tested it with several movies and cd's. I was in bass heaven! The bomb explosion in Clear and Present Danger shook the walls. WOW!!! Finally, bass that made music and movies so much more enjoyable. It produced deep bass with clarity that filled the room. This subwoofer deserves the highest praise for the price. NOTE: Get high quality subwoofer cables as they make a difference!

My equipment:
Hitachi 61" widesceen DTV mdl# 61SWX01W
Yamaha 2095
Toshiba Progressive Scan SD 6200
Pioneer Laserdisc 701
Mitsubishi SVHS
Polk Center CS 400
Polk RT 5
Polk M3
Kimber Cable
Tributaries Video Cable
Tributaries Subwoofer Cable

Similar Products Used:

Infinity SSW 10

Very Powerful!! Bass that will Rattle the Walls! NO Distortion

none yet

I have been looking for a subwoofer for a while now. After searching the net and reading everything I could find, I decided on the JBL PB12. I've had it less than a week, but I am thoroughly pleased with it. It has soooooo much Bass. My son who is 12 just loves bass. He wants it in his room, but I said no way! (I'm buying him a KLH PSW-800 with some of his B-day $$$$) The subwoofer is in a large family room (23x20)with cathedral ceilings that go to 12 feet in center. The powerful sub pushes so much Bass throughout our house which is close to 3000 sq ft. My wife is going to kill me. I just can't seem to keep it turned down. Last night, I watched Gone in 60 seconds on DVD. It was such a rush!! The Shelby Mustang engine sounded like it was in the same room with us. I could have got a better price through a couple of other sites, but they were on back order. I had waited long enough so I payed $275.00 plus $30.00 shipping. It was shipped out the same day and arrived at my house in 2 days!!. Kudos to proactive electronics. Anyway the sub is wonderfull, so deep, so clear, I can't believe I've been watching dvds so long without a sub. Also the music is wonderfull, my son has some Rap and no I don't like rap, but he just had to show me how it would sound and boy did it rattle the windows. This thing will Rock the House!!. I have not had any other subs, but I can't think of one that would be better, especially after reading so much info. There is also a pb10 available, but I wanted to get the BIG one. If you have home theater, Don't Wait Any Longer!! Buy this sub Today!!

Similar Products Used:

none

Powerful bass, the price is right, and did I mention powerful bass.

Way too powerful for my dorm room, ^_^, seriously my main gripe is that when I try to shut off my reciever there is an awful buzzing sound when it is set to LFE, anyone else suffered this, other than that it seems pretty stable and well made.

The PB12 is my second powered subwoofer for my budding Home Theater system, I was impressed with my Aiwa but wanted more low-end power for movies, and boy did I get it with the PB12. The PB12 is a breeze to set-up, my only gripe is that when I turn off my reciever, a Kenwood VR-405, the PB12 makes an strange unnerving buzzing sound and will not shut off. This is easy to get around by just shutting it off but it is unnerving to say the least. That would be my main complain about this product and that can be remedied most likely by tracking down fellow users and finding out how they dealt with the problem.

As far as sound goes I consider myself a budding audiophile and audio enthusiast and can hear the sub picking up more nuances in the music, bringing more impact to the sound of both movies and music alike. I am almost an avid console gamer and this really brings the bass in from those all too many thuds and explosions games often have. I can't wait till this sub is fully broken in, it is going to purr and then roar when needed. The sound is powerful in a word and reigns you in immediately, never letting go.

As I mentioned before I live in a dorm and this sub is WAY overpowered for a such a place and could easily fill a modest sized living room with crisp deep bass. As it is I am pretty sure as with all subs that location is critical and once I move I will be able to place this sub in a much better location to eke out the best possible bass from this beast. As a home theater afficionado, I just love it it brings more depth to DVDs, and can really send a tremor when needed. Again placement is important just be wary the PB12 is very powerful, and for the price I paid I am quite happy with it.

Similar Products Used:

Aiwa 8", 120 watt subwoofer, the PB12 replaced the Aiwa.

Update from Previes review.

Reliability

This is an update from my previes review 6 week ago.

Unfortunately JBL quality control has relaxed somewhat over the last few years since I’ve used their products. I was woken last week by this sub-woofer which had decided to pack it in .. in the middle of the night no less. As another review states below I had the same problem.. With a cracking and popping sound – even thought the unit had bean in stand-by mode for at least 48 hours. I find it very difficult to understand how a product as simple to manufacturer as this can have so many problems as the ones listed in these reviews. Humming, total break down etc. Even worse is the God awful web site and phone support for its products.

When finally actually speaking with a JBL rep on the phone I was given a list of two authorized repair shops…one of which current phone number had been disconnected. (I have no idea if the y are still in business)

I doubt I would consider JBL a serous contender for my money in the future. Other than those problems the unit sounds great.

strong, deep bass
hits hard
price

none so far

This sub kicks ass. Its way powerful and sounds great with movies and music. So far it has operated without any problems whatsoever. The only problems ive had to deal with were a bunch of complaints from the other students living in my dorm. For the price, this sub definitely cant be beat.

strong, deep bass
hits hard
price

none so far

This sub kicks ass. Its way powerful and sounds great with movies and music. So far it has operated without any problems whatsoever. The only problems ive had to deal with were a bunch of complaints from the other students living in my dorm. For the price, this sub definitely cant be beat.

Sounds good when it works

Failed after 1 day of using it.

This is my first HT experience. I installed the sub onto my system and proceeded to play some techno'ish tunes to see how well the bass did in that environment. Happily, it filled the room with clean/deep bass. I then decided to watch a DTS movie and see how it handled crashes/explosions/etc... It seemed to do just fine with those as well. I go to bed, get up the next day and now it isn't producing any sound whatsoever. I check all connections and make sure my receiver is set to LFE as well as the sub and still no sound. The LED lights on the unit are green (so it is getting a signal) but then again I'm not sure if I can trust those because after I power off my receiver, the lights stay green. The main point is, after one day of "breaking in" this subwoofer, it now does not produce sound at all. I will be making a call to tech support on Monday!

Infant failure seems common on this sub.

Similar Products Used:

none

None

Compared to the JBL PB10 - this unit really fills a room with the lower end of the audio spectrum. I have watched several DVDs both DTS and Pro Logic and it does add the "being there effects" to all sound effects. What is really nice is you do not really notice what it adds unitl you turn it off.

If you are considering the PB10 and are not sure about dropping a few more bucks - step into the PB12 it is considably more unit than the PB10.

For music sources it is also an excellent addition to the system - of course I leave the LFE switch alone and use the Sub-out on the A/V reviever - so I amagine the crossover freq is lower than 200hz so the sharpness of a bass drum or guitar would be from the main speakers and the lower end and sonices picked up by this unit.

Yes the LED's on the front stay green after you remove the audio source - look at the manual and it explains that this is by design - so chill out! I do wish thier was a method of dimming or shuting the LED's off.

System Summary:
Sony DVD
Yamaha CD
Yamaha V-800
36" Sony XBR TV
Snell E's - Main
Boston A. - R.Effect
JBL S-Center - Center

Similar Products Used:

looked at the JBL PB10

You're kidding me.

Can't beat this product, I highly recommend it. Add this to your home theatre system and you will definately be rocking and since I got this at a great bargain (because box was defected) I am even that much more satisfied with this product.

Similar Products Used:

None to speak of

Hard, crisp, hitting bass>

Has a slight buzzing noise when left in stand-by mode for more than 2 days.

This sub is great. I have it on a Harmam Kardon AVR 65 and it thumps. You don't just hear it, you feel it. I've gotten numerous complaints from my neighbors which tells me that my 400 bucks was well spent. Watching a movie is amazing and listening to music is a joy with this sub.