BIC AMERICA V-80 8" 100 Watt Powered Subwoofer

After spending about several weeks scouring user reviews on budget "subwoofers", my final choice was between a couple of brands of low-profile shallow bass modules with 10" drivers and this BIC Venture V-80 with an 8" driver. Without any professional reviews (with measurements and objective technical comments), I had to try my best to decide whether it would be wiser to choose a larger driver (with a possibly shorter throw) and a shallow enclosure for space savings or the BIC V-80 with a bottom firing 8" driver (with a likely longer throw) and a larger volume port-loaded cabinet. I eventually chose the latter based on my favorable earlier experience with a pair of BIC V-62 bookshelf speakers that had unusually extended bass presumably because of its Venturi design (Yes, it's actually based on an acoustic principle first used by the company in the early 70s). I wasn't disappointed. The specifications list bass extending to about 37Hz (no dB tolerance given) so I had to take this with a grain of salt because I didn't measure anything. In any case, if it can provide usefully extended bass below the run-of-the-mil 40Hz threshold, it's good enough in my book to call a decent subwoofer for a small room (as opposed to a bass module). For my purposes, I was using it in a 8' x 10' office to replace a very small Bestisan 6" bass module that made its location far too audible apparently because of high order harmonics even with its crossover setting at under 80Hz (I can't knock that product though, because it cost me less than 55 clams). It didn't take long for me to easily set the BIC V-80's crossover control to a rather high 120Hz in an attempt to fill the hole between a pair of $48 dollar Bestisan SR09B bookshelf speakers (these have very limited low-end extension) and the V-80. Then I set the V-80's bass level to its half-way point. After experimenting with different locations for the V-80, I settled on an inner corner of the my office desk's pressed wood boards. The bass was clean, extended and room-filling. The bass mated with the speakers flawlessly. There was no one-note bass (a very good thing), no boominess, no nasty harmonics that made its floor location obvious (I can't locate it by ear...bravo!), no apparent mid-bass emphasis on male voices (in music, commercials or phone calls from the office laptop) and this was at volumes deemed too obnoxious for coworkers. For the record, these observations were done early in the morning before anyone else arrived at the office. At the price, it's impossible and unreasonable to expect the most defined bass yet the results are still overkill for an office or small bedroom. As a bonus, its enclosure is still small even though it's bass sounds quite extended for its size. You may notice some mixed reviews of the subwoofer from earlier years. But whatever quality issues existed years ago must have been resolved. For a small or moderate size room, this is a steal of a deal. A word about the manual: Spanning 8 pages from cover to cover, it was obviously written with a lot of thought and care to target a non-audiophile consumer. It covers all the essentials (and then some), including instructions for unpacking, guidance and sound comparisons between freestanding, wall placement and corner placement, various connection methods (line level and speaker level), instructions on control settings, initial set-up tests and instructions, maintenance and troubleshooting. Detailed illustrations were included wherever relevant. While it's set-up instructions are not technically precise, its "ear-balling" trial-and-error method is perfectly reasonable, given the target consumer. Highly recommended! Quick tip: If you ever hear any hum coming out of the subwoofer, swap out your existing cable with a decent double-shielded subwoofer cable. I initially heard hum and swapped a cheap unshielded cable with a double-shielded cable for just $10 and the hum vanished.

I bought this subwoofer mostly on based on its price. I read reviews of some of the other BIC products out there and came away fairly impressed. The company is known for putting out good performing products (the VK-12 and F12 are seemingly legendary among some audiophile groups), so I thought I would give it a shot. For the room and purpose this sub is being used in, it seems to be perfect. I have set it in a home office to mostly play music and an occasional movie. I have paired it with a pair of Aperion Audio Intimus 6C in-ceiling speakers, run through an older Sony amplifier, all of which is fed by my PC through a add-on USB sound card. I can say that it all works well together in this 10'x'12' office. The Aperions are doing their part to produce good, clear highs, and the BIC is taking care of the low end without issue. I was somewhat worried originally about using a downfiring sub in a room with wood floors but I have not noticed any problems. I can rock out very well. Now to some of the specifics of the subwoofer. In my opinion (and it is just that, I am by no means an audiophile), it sounds clean. I don't hear boominess in my music, it pairs well, and I get good clean sound out of the system. I have a fairly eclcectic mix of music and it goes through it without being noticed--music sounds good whether it is pop rock of the 80s or something more recent with strong beats. I don't have a reference CD/track, but I have enjoyed it. I have watched little in the way of TV/movies on the system, but I did put Season 8 of 24 in it and was blown away. The clock ticks were well-executed. Explosions came alive and gun fights were reproduced well with plenty of punch from the subwoofer. Most importantly, it was able to do this without muddying the sound of the normal dialog. When I received the subwoofer, I noted that it was different in appearance from the one pictured on Amazon. It has a grey-black laminate...I would say veneer but I am unsure if it is real wood and have no desire to scratch it find out. I think it is more interesting than the plain black, vinyl unit shown on the product page and will say this is a positive. Given the size and rated power of this subwoofer, I do not think it will be able to satisfy if placed in much larger rooms--it is a small sub and is not the right thing if you are expecting it to work in your 40'x40' great room. If you are looking for something to fit into a small room though, this is the ticket. Bottom line: For a small space and on a budget, this subwoofer rocks.

Have had this a year now and have it hooked up to a well aged Yamaha CRX-150 bookshelf system. The base system sound is a bit light but has a warm midrange and decent highs. The lower end was obviously lacking. Not wanting to spend lots of $ on a small system, this BIC sub fit the desire. I'm not a bass head and while a 12" higher powered unit would rattle the room, it wouldn't be an appropriate match for the small drivers in the book shelf sized speakers. At $99 one isn't expecting it to compare to a the $1K units in a high end rig that operate at higher SPL environments. At low level listening, thumbs up. My listening is at lower volumes for ambient background. With the sub sensitivity set at about 40% levels and the cut-off about 120Hz the sound is nicely rounded in my rig. Just enough to let you know it will touch the lower frequencies but not driven hard enough to distort and get muddy. At these levels, it is punchy enough and has a reasonably quick response. I'm pleased for the $ spent. If you have a budget system that needs a bit more rounded sound, this small sub is an appropriate addition. :)

I got this sub-woofer for my home theater which is also in my bedroom. It took me a while to find just the right place in the room where the sound blended well and I could no longer localize the sub. compared to my older much smaller sub, this thing is a vast improvement. I can see how it might not fill a really large room, but my room is about 16x9, and it does a fine job. In combination with the small JVC satellite speakers I have around the room (6.1 setup), I've really gotten that 'movie theater' sound. My only complaint, (and it's a small one) is that the sub's auto on/off feature will occasionally turn the sub off during long segments of time with no bass, such as a part of a movie or video game that's just dialogue with no music or SFX. If you find this to be a problem, just set the sub to ON rather than auto. over all, I'm very pleased. it's helped make Monday night our family movie night without having to leave the house.

Got this to pair with a Vizio sound bar while i remodel our new home, so i'm stuck in a 10x10 bedroom without good sound. To start off, this thing rocks hard. It's so crisp an clear it makes the sound bar sound just like that, a bar that project some sound and nothing more. Even though it's a sub, the sound is soo crisp, even and enveloping. the only draw back is that the auto power will shut off if the volume is too low or if there is a quiet spell during a movie or watching tv, but i'm not sure if this the inconsistent or low signal from the sound bar that is more to blame. The sub volume doesn't necessarily raise the decibels of the the sound coming from the speaker, but seems to further the sound rather. If listening the music, the bass becomes richer and more enveloping while sending the sound of lows throughout the house clear to the end of the 5000sq.ft. lot, still low and clear. I highly recommend this sub for a relatively small room or even a medium size room. It's truly worth the money. Enjoy.

I bought this sub-woofer because the price was right and most of the reviews were pretty favorable. I needed to compliment a sound bar that has pretty decent sound, just lacked any boom. For $100, I didn't really expect too much but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of boom this little thing can produce. Some reviewers did complain there wasn't enough kick but I have not had a problem with that. I have a moderately sized living room with vaulted ceilings and this thing has no problems rumbling the walls. It definitely performs better on theater sound than when playing music but all in all it still can't be beat for the price. If you are looking for something to add some rumble to your theater sound without breaking the bank, I would definitely recommended the American made BIC V-80. It won't disappoint.

I purchased this subwoofer on May 24, 2011 to compliment my 2.0 set of Swan D1010MKii speakers. It was a great pairing, and the subwoofer's auto-on feature worked well. I was able to adjust the crossover point as well as intensity/volume. It definitely gets powerful at its highest setting, enough to overpower my relatively small D1010MKii speakers. If it wasn't for what I'm about to write, I'd give this sub a solid 5 stars. However, on March 9th, 2012, the sub started emitting loud buzzing sounds, in varying intensity and tone. This persisted even after disconnecting the audio cable. Attempts to turn the sub off by switching the switch to "OFF" did not work. An electrical burning smell came from the subwoofer. I'm away at college from August until May, except for short breaks... so the total amount of time I've had with this sub (and have used it) is about 5 months. And, this subwoofer is plugged into an Uninterruptible Power Supply, specifically for power conditioning (not for battery backup), along with my other computer equipment.. so it's unlikely that an electrical surge damaged this sub. I could forgive the random failure, though... and it normally wouldn't affect my rating, because failures happen. However, I attempted to contact BIC America to see if they would replace the sub, as there is a warranty of 1 year on the electrical components. However, my e-mail did not get a response after two business days. Also, I attempted to call their technical support phone number, but got no answer. In desperation, I tried calling the SALES number, still no response. These calls were placed during the specified business hours. So, as much as I enjoyed this sub, it's now a $100 piece of wood sitting in the corner of my room, and BIC America doesn't seem to care. I had never heard of the brand, but I put faith in them. Now I regret not buying a comparable Polk Audio subwoofer, which is a more widely known and reputable brand. === UPDATE 03/15/12 === I was finally able to get in touch with their technical support on 3/14/12. The person I spoke with was very nice, and said he would send me e-mail instructions on how to get my subwoofer fixed under warranty. I did not receive the e-mail until today, 03/15/12. The e-mail instructs me to TAKE APART THE SUBWOOFER MYSELF, remove the amplifier, and ship it to them for repair via UPS or FedEx. Shipping charges are not covered. If you ask me, they should just send me a brand new subwoofer, ask me to put my old one in the box, and send it back.. although I suppose shipping would be expensive. Let's see how long it takes to get back... === UPDATE 03/16/12 === I've just shipped the subwoofer to BIC America ... it cost $15 to ship it via UPS Ground from my town in NY to Anaheim, CA where BIC America is. Overall, I have a very sour taste in my mouth from all of this... First, it took forever (3 days) to get in touch with their technical support. Second, I have to cover shipping charges on a product that failed within the first year with minimal use. Third, I had to take the subwoofer apart myself to get the amplifier out to send it to them. They are supposedly repairing it and sending it back. Sure, the repair is free of charge... but what if it happens again? Do I wait another three days to get in touch with them, take the subwoofer apart again, spend the $15 to ship it to them for repair? If you ask me, skip right over this subwoofer... go for a reputable brand, one that won't take three days to get in contact with, and won't make you take your own subwoofer apart. === UPDATE 04/16/2012 === UPS Tracking shows that BIC America received my subwoofer on March 26th, 2012. I have yet to receive any word from BIC America that they received my subwoofer, or that it's been shipped back to me. I called their warranty/tech support department, and was told that the delay is because of the "holiday weekend" (Easter). They aren't even open on the weekend, so I fail to see what difference that makes. He said it takes 10-15 days to repair. They've had it for 15 business days - I haven't heard a word from them. The guy on the phone is the same guy that I called to request warranty replacement, so they must be a fairly small business ... and apparently, they don't care very much about your business. I've now been without my subwoofer for a little over a month. This wouldn't be that a big deal if the customer service wasn't total garbage. === Final Update 4/19/2012 === Incidentally enough, I got home on the 16th to find the replacement/repaired part from BIC America waiting for me. I installed it in the subwoofer, and gave it a test... everything seemed to be fine. The replacement part didn't look any different.. and I can only hope that mine failed just as a random chance, rather than due to a defect. The subwoofer is working great now, and I hope I don't have to deal with their warranty again. All in all, I was without my subwoofer for over a month... and it took them 3 weeks to get the part back to me after they received it. Again, is it a good subwoofer? Yeah, I love it. I just hope you don't have to deal with their RMA process. === UPDATE 6/11/2012 === On 6/10/2012, I was about to watch a movie. The beginning intros were playing, when the subwoofer started making a rattling sound. After checking it inside and out for any objects that could be causing it, I isolated the sound to the woofer itself. I called BIC America, and this time, I was able to get an answer on the first call. We determined over the phone that the woofer is bad, and again, I'll have to send it to them (at my cost) to have it replaced. Maybe I have bad luck... but I certainly haven't abused it. Most of the time it's on 1/2 volume or less, and it's powered by a computer sound card... in any case, another failed part. I'm almost worried that the wooden box itself is just going to come unglued.

If you have a small room, and want to add a decent bottom end (with puch and elegant lower-end), this is the way to go (for sub $ 250). Do not read further! (But if you do:) I have (for below $ 400 range) Mordant Short 309i, Wharfdale SW-150 which is also good. But they are way more expensive than this BIC. Also have the BIG Velodyne 15" with Servo (which is for large and sealed room setup) and cost thousand dollar. See my setup on the IMAGE! I used this BIC V80 for 'decent' Home Theater Setup which can rival Thousand Dollar HT (actually on the right side not shown on the picture, I have my Multi-media computer which is hooked-up thru USB with Yamaha Audiogram 6). Complete setup: 'mini home theater' which is cheaply bought but very 'HIGH' in Quality: * TCL 32" 1080p * M-Audio AV40 * BIC Venturi V80 subwoofer * DirecTV HD-DVR HR24 with Network Adaptor(can play My Computer Video, Music, Photo ETC) * Yamaha Audiogram 6 (connected to My Computer) My Computer: * Decent Quad Core with 8GB dual-channel RAM, GigaByte based Mobo, Cooler Master HAF case * 2 X 1 Tb RAID-0 SATA-2 for Workspace , 1 TB SATA for OS * 64 Bit Windows 7 with VMware Workstation (running Mac OS X) * Dual Head nvdia based * Dual Display (1920X1080) * Monoprice 7 port external USB (connected to: 1TB Buffalo 2.5" external disk, Iphone 4 with Itunes, 16GB Sandisk USB flash, etc)

Wow! This sub will surprise you with its non muddy non colored tuneful bass.It goes deeper than expected and fills a 16 x 14 room easily as it sounds bigger than the 12" square box it is. .Highly recommended!

Lasted a little more than 2 years..... I wrote the company to see if there was something they can do about it. My older sub was cheaper and lasted almost 10 years. I tought I had bought a quality product when a bought a Bic Sub. Anyway, Bic America did'nt even bother to answer my email, so..... at the end, I don't recommend this product or this company.