12w3 or 12w0???

[Slick]

I have finally decided to go with 2 12" JL subs. Now my question is, 2 12w0's or 2 12w3s??? Will i really be able to tell that much of a difference? because the 12w3s are more $$, and i'd need a bigger amp also. Please let me know your experience, and if you know decibal #'s, etc. thanks

Slick

 

[DarkFox1]

personally.. I wouldn't touch JL with a 10 ft pole. I ran 2 12w0s for about 6 months.. towards the end of this period the subs began to rattle. At no point did they even slightly resemble "quality" their range was limited, their freq. changes in sweeps etc. were weak, and they hit far too hard for the amount of real bass they provided. I hit 135.9 with my JLs, which was a decent level, but if you have to JL.. don't bother with the w0...

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

Hey DarkFox1, sorry to hear about your bad experience with JL. The W0 is JL's lower-end sub, so maybe they aren't constructed as well. I've had my 10W6 for almost a year now and it's been awesome. The W3 is JL's SPL sub, so if that's what you're going for, that's the JL sub to get. Of course, as always, go listen before you buy. Then you can decide if the price difference is worth it or not. In my case, the W6 blew the W0 away in SQ, so it was an easy choice.

peace

Mike

 

[bill_tracy]

Hey Slick,
I actually am a retailer of JL Subs and I love them. I have sold all sorts of subs but mainly the JL's, Boston's and Polk's. The JL's are defiantely not as clean as some of the other subs like the Boston ProSeries or Polk/MOMO Subs but they hit HARD. I honestly would not mess around with the w0's. I sold a lot cause they're cheap and you get what you pay for.
If you hear them side by side in a showroom, there may not be a lot of difference. The w3's may not even sound as good because many of our sound rooms can't supply 2 12w3's with the 500 watts they want because of the way the rooms are wired.
After about a month of break in the w3's hit very nice in my truck. They do hurt BAD. I am running the HO Box setup. It is the one thats red inside and the subs are at a 90 degree angle. Definately get the subs in the JL Box. Their prefab boxes are very very very close to the quality of a professional custom enclosure.
If you want really really hard hitting bass get the HO Box (high output). If you want a little cleaner sound get the sealed. You should pay right around 500 or 550 for both subs and the box with either box.
As far as the amp goes, I recommend the JL amps. They have a new monoblock amp thats 500 bucks. It is the 500.1 It puts out 500 watts from 11.7 volts to 15.2 and at any ohm load. The nice thing with this amp is that it has one output channel and the boxes have 1 input channel. You do not have to worry about different wiring configs.
I haven't measured my SPL but im guessing it is around 140-144. JL claims that it should be about 148 but i think thats a little too optimistic.

Excuse the long windedness but I hope it helps. If you have any questions please Email me because I do not check these boards often..

take it easy... Bill

 

[DarkFox1]

I would never buy another JL.. I've heard the w6.. I just don't like it.. their sound is too harsh and overpowering.. everything they do they do full blast.. if I were you, I'd look into some IDQ or audiomobile evos or something

the w6 probablly had points for SQ.. I'm sure it numerically ranks with all the others, but sound wise to my ears.. JLs are just too straight forward and harsh

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

Hey Darkfox1

Thanks. Thanks a lot man. Now you've got me itching to get a new sub . Actually, I've been thinking about it for awhile, but this thread kinda pushed my into starting the research part. I wanted to ask you how you liked your EVOs. Did you have IDQs before them? How do they compare? I think I've narrowed my choices down to the following:

(In no particular order)

1)Illusion Audio ND10
2)IDQ 10D4
3)a/d/s/ 310rs.2
4)EVO 2210

Right now I'm leaning towards the a/d/s/, but I'd like to hear how you like the EVOs. It's too bad I can't go demo them someplace. I'd have one ten inch DVC fed with 360 watts of Xtant power.

peace

Mike

 

[DarkFox1]

I have been very happy with the sound of the evo. The SQ of this sub completley blows away that of the w0s I had before them. I haven't had a chance to get an accurate SPL test, but these subs do their best work in the low range, w/o cutting out the high end. The sub has a smooth sweeping transistion.. not like the w0 that tended to get REALLY loud and then completley dead in a sweep, and the quality for most complex rhythms is just.. excellent

I do have 12s.. if yer gonna get a 10 it may have a bit tighter sound, so it should be able to hit cleaner and higher than my 12s. I've read that the IDQ 10 and the Evo 10 compare very very closley on quality, although I haven't heard the IDQ, trying to find them was a chore, where audiomobile was right there at audiomobileinc.com the whole time. I called 4 stores here in GA trying to find IDQs, every shop said they stopped carrying them cos they were cheap and would break within a week, or told me the only ones they had were a few years old. Sounddomain sold them for $239.. but for an aluminum cone and a rubber surround over a plastic cone and foam suround and its cheaper.. accompanied with that and the good rumors I'd heard, the evo really sounded like a good choice.

btw, the shop that I had do my sub-box (since I couldn't cut a straight line with a table saw) has been trying to get audiomobile subs ever since he heard mine heh, I've tried to tell him he can't get them, but he does't want to beleive me

 

[Slick]

Has anyone else tried the new JL HO box with the red inside it?? Or is there a site where I can learn more about them at?? Thanks

Slick

 

[bill_tracy]

the HO box is BRAND new and has just started hitting stores recently.... within about the last month on a small basis.....

try JLs website and see what they have and try emailing them for info.... their site isn't too developed yet...

 

[regulator]

JL W3's were the best sub I've ever owned. I had 3 dual 6 ohm hooked to an Orion HCCA 250r and I'm sure they were hitting around 150..I know you cant tell how loud they were hitting but Its a good guess in a hatchback 94 grand am. I dont know what these other guys are talking about but I would go with the W3's. Stay away from the W0's and W6's. I sold a two W3's a while ago with a pro-wedge box for $260 shipped. That was basicially giving it away, but who cares. You should be able to pick up w3's brand new for $125 each. Look around the net alot, email me if you want to more information.

 

[leenjen]

most bass for your buck

try looking into Audiobahn. i had just a single AW1205X (12") in my explorer. everyone loved it. (my wifes parents even bought it from me last week) nobody could believe it was only 1 sub. i miss it, i had 4 Orions laying around so i put them in and it's not the same.

both the spl and the sound quality were AMAZING! rock, rap, anything sounded great.

Audiobahn has 10 different subwoofer lines, from top of the line TITANIUM, to the budget 51series. all sound great. they have sizes ranging from 8" to 34"(thats right 34").

just check them out, it's worth a look.

 

[DarkFox1]

I've heard w0s and w6s.. I haven't worked with the w3.. but from looking at the subs.. the w3 is just a w0 with a larger magnet.. after my w0 experience.. you couldn't pay me to run JL anymore.. many people have had good experiences with them.. maybe its just me.. but.. heh, just tryin to save you from my mistake

 

[cajunjoker]

I don't know what ya'll are talking about, about these W0's. I have 2 in a sealed slant face box, and i would compete with any of you. The trick is that you have to check the airspace of the box. If you buy a regular slant face sealed box from any audio store, chances are the volume per chamber is around 1.3cuft. JL recommends for the W0 that you use 1.5cuft. I worked for the guy down here in baton rouge that built the boxes, so i refigured all the calculations to get 1.5cuft. I added 1" of height to the bottom or large side. You know that a slant face box has a large and small top and bottom. The other trick is that you take the box and flip it over and shoot the sound down towards the bumper. A normal slant face box faces the rear glass. I found this drastically changes the sound. I am using a precision power 275. Bridged it is around 150-175 watts. Precision power rates all their amps on 12v, however vehicles run around 13.7v. That is 2 extra volts. I also have 4 - 6-1/2" and 2 - 1" tweeters. I found a sweet spot for the tweeters. I have a 91 EB and on the door panels up by the airvents there is a 1.25- 1.5" by 4" panel that is perfect for a tweeter. I just ran the wire up and over, you can't see the wire at all if you put the tweeter high enough, down to the 6 1/2". I also have about a 600.00 - 700.00 Alpine 7940. It is a zero output radio. It is preamp only. <P>
Sorry about being long too. But I love JL and i have heard it all. Down here in Baton Rouge, is where No Limit Records is located. Master P has every kinda vehicle with every kinda sound system in it. In 1 car he has 53,000.00 in stereo. All JL and Precision Power. Boston Acoustic Pro 6.5 in the doors. Tv's, DVD's, VCR's, PlayStations...
<P>
any other questions or i am wrong about something please email me mrcajunjoker@yahoo.com

 

[DarkFox1]

you joined this forum just to defend the w0? heh, its like yer 1st post.. JL would love you for that.. I built my box.. to the w0 specifications, it was a wedge that fired to the glass.. the sound alone was fine.. but the range was sorry. I was running these off of an mtx amp, which is not a good brand I know, but at any rate it gave them about 150-200 each depending on how much faith you have in MTX amp ratings

nice setup cajunjoker, I'm still working on the components.. short a few bucks heh, any idea what spl yer hittin with those JLs?

btw, if you haven't heard audiomobile or IDQ, you haven't heard it all

 

[leenjen]

i have to agree with darkfox. audiomobile and idq are pretty sweet. i have 2 evo 12's in my daytona. i am very pleasd with the performance, the only down side to audiomobile is that they need more lines of subwoofers. dont get me wrong, mass and evo are great, but what about some flat piston design, or larger magnets and voice coils.

W0's will make any factory system sound better. but compare it with a higher end subwoofer and you will really feel the difference. my logic is; why buy the cheap stuff now, when you'll hear someone else's system and want to upgrade again. save yourself time and money and dont jump on the JL bandwagon.

dont think i'm saying JL is a lower end manufacturer.
5 or 6 years ago JL was one of the best.

 

[DarkFox1]

I agree. I'd like to see more products from audiomobile.. perhaps some component sets. I'm very happy with my Evos right now, but they are so loud my stock speakers are suffering heh, I need to upgrade them