Do amplifiers affect Sound Quality?

[dragnix 5,000+ posts]

I'm glad this isn't diyma

 

[whitemax 10+ year member]

Well thats why it sounds like poop and doesnt dig deep. OP get a better box. Will be more worth it than a new amp.

Exactly. Every JL sub I've run sounded much better in a bigger enclosure than what JL recommended. I even had the actual JL enclosures for a couple of them. The first thing I noticed was way better low end when going to the bigger boxes.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

FYI to everyone on this thread, op already wasted money on 3, 12s he's gonna squeeze in a sealed box. Nothing you guys say will change what he actually wants to do. He's gonna learn stuff the hard and expensive way.

 

[whitemax 10+ year member]

Man....all he needed was a bigger enclosure with the 10's. I remember using the JL enclosure with two 10W6v2's. I was very unimpressed with the lack of low bass. I went ahead and moved them on to an enclosure that was a little over 20% bigger and they just came alive. Really big difference in low end extension. I ended up keeping them after that.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Man....all he needed was a bigger enclosure with the 10's. I remember using the JL enclosure with two 10W6v2's. I was very unimpressed with the lack of low bass. I went ahead and moved them on to an enclosure that was a little over 20% bigger and they just came alive. Really big difference in low end extension. I ended up keeping them after that.

He could have accomplished that with a $7 bag of polyfill from Walmart.

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Yea, I've used polyfill. It makes a bigger difference than you'd think

 

[whitemax 10+ year member]

He could have accomplished that with a $7 bag of polyfill from Walmart.

Maybe, in my situation the JL box was already stuffed with polyfill from the factory.

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

FYI to everyone on this thread, op already wasted money on 3, 12s he's gonna squeeze in a sealed box. Nothing you guys say will change what he actually wants to do. He's gonna learn stuff the hard and expensive way.

A few of us have been in that position. Even I was once guilty of that thinking I could tune via amplifiers and get super deep bass from 10" subs in super small sealed enclosures. Heck, I even thought amplifiers could be modified like cars for better performance until I made friends with an electrical engineer who actually designed and built amplifiers here in Louisiana.

The one thing I will say is that if one is tuning via amplifiers with similar power output levels, they are doing it wrong!

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

These guys said it perfectly.
And please don't ever spend $600 on a 1,000W RMS mono amp.

Why not? Because he can get some Chinese garbage that'll sound like dirt and fail in a year or two for half the money?

I was wondering how loud your setup was. I know JL sounds good, but is lacking in SPL

A couple weeks ago I saw a pair of 13W7's on 2 JL 1200hd amps doing 150.3dB in a daily/music tuned box. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you're not loud and you haven't ever used or seen JL equipment used properly. I'd never buy it, but it is quite capable.

 

[kramer_212 10+ year member]

now if you swaped from the m100.....to a slash 1200/1v3 you would tell the difference.

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

now if you swaped from the m100.....to a slash 1200/1v3 you would tell the difference.

Sound advice. I generally won't change amplifiers unless I am doubling the RMS power or trying to shoehorn the same amount of power into a smaller footprint. Swapping similar power for similar power for the sake of swapping is an exercise in futility.

 

[fly_marlin]

Yeah, increasing power considerably does more for SQ than it does for SPL. Putting a more powerful amp on a sub, if your current amp is lacking, will make the sub play tighter. Also, you're probably lacking the lower notes because the lower you go the more power it takes to keep the same output level. Making sure you have an optimal enclosure for your sub is paramount. I've been in your shoes before with prefab boxes and have learned my lesson. My last 2 boxes have been designed specifically for my subs and application - that just does wonders with right amplification.

 

[fatboytyler]

Why not? Because he can get some Chinese garbage that'll sound like dirt and fail in a year or two for half the money?

Just my personal opinion. Why spend that much more when you can still get great SQ and an amp that you can absolutely abuse the hell out of and not fail for less? Korean and Brazilian amps are this...

 

[dcyphure 10+ year member]

SPL = Sound Pressure Level
Basically how much air you move, how loud you are in decibels.

You can make a custom box to bring out the lows more on your JL sub. If you're looking to be louder, look at other brands like SSA, DD, Fi, AA, etc.. You're paying top dollar for the name, that is it. JL is good quality but you can achieve what you're looking for in a more budget friendly manner. Unless money is no issue, then by all means..

I always thought those brands were pretty darn expensive in their own right. I mean the DD sw 6.5 inch sub is $199. I'm sure maybe it's output is more than JL's 6.5 inch sub but theirs is cheaper. I noticed that similarity with a Sundown sub too, it was like $500, the same as JL's but I guess it's what you're comparing and comparing it too. But $200 for a 6.5 inch sub just sounds crazy to me but then again maybe it has the output of a 12 inch for all I know.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Just my personal opinion. Why spend that much more when you can still get great SQ and an amp that you can absolutely abuse the hell out of and not fail for less? Korean and Brazilian amps are this...

I don't know many folks that use the terms "Brazilian amps" and "reliable" in the same sentence, and if you're happy with the same 10+ year old technology they're building out of Korea have a lot of fun.

The point is you're not just paying for a name when you buy American and European made equipment. There's actually technology, reliability, build quality, and re-sale value that goes along with that.