Looking for new subs...need recommendations

**markuskj** · 06-21-2005, 04:02 AM

Originally Posted by Shelbrain

Not to jack my own thread, but I have another question about the audio side of things, I will also be installing a 4 channel amp (Alpine MRV-F345). This is a 75X4 amp and I wanted to know if it was recommended to bypass all the stock speaker wiring and run new wiring or if I should just connect onto the existing wiring for the new amp?

This is a humdinger of a question and gets massive posting on dedicated car audio sites. The consensus is that standard car speaker wiring is always going to be with the cheapest quality cable, and thus it should benefit from a rewire, however this is not always the case as there are many, many people with quality kit who I know do not feel that there is any difference in upgrading and will run OEM cabling, and when they do upgrade they use standard electrical cable - after conducting blind tests and feeling no difference to expensive cable .

As long as the cable is all the same there should be no noticable difference, however if you are like me i.e. standard is never good enough then go for a rewire, it can be a ***** of a task to get perfect but worth it in the end.

Finally, far more important than wiring is sound deadening, without this you are losing quality and bass exposure from the get go - have you looked into this at all?

**accentsound** · 06-21-2005, 12:28 PM

Oh well I got here too late.
JL is the most over rated speaker out there.
They are not worth the money.
We do speaker repair and we get more JL speakers in to have the Surround
Replaced than anyother brand. On the order of 5 to 1.

You can get subs as good or better for less.

**Shelbrain** · 06-21-2005, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by markuskj

Finally, far more important than wiring is sound deadening, without this you are losing quality and bass exposure from the get go - have you looked into this at all?

If you search another post, I took pictures of when I installed over 100 square feet of B-Quiet Ultimate in the floor and trunk of my car and I have another 50 foot roll waiting to do the 4 doors and the rear speaker deck. I have never done anything like that before and will be interested to see what the benefits are when everything gets installed. I have met another forum member who has agreed to help install all my components so I am waiting for his schedule to free up so I can get the PC and audio installed.

**Shelbrain** · 06-21-2005, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by accentsound

Oh well I got here too late.
JL is the most over rated speaker out there.
They are not worth the money.
We do speaker repair and we get more JL speakers in to have the Surround
Replaced than anyother brand. On the order of 5 to 1.

You can get subs as good or better for less.

Are the defects related to workmanship or are they related to people pushing them too hard? These are going to replace two old school 10" Pioneer IMPPs, so I am hoping for a drastic improvement...

Edit: I am not going to be pushing too much power to them if you notice the amp that is going to be running them. I hope they will be good for my project.

**SickVette** · 06-21-2005, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by accentsound

Oh well I got here too late.
JL is the most over rated speaker out there.
They are not worth the money.
We do speaker repair and we get more JL speakers in to have the Surround
Replaced than anyother brand. On the order of 5 to 1.

You can get subs as good or better for less.

I would love to know where you work for how long? I know there are plenty of good products out there but JL most over rated. I have been in the car audio business for 15 years and installing JL most of that time. I have never installed a JL sub and been dissapointed....ever. Sure I have seen failures but I have seen every other popular brand fail.

You mention you see JL's 5 to 1. Did you happen to think that since there are more of their subs sold then the competition there is going to be higher repair rate also? Honestly I do not know the numbers but it only makes sense.

**accentsound** · 06-21-2005, 01:29 PM

Accent Sound has been in business probably before you were born. 1968.
We carry Memphis, Soundstream, Infinity, DLS, MA Audio, and Audio Pipe Subs.

As I noted we also do some Sub repairs. JL's without exception come into the shop blown to be replaced or for Surround repair, on a ratio of 5 to 1 when compared to other brands. This includes Sony Explods. And as we do not sell JL (because we feel that they are not cost effective for the customer) even though they are a well known BRAND name. So we tend to see fewer of them. So when you see fewer of a certain brand come into the shop, but when they do come in they outnumber all other brands we see coming in for replacement or repair. It kind of tells us something.

Note we did not say they were bad, we just said that they are over rated. With the taste is music today, Hip Hop with pounding bass. JL's typically get blown as unless you really know what you are doing, just do not handle the dirty power put out by many amps and mismatched home built speaker enclosures.

The surrounds do not hold up well they seem to deteriorate faster and seperate from the cone or crumble faster than just about any others out there. Now I could attribute this to the South Florida weather but other brands do not seem to have as much of a problem, so it has to do something with the material JL is using.

So my reccomendation if you are going to run JL's is

1. Make sure the amp and the speakers are a perfect load match
2. Make sure that the THD of the amp at full power is low (LESS than .1 thd at full power at the rated ohm load)
3. Make sure the amp is equal or less than the RMS power handling of the sub (Note make sure you are looking at the RMS not peak handling of the sub)
4. Keep them out of direct sunlight and high ambient temps.
5. Make sure that your enclosure is tuned and sealed well for your resonant freaquency. Do not play the speakers loud at ranges outside of the design specs of the enclosure.

If you ever smell the voice coils on JL's even if they still play get rid of em they're done.

Oh by the way
My vehicle is in the top 10 for spl in the country for it's class
1. Ma Audio HK15X2 sub
1. MA Audio HK2000D amp
152.7 db outlaw
148.5 Legal
1991 Mercury Capri XR2 Convertible

**SickVette** · 06-21-2005, 02:31 PM

Your recommendation for JL's applies to every sub/speaker made. Good information but not specific to JL Audio.

You mention in business since 1968...are you the founding owner? Also you mention South Florida...where in South Florida?

Congrats on your car. Here is one of mine.
Little magazine coverage

**markuskj** · 06-22-2005, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by accentsound

Oh well I got here too late.
JL is the most over rated speaker out there.
They are not worth the money.
We do speaker repair and we get more JL speakers in to have the Surround
Replaced than anyother brand. On the order of 5 to 1.

You can get subs as good or better for less.

You are totally entitled to your opinion, I just dont like the way you raised it. What you are essentially saying is that anyone who has reccomended JL is basically wrong, what a load of tosh.

Sorry that you have has this experience with them mate but that does nto discount them for me at all. More for the rest of us to enjoy!

**markuskj** · 06-22-2005, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by Shelbrain

If you search another post, I took pictures of when I installed over 100 square feet of B-Quiet Ultimate in the floor and trunk of my car and I have another 50 foot roll waiting to do the 4 doors and the rear speaker deck. I have never done anything like that before and will be interested to see what the benefits are when everything gets installed. I have met another forum member who has agreed to help install all my components so I am waiting for his schedule to free up so I can get the PC and audio installed.

Good man - this is the thing that is missed by many when installing subs so just wanted to check!

**sdashiki** · 06-22-2005, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by accentsound

Oh by the way
My vehicle is in the top 10 for spl in the country for it's class
1. Ma Audio HK15X2 sub
1. MA Audio HK2000D amp
152.7 db outlaw
148.5 Legal
1991 Mercury Capri XR2 Convertible

yeah in the crappiest POS out there...at least no one would suspect yer car of having $1000s worth of audio equip in it.