JL 12w6 300 watts?

[chronicblazen 10+ year member]

how is it, that my friend with two JL 12w6 (300 watts rms) with the same amp

sounds louder than my pioneers 305dvc's (400 watts rms)

i know most of you will say "well duhhhh, JL vs Pioneeeeeer", but it just doesnt make sense to me...

to me, its like, lets see, a bmw z4 and a subaru sti.

whats the better quality, better overall brand?

you would say BMW,

but who has more horsepower?

the subaru.

why would the bimmer beat the subaru with less horsepower?

Click to read more...

 

[kickerlivinloud 10+ year member]

One reason......install. The install is what makes the system. There are many others but this is the most common one.

EX:

If he was a good install probably ported and you have a sealed he will be louder b/c of it being ported. It is all in the install....

 

[chronicblazen 10+ year member]

so if we were both set up the same, will the pioneers, even though less quality brand, be louder than JL audio's which is known all around better quality?

 

[kickerlivinloud 10+ year member]

Well with the W6 they are more an SQ sub (someone correct me if I am worng). I don't know much about the pioneer sub but the W6 is not any spl sub and if the Pioneer is it would win. It also has more power going to it. 400w RMS vs. 300w RMS. The type of vehicle is also a factor in the loudness of a setup.

 

[simon21 10+ year member]

Maybe the pioneers are less efficient/sensitive than the W6.

 

[Breogan24 10+ year member]

I think its subwoofer design, Just because it is rated for more power does not mean anything.

A car with less horsepower can beat a car with more HP, depends on weight of vehicle and other stuff that i know nothing about. But just the weight alone makes a huge difference. What will win a 200hp SUV or a 170hp Miata?

 

[focused313 10+ year member]

there are a # of reasons:

1. His gains on the amp could be set higher than yours

2. His head unit may produce more wattage, or his volume is just up more.

3. Different enclosure types.

4. Different vehicles.

5. Positioning of the enclosure

6. Say the amp pushed out 300w RMS. He has a 300w RMS sub, so his sub is being pushed to Xmax (theoritically). Yours needs another 100w's to hit its xmax because its a 400w RMS sub.

I'd have to know everything about both of your systems to even narrow the reasons down. It could be a boost from an eq or anything.

 

[chronicblazen 10+ year member]

the fact that it's louder is not important right now. all i wanted to know, is how a better more expensive sub, with less rms is supposed to sound louder and be better than a more rms one.

answer this, if with what i have right now, two 400 rms pioneers, and stick in the same box same set up, same everything, two 12w6's, what would be louder and why

 

[popothemailman 10+ year member]

I have a w6v2 and the sub is 400wrms

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

the fact that it's louder is not important right now. all i wanted to know, is how a better more expensive sub, with less rms is supposed to sound louder and be better than a more rms one.

RMS means squat. All it is telling you is how much power the speaker can theoretically thermally handle. It generally doesn't take displacement limited power handling into account and in no way is a gauge of which sub is better. If you are powering two different subs with the same amp to compare them, then the max amount of power that each can handle means nothing. If one can handle 200W and the other can handle 1000W but you are only powering them with 200W then the extra power handling of the second sub is moot.

Another thing to consider is that with the same sub you almost need to double the power to get an audible difference in output, so the difference in performance between the subs you have @ 300W and 400W is going to be marginal and likely inaudible.

answer this, if with what i have right now, two 400 rms pioneers, and stick in the same box same set up, same everything, two 12w6's, what would be louder and why

There is no way of knowing without a lot more info. It could be that the box you have for the Pioneers is not right for them but is perfect for the JLs. It could be teh other way around. It could be that it is not right for either of them. Install is such a big part of the equation and that includes matching the sub to the proper enclosure for what you want (SPL, SQ or somewhere in between.)