Great tight bass, sturdy enclouser, able to fill a large room with smooth bass.

none yet

this is a great subwoofer, especially for people on a budget. it sounds great, looks nice, and provides easy hook up for people that don't know much in the audio world. tested ,many subwoofers before choosing this one, and they were all at least 500 bucks more expensive, ( besides klh )and after testing them all, I settled on this one. Having the lfe switch is a great feature, plus its one of the more powerful subs in its class My main concern however, is the place I orderd it from. I would advise anyone who is considering ordering from consumer direct to go to etronics, dynadirect, or dirtcheapaudiovideo. I experienced the worst customer service ever there. To start with, I orderd this sub on 2 day delivery, which set me back 66 bucks, as apposed to 30. the problem with this though, is that it took over a week for it to arrive! and when I called them and asked were it was and why it was taking so long, they said that it was out of stock. This was not mentioned on their website, which I told them, and they responded with,"it usually takes several days to get the website updated", however, I checked it 5 days later, and it still wasn't updated! and when I asked them about that, their excuse was that the person that usually does that is gone on vacation for the week. I think, and I think most people would agree that they should have more than just one computer technician. and when I told them that 66 bucks is alot of money to be wasted for me, they replied with a letter about how this was not a large amount of money and it was an inconvience. and worst of all, they never did give me even a cent in refund money! so, if your considering ordering from them, don't, it will be one of the biggest hasals you've ever experienced.

Similar Products Used:

velodyne, difinitive, infinity, jbl pb 10, polk audio,klipsch, klh.

Powerful, but not too boomey. Can't beleive the low price!

Lights in front, but not a big deal.

Let me just say I didn't buy this sub just because it was less expensive than others. I bought this sub because I honestly couldn't tell the difference between this sub and the more expensinve Energy and MK 12" subs. I'm sure a trained ear might be able to tell the difference, but that slight difference doesn't compete with the difference in price. I've read all the reviews on this sub and I have not experienced any of the problems described by some of the other PB12 owners. Even the annoying lights turn red when there is no signal being transmitted. Looks to me that JBL fixed those problems, or I just got a good one. Based on my experience with this sub so far, I would highly recommend this sub to anyone who doesn't care about brand names and just wants a powerful sub at a great price.
System:
Fronts: 2 Energy E-XL26.
Reciever: Yahmaha RXV596 500W
Surrounds: 2 Yahmaha NS-AW1
Center: Sony SS-CN495H (needs upgrading)
SUB: JBL PB12 (duh!)

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First Sub

Great subwoofer. I did side-by-side comparisons between the PB-12 and several other units (Polk, Velodyne, Infinity) which were priced as much as 3x the price of the JBL. Quite surprisingly, I could not feel or hear a differene. The JBL belted out as much quality bass as the pricer units.

I'd prefer a natural wood grain - but not a real big deal.

Good unit. Alot of people dislike JBL because they've become rather mainstream in the last decade. But, hey, they still make quality products. Don't believe me? Go listen before you buy. Then, go to eBay and save $100's over your local retailer. This unit goes down to 25hz.

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Velodyne, Klipsh, Infinity

Small footprint, powerful

Popping noises, failed after a week

Well, this sub was a replacement for my PSWD112 that failed on me, see the review in that category. I paid $89.00 for shipping to get my sub to JBL and they sent me the PB12 last week. It only took about two and a half months to send mine and them send the replacement. (Sarcasm here) It failed today after making a huge popping noise. The lights still work (green, red) so it is getting a signal and power but no sound whatsoever. I am so pissed, it worked good when it was working but this is the 3rd JBL sub that has failed on me. My first D112 was DOA and the second failed after three months.
Watching Gladiator without a sub is ridiculous. Now I have to wait for a response from JBL and see where to go from here.

Equipment list:
Mitsubishi 50" RPTV VS50501
Infinity SM115 LF/RF
Infinity SM85 LR/RR
Cerwin Vega CC250 CC
JBL PB12 PWD SUB
Pioneer VSXD608 DD/DTS RECVR
Pioneer DVC302D DVD 3 DISC CHANGER
Magnavox HIFI VHS
Monster audio, video cables

Similar Products Used:

KSW12, JBL PSWD112, Technics SBAS60

Strong powerful bass, rattles my pitures crooked! Best bang for the buck!

er,...none.

I couldn't be happier with this sub. I've had it for a couple of weeks now and have played nearly every cd and dvd I own and still am amazed at the parts of the sound that I never heard before. It even made "Logans Run" (remember that?) ROCK! It's rattling my pictures on the wall crooked. It sounds great with movies and music from BB King to Pearl Jam. It fits perfectly under an end table and because it's down firing, I don't have to worry about damage from children or drunk friends. Projects very well, bass comes from all around you. I am a happy camper.

lots of power, deep bass, performance, imputs, value, looks

a very faint hum, only audible when you put your ear to the sub, other than that none.

I go to homes and buld home entertanment systems and let me just say that there is no sub that will even come close to the PB-12 for this price! I have listened to lots of subs and bult lots of systems with infinity, and Cerwin-Vega speakers that cost twice and three times as much. Its amazing that I can say I like this sub as much or more than some of these super high performance speakers. I recently ran some bass tests with it, including tests at frequencies below 30Hz and things were falling off the walls. The bass comes in smooth but then hits hard enough to take your breath away. If you are looking for a good quality inexpenive subwoofer, please go listen to this speaker and make sure its set up properly or else any subwoofer will sound bad. Also for the best deal go to the web site I mentioned above they sell it for 257.00 + shiping.

Similar Products Used:

polk, denon, Cerwin-Vega, M&K, Klipsch, infinity
home system:
Yamaha v-995 receiver
Sony refrence DVD player
Sony MD/CD player recorder
JBL S38 fronts
JBL S26 rears
JBL S-Center speaker
JBL PB-12 Subwoofer

Deep rich bass, that is thunderous and extremely authoritive. Puts out 250 watts RMS and a frequencey response down to 25hz!

Are you kidding me!?

Man is this sub wicked! When I watch the dts version of Saving Private Ryan my walls vibrate!! This sub is not for the faint of heart, it takes over the room. Explosions rock the room and evelop me. I am 17 and used to play in the high school marching band, believe me this thing doesn't recreate the kick drum, it becomes the kick drum. jurrasic Park made my jaw drop when the T-Rex escapes and the car is turned over and poor little Timmy is stuck and T-Rex is growling at him, the sub made chills run down my back, it felt and sounded like I was there with Timmy.

If you're looking for a sub that brings the theater home, the JBL PB12 is without a doubt the way to go.

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I used to work at Best Buy so I can't name them all

Powerful Deep Bass, Good looking cabinet

Problems with auto on/off LED lights, slight hum

I must say, out of all the subs I've heard in this
price range, the PB-12 sounds the best. Unfortunately
I've had to return this product 3 times because of problems
with the auto on/off. The last unit I had worked fine for
a week or so, but then it NEVER shut off after the show
was over. When I turned it off and on manually the lights
would come on red (stand by) then one of the two lights
would shut of completely (VERY STRANGE). The JBL Tech
support could not expain this phenomenon, their solution
was to return the unit. One of them said that always on
(no stand-by) was O.K., but that did not convince me.

Has anyone had similar problems?

My equipment:
Denon 3801
Monter cable all around
Monster Y-connector on Normal Mode
Monter surge protector

Similar Products Used:

BOSE

Great price. Good tight bass sound. Excellent reproduction for Home Theatre and pretty good for music as well. Not sloppy or boomy. Well made and doesn't look half bad.

Not the greatest when used to listen to old Analog recordings... but that's probably not the speakers fault.

I looked long and hard at other subs. I was able to listen to the PB12, PB10, Polk, and a few others... Found that the JBL, was cleaner and punchier. It works well with my patchwork system and placement was not a problem. I also found it's price point, when properly investigated, was great for the casual listener or the mid-level audio enthusiast. Tried "Gladiator" with it over the weekend, it passed the Battle of Carthage chariot scene with flying colors.

My current system:
Receiver: Onkyo 787
Mains: Mid 80's Ohm Walsh 2's
Rear/Surrounds: Klipsch SB3s
Center: Klipsch SC-1
Sub: PBL PB12

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My first sub.

Good bass

Reliability

The first PB-12 lasted about 30 days, until it began taking longer and longer for the green light to come. After first noticing the problem, it was only a matter od about 10 days before it was taking as long as 5 minutes for the light to change from red to green. Fortunately, HH Gregg gave me a replacement PB-12 that seems to be working fine after about 60days. However, I don't leave the unit powered on in standby mode any longer. Whether this contributed to the problem with the first one is unknown. Given JBL's history of problems with this unit's predecessor, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. Overall, I'm pleased with their performance for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne