This is a comparison of these two subs in ported enclosures built by the manufacturers. You will see a system overview, DSP overview, and a metered SPL test on both sets of subs. Equipment will be listed at the end of this. The tests were conducted with each pair of speakers running at 1-Ohm mono.
This has been long debated and let me say first and foremost I am a huge JL Audio subwoofer fan; it is all I have had in my cars since the late 90s. I was building this system out on paper and the person I purchase from was trying to talk me into the Alpines, and I was skeptical. My main skepticism was the Alpines ability to hit the ultra-low frequency with depth and volume. We worked out a deal that I could try them both out and keep the pair I liked better.
My listening review:
The Alpines did fall short on the ultra-low frequencies, but not by much and let's face it, most of the music we listen to does not have these frequencies, just bass tracks built to show off. The Alpines did hit harder and tighter in the low to mid bass frequencies, so to me they outperformed the JLs within the realm of the music I listen to daily (Rap, Hip Hop, Alt Rock).
As far as the SPL tests went, it was pretty much equal. They both always hit the 127 mark, and sometimes the JLs were a few tenths higher and sometimes the Alpines were, and nobody can hear the difference in .3 decibels.
At the end of the day, they are not that much different but what makes the Alpines the obvious choice is the price, see equipment list below. With costing about half of what the JLs cost, it is a no brainer to go with the Alpines.
Equipment:
Subs
12inch JL Audo H0112-W6v3: $1,099.99 per speaker with enclosure
12inch Alpine R2-SB12V Halo Series: $599.95 per speaker with enclosure
Amps
Alpine R2-A150M: 1500 watts RMS x 1 at 1 ohm: $449.95
Alpine R2-A60F: 100 watts RMS x 4 at 4 ohms: $599.95
Signal Processor
Alpine PXE-C60-60: Six Channel DSP with automatic tuning: $399.95
Note on the DSP
This piece of equipment is like magic! It is a little tough to figure out how to set it up and use it at first, but once you do, you will never imagine life without it.
It makes your factory head-unit unnecessary; you can run everything through a Bluetooth audio device. You will see in the video; I end up using my iWatch.
Once you get it setup, you can use your iPhone or a microphone that you can hook up to the DSP to set up all your sound settings, including timing. You can then tweak it a bit if you want, but probably unnecessary.
Note: You do need a windows PC for the initial setup, and I suggest using a PC to tweak the DSP after auto tuning it, if you feel the need to. I use my ASUS Rog Ally, which is a handheld gaming PC, so it is very convenient as it is small and portable. You do need to be connected via USB to make adjustments.
I do hope you either have found this to be helpful or at least educational/entertaining.
