Home > Consumer Reviews > JBL PB12 12" 250-Watt Down-Firing Powered Subwoofer

For the money, I must say that this sub cannot be beat. I auditioned many others before purchasing this model, including those from "higher-end" manufacturs. Most other subs are either made with too small a driver to move any air or constructed poorly. JBL has done a fine job of turning out a quality product. This sub is fast enough to move with the smaller models and big enough to hang with a 15" model, all without becoming "boomy" or coloring the music. While it doesn't go as low as some, it is more than adequate for most any type of listening, be it Home Theater or Music. A bit of tuning for the environment was necessary, but that is the case with any sub. Great job JBL...

I bought this subwoofer about 4 months ago. It was working fine up until last week when I got up and noticed that the red leds were not on. At first I thought the unit was not recieving power, but after checking all of that I concluded it had to be the amp. I have read some other reviews by customers on this product complaining of the same thing. JBL must of shipped these things out with some faulty amps because it wouldn't turn on at all and there wasn't a power surge that hit it. I have all my home theatre products hooked up to a monster cable power center. Luckily I bought a service plan at the place I bought it cuz u only get 1 year from JBL. Good product but watch out for the faulty amp. Hopefully they will put in a good amp and this will never happen again.

Although I was pleased with the sound quality of the JBL NSPB12
it did not last long. After only two months, the unit failed. Service with JBL has been a nightmare. I have taken it to a factory authorized service center who indicated that this was typical of the PB12 and parts were back ordered, that was 4 months ago. Trying to get some support from JBL is VERY disappointing. Therefore, I would NOT recommend their products.

I agree fully with the first review of this product. This is my fourth subwoofer and the one that pleased me the most right out of the box. 19 years ago I bought my first powered-sub for over 1000 bucks in 1982 money. It still works well for music, but just wasn't right for home theater. The JBL works well in both modes. The depth charges in "U-571" scared my little kids(me, too!), without once showing any strain from the built-in amp or the driver. The older 400W sub bottomed out with regularity in these scenes. I built a passive 18" sub using another JBL driver, that is powered by a Carver M1.5 amp running bridged. The 18" driver cost more than this whole unit does, shipping and all! This is my first vented-box, downward firing sub (the rest are sealed-box, forward-firing units) and I can't over-emphasize how pleasing it's performance has been. I originally bought the JBL PB-10, but it's smaller 150W amp and 10" driver was only marginally better in my room than the older unit I was replacing. It was built just as well as this unit is and will work well for many people, I'm sure, its just that I'm still a bass-freak. My only concern, and the reason I had never gone with a vented box design before, is the roll-off below resonant frequency is noticable and the amp will go into oscillation if driven (way) too hard at resonance. Used properly, this thing can shake my floor just as easily as it's 18" big brother, at about 25% the cost and without having to build the enclosure. That's what I call value-- and it's pretty compared to the refrigerator-on-its-side box I made.

I bought this subwoofer because of my past experience with JBL speakers. This sub sounds great, but it won't last. I had my first one a week when it went dead. NO led lights, NO juice. I returned it and got a new one, thought it might just be defective. My replacement lasted 1 month, 5 year warrenty not worth the head ache.Not very many authorized repair centers, closet one 50 miles.