Subwoofers — JBL STAGE 200P

The Stage 200P is the 10-inch powered subwoofer in the JBL Stage series, developed at the company's Acoustic Engineering Center of Excellence in Northridge, California, and JBL describes it as matched with the entire Stage series. Buyers choose between Espresso and Latte woodgrain wraps, each combined with a solid colour front baffle and a matching grille.

Key specs that matter

An onboard amplifier rated at 150 W RMS and 300 W dynamic drives one front-firing 250 mm woofer with a ribbed polycellulose cone built for high excursion. The response is given as 28 Hz to 150 Hz within 6 dB. A variable low-pass filter runs from 50 Hz to 150 Hz at 24 dB per octave. There is a single line-level LFE input. The cabinet is 361 mm high, 350 mm wide and 385 mm deep, and the product weighs 14.4 kg, or 18.3 kg in its carton. Regional versions run on 120 V at 60 Hz in the USA and on 220 V to 230 V at 50 or 60 Hz in Europe. Maximum consumption is 205 W, and standby use stays under 0.5 W.

Engineering and use context

Bass-reflex tuning comes from two ports on the back panel, so the woofer faces the listener while the port output leaves the rear of the box. The rear panel keeps the control set short - an Auto power switch, the crossover knob, a level knob and a phase switch. With Auto selected the 200P sleeps until an input signal is sensed and goes back to sleep once roughly 15 minutes pass with nothing playing, with an LED that glows blue when active and red in standby. A voltage selector on the rear must be set to the local supply before the power cord goes in. JBL advises turning the crossover fully clockwise when the unit is fed from a receiver's dedicated LFE output, which lets the receiver's own bass management decide the split. Where only preamp outputs exist, an RCA Y-adapter can combine left and right channels into the single input.

Pairing

Obvious partners are the remaining loudspeakers of the Stage series, since JBL developed the 200P as part of that group. Any AV receiver with a subwoofer pre-out can drive it through a standard RCA cable, and a stereo amplifier with preamp outputs also works through the Y-adapter method. Because the only input is unbalanced and there is no speaker-level connection, amplifiers lacking a line-level output are not a direct fit.

Alternatives

Buyers wanting a larger driver can move to the JBL Stage 220P, which pairs a 12-inch woofer with 250 W RMS in an 18.7 kg cabinet.