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JBL DPS-D115
JBL DPS-D115
MSRP: $

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Rating
Reviewed by:
Jeremy Moen
(Audio Enthusiast)

Review Date
December 1, 2001

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

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Review 1 of 5

Price Paid:  $385.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
I have rated this speaker before, but I am writing in this time to tell of a modification that helped the sound quality in my listening setting. I have been listening to this sub for quite a while, never had any trouble from it. The build quality seems decent, but the sound was always a little muddy I thought. It is difficult to get a very accurate sound out of a 15" though, unless a lot more money is involved.

**This will probably void the warranty**

I removed the driver (just 8 screws), disconnected it. Then I used two 1 x 2" pieces of lumber cut to the proper length, and screwed and glued them to the inside of the box on the left and top sides. The right side has a factory installed baffle type deal, so it did not need any more bracing. This will help to keep the sides of the box from vibrating so much, which sound contribute to overall clearer sound, as the box sides themself will not vibrate nearly as much.

Then, I stapled some carpet pad (dense, 1/2" thick) material to the backside and other surfaces. I did not cover every surface in the sub with this, as that would probably be too much for a vented enclosure. After the carpet padding, I installed some Acousta-stuff dampening material at a layer of about 1 - 2" thick. Cover most of the inside of the side, bottom, back, and top panels with this. The idea here is to keep the sound from bouncing around so much inside the box. JBL opted not to install such padding on all sides,I imagine because of cost. Nevertheless, it is well worth while.

This simple, inexpensive mod turned my 15" not so clear sub into what sounds more like a high-end sub. It'll cost only a few dollars (you can get Acousta-stuff from PartsExpress.com), and I think you will be impressed by the sound quality that can be had from this relatively inexpensive sub. I know I enjoy the way it sounds more now. It basically became more tight and clear. You don't hear as much of the muddy sounding bass that just runs together.

Just remember that the internal bracing I described will probably void the warranty. I still think that it's worth it.

I will rate this sub a 5 for value because of the price/performance value, and a 4 overall because I had to do a slight amount of work to it for it to really sound the way it should.

Strengths:
Power, sound quality when finessed a little.

Weaknesses:
Large box

Similar Products Used:
M&K, Infinity, JL Audio, Polk


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Rating
Reviewed by:
JT Van Schoor
(Audio Enthusiast)

Review Date
May 30, 2001

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

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Review 2 of 5

Price Paid:  $400.00 from best buy

Summary:
get this if you dont want to pay thousands of dollars, but want a lot of bass

Strengths:
Very loud and low bass, my windows rattle at different frequencies, and my neighbors get mad

Weaknesses:
it is too big and heavy. doesnt sound good in some different style rooms


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Rating
Reviewed by:
NICK MOAVERO
(Audiophile)

Review Date
February 2, 2000

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

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Review 3 of 5

Summary:
OVERALL A GOOD VALUE WILL GIVE SUPER PERFORMANCE EXPECTED OF SYSTEMS COSTING MUCH MORE AT A LIST OF 799.00 ITS WORTH IT,THIS UNIT CAN BE PURCHASED NEW IN THE LOW 400.00 RANGE SMALL PRICE FOR BIG FUN.

Strengths:
VERY GOOD LOW FREQUENCY RESPONSE,IF SET UP CORRECTLY IN LISTENING ROOM WILL YEILD THUNDEROUS TIGHT BASS WILL ABSOULUTLY RATTLE WINDOWS.VERY GOOD WITH WELL RECORDED ANALOG RECORDINGS AND DOES GREAT WITH DIGITAL.

Weaknesses:
VERY UGLY,LOOKS LIKE A DEHUMIDIFIER,CAN GET MUDDY WITH TO MUCH GAIN,HARD TO PLACE DUE TO SIZEKLIPCH

Similar Products Used:
KLIPSH,INFINITY SW12,


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Rating
Reviewed by:
Scot
(Audio Enthusiast)

Review Date
January 5, 2000

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

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Review 4 of 5

Summary:
Got this sub at the Best Buy ( Open Box ) for 300.
It is hitched to a Rotel 995 with B&W fronts Mirage center and Bose SEII sub & sat. rears.

Very good for DVD movies but a bit muddy on the Music side.
For the price, It could not be beat. Just make sure that you do not mind looking at the huge box with forward facing barker..

Yes, You might want to make sure that no one is home within a mile or so if you are going to go loud with this sub, but the distortion does come in quick .

Strengths:
OK Thud for Cheap money.

Weaknesses:
What do ya want for cheap money ? It's big


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Rating
Reviewed by:
kevin
( an Audio Enthusiast)

Review Date
August 11, 1999

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

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Review 5 of 5

Summary:
After browsing through the various subs availible at Best Buy, I wasn't overly impressed until I came across the D115. Wow. Even in the rather large and acoustically unfriendly speaker auditioning area, this thing rocked. Maybe a little too much. Someone was cranking the new Cerwin Vega LS-15s in the adjacent listening area, but this thing put them to shame. I can't imagine hooking it up in a normal size living room. Proper positioning and a quality source component (instead of the low-end technics cd player it was being displayed with) would doubtlessly be impressive. Previous posters have spoken of the D112's ability to piss off the neighbors. Well, if that upset them, this is enough to make them call the cops.


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