JBL S120PII sub is here!

[furrycute]

UPS just dropped it off my front doorstep! Came double boxed. Somehow it doesn't feel as heavy as I expected.

I will post impressions once I have everything unpacked and hooked up.

 

[j_garcia]

When my speaker stands showed up, I was surprised at how heavy the were. The UPS guy happened to be sitting outside when I got home and he wouldn't carry them up (3rd floor) because they were 52lbs... (some regulation I guess) My SVS was 75lbs., and again they would not carry it up. When I got the crate for the demo pair of A/V-2s, there was no way I could carry that one up! It was 100lbs! I had to open it up and carry each speaker separately.

Congrats. Let us know how it sounds

 

[Tomorrow]

UPS just dropped it off my front doorstep! Came double boxed. Somehow it doesn't feel as heavy as I expected.

I will post impressions once I have everything unpacked and hooked up.

There is nothing like getting a new subwoofer to brighten a person's life!!! Congrats.

 

[furrycute]

Well, I played around with it a bit. Initial impressions, I am not getting that much bass.

Well, there are several attenuating factors.

1) I am using this sub strictly in a stereo setup, no hometheater setup (I don't even have a DVD player).

2) I am placing the sub straight in the middle of the two floorstanders, about 3 ft away from the rear wall, and not anywhere near a side wall.

3) I don't think my music collection has that much bass heavy stuff to begin with. I have a couple of albums with heavy bass tracks such as Enigma, Eagle's Hell Freezes Over, a couple of Clapton's. The surprising thing is, when I played a 1963 recording of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, I didn't notice the sub working that hard at all, in fact I could barely feel it (or hear it, whichever way you prefer). Granted it is a 40 year old recording.

4) I have the sub connected via speaker level in, and have my main speakers connected to the sub via speaker level out (that's the only way I can do it, I don't have a receiver).

5) The sub's volume dial is turned 1/2 way. If I turn it all the way up, I get appreciably more bass, but I never liked the idea of turning anything all the way up. The crossover is setup on the sub, about 60Hz. My mains have 8inch woofers, so I think 60Hz is a nice compromise.






Well, the placement has got a lot to do with bass output. Right now the sub is sitting smack in the middle of the room (well not quite smack in the middle). Anyways, I'm not going to fiddle with placement right. I have too much junk in my living room. It is a mess as it is right now without me moving this huge sub around for optimal placement.

Oh, forgot to add, my setup is in the living room, medium size (don't ask me for measurements, because I'm not going to measure it).

Anyways, I have to do more listening to learn to appreciate this sub more.


The sub does add an almost imperceptible, but very "nice" low end punch to my music. Maybe that's how music is supposed to sound like?

 

[jaxvon]

That's more what you're going to hear for most music. It just fills in the bottom. If you wanna hear some bass heavy stuff, pick up Maroon 5's "Songs about Jane" album. It'll make your house bump

 

[furrycute]

One more thing, about the weight.

Yes, I'm used to moving my 70lb floorstanders (Infinity Kappa 400), and 50lb amp (Yamaha MX-1) around. So at a mere 53lb, moving this JBL sub didn't even make me sweat.

 

[Sheep]

Lets us know how it sounds, and pics pics pics!!!

Sheep

 

[furrycute]

Lets us know how it sounds, and pics pics pics!!!

Sheep

I don't have a digital camera with me at the moment, sorry.

As to further evaluation, I'm lowering the crossover to around 50Hz, turned the volumed down a bit. Right now instead of opting for that house shaking bass, I'm opting for that nice low end punch.

 

[j_garcia]

Center of the room is most likely going to have bass collect at the center of the side walls. The bass is there, you just aren't standing/sitting where the bass is most prominent most likely. If you can free up a corner near the mains, try that.

The crossover does not affect your mains. It controls the sub's low pass, but does not affect the high pass to the mains, so this setup is probably not the best way to go. If you have an A/B speaker selector, you can hook the mains to A and the sub to B, sending full range to the mains and sub, and then dial the sub in manually until it blends nicely with the mains.

 

[furrycute]

Thanks for the suggestion I Garcia.

I don't have an A/B selector, so I'm afraid I'm stuck on with this hookup for now.


I'm worried about moving the sub to a corner. This JBL is front firing, with the port in the back. If the port is too close to a wall, wont that muddle things up?

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Congrats on the sub. I'm still cracking up - 53lb lightweight. Geezus. With 70lb floorstanders, you are definitely spoiled with punchy bass.

Get the sub in the corner, at least 8" from each wall. If it has feet (spikes), make sure you use them - especially on carpeting. Don't be afraid to push that sub. In a corner, you should be able to feel it hit your chest. For music, try experimenting with it around 120Hz, then 90Hz, 60hz, and all the way down. Definitely turn up the gain to get the driver moving.

Try some Metallica - there's some great hard hitting bass in most of their music. If you're not into that, how about Yes - 90125, or Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense, or even Madonna - Immaculate Collection, or Blues Traveler - Runaround. All of those are excellent recordings, with very clean, detailed bass.

 

[furrycute]

The Infinity Kappa 400 weighs 70lb each. It has a 6.5inch midwoofer and an 8inch woofer. The bass is tight. But it is only rated to go down to 40Hz. If I turn the volume on the preamp 3/4 of the way up, I can feel the sound getting strained a bit, plus with the volume that loud, the sound gets a little too bright to my liking.

That's the reason I got the sub. Now when I turn up the volume, I get nice grooving bass.


But still, at only 56lb, I thought a powered sub should weigh at least as much as one of the mains.



I'll experiment when placement when I will have cleaned up my living room.

 

[majorloser]

Old school car audio days

Power Supply - More Bass, More Boom, More Bottom

Track #6 - Subwoofer System Test

If that don't stress out your sub, nothing will.

 

[Tomorrow]

Furry,

I have said in other threads that I couldn't wait to swap out my S120PII. I had the same trouble as you are having. To be honest, I never got decent bass. But because it came from a disreputable dealer, I figured it was just a bad sub. I ended up taking it to two different repair sites....hundreds of miles from my home, btw. (No help.) It was a big disappointment to me, no matter what Tom Noussaine says.

I'm really hoping mine was a lousy example and yours just needs setup. Much good luck.

 

[furrycute]

Well, I don't have much experience with subs. But I have owned a Yamaha dual 8inch woofer sub in the past. I experienced the same thing with that Yamaha as what I am experiencing with this JBL. At first I thought the sub wasn't working. Then I slowly learned to appreciate the extra bottom end the sub lent to the music. At that time I paired the sub with a pair of bookshelves. It wasn't until I sold that Yamaha sub that I realized that without the sub, somehow the music just sounded hollow. Weird, but it's true. Not until I removed the Yamaha sub that I realized I really missed that sub.


Not many people can hear bass at 20Hz. It is even questionable how many people can hear bass at 25Hz. At those frequencies, unless the volume is VERY loud, at moderate listening volumes, you are going to feel the bass rather than hear it.


Most of what we hear as bass is really in the 30Hz range.


Anyways, placing a sub in the corner does indeed help with increased bass output. Placing a sub in the middle of a living room is not going to make it produce any amount of appreciable bass.

 

[furrycute]

And I dare say that for music, the Hsu VTF-3 is not going to sound much better than this JBL.

The Hsu could be better, tighter, and extend lower. But is it 2x as better as the JBL? I have my doubts.

 

[furrycute]

And there is something to be said about setting the crossover as low as possible on the sub.

A 12inch woofer is not going to have the speed of an 8inch woofer. The 12inch woofer is better suited for producing bass, not midbass. If you restrict that 12inch woofer to playing just bass, it's going to sound cleaner and tighter. If you set the crossover too high, the 12inch woofer is going to sound muddy playing the midbass.

That's why when it comes to mains, you should get mains that can extend as low as possible into the bass region. So pairing floorstanders with a powered sub is the ideal combination.

Bookshelves can't extend very low. And the 12inch woofer has to make up for that by playing midbass.

 

[Tomorrow]

And I dare say that for music, the Hsu VTF-3 is not going to sound much better than this JBL.

The Hsu could be better, tighter, and extend lower. But is it 2x as better as the JBL? I have my doubts.

Of the four subs I have owned (yeah, I'm a regular Craigsub!! NOT! ), the STF-1 performed miracles on music. And, grins, if that sounds like pimping, ask Jaxvon what he thinks of it with music. LOL.

Furry, again, it's probably because my JBL was faulty, but my STF-3 plays rings around it.

 

[furrycute]

I'm sure the Hsu is better than the JBL.

But is it 2x as good as the JBL?

Maybe it's just me trying to justify my cheapness in forgoing the Hsu and purchasing the JBL. Who knows.

 

[Tomorrow]

I'm sure the Hsu is better than the JBL.

But is it 2x as good as the JBL?

Maybe it's just me trying to justify my cheapness in forgoing the Hsu and purchasing the JBL. Who knows.

Lemme say this....it shouldn't be twice as good. That sub you have is a good choice, and by any measure of its spec should perform darn nicely. It even has 100 more watts RMS than my STF. As I said, I hope it's just the placement that is causing your issues. I'm not putting your choice down in any way, Furry. (I bought one too. ) I only wanted to share my experience with you. Please don't let me be a downer on your new acquisition. As I said earlier....new sub arrival = unrivaled joy!! So enjoy!!!