JBL CS1204B Subwoofer Enclosure
Product Details
Manufacturer: JBL
Distributor: Car Audio & Security
Website: link
Typical Selling price: (CAS) £79.99
Description
Twelve inch CS Series JBL car woofer in a classically trapezoidal sealed box with carpet covering. The speaker cable is connected via a pair of gold plated banana plug socket/screw down cable-cinch posts in a cup to the rear. The top of the box has the JBL logo embroidered in white and rather than a grille, there are two metal bars fitted across the face of the woofer to ward off stuff that might shift in your boot. The front end of the test rig was a brand new Kenwood KDC-W9537U single-DIN headunit with three sets of four volt RCA pre-outs, feeding into the Fusion set up of a pair of CP-FR6930 ovals, (reviewed here: link) a pair of CP-CM50 components, (reviewed here: link) both driven off a Fusion CA-DA41400 four channel amplifier ( reviewed here: link) with on board crossovers.
The subwoofer was connected to a JBL GTO 24001 amp seen here: link which was able to go way loud enough to destroy it, so care was taken. Cables by StreetWires and a stout Odyssey battery completed the set up.
Specifications
– Impedance: 4 Ohms
– Power Handling: 250W RMS/1,000W peak
– Fitted with 300mm (12inch) JBL CS12 transducer
– Passband: 40Hz to 300Hz
– Sensitivity (1w/1m): 90dB
– Dimensions: (H x W x D) 368 x 408 x 380mm
Editor Review : JBL CS1204B Subwoofer Enclosure
Mostly, I hate specifications that ain’t exact facts. It’s usually because a maker is claiming more for its product than the reality but in this case, it is the other way around. For this system is rated only as going down to 40Hz. By which they mean ‘˜flat’, as there may be a dB or so of ‘˜roll off’ as you go deeper than 40Hz. But the simple reality is that this box just played ‘Woofer Excursion Test’ on the SECOND Power Supply album without breaking sweat!
Yes, as said in the opening paragraph above, I DID exercise some care with the thing at first and yes I did find the limit beyond which the subwoofer would make a nasty coughing noise and have to wick it back. But once set at a sensible level of watts with some headroom, this woofer was awesome in its ability to eat watts and poo bass. After all, it is rated at 250w RMS, 1,000w peak but the mighty slab of JBL amplifier, which is in fact our very own resident reference piece courtesy of Harman Consumer (thanks lads, still cranking!) can raise a gentle 1,700 watts at four ohms!
I always have the volt meter running during testing and it has to be said, after three years use and leaving it to utterly pancake a few times, due to simple forgetful stupidity, the Odyssey battery is finally starting to show signs of age. At first I was worried if I’d even be able to fire up such a monster plus the Fusion CA-DA41400 and the Kenwood head unit all on the one small and tired battery. But while the volts may be sagging a little like the elastic in an over-loved pair of knickers, the current is most assuredly still there.
Incredibly, the Kenwood coped and the bass amp’s huge internal cap banks made it not care but the Fusion did once on bass peak, duck and go into protection from under-voltage, only to bravely come back on again when I turned it down a tiny bit. We were digging deep into the tens at the time, with 10.8V showing on deep dips! Yet the system played and more than that, played very well. I messed about, balanced the ovals, turned them down, played with the comps and their crossover points and even listened to the sub alone.
What was immediately apparent was the taut and rich purity of the bass from this box. There is of course, no colouration from any port bloom as it is sealed. What we like as bass heads is a nice phat lift around the tuned frequency of our ported enclosures as they raise as much as three decibels more bass and that is in fact a bloody lot more. But it isn’t until you hear the sheer accuracy and richness of a good subwoofer in a sealed box, that you realise just how much you tend to lose in that hole-in-the-box.
I was playing the stupidest track from HipRock Records’ Power Supply’s second album called ‘More Bass, More Boom, More Bottom.’ It starts with a daft warning about how this track is so dangerous and as this is the second album there is an even more dire warning. ‘Warning, reduce volume levels’ and then it says, ‘in other words, this is where the Woofer Excursion Test left off’ before it delivers a pleasingly wobbly set of descending tones so challenging that yes, I have killed woofers with it. Which has a certain Nihilistic Joy for me, as I am a bit of a speaker pervert
Hearing the nuance and wobble in the deeply and powerfully complex tone was impressive and if I am honest, unexpected, as this is an eighty quid product, box and all! It handles silly power versus it’s rating, as I am utterly certain that that comfort point was at least a half kilowatt, with room left for bigger fatter drops of more wellie. So it scores well for power handling, too. And it goes deeper than it’s rating, as well. By miles.
It is melodic and capable and tracks the tightest and the fattest bass lines all the way down to where the producer put them. Even if he was a nutter. It scored well enough to go beyond the Talk Audio Recommended status and get a Talk Audio Best Buy flag. You can get a JBL CS1204B, and play whatever music you like, from dub step to classical with cannons as this is a true slice of the legendary JBL story. Foy eighty quid it’s a no-brainer and not being a PogBarg Audio NoBrand product, it’ll keep righteous levels of second-hand value or ever.
In a Nutshell
An eighty quid pocket rocket. This has a delicious control and grip and yet a happy ability to drop as deep as your system has clean watts to feed it. A great value for money buy and one that will give instant gratification. Easily a Talk Audio Best Buy.
Overall 9.2
Sound Quality 9
Build Quality 9
Power Handling 9
Efficiency 9
Value For Money 10
POST SCRIPT and Book Swag
I have in my loft, a single spare copy of the JBL hardback book, published a year or so ago. A not-for-the-public item, it is a rarity and needs to go to a good home. If you are a JBL fan, then you can have thisjust put a comment below about what you have JBL-wise and why you love it. Entries with a URL from the JBL.com site will be favoured