Jl Audio

[robb<35>]

Hey guys, well its time to upgrade my audio and i'm starting with the rear subs, im purchasing one 10'' jl w6 in a h.o jl box with a 500/5 amp, question is im looking for a thump yet good sq and i heard great things about the w6, will the 500/5 amp be able to power this sub? also im looking to upgrade my front & back door speakers as well as the front dash, any suggestions? thanks

 

[natedizm]

I've only had JL all my life in all my cars.... you will love the sound quality. I have one 10 W3 v2 with a JL 250/1 amp. And it's plenty enough bass along with the stock bose system. Your amp should push it... just look at the RMS Wattage specs on the sub and amp. Try to match them as close as possible... underpowering your sub will cause distortion if your sound level is too high... distortion destroys speakers.

 

[tchuck]

... underpowering your sub will cause distortion if your sound level is too high... distortion destroys speakers.

Its worth noting that the cause of the distortion (in solid state amps) is over-driving the amplifier, not under powering the speaker or a high sound level. You can blow a speaker with virtually any wattage if you turn it up enough. At some point the signal becomes DC and begins to cook the voice coils. This could happen at 1dB or 100dB.
The most important aspect of preserving your speaker is to avoid sending it a distorted signal. Matching the speaker specs to the amp specs makes this task much easier but does not mean you are safe from damage.

 

[J3FF3R$0N]

I have a 10w6v2 and a 500/1 in my ride if you want to check it out sometime.

 

[jumbosrule]

I love my JL set-up, but I think what takes it from good to great is the Epicenter bass processor. Gives you adjustability/control on the fly if you plan on integrating it with the stock system, or any system powered by different amplifiers.

My set-up, with independent power to the Epicenter and JL 300/2v2 amp uses a single JL 12w3 sub. The Epicenter is under the amp, hidden. I paired this with the factory Bose system and it matches beautifully. The custom enclosure for the sub is no small part of that. Make sure whatever enclosure you go with sounds good in the car. Placement and the enclosure can have a lot of impact on how your bass sounds.

 

[robb<35>]

what is an epicenter? and thanks jeff i will have to check it out sometime, I'll be purchasing it this week just wanted to get an idea if one 10'' w6 is good enough, thats a nice set-up you got there jumbo, would a 300/1 amp be good to power the w6? I want to get the most potential out of this sub

 

[jbaker1121]

infinity kappas for the door and dash

 

[dopie]

i have a 12" JL w3v3 for sale =]

 

[jumbosrule]

what is an epicenter? and thanks jeff i will have to check it out sometime, I'll be purchasing it this week just wanted to get an idea if one 10'' w6 is good enough, thats a nice set-up you got there jumbo, would a 300/1 amp be good to power the w6? I want to get the most potential out of this sub

Epicenter is a bass processor. Here's a thread:

///4762

The amplifier in my set-up is 300W x 2 channels, bridged into one channel at 600W. I can't play it with the amplifier gain all the way up - all you would hear is bass and no music! At a certain point the bass starts to rattle things in your car and it becomes distorted. To get a clean, crisp "bump", I set my amp gain to 50%. I started higher after the install - but found it to be too powerful for most songs. I'd turn the amp gain down, then listen to a few more songs. Once you get the gain pretty close, the Epicenter provides a knob that allows you to fine tune the bass from the driver's seat. After you set and forget the gain on your amp, you'll notice some songs pump the bass while others barely use it. I just turn the knob till the particular song sounds perfect. Usually never more than 1/4 to 1/2 turn.

Getting potential out of your sub is one thing, overplaying the rest of your components makes too much bass pretty much useless. Even if you plan on replacing all the speakers and installing new amplifiers, the components you are looking at are more than enough. IMO you could go smaller and still get all the bass you could want.

Here's the thread on my bass upgrades:

///7129

Use the search feature - it'll pull up all sorts of discussions on topic!

 

[natedizm]

I'm pretty happy with the one 10 inch JL 10W3 Version 2. I believe they now make the version 3. which is I believe 300 watts RMS.... if you bought a JL 10W6 I think the 300 series amp would be underpowering the sub. I just had them tap into the stock bose system. All the orignals scream when you turn the factory bass down a bit. and then your powered sub comes through awesome.

Any setup you get with JL is going to be a great sound.

Good luck... let us know what you decide.

 

[larrys project]

I have a 12" JL W3 in a sealed box, not in the FX, but my Diamond Audio D6 10" (in sealed box) has better SQ in my opinion.

 

[turbocad6]

I agree with jumbo in the fact that too much bass is not going to be a SQ improvement, once your bass is overpowering the rest of the system you no longer have high SQ music you just have noise, yeah, loud noise, but still more noise than music. great if you want to drive around listening to magic mike or bonecrusher all day, but not so great if your really looking for SQ. it's funny how most people who tryt to build a SQ system actually builds it backwards... the bass is the last thing that should be addressed & should be done to match the rest of the system, where most will start with just the bass, hell, many will just do bass & call that a system...

I'm not saying the stock system isn't lacking in bass, but adding bass is only going to do so much & overdoing it is real easy... if you really want SQ look beyond the bass, bass is only a small part of a system, bass is less than 10% of the total audio spectrum, bass alone is not going to give you SQ...

 

[jumbosrule]

Oh wow yeah - you brought it back old school, John!

DJ Magic Mike - Bass is the name of the game. Still have that disc and it's now ripped to my player - which is another reason to have the Epicenter. Compressed music loses bass and the Epicenter restores it.

I remember a couple guys reporting out that adding the Epicenter alone improves the stock Bose system.

 

[robb<35>]

thanks for the reply guys this info is very useful, i might want to do that inclosure like you jumbo, the functionality of it looks good , i am going to change all the component speakers as well to the infinity kappas or jl I'll keep you posted when its all said and done btw if any one is intrested in my rims there for sale in the classifieds

 

[jumbosrule]

thanks for the reply guys this info is very useful, i might want to do that inclosure like you jumbo, the functionality of it looks good , i am going to change all the component speakers as well to the infinity kappas or jl I'll keep you posted when its all said and done btw if any one is intrested in my rims there for sale in the classifieds

Actually, my enclosure is under the custom floor. The installer built a box for the sub that would fit inside the spare tire well and under the floor, then the custom floor sits on top, where the OEM floor used to be.

 

[tchuck]

Actually, my enclosure is under the custom floor. The installer built a box for the sub that would fit inside the spare tire well and under the floor, then the custom floor sits on top, where the OEM floor used to be.

Is your sub normally protected in any way, like with a grill or something? I don't think that setup would last a week in my ride. It does look damn good though.

 

[jumbosrule]

Is your sub normally protected in any way, like with a grill or something? I don't think that setup would last a week in my ride. It does look damn good though.

Here's the thread on my bass upgrades, showing the protection:

https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=s...ead.php?t=7129

 

[tchuck]

Here's the thread on my bass upgrades, showing the protection:

https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=s...ead.php?t=7129

Ahh, I see. That's pretty slick. I didn't even notice the raised floor level until I went back again to see if your spare tire was still installed.

 

[talibmohamid]

10W6V2.....3 Cents worth of input :-/

I Love this Forum these guys in here are experts on everything....honestly turbocad6 is my fav dude on here i read his posts like sports illustrated!!!! But Im goin to attempt to contribute this go around.....I have a 10w6v2 in my truck in which i was the first to request this type of enclosure from ( http://www.wickedcas.cIom/frontpage.php ) . . He is even saleling them on eBay now...good guy And very knowledgeable. . his wife had a truck and i begged him to build me one (I had the first one ever)...after about 3 weeks...... like turbocad said....if you realy wanna keep that great SQ you are gonna have to do more than just a sub...jbaker1121 said get you some new mids and highs its a must cause if you crank it up in there 2 much its all gonna go to some shit. But enough with me talkin......this is what i ended up with and it sounds pretty nice. I wanted to have it where I could still do everything I needed to without drilling and tearing up stuff.......i simply tapped into the signal and ran a pac adapter...a cheap one at that.....my girlfriend would kill me if I done what i wanted to....I wanted the Epicenter but i let it go. sounds desent once u tune the amp in where it needs to be so it doesnt kill the factory mids and highs which arent much at all. If i were you from my experience.....not to lead you away from JL cause they make nice stuff.....I would read in to image dynamics IDMAX10......normally they require less air space and aren't quit as power hungry as the 10w6v2. Ive had both.......Im about to try one of those in this same enclosure before I add the 6 channel Zed Audio amp for my kids and highs. If I had to do it I would do one of the HD jl audio amps...they have small foot prints and one of the 10W6v2...Another note is the location...mine still sounds good but if it was in the very center of the back of the fx it would sound off a lil better so it's a give or take...The alpine amp does very well with that sub and being under the board it doesn't overhead or anything....I have the gains matched pretty well between the PAC adapter and the amp....but I jus wanted to add my 3 cents....best of wishes....to you with which ever route u deside to take....I didn't have to run RCA....or any of that with my lil set up though....We could go on and on....

 

[tchuck]

...Another note is the location...mine still sounds good but if it was in the very center of the back of the fx it would sound off a lil better so it's a give or take...

All things being equal, the ideal location for a subwoofer is in the corner. Conversely, the least efficient location is the exact center of a "room" (in your FX cabin the worst possible place would be sitting in middle of the back seat). That said, moving your sub from its current location to the middle of your trunk would actually decrease its effective output. I've been playing bass guitar for about 15 years now and I've never experienced an exception to this rule. The thing is, that sub you have is capable of such ridiculous SPL's that you could put it anywhere you want, then compensate for location via EQ'ing and volume adjustments. The fact that yours is not covered will also make it sound cleaner.

The stock Bose sub is where it is because of storage space, not sound quality. I think this applies to Jumbo's sub location as well; so he can still use his organizer and spill tray.