Featured JL Audio Still Worth the $$?

[larrydavid Premium Member]

I’m wanting to spend a couple thousand or so upgrading one of my cars audio and curious to get opinions on the current state of JL Audio. Is it still worth the hype? Are there better brands out there for less? Let’s hear it!

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[dragon.breath 10+ year member]

JL still makes nice stuff, but it’s very overpriced in my opinion. You can get the same or better performance from other brands for less money.

 

[Jimi77 Premium Member]

JL is a little pricey. JL's warranty service is great if you buy authorized.

 

[Old_Slapper]

JL still makes a great sub. But like everyone else mentioned, they are way overpriced. Their lowest priced sub is $150 and it's not very impressive for a $150 sub.

For a couple thousand, you can get a pretty nice system. What is the system going in, and what type of sound are you looking to achieve?

 

[larrydavid Premium Member]

JL still makes nice stuff, but it’s very overpriced in my opinion. You can get the same or better performance from other brands for less money.

Any names of those comparable brands to look at?

 

[Old_Slapper]

Any names of those comparable brands to look at?

What type of sound are you looking to get? Are you looking for major boom, sound quality, or both? What vehicle is it going in?

 

[1aespinoza Premium Member]

Any names of those comparable brands to look at?

DD Audio, Stereo Integrity, Alpine TypeR to name a few. There are also a few European quality brands but they are similarly priced to JL.

 

[Old_Slapper]

To add to 1aespinoza answers:

• JBL
• Precision power
• Infinity
• NVX
• Fosgate
• Kicker

Again, it all depends on what type of sound you are looking for. JL is really good, but not as good as what they are trying to sell them for.

One thing to keep in mind, JL Audio was just purchased by Garmin. I would like to see what they plan on doing with them now. I'm sure they will start having them manufactured outside the US. $150 for a mediocre sub, that being the 12W0, is quite ridiculous. Let's not talk about the $1400 W7.

 

[larrydavid Premium Member]

Thanks for all the replies! Looking for a good all around setup. Nothing earth shattering.

 

[Old_Slapper]

For a couple grand, you can get a pretty nice system, including installation.

 

[chillin 10+ year member]

No one has mentioned the Adire Brahma, but I've heard it's very nice for all around sound on the subs. That and the SQL are the 2 subs i haven't heard, but are always on my list to try.

 

[Jimi77 Premium Member]

Brahmas are very clean sounding subs. You do sacrifice a tiny bit of efficiency, but they are one of the cleaner sounding subs around.

 

[Trever1t]

I have the one pictured in the original post, JL HO112 (w6v3) powered by a JL 1000/1 and pretty damn happy but yeah pricey!