Subwoofer Amp advice?

[whokilledkaji]

I'm getting a JL Stealthbox for Christmas and need some advice on choosing an amp to push the 12" TW3-D4 sub. I'm a total noob at car audio...

The amps I've been looking at are:

Jl Audio XD600/1 - JL Audio 600 Watt Class D Monoblock Subwoofer Amplifier
600 watts x 1 at 2 ohms

Jl Audio Jx500/1d Mono Subwoofer Amplifier - 500 Watts RMS X 1 At 2 Ohms

Rockford Fosgate Punch P400X1 — 400 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms

Are any of these ok?
Any better recommendations?

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[wildcatgoal]

Of those options, the JL XD600/1 over all of those for sure.

 

[Panthers1521]

Its a 12TW3-D4 in a sealed enclosure with 400 watt power handling. So you would want a 400-500 RMS sub at a minimum. You could go with a 600 WATT sub but you will need to turn down the gains.

 

[Burger2002]

I have that exact JL stealth box. I went with the JL XD300/1 V2 based on recommendations from JL Audio themselves. Look up some reviews of that amp being dyno tested, it makes well above 300 RMS. I still have the gain turned down to about 60℅ or so on the amp, I imagine you'd probably have to set the xd600 at a crazy low gain to keep the sub sounding nice. While I love the stealth box, it will be the limiting factor for bass and volume, not the amp.

 

[Markbnh1]

I have that exact JL stealth box. I went with the JL XD300/1 V2 based on recommendations from JL Audio themselves. Look up some reviews of that amp being dyno tested, it makes well above 300 RMS. I still have the gain turned down to about 60℅ or so on the amp, I imagine you'd probably have to set the xd600 at a crazy low gain to keep the sub sounding nice. While I love the stealth box, it will be the limiting factor for bass and volume, not the amp.

Interesting. My shop who does this stuff every day went with the XD600. Sounds awesome to me.

 

[Panthers1521]

I have that exact JL stealth box. I went with the JL XD300/1 V2 based on recommendations from JL Audio themselves. Look up some reviews of that amp being dyno tested, it makes well above 300 RMS. I still have the gain turned down to about 60℅ or so on the amp, I imagine you'd probably have to set the xd600 at a crazy low gain to keep the sub sounding nice. While I love the stealth box, it will be the limiting factor for bass and volume, not the amp.

If JL audio suggests the XD300 thats what I would go with. You certainly will have a great sounding system running at 300 RMS. You could go up to 400, but most high end manufactures under rate their systems anyway. Over the years I have had 1200, 600, and soon 300-400. As I got older I got much more reasonable.

 

[Burger2002]

Interesting. My shop who does this stuff every day went with the XD600. Sounds awesome to me.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure the 600 sounds great. Nothing wrong with that amp at all. Ive over power subs in past builds as well and liked the sound.
But the easier installation (it's physically tiny), lower power draw, and simplified wiring of the 300 won me over. You can put a huge amp behind speakers and it'll sound great, but it's kinda like having an extra 300hp by putting a super charger on a GT but never pushing the accelerator pedal past the point of the stock GT's hp level.
Either amp will sound nice.

 

[2016Gruv]

Don't get me wrong, I am sure the 600 sounds great. Nothing wrong with that amp at all. Ive over power subs in past builds as well and liked the sound.
But the easier installation (it's physically tiny), lower power draw, and simplified wiring of the 300 won me over. You can put a huge amp behind speakers and it'll sound great, but it's kinda like having an extra 300hp by putting a super charger on a GT but never pushing the accelerator pedal past the point of the stock GT's hp level.
Either amp will sound nice.

I agree with this reasoning. The XD300 is what's recommended on JL Audio's website. The XD600 will be able to handle transients better than the XD300, but you really won't notice any meaningful increase in loudness. Twice the power only provides a 3dB increase, which is barely perceptible. So the XD300 offers the smaller size and costs about $100 less.

Speaking of the Stealthbox, I sure wish JL Audio would provide more data. I know they say it's rated at 400 watts and wired for 2-ohm mono, but how about telling us if that 400 watts is continuous, program, peak? And how about a graph of the operating frequencies and impedances? Efficiency? Ultimately, if people are really happy with the sound that's what matters, but it would be nice to know.

 

[Sal GT]

I'm getting a JL Stealthbox for Christmas and need some advice on choosing an amp to push the 12" TW3-D4 sub. I'm a total noob at car audio...

The amps I've been looking at are:

Jl Audio XD600/1 - JL Audio 600 Watt Class D Monoblock Subwoofer Amplifier
600 watts x 1 at 2 ohms

Jl Audio Jx500/1d Mono Subwoofer Amplifier - 500 Watts RMS X 1 At 2 Ohms

Rockford Fosgate Punch P400X1 — 400 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms

Are any of these ok?
Any better recommendations?

Food for thought, recently I installed a stealthbox for my customer and it sounds good. I also installed a custom small ported box behind the rear seat using a single JL10W3 into my fastback and it hits harder imo. The box is angled, it stops right before the removable carpeted mat and the sub faces towards the rear. I prefer my setup because it hits harder and lower than the Stealthbox and cost me less. Yes you lose that portion of the trunk but the trade off is worth it in my opinion. Just throwing this out there.... both setups were powered with a Alpine V9 - advertised 500 watts on the mono channel (underrated - mine is 566 watts at 14.4v if I remember correctly)

 

[EgDude]

I worked in car audio for years until recently. I personally would go xd600. Gain isnt turned down if its at 60%. Gain is not a volume knob. The higher it is turned up the more clipping added to your speaker. That will blow your woofer way faster than slightly overpowering it. Therefore you would want to have the gain properly set. Just some thoughts to throw towards your choice.

 

[vnzbd]

One concern should be the warranty of the woofer. On JL's site the power graph shown reads "warranty void" above the 400 watt mark. I have never had to deal with JL on a warranty issue but they have that spec for a reason.

 

[whokilledkaji]

Thanks for all of the replies! I didn't think I'd get many, so I didn't check it for a while...

I went with the XD600, so I'll let you guys know how it turns out!

 

[Drugdealr]

Food for thought, recently I installed a stealthbox for my customer and it sounds good. I also installed a custom small ported box behind the rear seat using a single JL10W3 into my fastback and it hits harder imo. The box is angled, it stops right before the removable carpeted mat and the sub faces towards the rear. I prefer my setup because it hits harder and lower than the Stealthbox and cost me less. Yes you lose that portion of the trunk but the trade off is worth it in my opinion. Just throwing this out there.... both setups were powered with a Alpine V9 - advertised 500 watts on the mono channel (underrated - mine is 566 watts at 14.4v if I remember correctly)

Ayyyy Houston S550!

Anyways, who installed it? you?

 

[Sal GT]

Ayyyy Houston S550!

Anyways, who installed it? you?

Hell yea!!! Lol

No, i had it done by my friends who work at a audio shop.

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