help!!!! New Audio System JL AUDIO

[50hhh]

Umm no JL is amazing

Umm no its not. Its china built and overpriced. I bet you think the tiny round wire VC, and cheap plastic cone on the W7 is worth the 800$??? You could buy an American made DD 9500 12 with a 3 inch flat wound VC and Kevlar cone for about 500 and it will hold 3k watts all day in the right enclosure. Or a hand built Fi Q that is the sexiest sounding sub ever made for about 300 and it will hold 1500 watts all day in a sealed enclosure.

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[5starr0]

Merica'

 

[GoBlues38]

Both amps are 950w total 500/1 and 450/4
950w / 13.4 = 71 still over but not as bad

Inwasnt sure. I thought 600 x 4 was way tonpowerfull. But i have been out of the car stereo game for 20 years.

But ohms law still apllies here.

 

[GoBlues38]

Umm no JL is amazing

Jl was good 25 years ago when they were a small speaker shop making their own stuff. But like most. Success got to them and they morfed into just another mass produced product.

They "jumped the shark" when they started to sell in crutcfield. We were a dealer in 1992 and it was crazy the amount of stuff we had to do just to be a dealer. In the beginning, every enclosure design was supposed to be approved by them before being sold.

Their smart bixes are alll the innivation they have left.

 

[5starr0]

First JL system was in 97 so perhaps you are right last one was in 2009 and still found them very solid. Creature of habit I guess. Had some different amps but always had their speakers subs and components

 

[GoBlues38]

In the begining. They only sold drivers.

 

[50hhh]

Yes they were amazing when they were a younger company but like Rockford they sold out and now they aren't much better than anything else out there. They aren't bad but they are not even close to worth the price. Better off to go with some of the brands I listed for the money. Most are built right here in the U.S. and some are even hand built.

 

[JLsounds]

As an owner of a mobile electronics shop and a veteran of the industry for over 20 years with JL being one of my lines for 14 of those years I can speak highly of the company. That is not because I sell their product. Trust me, we will kick a manufacture to the curb for defect issues or poor performance. Out of all the main stream amp/speakers lines on the market, JL is still considered the smallest. They still engineer all of their own products and build it themselves. I can tell you there are only two lines in the JL lineup that are not built by them directly. Yes some of their stuff is assembled in China, but JL owns the facilities and has American management in these facilities over seeing everything. I can also tell you out of all my lines that JL has the lowest defect rate. They may not be the small company that they were in the 90's, but isn't the whole idea of a company to build yourselves up as big as you can? This sometimes involves doing things to lower your overhead. There is a certain person on here talking about American built products. What about some of our American vehicles being built in Mexico? Is it time to trash talk them? Your American built audio companies will eventually go the Chinese way, I promise you that. If they don't then they will probably fail. As the cost of living goes up in America so will the cost of your American hand built amps and speakers and then eventually they will look towards China or fold. I don't mean to get on a soap box, but some of the stuff being said in this thread was a little ridiculous. Trust me, I wish all American companies would manufacture all of their products in America. They just simply can't though. One person on this thread is one minute telling this guy to buy all American hand built product and then followed it up with telling this guy to buy all the product on line. That is the exact reason manufactures have to go over seas for manufacturing. Honestly the internet and the so called companies that whore products out on the internet have driven margins down so low that manufactures have to figure out ways to lower costs. This isn't just in the audio world. This is true with almost all manufacturing companies based in the US. There, I'm done. To the guy that started this thread, I wish you the best of luck in finding the right shop to help you out. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message and I would be more than happy to answer any audio related questions that I can. I would also be more than happy to help find a reputable shop in your area as I am part of a network of shops throughout the US.

 

[CooterK]

Umm no JL is amazing

JL amps are OK quality but still extremely overpriced for what you get. Everything else like components and subwoofers are lower quality and 2,3,4x the price of decent hobbyist level gear.

JL is a really good example of a company that made good gear in the past and then sold out their name brand to mark up lower quality product at premium brand name pricing. An amp is an amp these days, you can get a AQ, Sundown, DD, ARC, etc amp for half the price and same performance as any amp in JL's lineup. As far as subs go, only a chump would get a $600 JL sub when the benchmark of sound quality (Fi Q) is $300 and basically the best sounding sub out there.

Bottom line is if you are looking to get a decent system and don't mind throwing thousands of dollars extra at it, by all means go to a shop and overpay for JL gear, but if you have any interest in building the best system you can get for your dollar, do your research and and spend your dollars wisely.

 

[50hhh]

As an owner of a mobile electronics shop and a veteran of the industry for over 20 years with JL being one of my lines for 14 of those years I can speak highly of the company. That is not because I sell their product. Trust me, we will kick a manufacture to the curb for defect issues or poor performance. Out of all the main stream amp/speakers lines on the market, JL is still considered the smallest. They still engineer all of their own products and build it themselves. I can tell you there are only two lines in the JL lineup that are not built by them directly. Yes some of their stuff is assembled in China, but JL owns the facilities and has American management in these facilities over seeing everything. I can also tell you out of all my lines that JL has the lowest defect rate. They may not be the small company that they were in the 90's, but isn't the whole idea of a company to build yourselves up as big as you can? This sometimes involves doing things to lower your overhead. There is a certain person on here talking about American built products. What about some of our American vehicles being built in Mexico? Is it time to trash talk them? Your American built audio companies will eventually go the Chinese way, I promise you that. If they don't then they will probably fail. As the cost of living goes up in America so will the cost of your American hand built amps and speakers and then eventually they will look towards China or fold. I don't mean to get on a soap box, but some of the stuff being said in this thread was a little ridiculous. Trust me, I wish all American companies would manufacture all of their products in America. They just simply can't though. One person on this thread is one minute telling this guy to buy all American hand built product and then followed it up with telling this guy to buy all the product on line. That is the exact reason manufactures have to go over seas for manufacturing. Honestly the internet and the so called companies that whore products out on the internet have driven margins down so low that manufactures have to figure out ways to lower costs. This isn't just in the audio world. This is true with almost all manufacturing companies based in the US. There, I'm done. To the guy that started this thread, I wish you the best of luck in finding the right shop to help you out. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message and I would be more than happy to answer any audio related questions that I can. I would also be more than happy to help find a reputable shop in your area as I am part of a network of shops throughout the US.

I respect your opinion, and you ARE right most audio companies end up in china. But as someone who knows the major qaulity differences In mobile audio I can promise you JL doesnt hold a candle to DD, Fi, Sundown, TC sounds etc..Most of the people that walk into a shop and buy a JL w7 for 800$ will never put more than 800 watts to it in a sealed enclosure. Why 800 watts? because every JL amp I have bench tested in the last 10 years comes in at about 70-80% rated power (abysmal for the prices). Now for this reason most w6 or w7 will hold up great in that JL designed sealed enclosure. BUT take that 800$ W7 and put it in a 3 cu ft ported enclosure on 1000 watts running a 30hz tone for 5 mins and it will literally melt the VC or smack the back plate until it dies. For comparison you can get a hand made DD 9500 or Fi BTL for around 500-600$ and throw 2k at it all day in the same enclosure on 30hz. This is because under extreme xmax the flat wire larger voice coil distributes heat much better and the cones are usually stronger as well. We could go on and on about material quality for the money between all these companies, But broaden your views and check into these companies Ive listed and you might even end up carrying one. They have great incentives since they are smaller companies right here and once the word gets out locally they sell like crazy and you make more per sale than you will with any JL

 

[50hhh]

JL amps are OK quality but still extremely overpriced for what you get. Everything else like components and subwoofers are lower quality and 2,3,4x the price of decent hobbyist level gear.

JL is a really good example of a company that made good gear in the past and then sold out their name brand to mark up lower quality product at premium brand name pricing. An amp is an amp these days, you can get a AQ, Sundown, DD, ARC, etc amp for half the price and same performance as any amp in JL's lineup. As far as subs go, only a chump would get a $600 JL sub when the benchmark of sound quality (Fi Q) is $300 and basically the best sounding sub out there.

Bottom line is if you are looking to get a decent system and don't mind throwing thousands of dollars extra at it, by all means go to a shop and overpay for JL gear, but if you have any interest in building the best system you can get for your dollar, do your research and and spend your dollars wisely.

Ive been running a Fi Q in both mustangs for the last 3 years, and a Neo BTL in my jeep. Cant beat Fi for the price. The only thing I can say is comparable for the money is DD but they are slowly losing qaulity unless your in the higher end DD products.

 

[CooterK]

Ive been running a Fi Q in both mustangs for the last 3 years, and a Neo BTL in my jeep. Cant beat Fi for the price. The only thing I can say is comparable for the money is DD but they are slowly losing qaulity unless your in the higher end DD products.

As far as subs go, Ascendant Audio, SSA, DC, Incriminator, etc are all making great stuff these days, mostly because they are all using the same parts. I'd still go with Fi just because of the customization they offer (paint matcing the logo to your ride FTW), but there are a lot of other brands out there offering similar products at a similar price.

 

[50hhh]

As far as subs go, Ascendant Audio, SSA, DC, Incriminator, etc are all making great stuff these days, mostly because they are all using the same parts. I'd still go with Fi just because of the customization they offer (paint matcing the logo to your ride FTW), but there are a lot of other brands out there offering similar products at a similar price.

Yea I had a pair of AA assassins a while back and several others like RD, DC, and SSA. Its funny because most of these companies do use the same parts and nearly all of them are based off the tech that TC sounds developed years ago.

 

[SlowRed]

Highs you mean voice and lows subwoofers?

Yes sir.

 

[Raoh]

I am actually thinking of upgrading my sound system, outside a broken speaker in my audi, the 12 year old sound system in that beats out the one in my Mustang, which is kind of disappointing. I am thinking, it just needs some better speakers, and a small sub to get better bass. Is it always this much of a hassle to install an aftermarket system in a car tho?

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