Powerful, loud, many connections, forward firing

Unreliable, bad quality control, big as a coffee table

Well, I must say I read all the reviews on this sub and thought maybe I will get a good one and "that won't happen to me". This sub is huge! It is also very powerful and easy to set up. I used the pre-out subwoofer output on my recvr to the line level inputs on the sub. The bass was big, sometimes boomy - but that didn't bother me too much. Reproducing bass in such movies as Saving Private Ryan, Tarzan and Independence Day were awesome and impressed a lot of my fellow home theater enthusiasts. I was concerned enough to contact JBL and ask what assurance they could give me that my unit was a good one. They told me that the failure rate for this product was approximately 5%, which is high for JBL, but that it gave me a 95% chance that I would get a good one. About 4 months of use without any problems, one day the sub made a static noise like radio static and knocking noises, like someone knocking on the door really slowly. My wife went to the door to see if anyone was there before she realized it was coming from the sub. JBL told me they would replace my sub with an upgrade since there was no one in Hawaii that is qualified to repair it. I paid about 89.00 dollars for shipping and handling to get my sub to them. I am awaiting a PB12. I was impressed with the sub's power and really let down by it's reliability. I would advise anyone looking at this sub to carefully consider the problems and make sure the return policy where you buy it, will go past the 3-4 month mark.

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

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Technics SBAS60, Sherwood sub, Klipsch KSW 12

good bass

some cd's muddy sounding

Got the jbl sub from QVC for 299 had high hopes this was a new model didn't have all the miss marked jacks hoovked it up listened to cd's first sony 1000esd pre nad 2600a amp mirage m 490's speakers sounded great high feaquency from the 490's improved heard sounds didn't hear before on older jazz cd's some of the bass was a little muddy after a month of listening to cd's played dvd's jvc 701bk also the sound was room shaking very happy for two months than I came home from work to a loud sound of poping it was the sub very sad tried unpluging it than back in still the same e mailed jbl no response called said to bring it to local shop for repair called qvc sent it back they don't have it any longer got refund now very sad it sounded good when it worked am very diisapointed in jbl quality control would have been a good value if it worked

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first sub

Low Bass Response

None

If you download the latest manuals from the JBL website, you will notice that the receiver LFE to sub connection is no longer to the "DIRECT" RCA jack on the sub. On the D112, the LFE cable should be plugged into the Line-In Left and Right jacks via a Y-splice. On the D115, the LFE output should be connected to the Line-In Center jack of the sub. The "DIRECT" jack on the sub is now labeled "DIRECT OUT", and is to be used when daisy-chaining to another sub. Maybe JBL goofed up with their markings and manuals, therefore the amplifier keeps getting fried.

I have a D115, likes it so far. Any ideas why the back panel is marked with 450 Watts versus the 350 Watts that is published by JBL? My ratings would be for the D115.

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N/A

Price, Power, Availability, Subtle Audio Range

May not be the most reliable according to past reviewers.

I bought this monster from Best Buy the other day and when I got it hooked up I got a humming. I had it hooked with the direct subwoofer connection from my Yamaha R-V1105 Receiver. The direct speaker-wire connection worked but not the direct connection. So I took the unit and cord back to best Buy and replaced bother just in case it was the wire and not the Sub.

The second unit works. I put it through a range of punishment using various DVDs from Dances with Wolves DTS, RoboCop, Clear and Present Danger, The Rock, The Fugitive, and Armageddon (non-creight).

Wow! Extremely powerful. The room I have it in is a bit small and definitely audio-friendly in that it has four doorways and a window. The size is only about 20x25 or so. I had to stick the sub to the side of the main speakers because I had no room right in front.

My main speakers are Infinity RS-5 which can pump serious bass by itself and a pair of Realistic Who-Knows-Whats which act as a secondary set of main speakers to the side. I have an Infinity center channel (forgot model), so I have plenty of sound from everywhere.

The sub is perfect for movies. It has excellent range-adjustments to tweak and balance the amount of high-low and low-low you want out of the sub. I kept the volume of the sub at around 50-60% power and my receiver at about 30% volume. It was extremely loud and powerful.

The sub does the extreme explosions well as well as the subtle big-robot footsteps. The bass is fairly tight and not muddy at all. I believe it would blow out my windows if I really punched the volume.

As for the reliability, only time will tell. I made sure to get the service plan from Best Buy for 9 years so I really am not worried about it since I live right next to the store (it also helps I used to work at the store).

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None other than really good main speakers

Very powerful sub, Can handle just about all I give it. Doesnt drown out the treble, and keeps my from having to play the bass of my shelf speakers over their limit.

None as of yet.

When I first purchased this subwoofer, I was AMAZED. Basically because of the size and weight of it. Once I finally got it hooked up and positioned right in my room, I was again AMAZED. The quality of bass this subwoofer put out was breathtaking. How low it could pick up bass, how high it could pick up bass, the range is to die for. I love this subwoofer and I will never buy another brand.

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KLH 12" subwoofer.

clean and tight....And PAINFUL!! (ha-ha)

It seems to me that the people who are getting "bum units"
are getting these online....I would'nt be at all suprised if these people were gettig second hand stuff that some jackass
hooked up to their diect line or speaker line level, turned up the sub all the way,then turned up the amp, just to see how LOUD THEY COULD GET THEIR 250WATT SUB to go, blew it, the sent it back so some second rate online tech could patch it to *working*, only to re-ship.
This is one amazing sub, just think about spending the extra
$$$ and gettig it retail from best buy or something....
Who knows who these "e-tailers" really are?????

Great Bass! "Seemingly" excellent value. . .well, for the first 4 days.

Have had two. First was DOA, second died after 4 days. Also made small popping sounds during auto-shut off.

When I saw the price, I thought I might give it a try, I mean $270 for a 12" 250 watt powered sub seemed hard to resist.. . .oh well. Bought one and it was DOA. Sent it back to J & R and got a replacement. This one lasted 4 days. Bass was very nice, powerful in both music and movies during the short time we had together. I wished the thing would have worked longer. Going to send it back and looking for something else. . .any recommendations??, please email me at ahead@ucla.edu.

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None

Sound Quality....

Amplifier death rate....

Great unit in sound quality if you don't touch it after you set it up. Mine never made the humming sounds I read about while in s/by mode. It did pop when I would turn it on after being off. I stayed away from turning it on and off all the time. I figure if I hadn't, it would have died sooner. Well it's pretty clear that JBL screwed the pooch on these. I just hope the replacement amps have been redesigned to increase the reliabilty but I think the chances of that might be slim. I will not buy JBL again unless the outcome of this situation is favorable to me which I have m doub'ts so far after reading these reviews.

Easy to configure (at least for me); great bass. Well-made

A tad large; could serve as a small sidetable.

At first sight this subwoofer was huge: 53 pounds, like a big black cube. It eventually blended well with my home theater layout. The setup was easy. I have a receiver with AC-3 and DTS and a separate subwoofer output. I simply connected the receiver's output to the subwoofer's center channel line input. The receiver takes control of the speaker functions. It really works and sounds fantastic. The subwoofer has a front adjustable video contour dial. When not in use, the speaker output drops to a standby mode, thus eliminating the need to switch the unit on and off.

Excellent for both movies and music. A little "boomy" at times but nothing a little adjusting won't fix.

Auto on/off, on/off switch in the back, as big as an end table.

Good sound quality. Really adds depth to both movies and music. Room placement is crucial to having it perform well. It took me a month of moving this beast around just to find the right spot for the best sound. I have had the unit for a year, use it every day and have had none of the problems mentioned in previous posts. Overall a good sub.

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None