Best JL audio subwoofer with JX500/1

[Pumpkins1977]

Just paired up a 8w3 with a JX500/1 mono amp. With most music it gets lost to the mid bass of my front Heartz Millie MPK 6.5 components. I lowered the rear Heartz coaxials to the point they're not even audible. That did improve the sound a bit. The installation shop said they don't want to turn the gain up any higher. They're worried it will start clipping and cause damage. I was expecting a very musical,articulate sound. Seems I was wrong. The mids and highs sound fantastic but the sub, not so much. Should I move up in subwoofer? What JL sub would get me that rich musical bass to compliment the components? Im looking for a small enclosure for a 1998 Corolla. Any help would be appreciated.

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[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

What kind of box is the 8w3 in?

 

[Pumpkins1977]

It’s in the recommended sealed enclosure. 0.30 cu. ft.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

A single 8 in a sealed box wont yield much output, go up to a 10 or 12 w3 with a custom ported box.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

It’s in the recommended sealed enclosure. 0.30 cu. ft.

yeah good luck getting any kind of loudness out of that. Sealed boxes are garbage. especially for anything 10 or smaller. 8s would need a 1/4 wave transmission line enclosure, 4th or 6th order or ported to get any kind of decent result.

 

[AddicLee]

A single 8 in a sealed box wont yield much output, go up to a 10 or 12 w3 with a custom ported box.

+1

 

[Jcsaudio]

I have that subwoofer in the JL manufactured ported microsub enclosure and it gets decently louder than that same subwoofer in the JL .3 cube sealed box (tried it). Try the JL recommended ported box first, and if that doesn’t give you enough, than get an Alpine SWS 10D4 and put that in a 1.1 net ported box tuned at 35 Hz with that amplifier. Don’t be fooled by the Alpine’s low price point, it’s a very good sounding subwoofer when installed in the correctly built box. Be careful with the power on the JL 8W3V3-4, it doesn’t need the full 500 watts to reach its full potential, especially ported.

I’m recommending the Alpine SWS because I feel it’s one of the best subwoofers for SQ for the money, and I have a 10 and 12 inch version. I like the 10” version ported best and the 12 sounds best sealed.

 

[pw91686 10+ year member]

If you’re interested I have a brand new hybrid audio clarus 10 d4. Very musical sq woofer.