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25 of 25 found the following review helpful:
 Meets all of my requirementsMar 11, 2009
By Mario Borges
"guitar man"
I originally was going to order the ES150PBk 200watt sub-woofer, but it was not going to be shipped until mid April. So I went with JBL's 300watt RMS (500Watt Peak) model. I paid $353.00 with a $30.00 off (for applying for an Amazon credit card) and this brought the price down to $323.00 with "free" super saver delivery. This unit will shake your living room during explosions in action movies (check out Pearl Harbor and Live Free, Die Young) and provides a nice, tight bass in music. I only have it turned up to just passed the mid-point & that is very loud. It is well designed, attractive, and you get more than your money's worth. You can not go wrong for this price! By the way, it does come with a removable black grill that is not pictured. I researched several other sub-woofers and none came close to providing the specs that this one does at this price and from such a well-established company. Last, but not least, JBL has been making speakers since the 1930's and is at the forefront of loudspeakers for the music industry. Because I am a tech savvy musician, I am well aware of JBL's reputation. So, in closing, rest assured that you are getting an outstanding product, through a trusted, reliable and reputable company at an outstanding price!!!
19 of 19 found the following review helpful:
good honest bassFeb 04, 2009
By Tom the engineer
"Tom"
When used in a small room, this subwoofer delivers!
Frequency response is smooth with no annoying resonances (booming). While the purist might want a slightly lower -3dB frequency, it is better than most of the other speakers in this price range (and getting an extra third octave or so is pretty expensive, and in my opinion barely noticable).
You will want to spend some time getting the level just right. I have a receiver which automatically does this, so it was very simple. If you don't you will want to try a variety of program material to tweak it.
I can't evaluate how this speaker holds up when driven at it's rated maximum power. I would blow the windows (and my ears) out if I tried it in my room.
Overall, a beautiful product. Well designed and built and worth the money.
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Great Sound!Oct 20, 2008
By Book Review Dude
I bought this subwoofer in addition to a JBL SCS-145.5 SCS Series Home Theater Speaker System, and I'm pretty impressed. I was thinking about buying a BOSE system instead, but a friend of mine was encouraging me to check out JBL - saying that JBL is better priced and a better quality. I have to admit he was right! The subwoofer, alone, puts out sound that makes me feel pretty roughed up after watching a video clip from "Live Free Die Hard". I am not disappointed!
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Great Sub at a budget priceJun 22, 2011
By Sandy
Was looking for a sub for my stereo receiver and ended up with this one. Using this for music only. Like other JBL products, the build quality is excellent. Auto on/off feature saves power. Has LFE input only, no speaker level inputs. I am not sure I like the design...as you can see, its kinda cone shaped. I am having some difficulty to digest that. I have placed it in one corner and had to put a faux flower vase on top of it so that it doesn't remind me of its cone shape all the time :) I still bought it because it is very difficult to come across a front firing closed body (i.e., non-ported) sub with such high power rating as this (400W ~ 700W). Shop around and you wont find very many subs within this range. Besides, high-current front firing subs are quite rare these days. JBL has another newer sub like this (L8400P) but it costs $600 ~$1000. Polk Audio has one 12 inch sub but with much lower power rating (460W peak). The more expensive Velodynes Energy etc. all are down firing. Most others are ported. IMHO down firing/ported subs are good/ok for movies where you want the sound to spread all across the room. But for music, you need deeeeeeeeep tight bass. Front firing non-ported subs are more conducive for music IMHO......and this one does an extreeeeemely good job.
After having used this sub for about a couple of months heres my take: Bass is indeed deeeeeep and rich (not a cheap chest thumper). This baby has the sonic capacity to bring down your house! Be vaaaaery careful with the volume control of your receiver. I have never tested this at high volume and thats not because I dont want to, but more because I can't:) You gotta respect its sonic capacity!! But hey, bringing down the house is not my idea of good sound and this is where this JBL sub stands out. Play with the low freq. crossover adjustments a little bit and tune it to your taste. You dont have to really crank up the volume, even at low volume levels this baby sounds sweet ......and thats the beauty of high current subs! Low powered subs just "do not" perform at low volume levels, period. This is connected to my stereo receiver (Yamaha RS-700BL) and I intend to use this only for music. Overall I am happy with this purchase. The package includes a subwoofer cable as well. I'd recommend this to anybody. The four stars are only for that cone shape. Yuck. Thanks for reading!
26 of 34 found the following review helpful:
 These blow up!Apr 05, 2010
By James C. Kelley
Bought the predecessor (JBL 12" 250watt RMS sub) to this about five years ago and the circuit board fried for no reason but under-engineered. My brothers indentical unit had the same failure! No parts available says JBL but they said but they would buy it back from me for a song and sell me an identical refurb for a lot of loot. I ask why there are parts for refurbs they resell but NOT for me? I raised hell, called up Sales Manager and called them on their refurb scheme. They sent me a new subwoofer for free - the subwoofer is the item shown here and IS the subject of this review, just read on!
Good, all set - I thought! Now this 2nd subwoofer fries about 2 years later. I took it apart too. Same damage on the circuit board. Same under-designed power supply stage. I will not contact JBL again as I am done with their subs and other products. But I wonder if they sell this unit as a refurb too. Now YOU know why others say they can't get parts and why these subs fry so much. It's a good scheme for JBL. They clearly are replacing the cheap circuit board and selling the same sub over and over and over!
I am a musician and have bought JBL all my life but no more. This sub was used on a home theater along side a Bose Lifestyle 5.1 system. The sub has in no way been abused or played too loud. The Bose has outlasted 2 of these JLB junk heaps. I am buying a different, cheaper 12" sub and if it fries, so be it. This unit will die on you. It is no way worth the price and similar units sell for half the price or even less. Watch this product - don't get stung!
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