Home > Consumer Reviews > JBL Northridge E150P 10-Inch Powered Subwoofer with 150-Watt Digital Amplifier, Single (Black Ash)

This is a great sub for entry-level to mid-level systems, where you have some measure of control over the listening environment. Its construction quality is high, has sufficient power to provide a good listening experience in a small to moderate sized room, is tight, and is musical.

Because this is a ported design, it has a tendency to get boomy **IF** it is placed incorrectly, or tuned incorrectly, within a room. Put it in a corner where it is tuned to the resonant frequency of the floor and drywall in that corner, sure it can get pretty whoofy at that frequency. But, ANY similar sub from another manufacturer will display exactly the same traits -- it is a matter of physics, not a matter of whether this is a Hsu, SVS, or whatever. If boominess is an issue, place the sub away from the corner, or tune it appropriately with the crossover setting...

So, if you are looking for a reasonably priced sub from an outstanding manufacturer, an excellent line of speakers (the JBL Northridge series), and a speaker that delivers the goods without being pretentious, this might be a good choice to consider...

This sub does a good job for Home Theater in a small to medium sized room but for music it just doesn't go low enough. Would work better in a bedroom or a dorm. You'll only hear the difference if you're source is via digital coax or fiber optic cable. It does a decent job however for movies in Dolby D.
Bottom line, if you want a good sub for both music and movies in a medium to large sized room. You need at least a 12" 250 watt or better sub. I would recommend the JBL E250P instead if you really want deep bass to fill the room.

I had this sub-woofer, and it is the best 10" around. It is great. Get one, if this is what you are looking for. I just use my pc now, but i had alot of fun, w/ the JBL 10" sub, and you can find them priced very, very low.

I was fairly new to HT when I bought the JBL E150P. Luckily, I had a reference point, a home theater in my living room that a full service HT installer put in. The reference point subwoofer is a Pinnacle AC Sub 100. It cost me about $400 and I have been very satisfied with it.

Anyway, I cheaped out, thinking JBL was a good name and the driver was the same size as the Pinnacle. Anyway, after comparing the JBL with the Pinnacle, I was pretty bummed out for a couple of months. I finally knew what the word "boomy" meant that everyone was using to describe certain cheap subwoofers. I tried to convince myself that it was a pretty good subwoofer. But I couldn't.

I couldn't take the cheap inferior boomy bass any longer, so 2 months later, I sold it the JBL. Since I bought it right ($159), I sold it in the original packaging on Amazon a couple of months later for $140. I considered it a very inexpensive lesson.

After a lot of research, I then decided to buy an HSU or SVS. I ended up buying a silver HSU STF-2 on Christmas sale for $319 plus shipping. Extremely pleased with the sound. Not as pleased with the look of the subwoofer, but it's passable. The sound is my main concern. The HSU is an outstanding music subwoofer, and very good movie subwoofer.

Don't buy the JBL E150P subwoofer.