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Opinion on JL Audio Subs...



I had a customer come into my shop today... grand prix gtp, with these in the trunk, boss wouldn't let me turn them up, customer could have cared less. :-( what little bit I did get them up complimented the monsoon system very well... I am really considering doing two of these off a infinity kappa 1200w mono block ran in series as my first upgrade to the system. I have been shopping around on ebay and such for a good deal on a pioneer double din avh-p3300bt... not sure which to do first.... will a new hear unit make the monsoon system sound any better?
 
I haven't met a JL that I haven't blown. All the way from W0's to W7's. They sound awesome until you start to hear that all to familiar metal clank. I used to work for a dealer, got so tired of all the warranty returns. The only ones I would recommend is the V1 W6's (old school). Those things were beastmode.
 
I'm surprised... I used to clip the living hell out of a pair of 12w1v2s daily and they're still holding up to this day. JL has excellent subs... but you definitely pay for what you get. In that price range, I'd recommend also considering the Sundown SA line of subs, the Skar VVX line, and the Obsidian subwoofers. Incriminator Audio and SSA also have some nice drivers that fit the budget-minded individual.
 


Personally, I'm running a single Obsidian Audio 15" on an APSM-1500 in 3.5 cubes @ 30-32 hz (somewhere in there lol) via a single 6" aeroport. While I will say the Obsidian woofers are amazing for the price, all of the companies listed by myself have solid products. Jacob, the owner of Sundown Audio, has had a hand in the design of Obsidian and Skar woofers. Furthermore, Obsidian is a joint venture between Jacob of Sundown Audio and Nick of Stereo Integrity... google if you have to, but both of these companies have proven track records. Honestly, I wouldn't hesitate to run any of the woofers in my vehicle. However, the Obsidian is considered by a lot to be more SQ than SPL oriented by many. I like beatin' the block down... but the Obsidian provides incredible accuracy, even on my super-budget amplifier. Tuned as low as I am, I still get the fast bass from metal, as well as the crushing sub-30hz notes from chopped and screwed music.
 
Subs i wouldn't hesitate to run in my car are Skar vvx, DD(Digital Designs) anything, Fi, Tc sounds epic, Dc audio , Image dynamics IDQ or IDmax, JLW7,Db drive. These are just some of the ones i have personally heard and sounded great. Just depends or your application/music you listen to. I am currently running 2 DD3512 tuned to 30hz in 3.8 cub box. How much power you planning on running? Are you looking for Sound quality or SPL? What kinda music do you listen to? and how much room are you willing to lose in your trunk? Sorry for all the questions but they will help to narrow your search very quickly.
 
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I've owned quite a few cars, and quite a few systems (not bragging at all, I flip cars and work at a car lot) and I've just been the most impressed with Kicker. Not saying that people who like other brands are wrong, I just have had the best experience with kicker. And in my opinion, they look the best too.
 
I ran 4 jl w3 v2s off a mmats dhcx2200.1 for awhile. Sound great and got loud. Sold them to a kid.. He swaped them out for the new v3 w3's And there was a noticeable sound difference...... The new ones arent as good imo
 
While Kicker does indeed have some nice products... in my opinion (and experience) sundown, skar, obsidian, and other companies have drivers that destroy them on a performance basis at the ~$200 price range. Not hating by any means, as I myself ran all kicker in my monte carlo for quite some time. The only kicker sub that comes to mind in that range is the CVX, which is coincidentally what I ran, powered by a 08zx750.1 with an 08zx350.4 for my interior speakers. In my opinion, and everyone else that's heard my vehicles, the CVX was far outclassed by my first Obsidian woofer, which was a 12" on an Audiopipe APSM-1300. Lower quality amplifier, yet better sound.... also very similar power, as the birthsheet of my 750.1 was around 950 watts or so, and I doubt the AP did a clean 800. Kicker is mainly kept alive nowadays by reputation in the streets... in competitions, the solo X is the cash cow. The amps are awesome... but, I'm not a fan of the non-adjustable subsonic filter (not a problem for most people). They're also expensive, but plenty of good amps are.

Edit: Forgot to mention the American Bass XFL series... awesome subs at an awesome price.
 


KeithGTP03 said:
I haven't met a JL that I haven't blown. All the way from W0's to W7's. They sound awesome until you start to hear that all to familiar metal clank. I used to work for a dealer, got so tired of all the warranty returns. The only ones I would recommend is the V1 W6's (old school). Those things were beastmode.
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I have seen so many world class comp cars with JLs beating beyond belief so i would venture to say u most likely had them set up improperly

Iceroyal said:
Subs i wouldn't hesitate to run in my car are Skar vvx, DD(Digital Designs) anything, Fi, Tc sounds epic, Dc audio , Image dynamics IDQ or IDmax, JLW7,Db drive. These are just some of the ones i have personally heard and sounded great. Just depends or your application/music you listen to. I am currently running 2 DD3512 tuned to 30hz in 3.8 cub box. How much power you planning on running? Are you looking for Sound quality or SPL? What kinda music do you listen to? and how much room are you willing to lose in your trunk? Sorry for all the questions but they will help to narrow your search very quickly.
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I would agree with the above brands......sounds like this guy knows his stuff.....im a focal fan

McCoyH said:
Kicker > Anything else. Period. with the exception of Mac
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kicker was better back in the day now they are so whored out its not even funny.......only thing kicker is good for is spl and thats only because of the square design its like a l7 12" is close to a reg round 15" in the sense of volume of air that is pushed due to area of the speaker

"Edit: Forgot to mention the American Bass XFL series... awesome subs at an awesome price."

American bass is actually out of ohio 5 min from my work and its all cheap garbage trust me



Lastly i highly advise you to stay away from sonicelectronix.com they sell reman products i know the price is tempting but the headache is not worth the 30-40 bucks you save
 
06PONTGP said:
I have seen so many world class comp cars with JLs beating beyond belief so i would venture to say u most likely had them set up improperly



I would agree with the above brands......sounds like this guy knows his stuff.....im a focal fan



kicker was better back in the day now they are so whored out its not even funny.......only thing kicker is good for is spl and thats only because of the square design its like a l7 12" is close to a reg round 15" in the sense of volume of air that is pushed due to area of the speaker

"Edit: Forgot to mention the American Bass XFL series... awesome subs at an awesome price."

American bass is actually out of ohio 5 min from my work and its all cheap garbage trust me



Lastly i highly advise you to stay away from sonicelectronix.com they sell reman products i know the price is tempting but the headache is not worth the 30-40 bucks you save
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12 American Bass XFL's 15's on a AB 750.1- Git's NASTY Ford F-160! SBN 2012 - YouTube

While that's an extreme example, American Bass amps are VERY respected. The VFL series, from the 100.1 to the 1100.1, are well known for producing gobs of power. The XFL line of subwoofers is known to produce great results, as are the higher lines. If you see JL in the comps "beating beyond belief" and then refer to American Bass as cheap junk... well, I respectfully disagree.
 
06PONTGP said:
I have seen so many world class comp cars with JLs beating beyond belief so i would venture to say u most likely had them set up improperly
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I always got the JL recommended amps for each sub that I owned. The enclosures were also JL spec. As were the amp settings. We also sold/installed alpine, focal, boston and MTX subs. Only one focal and one alpine sub ever came back blown (no boston or MTX's ever came back). I would say 4 out of 10 JL installs would come back blown. There's no doubt that JL's sound great. But the reliability wasn't there for me. However, the JL ZR components, I will back those up all day.
 
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