If JL is good but overpriced, at what price point should they be?

[King Alpha 10+ year member]

I'm guessing everyone that's not a JL nuthugger, or straight hater agree that JLs are great products but expensive, and you can get about the same product for less money, or better products for the same money.

So what price point would you put the W6s and W7s?

Should the 12W7s be in the $250-$300 price point to compete with the Fi Q, RL-P, Icon and so on? Or should to they be about $400, just under the price point of a Mag or IDMax?

I'm asking so I can justify myself calling them overpriced.

Also, I have a SI Mag and love it, but if the 12W7 was $250-$300, I would have gotten the JL over the SI, even if it was proven that the Mag got louder and sounded nicer. If the W7 was around $400, it would have been a tossup. And if it's $500+ (which it is), I choose the Mag.

(and if your wondering why I didn't get a Fi Q over the Mag, Fi didn't exist yet when I got the Mag)

Click to read more...

 

[w00tah 10+ year member]

If JL really cared to "compete" with the rest of the audio world in terms of price, they would have lowered the price already. They haven't because even though the w6v2/w7 are expensive, they still sell like candy to fat kids.

JL's name is 50% of the price. The other 50% is the r&d and actual performance of the driver. Not saying that the JL's are shit, because they are far from it. But to pay the price you do for them, you have to want the name. I'm sure if the w7's were made by SI and sold for the price of the Mag, everyone would be on SI's nuts more than they already are.

Morgan

 

[02parkave 5,000+ posts]

I wouldnt wonder that! mags are nice. no need for a q! anyways to address the question.. i know lots here (and everywhere) would love to call jl overpriced.. however, they sell at there pricepoint, so they must be priced correctly. However, i would only pay about 1/2 waht thye sell for for them.. no hate for jl though!

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

I would only pay about 170-200 for a W6v2. As for the W7, probably between 250-300.

 

[Qbenjamin 10+ year member]

I would only pay about 170-200 for a W6v2. As for the W7, probably between 250-300.

X2.

 

[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

w6 is a better driver than the w7, the w7 sounds hollow and you have to deal with the POS mounting system.

Did you guys see the tour of JL's facility. I must say that the money you pay for the dub7 is very well spent

 

[BringDaBoom 10+ year member]

BTW I agree with the above poster about the W6>W7. W7 edges it slightly in SPL, but the w6 is more linear and better sounding.

I'm gonna quote DevilDriver on this one since I agree. He couldn't have put it any better. Here's his post from another thread dealing with this:

If we play the value game, you just end up with cheaper and cheaper drivers. Honestly, this whole attitude is driving car audio into the toilet. Companies have to take smaller and smaller margins...and at a certain point, you end up having to sacrifice quality and integrity of the parts to stay competitive.
The Q is a great driver and, sure, if we're comparing a certain level of output for the price paid, it's a better value than the W7. But look at the parts used. The W7 is a whole other world in many respects.

I can put any TV in my house and watch television just fine, but sometimes you just want that 60" LCD HD flatscreen, whether there's really that much of a difference in viewing pleasure or not.

That's because the W7 doesn't need to be re-designed. The W7 is what, 5 or 6 years old now and it is still one of the best engineered and best selling subwoofers on the market.

Just as food for thought, there are some things companies still haven't caught on to that the W7 has had for years and are very popular or intelligent (in an engineering sense).

1. The oversized poly dust cap. Easily one of the most attractive cone/dustcap combinations that I can remember and companies still copy it routinely, right down to the location and size of the logo at the bottom.

2. BL linearity - There are lots of approaches to achieving this but there are zero straight overhung drivers I know of with a BL plateau like the W7 has...long and flat.

3. The elevated frame - It wasn't until 2003 that Dr. Klippel published his paper on non-linear modelling of heat transfer and really opened some eyes, indicating that a pole vent does very little, whereas drawing cool air across the top plate and down into the voice coil windings is much more effective. Still, the W7 (which came well before that paper) uses an elevated frame that does just that. There are tons of companies that still don't really get that whole concept.

I could go on and on about how the W7 really helped push the car audio world forward (just my opinion of course). Now everyone just wants things cheaper. "Good enough" seems to be the mantra everyone is practicing. It blows my mind that people take time out of their day to come on the internet and talk shit about such an outstanding driver.

 

[ItalynStylion 10+ year member]

First off, I just want to say that JL makes great drivers...no one can contest that. Price aside, in terms of just plain "how good does it perform" they will beat a lot of the market.

But, I do agree that they cost way too much and that a lot of that price is paying for a brand. My price cap for a JL woofer, or any other product for that matter, depends on how much it costs to make. I would imagine that the profit margin JL makes off each of their products is absolutely outrageous compared to most companies.

But, as a business student I say....Good for them! They built up the brand name using marketing dollars and now people will pay more for two identical products as long as one has the JL brand on it. I encourage them, as I would any company, to ride this cash cow as long as they can.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Is a Ferrari over priced? I can go faster for much less, so it must be. They should cut their price.

 

[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

http://www.audiojunkies.com/blog/199/jl-audio-facility-tour-pictures

 

[ArrizX 10+ year member]

Is a Ferrari over priced? I can go faster for much less, so it must be. They should cut their price.

Tru dat.

 

[BringDaBoom 10+ year member]

http://www.audiojunkies.com/blog/199/jl-audio-facility-tour-pictures

WOW. That's all I can say. Meticulous attention to detail. I encourage everyone to not just look at the photos, but read all the caption where there is any. Impressive to say the least.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Is a Ferrari over priced? I can go faster for much less, so it must be. They should cut their price.

Yes, they are over priced. Do I want one? Hell yes.

 

[bose301s 5,000+ posts]

I said it before and I'll say it again, why would I buy a W6 or W7 when I could buy a Mag and achieve about the same SPL with better SQ?

 

[BringDaBoom 10+ year member]

I said it before and I'll say it again, why would I buy a W6 or W7 when I could buy a Mag and achieve about the same SPL with better SQ?

Because that statement right there is an opinion, that's why. Others may feel differently and thus choose differently. Others may feel like you and choose a Mag. Doesn't make either person right or wrong. It's a difference in preference, choice, opinion.

Different people like different flavored food, different sneakers, etc.