sound

bad set-up manual

I finally got my JBL PSW-D112 sub back from the JBL authorized service center. It had been there for over 12 weeks!!! Before the amplifier module blew, I had used it for about four blissful months. It was truly a wonderful performer...especially for $249 (Shop4.com)!
While it was in the repair shop, I visited the JBL website to download the setup guides. The instructions for hooking up the subwoofer to my receiver (Denon AVR-2800) changed several times in my visits to this site! The original manual that came with my subwoofer instructed me to run an RCA cable from my receiver’s subwoofer output to the subwoofer’s Center, line-level input. This is what I did…it worked for four months…it then blew up. As a sidenote, there is a RCA outlet called “Direct out” on the subwoofer, but the manual explained that this was for connecting additional subwoofers.

Anyway, the most current on-line instruction manual instructs me to run an RCA cable from my receiver’s subwoofer output into the “Direct” outlet on my subwoofer! This is the same “Direct” outlet that the original manual designated as an “output” for additional subwoofers!!

I just got off the phone with JBL’s technical support (Scott). He was very friendly and helpful (the same cannot be said for JBL’s Part’s Department…but that’s another story). When I described the hook-up instructions from the origianl manual, he said “why would anyone do it like that?”…and I got him to admit that the original instructions were, in fact, wrong! He assured me that the “direct” outlet on the subwoofer was for inputting my RCA cable from my receiver to the subwoofer.

I am going to do this. Wish me luck.

One additional note. When I picked up my subwoofer yesterday from the repair shop, the repair person mentioned that JBL sent some comments along with the replacement part. The comments basically said that further repairs would not be under warranty because the damage was due to the customer incorrectly hooking up the subwoofer. IMAGINE THAT! I was just following the instructions!!!

I hope this helps other owners of this great sounding subwoofer. If you have not experienced problems yet, good for you…just be sure that you have it connected properly.

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Great sound.

Reliability

Great sounding sub when it works. A pile of crap when its dead. I don't think the problems are from the connections. Its pretty hard to hook up the new ones wrong. The amps are just garbage. JBL needs to get a clue. I guess they have the pro market and Harman to fall back on if people stop buying their consumer products. If it worked, I would give 4 stars. But an unreliable product deseves no better than 1 star. How good does it sound dead?

Shakes the house when it works.

Blew out within 2 weeks. Reliability is major problem with this sub.

What else can be said about this sub. I guess if you happen to get one of the dozen or so units that actually work, it's not a bad deal. For the rest of us, nothing but frustration and wasted time. Live and learn as they say.

Good hard hitting sub, Digital connection, connections on back (though I don't use them)

I seem to experience a bit of distortion at high volume that I feel shouldn't be there, but I don't normally listen at that volume anyway.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, so far this sub has been great. Shakes the floor in the explosive DVD's and blends well with the rest of my setup while listening to music. Those who don't like a lot of bass probably won't care for how the sub handles music. (I'm not one of those people) I've been a fan of JBL for quite some time and haven’t had any major issues with any of their speakers. Good quality and sound. I would recommend, but would test it at store and get a extended warranty... too many problems reported here on audioreview.com to just be user error.

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Listened to many subs in stores.

None

Never worked

It's a classic case of "sounding great" in the store,
then "not working" when it got home.

1. Plugged in the power-cord and it hummed loud.
2. Unplugged it -- noticed the power-switch was on.
3. Fliped the switch to "off".
4. Plugged back in, then flipped switch to "on"
(Hummed again)
5. Switched off via switch.
6. Checked volume control, and was all the way down.
7. Flipped back on (hummed again)
8. Played with knobs as it hummed...hoping to affect the
drone in some fashion...until it "thunked" off -- never
to turn on again.
9. Took the subwoofer back.

This was my first JBL purchase...and to say the least,
I'm not too terribly impressed. I am now looking at
Klipsch or Velodyne Sub.

I had to write a review, because a rating of 3.4 is
so unjust, and terribly optimistic.

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Cant tell...

DOA, poor quality conntrol at JBL

Even after reading all of the reviews and warnings about this sub I've decided to try my luck because I do believe that it is the best sub for the money I could spend. foolishly assuming that JBL already got a handle on this situation I've made the purchase. Before even opening the box I've studied the freshly downloaded hookup diagram, and even called JBL to confirm method of the "rocket science" task of running a Y RCA cable from my LFE output on my Technics receiver to the sub. I really envy those guys who got a Thump or a Hum or a Squeak. I got nothing...The ADI store has a 30 day return policy so it is not a problem. However, after looking at the Infinity BU-120 reviews which was my second choice I've decided to return this one and special-order a new JBL PSW-D112 from JBL hoping that the problem was corrected in later models. I'll come back to tell you what happened... Question: Just in case the new one fries after a year, can I bypass the Amp and make it a passive sub? I'm trying to be realistic here...

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Optimus(Radio Shack), please don't laugh.

Deep Powerfull Bass (Please Read Review)

Poor Quality, Poor Amplifier Design

Advise Section (Please Read):
Please listen to my advice. I knew about this site and decided to take a risk anyway with purchasing this sub. I thought it wouldn’t happen to me; magically the sub will have no problems because it's me. Well I was wrong, this sub will probably die on most people eventually, and I guarantee it. I guarantee it because when I called Mercata to ask them about possible having the sub replaced, the guy on the phone already knew that I had the JBL sub. Hey said most of the subs that were sold came back within the first 30 days and the ones that didn’t people called in asking for them to take it back. If you still don’t believe me go to www.mercata.com and see for yourself that they don’t carry the sub anymore. Mercata couldn’t carry it anymore because it was hurting their sales. Best Buy no longer sells it as well, my friend told me that the percentage returned/repaired during most months exceeded the percentage sold. Again please listen to this and don’t purchase this sub. Again PLEASE take my advice if you are even the slightest bit hesitant don’t do it, save yourself the money and headache.

How it died:
One night it started humming really loud then all of a sudden it stopped and the red light faded to dark. And that was it for the sub. I wasn’t even using the sub at the time when it happened, the light was red throughout the entire process of it dieing. I opened the back and noticed that the fuse was blown; I pulled out my box of fuses and I tried just replacing the fuse (and yes I replaced it with the same type fuse). I turned it back on with the back open and it started humming again like it did before and the fuse began to turn red so I just shut it off, because the fuse was going to blow again.

My Question:
If anyone happens to know what has to be done to fix the unit I’d be more then willing to listen. E-mail: xtomen@yahoo.com

Advise for people that already own the subwoofer:
Try to keep the unit off as much as possible; JBL seems to have a big problem with the power module. Mine blew even when the unit was off. Obviously power is still being applied to the circuit in standby and that puts constant stress on the power module. So I would think that reducing the amount of time the power module has to supply current to the rest circuitry increases the probability that the amplifier will last longer.

My two cents -- Good luck to everyone.

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Kick butt, wall rattling, stomach punching bass. Massive. Better than the 15" JBL, IMO.

It does have it's limits. I actually got the woofer to bark in a rather ugly way while watching the liftoff scene in "Lost In Space". After properly setting up my bass limiter on my Onkyo TS-DX777 reciever, this didn't happen anymore.
Sounds great.

After 9 months +, this thing is still kickin'. ( knock on wood...) And I leave it on all the time. It's been on ever since I pulled it out of the box.

Sorry to hear all the bad reports. I hear the successor to this model is a definite winner. Who knows, maybe mine will crap out yet; but I sure hope not.

I can only judge my personal experience; therefore, I give it 5 and 5. I wish others were as satisfied with theirs, as I am with mine.
Thanks for the "heads up". Perhaps I will shut mine down. However, I will say that generally the most taxing factor on a given circuit is start-up. That's why the pro studios leave the gear running 24-7.

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One of the best-sounding bargain basement subs on the market

amp died two months after warranty expired

At the time I bought this I had had my JBL GSub-10 for a couple of years and wanted something that would go a bit lower. I was using a twelve-year-old pair of JBL 4410 Studio Monitors which go quite deep in their own right, and the GSub-10 just didn't add that much more to the bottom end.

In it's favor, the PSW-D112 does clean out the basement, sound-wise. Careful adjustment of the crossover frequency, level, and phase are critical to getting the best sound out of this system - run it too hot with the crossover set too high and it does get boomy and muddy up the lower mids.

I enjoyed this unit for just over a year when it started making strange rumbling noises (even with the receiver turned off) and finally died altogether, two months out of warranty. I had used it originally with the speaker level inputs, but switched to the LFE line level when I upgraded my receiver in February. A $25 diagnostic visit to BestBuy's service department informed me that a new amp would be nearly $300! I deferred.

I tried running it as a passive sub (using a Marantz MA-500 125W monoblock), but without the additional controls (x-over frequency, level, and phase) that the sub amp gives you, it's very difficult to properly tune this sub to integrate into your system.

I finally ended up replacing the amp ($143 at www.apexjr.com). While I was replacing the fried amp, I also added some additonal fiberglass packing in the cabinet which really tightened up the overall sound and eliminated a lot of the boominess that these boxes can produce.

This sub, when properly tuned and integrated with your mains, can deliver wall-rattling lows that can keep up with anything you can throw at it. However, the lifespan of the amp leaves a great deal to be desired and could be worthy of a class-action lawsuit.

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Powerful

Short Life

This was a really hot deal at mercata and I decided to try it. Well its now 8 weeks later and it doesn't work any more. Wish I would have seen all the bad reviews earlier! I'm waiting for mercata to get in touch with me as I'd rather return it and buy something else since it doesn't sound like its a unit one can enjoy listening to very often. It is a very nice unit when it works though!

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