Good bass response.

Poor longevity.

At first I was quite impressed with sub. I had been using a passive 15" sub before this and really had to crank it to make it sing. After about a year of use I noticed a significant degree in variability of response. Now (that's it out of warranty) I'm getting an intermitent failure in my right speaker. Isolating the problem nearly drove me nuts! It was the damn sub! either the amp or the crossover took a dump. At a retail cost of (usually) $250 or more, I'd recommend you save your money.

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dbx Sub

Tight bass and great sound

Amplifier design should be donated to the French government.

Love the tight bass and plenty deep enough for my taste WHILE IT WORKS. 10 months after delivery the amp failed with the apparently commonplace midnight machine gun rumbling. That will scare the stuffing out of you!! JBL repaired the amp, but would not pay shipping. 6 weeks later the auto on feature failed and the sub cycles on and off during low bass portions of a movie - such as dialog. It does so with very annoying pops and chatters. I asked JBL to extend my 12 month electronics warranty because of the initial failure, but they declined.

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This is the only junk I have owned

NONE

AMP

I bought this PB12 on 02/01/02 from Best buy. I am not impressed with the sound but then again the acoustics in my house aren't that great either. I had the unit for about 7 months and the AMP took a dump. Thankfully it was under warranty and they replaced some module and capcitor. That seemed to fix the problem. Well, the exact same thing happened again exactly 7 months after the first repair. My warranty was up in Feb but JBL thankfully granted me the repair at no cost. I haven't received the subwoofer back from the repair shop yet but I'll keep you posted as to what happened this time.

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Yamaha 8" powered sub. No problems with this sub for past 4 years.

Smooth bass solidly built

none, so far

I just purchased the pb12 and I think it is great. I haven't had any of the amp problems, yet. Looks to be solidly built and fits in well with my pioneer sdf3k bookshelf speakers. The bass response seems to be smooth and reliable and I really hope it lasts. Since I bought from an authorized dealer, I shouldn't have much of a problem if it dies.

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klh junker

This sub had decent bass when it worked.

Very boomy. There is an obvious amp flaw with this design

I had a pb-12 for about 8 months before it blew up during the night. I smelled something in my living room and then heard this awful noise like a machine gun!! I pulled the plug from the wall as soon as I figured out what was going on. I felt a bunch of heat on the top of the box and some smoke came out of the port hole. I am so glad I was home because who knows what would of happened if it was left plugged in. This really motivated me to find out the real problem behind these units. I took the sub to my electronic class. I discussed with my class about how many of these have been reported of going bad. Our class needs some more of these subs so we can to try to figure out the huge mess-up Jbl did. These potentially seem like they could be dangerous. After I get enough of these blown subs, I will confront Jbl about this and give them our data about these things. If I get enough, I may be able to prevent this style amp from finding its way into new subs on the market. Did you know that many different brands use the same amp? All the company does is put a label on the amp. These amps are cheap so companies grab them, put their company symbol and name on a label to put on the amp, and place it in a box with a speaker. If you want this to stop happening please help us out. I think this is dishonest for the buyers. If you are going to throw your blown one away, or want to help our class stop this from happening, email me at Justinarmbruster02@hotmail.com I will even pay your shipping. Thank you, Justin

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Jbl...makes me think twice now before I go out and spend a bunch of money on something that isn't worth much at all!

lots of sound

low quality sound Crapped out AMP Incompetent customer service

I have used this sub moderately and enjoyed it. It produced a lot of sound which was all I really wanted it for. I have heard MUCH better quality subs for a litlle bit more money but this sub worked fine. At least for 9 months it worked fine. All of a sudden one night i hear this loud fluttering buzz from the living room and alas I find the JBL tweaking. I have made sure everything inside the box is connected properly and it still makes that god awful noise. JBL customer service will not help me with the situation. They told me that my warranty was not expired but is up for a renewal. I kindly told them to f#*k off.

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Infinity 50 Watt 8" (has functioned wonderfully for 8 years now)

Great sound when working. Gives great bass to any movie and regular OTA broadcasts. Nice look, good construction and variety of features for a unit of this cost.

Crapped out in less than a year. Cant find reciept, might have to eat this unit. Really pisses me off.

Bought this unit for my birthday. Sounded great for 11 months. Then while my son was enjoying Lilo and Stitch on a Saturday morning we heard a loud pop and then nothing. No led lights, nothing. Opened the unit up to find that the fuse had blown. Replaced fuse, to no avail..fuse blows every time. From what I've been reading from the reviews, JBL has a real problem. I guess I'll try to get it fixed. Does anyone have any other ideas on this unit?

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none

Don't have to turn it on and off, crisp, clear bass that will ROCK the room

None

Everyone sure has had different experiences with this sub. It must depend on whether the moons were in alignment when you bought it. Me, I LOVE IT! I bought a Cambridge Soundworks woofer(was a great sub!) from Best Buy many moons ago, AND an extended warranty. It gave up the ghost,I took it back, and found out that they replace not repair. So I ended up with the PB12. I Emailed the Techs about the problems I have read, and they said that they had a problem with the older units but the new units have had the amplifier problems fixed. They also said that leaving the unit in standby mode is fine. So far; It will knock things off the wall with clear, floor thumping bass. No problems with the LED's. No problems leaving it in standby mode. Fixed the hum (which I always had with the Cambridge Soundworks)by switching to sheilded cable to connect to the receiver-quiet as a mouse. DON'T BUY A SUB WITHOUT AN EXTENDED WARRANTY!! If the PB12 ever does quit (and I blast it!), I get a new sub, no charge!

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Cambridge Soundworks 12" 150 watt sub

Downfiring so my kids can't poke at it. Lots of bass for the price.

Came broken - not very "crisp" bass response.

Came Broken - do not buy. Bad reviews on internet are 100% accurate. Opened box - plugged in - dead - nothing - zero - no sound. Took sub apart and reattached the speaker wires that fell off (also had to recrimp the connectors as they were so loose). - sub worked fine after that. I'm now worried about the amplifier failing like it has for so many other internet reviewers. I don't recommend purchasing due to JBL's lack of quality control and poor customer service. If you do - buy it at a local store so you can return it hassle free. I did purchase an appliance timer so the sub would not be on standby mode 24/7. Probably a good idea anyways no matter what sub you buy. I will write again when the amp fails. Until than I will use it as it is working and does sound a lot better than my old Polk 50 watt 8" sub. The Polk has always worked fine for the last 5 years by the way.

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Polk

Works well with movies. Lots of room to handle power.

Poor quality. Auto-shutdown function needs some improvement. Contant humm is a real issue. Not an ideal model for music reproduction.

Overall I had a poor experience with this sub. When I bought it online (a deal as a package), I was all excited to hear. It performed fairly well in the first week. Then when I was watching A.I. (recommended for testing your bass with the robot hunter scene) it strok, gave a laud pop and died on me. I replaced the fuse (blown) but it was still lifeless. I took it to a service center and for 2 month they can not fix it (the amp was gone. Eventually JBL sent me a refurbished unit. This one has worked well so far, except for the very annoying humm. It was quite significant when the sub is in the auto-shutdown mode. I checked the grounding and re-arranged the cable position but can not get rid of it. Also the sub generally produces impressive bass for movies, ready to crank up. However with music it lacks the clarity and definition for good playback.