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 love BIC America speakers. No need to spend more on other brands. Their bookshelf and mains are also excellent. This little sub fills the room with bass you can feel. I have to keep the volume fairly low on the sub or else it blows away the mains. It also has a frequency adjustment in case it gets too “woofy” for you. I actually own two of these, both of which are paired with small bookshelf speakers and a regular stereo amplifier. Easy to connect with a single RCA cable to the sub-out on any amplifier. Placement is very important too.

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.