JBL PB10 sub.... (1 Viewer)

[Reid K]

anyone have this sub? I have read reviews at audioreview.com and it got 4.13out of 5 from 113 votes. People said it has too much boom is this true? Just wondering what you thought. Dont want to waste my hard earned minimum wage money on something I will regret lol

 

[VinhT]

The PB10 is underported, which causes that boominess. However, don't take that to be a flaw. It was intentionally designed that way after all. Just stop by your local Best Buy and give it a listen if they've managed to set up the connections properly. People have different opinions of how their bass should sound, but I think many would agree that the PB10 is not an ideal home theater subwoofer. You might want to look into two very popular alternatives. The Sony sub and the DLS from Parts Express will give you better performance and be cheaper too. Hope this helps.

-Vinh

 

[Wade_Kennerson]

I have this sub, but an untrained ear. I think it was quite honestly one of the best additions to my HT setup. My HT area is not ideal (open along one wall) and this sub manages to fill the apartment with sound. I haven't knowingly experienced the "boominess" described above, but this was my first sub purchase. After calibration with AVIA, it became less directional and improved it more.

I would heed the advice of VinhT, and audition it at a local Best Buy. Quite honestly though BestBuy charges too much for it. I got mine from www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com for 175 + shipping about 6 months ago. (Still going for that price.)

 

[David_Stein]

i have it, and i really want to replace it. it is boomy, not as boomy as somethings, but i can definitely tell when sounds i am hearing are supposed to be tighter.it looks nice though...

 

[Jose G]

Save you money- get the DLS 10 from PartsExpress.com. It is the best bang for your buck quality sub out there.

AtLink Removed they said this: "
We directly compared this sub to more expensive JBL PB10 sub and a Polk PSW150 sub.* No comparison.* The JBL seemed to have a little "tighter" hit, but it couldn't compare to the amount of sound from the Sony.* The only performance knock we could find on the Sony is some distortion when pushed to high volume levels.* We experimented, running the Sony with a different external amp, and it did help some but it became obvious that the woofer and amplifier were both part of the distortion level.

One note of warning, if you listen to mostly music, you may want to look at another sub.* While the Sony wasn't terrible on music, we prefer a little tighter sounding bass.* We felt the bass to be a little "boomy" while listening to music."

Read the link for the full review.

That said, do a search here for the DSL and you will see what people are saying about this "Tiny Mighty" little sub. I have one- no regrets. Best $100 ever spent on audio considering a sub makes such a big difference in the HT world.

 

[Mike X]

I, like Wayne, have this sub, as well as an "untrained ear"...but I love it. Great bang for the buck. BTW, check the price at [www.jandr.com[/url]. They will email you a lower price than what's listed...I got mine for $150.

 

[Paul Clarke]

I agree with Wade and Mike. This is a perfectly fine sub for a small HT system and room. Going up to medium I would certainly upgrade to the PB12...but if that were the case I'd probably also be looking at a lot of other options.

I don't know what this 'boominess' is people keep complaining about. My PB10 is tight and blends very well with my Emerald towers for HT or Music. Is it a killer? By no means. But it gets the job done with little downside.

I've heard the Sony's. You have to tweak them to get anything Musical out of them. The 40 has slightly lower extension than the PB10 but at what cost to sound quality?
Sometimes I think people are just junkies when it comes to this stuff.

 

[Kevin L K]

JBL boomy???? Compared to the DSL 10???? You've GOT to be kidding me.I'm just giving my opinion here--which is what this forum is all about I have owned all 3 subs in question, and the JBL far exceeds the quality and sound of the other 2 easily. No disrespect to the other posters here and I do respect all opinions, however as stated I have owned all 3 and the DSL was the most horrible,boomy,overblown,impossible to integrate with my mains subwoofer I have ever listened to.I actually bought the DSL used for $75 from a fellow Hometheaterforum member here.It was a great $75 subwoofer,but it was just BOOM BOOM BOOM and nothing else. The SONY was a fairly good HT subwoofer with half-way decent extension but have you actually heard this thing for music? Again, BOOM BOOM BOOM one note bass for music.The JBL PB10 is very tight in my set up for music & home theater. I have Ascend Acoustics all around and an H/K 325 receiver and it integrates extremely well in my system. Can it sound BOOMY--of course it can--if it is not calibrated correctly, not low-passed correctly with the mains(which is dependent on the receiver as well),or positioned correctly in your listening environment.This is true for ALL subwoofers.As much as I like the JBL I will be getting a HSU VTF-2 for my next upgrade.The JBL is certainly not THE BEST sub on the market,but,for $199 with free shipping right here:

http://www.jandr.com/JRProductPage.p...uct_Id=2657446

there's no way a person can do better for the price IMHO

 

[Jose G]

Finaly some input from someone who has had all three subs. I agree with you on this point regarding the Sony: "BOOM BOOM BOOM one note bass for music." I had the opportunity to hear this sub for music not long ago and found it boomy, not that that's a bad thing for movies I guess. I don't know if it was moded or not. Although cheaphometheater seems to prefer the Sony over the PB10, they did note the Sony wouldn't be great for music. From what others say here then the PB10 seems to have the edge on the Sony, not for HT but for music. And I agree with Paul, in a small room the PB10 this would be fine, and yes, people do become "junkies" to this stuff. However, I have to disagree with "the DSL was the most horrible, boomy, overblown, impossible to integrate with my mains subwoofer I have ever listened to." Well, I can't really disagree with this as it was your experience, but I don't think it's more boomy than a Sony or really that difficult to integrate with music. For the money, I have been very impressed with this sub (my experience, though) and have been fairly pleased with how I've tweaked it to work with my mains thus far. However, I do need to note that I am still tweaking this sub (wish I had more time to play). So far though, in my home, and to my ear (which is what ends up being the most important factor in the end), I find the DLS to integrate fairly well. I still have more tweaking to do but it's not boom boom booom at all. Everyones home is acoustically different and different strokes for different folks in terms of what they hear- thus the difficulty with speaker recommendation in the first place. I'm glad you found the JBL PB10 to be "very tight in my set up for music & home theater" with your well regarded Ascend Acoustics and H/K 325. I'm a big HK fan, by the way and own the 225. I find the DLS integrates well in my system for both HT and music, but again- I'm not a bass head and live in an apartment keeping the bass fairly low. In any event, let me not become a "junkie" and sign off of this "alternate world where my imaginary friends play," as my wife likes to say, and get back to work. Have great fun with that HSU VTF-2, Kevin. NIce! I bought the DLS as a "hold me over sub until I DIY my own or get lazy and buy the SVS, or hit lotto and have Brian Bunge of Rutlege Audio build me his increadible end table Tumult. Reid, this is why I said "Save your money...", but if the PB10 is truly "tight" for music- go for it and you may not have to upgrade at all- even better, especially if you had no plans to upgrade in the first place...although I had those plans too...once.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[steve nn]

Wow! DLS= horibal-overblown-boomy-imposible to integrate sub I have listened to.____________
I just don't get it but that's OK, I don't need to. You definitely are entitled and it sure seems you believe what you are saying Kevin. I just have had no problem at all with integrating and boomyness. If I move the DLS to close to the wall with a +6db calibration well then I can experience some boomyness. I can get the same effect out of my Vel's though to close to perimeters. I have found the DLS to be tonel sub within it's boundaries and have not experienced the boom-boom-boom effect from it. Integrating has been a snap for me. I think it knows better or it would be in the trash can pronto. I wonder possibly if the DLS has evolved some over time or could it have the same driver and amp as it did a year or two ago and has it always came stock with the poly liner?? I do not know but o-well. I do not agree with you on the JBL sub but who really cares. You like what you like and for good reason> That's what you like .