Building A Box For JL Audio 12W6V2

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

that box is just too big for that sub at the power he is running, he doesnt have a leak. also you can get a lot more bang for your buck with a lot of other subs, the 12 i have will out hit and out play a w6 or w7 any day. and really how well the sub performs all comes down to the box. ask thegreatestpenn he hit 140+ with 2 explode 12s

sq is all about the set up, and yes you can make something very loud and very clean at the same time.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

sq is all about the set up, and yes you can make something very loud and very clean at the same time.

A lot of subs just flat out do not sound that good. Sure, you can make almost anything have a respectable response curve or get loud, but a sub with high inductance or a high distortion motor is going to have flaws/drawbacks that I can notice pretty easily. That's why I chose very low distortion and very low inductance woofers(with the exception of the 4+mH inductance of the LMS-R) in my previous post. There's just nothing better to me than having a very articulate, clean sounding driver.

 

[bluecavi28 10+ year member]

To the OP, how much internal airspace is your current enclosure giving the 12w6v2?, also how much power is your Kenwood amp giving the sub?

As to these other magical subwoofer's that outplay the w6's and w7's I have yet to hear one do it better (for a combination of sq and output in realistic enclosure sizes) and at one time I was stupid enough to give some of these off brands a try because of the hype they recieve on the forums... I learned there is just alot of people running gear that they are proud of because no one knows about the brands they choose and it makes them feel smart to tell people about these magical brands that outplay the mainstream stuff when in fact most of these unheard of brands are built in China or in a hole in the wall with recycled parts. I'm sure there is better out there as that is the case with most things in life but I don't have the time or patience anymore to take chances on a product I can't demo in person.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

If it was an air leak it would likely have some really annoying whistling associated with it and it would happen on every song.

The 13W7 is a low end monster and it's no surprise that it would murder the pair of W6s on the bottom end. The wide flat BL curve also means that it can move a lot of air and it's distortion remains extremely low. The bottom end comes at the expense of upper bass performance. Since it can't go very high and provides a really robust bottom end, there is a difficulty getting it to pair with midbasses. The mid-woofers have to be able to go pretty low for mids and really move some air themselves to get the front stage and the sub to blend well together.

 

[bluecavi28 10+ year member]

If it was an air leak it would likely have some really annoying whistling associated with it and it would happen on every song.
The 13W7 is a low end monster and it's no surprise that it would murder the pair of W6s on the bottom end. The wide flat BL curve also means that it can move a lot of air and it's distortion remains extremely low. The bottom end comes at the expense of upper bass performance. Since it can't go very high and provides a really robust bottom end, there is a difficulty getting it to pair with midbasses. The mid-woofers have to be able to go pretty low for mids and really move some air themselves to get the front stage and the sub to blend well together.

I agree 100%. But I have dealt with leaks that were very hard to pick up audibly.

 

[ocdadhd]

JL Audio W7 & JL Audio 1000/1 on eBay should run $1,200-$1,500.

With that you could get (2) Sundown SA-12's & (2) PPI Art A600.2's....with hundreds of dollars left over.

5x louder & 100x better SQ.

 

[bluecavi28 10+ year member]

JL Audio W7 & JL Audio 1000/1 on eBay should run $1,200-$1,500.

With that you could get (2) Sundown SA-12's & (2) PPI Art A600.2's....with hundreds of dollars left over.

5x louder & 100x better SQ.

Ok if your talking the old school PPI amps I can agree to atleast that but if your talking the newly released chinese built reruns of those old amps I don't they are nothing like the old amps but they are cheap power (the new ones)

The Sundown SA-12 I am very well aware of it being a forum boner accross the web but I highly doubt this sub uses any custom parts or tooling like the w6's and w7's and I doubt as much effort was used to keep this sub as linear. If I am wrong please lead me to links online that I can study.

5x louder & 100x better SQ.

A little off with the number's...lol

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

I agree 100%. But I have dealt with leaks that were very hard to pick up audibly.

If the leak is bad enough to allow the sub to bottom when it otherwise wouldn't, it's going to be audible.

With that you could get (2) Sundown SA-12's & (2) PPI Art A600.2's....with hundreds of dollars left over.
5x louder & 100x better SQ.

Look, I'm a fan of Sundown and own four of their amps, but that statement is just plain ignorant. Yes, the SA-12s will probably get a good bit louder but I can promise you that measured distortion is going to be significantly higher.

 

[Techmaster05 10+ year member]

Well like Blue said in an earlier post, I really don't want to go off brand at all. I've heard the 12" Fi Audio BTL and to be honest their is no quality at all in those subs. I know JL is expensive and main stream, but if someone asks you what you guy and you tell them you have a JL sub, they will be impressed. The JL name is very known for their great subs. I know its more money, but im sticking with JL. I am aware of higher hitting and cheaper subs, but all JL subs are made in the USA and are well built.

 

[4OZGLOVES 10+ year member]

I'll also throw an opinion in here. I convinced a friend of mine to do a build in his jeep and he wanted to stay with a small budget. He had a w6 12' sitting in his room. Sold the w6 12 and bought 2 mb rwe 352 15's for $200 brand new built a 3 cube enclosure for $50 and found an old rf bd1000 on cl for $120. So in total after wiring and parts he had around $400 into it. It is as clean as any thing I heard and has pretty good output for sq subs in a small sealed enclosure. If you have the room for 3-3.5 cubes I would highly recommend to do the same substage and pour the rest of the money into a sick 3way front stage and sound processing equipment.

 

[Techmaster05 10+ year member]

To the OP, how much internal airspace is your current enclosure giving the 12w6v2?, also how much power is your Kenwood amp giving the sub?
As to these other magical subwoofer's that outplay the w6's and w7's I have yet to hear one do it better (for a combination of sq and output in realistic enclosure sizes) and at one time I was stupid enough to give some of these off brands a try because of the hype they recieve on the forums... I learned there is just alot of people running gear that they are proud of because no one knows about the brands they choose and it makes them feel smart to tell people about these magical brands that outplay the mainstream stuff when in fact most of these unheard of brands are built in China or in a hole in the wall with recycled parts. I'm sure there is better out there as that is the case with most things in life but I don't have the time or patience anymore to take chances on a product I can't demo in person.

I really have no clue how much airspace or how much power my amp is giving the sub. I know that my box is really big height wise compared to the JL recommended enclosure specs.

I have always been a JL audio fan, and always wanted one and im very glad i bought a JL sub as my first.

 

[Flastrongman 10+ year member]

Hey, give me a call. since you are not too far from me, I can show you some stuff that will blow your mind. When I got into car audio around 1996 JL was all the rage. I spent $4k on my system in 97. 3 12w6's all Xtant amps. Image dynamic highs. I spent a lot of money to figure out that the equipment had very little to do with the sound. Sure JL made good subs but they are only as good as the enclosure that was built for them. Save yourself a lot of time, money and remorse and find some guys that have been in the business for years. Ask them for advice and ask for demos. Joining this site was a good idea. Please don't listen to bluecavi28. I'm not trying to start anything here but his advice is very uneducated. He must not realize that all of JL's equipment is made in China now as well.

 

[Techmaster05 10+ year member]

dang it looks like you can create some crazy boxes bro. Ya FT. Myers FL is pretty close. I'm in Venice. When would you be free for a call? I'm low on cash at the moment so can't get anything right now, but as soon as I get some money and your not crazy expensive, maybe I can have you make me a nice professional box for me.

 

[terra 5,000+ posts]

Well like Blue said in an earlier post, I really don't want to go off brand at all. I've heard the 12" Fi Audio BTL and to be honest their is no quality at all in those subs. I know JL is expensive and main stream, but if someone asks you what you guy and you tell them you have a JL sub, they will be impressed. The JL name is very known for their great subs. I know its more money, but im sticking with JL. I am aware of higher hitting and cheaper subs, but all JL subs are made in the USA and are well built.

First off, a BTL isn't comparable to a W6 so that shouldn't be a representative of "underground." Are you building this system for your listening pleasure, or to impressive people ignorant of the large world of car audio? There's nothing groundbreaking about any JL subwoofer, just testing done to create a good combination of parts. There are many subwoofers I would choose over a W7 for SQ purposes, some less expensive and some more expensive. But don't think that the W series is the end all be all SQ driver.

Oh and I'm quite interested to see the parts sources for JL's all american built and supplied drivers..

 

[Flastrongman 10+ year member]

I'd be happy to. My prices are very competitive by the way.