Customer Reviews

BIC America F12 12-Inch 475-Watt Front Firing Powered Subwoofer

5 star:		(117)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As an audiophile who has had numerous very high end (Meridian, Cello, McIntosh, B&W, Proceed...) components in and out of my systems over the years, I can say wholeheartedly that the F-12 is an outstanding value for the $170-$200 retail price. I bought it for my 13x20x9 budget media room which is currently under construction but have been using it in my 2 channel system for kicks over the last two weeks. The low frequency extension is excellent(down 4db at 25Hz in my room) and I would consider it pleasantly musical with speakers capable of flat response at or below 80Hz (which isn't asking much). It is when this sub is paired with very small speakers that it begins to tarnish; typical of many ported subwoofers, it just doesn't play well above the 80Hz range. For example, Paired with NHT Superzeros, which fall off a cliff at about 85-90Hz, some of the "punchiness" is lost. This frequency response trough is most likely the reason why some reviewers claim that the F-12 sounds "muddy".

With the right speakers and set up correctly (with a decibel meter), the F-12 is an outstanding sub for the asking price. Truly a great bargain and one heck of a warranty.

I actually have a pair of 10" SVS subs, and then purchased this 12" sub for a friend. I did some testing with not only music but since wave test tones. Running 1/3 octave sine wave test tones through both brands, this 12" sub is very peaky at around 60hz, and output starts to fall rather steeply beyond 40hz-35hz... It does produce 25hz sine wave tones, but at very low levels that is basically not audible relative to the higher frequencies this sub can make. And at about 20hz, you can obviously hear doubling effects from this sub, where there is quite a lot of 2nd harmonics at 40hz present... So, this sub is not very loud at low end bass below 30 hz, has a rather poor bass response linearity (very peaky), and produces too much of 2nd order harmonics at its low end response (will make some music such as pipe organs sound like one note bass). It is great for making explosion sounds or pop music that is heavily equalized from 50hz to 80hz, but very poor at producing loud and clean low frequency notes of a large pipe organ below 35hz... SVS, granted only 10", but a lot bigger motor structure and more than twice the price (check out the many technical reviews, epsecially with measurements from Audioholics and such), with room boundary effects, went all the way down to 16hz with relatively strong output at 20hz (you cannot hear much of sound, but everything rattles in the room). Output level is basically flat from 50hz to 20hz without much of peaks or dips. This 12" is a much better buy than any other common brand name sub such as JBL at twice the price, and it is a really, really good sub for the price, but there is no reason to exaggerate it's performance as it is still only a mediocre product when compared to real subs such as SVS, Rythmik, or Hsu and the likes... For those who keep on attacking and criticizing some reviewers who gave less than stellar comments about this sub because they do not like to hear the truth about this product (that is it only mediocre in producing real low bass), you can verify this by getting some free test tones (such as the Bink Audio CD, free from online) and a spectrum testing freeware and a test mic (cheap from Beringers) and test different subs by yourself... I actually do own the 10" SVS (now out of production at $499) and tested this 12" sub, and the 10" SVS beats this 12" in ALL aspects: accuracy, distortion, low frequency output, low frequency response linearity... It is unheard of for a sub to cost less tan $200, and in this aspect, this sub is a steal, especially if the buyer is only aware of B&M brands such as Polk, Boston Acoustics, Kilpsch, JBL, etc... But it is not comparable to some of the online sub merchants such as Hsu, SVS, Rythmik, Epic, etc...

This is probably one of the top 3 subs that you can regularly find for $250 or less. If it's on sale, buy it. It has more than enough power for small rooms, and enough power for medium rooms. Works great for movies, and works well for music if your front speakers can go 80hz or lower.

The downside is finding good room placement. You have to experiment a little to get rid of any "boomy-ness" from your listening area.

This is the second home audio sub-woofer that I've bought. The other one is a little Sony powered sub that came with a Sony HTIB that I purchased about 6 years ago. It served it's purpose, but wasn't going to do the job for the home theater I'm currently putting together. I picked up a few Energy speaker separates to make a nice 5.0 system and a friend of mine from work gave me a couple old Yamaha's that pushed my system to 7.0. I don't claim to be a sound pro or an audiophile in the least. I basically spent a good amount of hours for a few weeks or so researching good entry-level sub-woofers that would sound great. After looking at tons of different brands, reading a bunch of sub-woofer reviews, and going through different forums to see what the more experienced and knowledgeable people had to say, I came to the conclusion that for the price, this sub-woofer was agreeable one of the best in it's class. I searched around and found it for a good price and it arrived within a week. It definitely has enough power for a good sized room (I used it in a room of about 20' X 15' with cathedral ceiling). The bass output is clean. It will shake the walls if that is what you want, and the bass output is still clean and tight. I've used it for about 40% music and 60% movies. It seems to do very well with both. Now I can enjoy a blu-ray movie that gives 7.1 audio output. Sounds similar to the theaters.

Best Sub For $200 price range? Yes
Other models tried: PSW505
PSW505 vs. Bic F-12 ? Bic F-12 (returned psw505)

This subwoofer is pretty dang big, bigger than what i was expecting. Very solid build, the wood is real. The grill plate is heavy, solidly made and protect it well. I have to keep this unit turned down pretty low, it rocks the neighborhood.

Hands down, if you have $200-300, look at this and no other.

PSW10 @ $100 is a rip off compared to this at $200. Double the price = 100x the quality

I have used this for tv watching, blurays with uncompressed audio, ps3 games, and Flac files.

It is paired with a denon avr590, 2 cerwin-vega re30s, 2 sony ssf-6000s, and a celestion f35c.

As it took longer to arrive, I was running only a 5.0 system for about a week. The difference while running this sub is absolutely amazing. I actually had trouble level matching so that dialogue could be heard clearly without the bass blowing it away, on the other hand... my music gobbled up the bass and I needed to push it to create that "in the club" feeling.

As good as this sub sounds, not too tight and no where near muddy, I cant wait to hear how its matured at about the 200 hour break in point. I simply cannot imagine what I would gain by spending many times more on other subs as this one does everything I need it to and more.

Thanks bic america, for an amazing budget sub.

I had a THX certified Cambridge 6.1 system I hooked up through my HTPC before I built my new HT system. That system had a subwoofer that was stated to be 150 watts(8" woofer), this BIC F12 is a monumental leap ahead of it. I previously have owned HTIB set ups as well and I was looking for a notable improvement, which this sub has met and exceeded my expectations. I know there are better but at the $200.00 price mark,I feel it was a steal. I have this sub paired up with the Energy Take Classic 5.0 system ($199.00) and a Denon 790 receiver($440.00)shipped. Satisfied!

The BIC F12 it most definitely more bang for your buck no competitors sub comes close to the quality for the F12 price range. I have owned and installed countless home theaters in my time and the corner stone to any home theater is a good sub that you can easily setup with the rest of your speakers in your home theater system. F12 out of the box is pleasant to the eyes with a very nice silver metallic woofer more of a modern look. the sound quality is very good and easy to adjust more than enough for a large room set up. some have ask about the switch on the back for 7.1 or pro-logic this is just to set it up if you are going to be using it like a passive sub or with the LFE input on the back. A passive sub gets its bass signals from the speaker wires witch would have to go to the sub fist and then back out to your left and right channel speakers this is not normally the case for most modern receiver setups. I personally believe that this sub has good audible range for its price and that most costumers will be very happy for what they payed. Just one more bit of info. BIC is a american company however most of there products are built in china. It is very important to me to buy american it is what are country needs at this time, even though there products might be built in china just remember the profits come back to the USA unlike Sony Samsung and many others.

This subwoofer sounds fantastic! I use it at about half volume in a 20 x 30 room and it provides plenty of bass. I would not say that its the cleanest tightest bass I have ever heard. But it is not to boomy either. For the money its the best subwoofer Ive heard.

From my own experience two most important components in a home theater system (for movies) is your center speaker and your sub-woofer. What ever you do make sure you get the best one you can afford and if like me your budget is less than $400/-, you have Bic F12 as a very serious contender for top spot.

I spent almost a month searching for a sub (for 50:50 music/movies), researching in lots of online forums and auditioned in couple of different local stores. High on my list were:
- Emotiva Sub 10: No longer being sold :(
- Emotiva Sub 12: Slightly out of my budget
- Elemental Design A3S-250: Past quality issues and too long a wait to get one
- Def Tech. ProSub 800: Checked this out in local store but I was not impressed by it
- Velodyne Impact 10: Checked this out in local store, did not like it as it could not go low.
- Polk subs: Don't bother (I tried couple and nothing impressed me) although I own Polk speakers which I love.

Although I did not audition this Bic but based on online forums and reviews I ordered this Bic and I have no qualms in saying that dollar for dollar this sub is perhaps the best value out there.

Pros:
- Not boomy and can go low effectively.
Tried out couple of bluray's - Dark Knight sounded fabulous, it has this low rumbling sound track through out the movie and the sub did an excellent job with the same. Lord of Rings (return of king) was again excellent, especially the elephant war scene. I could literally feel the room shaking and the intensity building up.
- Easy connectivity with LFE
- Phase switch (although I never used it)
- Good with music (for the kind of music (pop/rock) I listen to this is a very good sub)
- Solid construction
- Strong grill that I know will withstand my toddlers continuous barrages

Cons:
- Size (but then its 12 inch sub) and I knew what I was getting into.

Other things to look out for:
- Use a decent cable. I used a cheapo RCA cable which was sitting around to connect this sub to my receiver and everything sounded horrible (My cable a belkin sub woofer cable was delayed in transit). Belkin cable made a huge huge difference and for a 25ft cable it was only ~$6/-
- Room placement is critical, I tried many different places in the room before I was able to find the sweet spot. Since the sub is heavy and hard to move, I mounted the sub on a plant moving caddy, ($3/- from a local store), moving the sub was very easy until I found the sweet spot.
- Know your sub's limit, I am crossing this sub at 90hz and it compliments my Polk's very very well. My Polk's are doing a better job in handling frequencies above that.

Gist:
- There are better subs out there (Hsu or Svs) but I don't think there is anything that offers better value. This sub is great, it rocks my house with tight bass and does the trick for music, I cannot be more pleased. I will likely get another one to compliment the one I already have.

My set up:
- Polk Monitor 60's as front, Polk CS2 as center
- Yamaha RX-V867 receiver
- Living room dimension: 15' x 25' x 10'