JENSEN JP-S8 8" Powered Subwoofer

Rating:
Summary: works for me
Review: I added this sub to my old Akai receiver which I was running with 2 medium sized JBLs and it has completely transformed the system. Dont spend your money on a complete new system-just buy a good sub for it! To get the kind of bass levels that I can get now at low volumes I used to have to crank up the JBLs to LOUD! The sound is clean and the built in crossover feeding the JBLs eliminates "hard Spots". Cant say enough about the system now but I honestly dont know if the Jensen is better or worse than competing brands but it sure works for me and others that have heard the difference.Price$50 CDN-amazing! (the other reviewer mentions "farting" when starting up or shutting down-weird but true- but is only momentary-also there are 2 completely different hook up methods which may account for the difference on opinion in the boominess-my hookup uses the Jensens internal crossover circuitry to run the satelites)

Rating:
Summary: Nice for the price. needs lots of miodifications
Review: I got this thingy at a local store for less then $30... less then the cost of the wooddust and glue box. I tested it and it sounded boomy, somewhat distorted and it "F.rted" every time it went into sleep mode... I remedied the flaws by replacing the driver with a heavy duty replacement model (goes down to 24Hz) and replacing 3 capacitors.. two for lower frequency cutoff and one to extend the "On time" indefinately thus eliminating the offending sound... these mods may be challanging to many... so I would say 3 stars are an overrating, considering the flaws... but this was a DIY bargain, considering the potential (It sounds great now).

Rating:
Summary: Cheap but excellent Sub.
Review: I needed a compact subwoofer for my bedroom to replace the 12" Cerwin Vega sub to save some space. I bought this subwoofer two months ago mainly because it's too cheap (under $50 shipped) and I told myself that at this price, if it didn't sound good, I could give it to a relative or a friend. When the subwoofer came, I took it out of the box and surprisingly, it looked much better in real life than in the picture. I mean, despite its $49 price tag, this is a solid built subwoofer that has a very attractive look comparable to the subs costing hundreds more. It is quite heavy (about 20-lbs) regardless of its small size (13x12x12.5"). Setting up is very simple. I only needed to run a subwoofer cable from the sub out on the receiver to the RCA input on the subwoofer. This JPS8 has been with me for about 2 months now so I've had plenty of time to "test" it with my music CDs and DVD movies. Even though it couldn't shake the walls of my room with its 8" driver, it could handle everything excellently with low and tight bass. Below are some important things I'd like to share with you:

- The JPS8 can easily reproduce bass under 40Hz. Running the Stereophile Test CD1, I can clearly "feel" the test tone at 35Hz. Very respectable for a subwoofer of this size and this price! That explains why the Lord of the Rings and the Matrix sound so good with this subwoofer. Also, the JPS8 is quite heavy so there is no vibration even at high volume.

- After the 1st week of using (which is about 40+ hrs), the JPS8 sounded much better. The bass it reproduced became fuller and more solid. It's not that I got used to the sound after 1 wk and then it became much better to my ears. Actually, all my dts movies sound more impact and even my night-time FM music at low volume still give me tighter bass after the "break-in".

- I did several experiments on the loudness control setting and found that the 12 o'clock position would give you very natural bass for classical music. If you mainly watch DVD movies and listen to rock and pop music, set the loudness control to the 3 o'clock position and use the subwoofer level control on the receiver to balance the subwoofer loudness relative to the rest of the speaker system. The 3 o'clock position would give you more punch for movies and rock/pop music.

- I replaced the original fabric grill with an 8" 2-piece steel grill from partsexpress.com . This gives the JPS8 a cool look and at the same time, a better protection for the driver. The part # is 260-424 and it's about $6.90. (I'm not working for PE, just FYI in case you're interested).

- I did have the f@rt problem. It f@rted about 10min after there was no low frequency signal sent to it. Even worse, I love to listen to music at night at low level, it thought that there was no signal because the level was too low so it f@rted once every 10 minutes or so. I couldn't stand this uneducated behavior so I contacted Audiovox/Jensen customer service techs via email. They sent me a reply email the next day and told me to remove the amp from the JPS8 and send only the amp back to them for service. Ten days later from the day I sent the amp to them, the amp came back to me and it's worked flawlessly ever since. No more f@rt! You can check audiovox.com for more details on contact info or you can email their customer service at [e-mail] .

Rating:
Summary: Great for the money
Review: Just got this sub and connected to my surround sound receiver's sub out jack. It produces alot of base and is sufficient for my living room. My movies are sounding alot better now. I need to find a new spot for it though, because the chimney is rattling at certain times. I have heard better subs but for this price I'm happy! Yes it does fart for about 2 seconds and then stops.

Rating:
Summary: nice price but the shutdown "farting" is unacceptable
Review: This just arrived today. Unfortunately I bought this subwoofer without doing enough research on whether or not the "farting" sound (when it enters standby mode) is a real problem. I'm using the subwoofer in my surround sound TV setup, and for me, I'm getting it about every 20 minutes. This during constant TV watching, when you would think it would be getting a signal and wouldn't go into standby mode. It irritates the heck out of me. Now I have to decide whether or not to send it back (and pay the shipping myself).