JL Audio 8" W3V3 good choice for a trailer?

[wopachop]

Hello everyone new to the site. I would like to increase the sound quality inside of a toy hauler type of trailer. It currently has a head unit and 6 speakers. Hoping to add a subwoofer and whatever type or types of amplifiers it will take to power the sub and 4 speakers. (2 pairs)

I dont know squat about car audio, and trying to keep the price tag low as possible. My friend recommended JL Audio for the subwoofer. I have my eye on the CP108LG, although it does seem a bit expensive. https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_16637_JL-Audio-MicroSub-CP108LG-W3v3.html

There are several things on my mind:

1. Is that sub a little outdated?

2. Do i want something 2 ohm instead?

3. The trailer has (2) 12v batteries and i hope to keep running the generator to a minimum. So any advice towards power and efficiency is greatly appreciated. I dont need a super loud power hungry system. Would be nice to easily turn the amplifiers off if my batteries get low and i cant start the generator, but still want to play music or movies at low volume without the amplifiers. Not sure if thats even possible.

Thanks for your time and any advice you can share.

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[garychoffmann 10+ year member]

How much space do you want to give up and how loud do you want it?

 

[Jcsaudio]

I have that subwoofer in that same ported box from JL and it sounds good and can get pretty loud. I've pushed it with as little as 150 watts RMS and as much as 220 watts RMS and 200 Watts RMS seems to be perfect with a 24 db LP at about 80 hz and subsonic at 30 hz. It has good sound quality but it wont hit the lows like a good 10 can but it can come close and is impressive for such a low powered 8. It does have noticeably better sound quality than a lesser JL Audio 10WXv2 sealed 10 I also have but not as good as my newer Alpine 10" SWS in a ported box tuned to 35 hz made by me.

 

[wopachop]

Being a trailer there is a ton of available room. Since im not trying to squeeze a sub into a small vehicle, should i ditch the 8" size all together?

I dont need a super loud system as i wont be trying to entertain the entire campsite. Most of the time i will have music playing at low to medium volume levels. Playing off my cell phone. My buddy is good with audio and told me since my source is just my cell phone, that i will never benefit from the much higher quality components.

He said JL subs and Alpine amps are well respected. Im open to anything really. Lower cost the better and JL doesnt appear to be the lower cost option.

 

[Jcsaudio]

Get an Alpine 10 " SWS DVC 4 ohm sub and power it with either 400 watts RMS in the exact recommended ported box by Alpine or sealed with 500 Watts RMS. Those subwoofers are very inexpensive especially from Sonic Electronics and they have great sound quality too. If you don't have that much power to work with than get the JBL series 2 subwoofer with 350 watts RMS and make sure you use the correct box sizes and tuning if ported, recommended by JBL. Both of those subwoofers can be had for less than $100 each. The bigger the woofer the more bass you'll get from it and the deeper the bass will be but the smaller subwoofers like an 8 can be better for fast punchy accurate bass. Also the bigger the sub and bigger the box will need to be too, especially ported. That Alpine 10" is a great compromise. I own an Alpine 10" SWS ported and an Alpine 12" SWS sealed and speak from experience. Don't forget I also own that JL Audio 8-W3V3-4 in that ported microsub box by JL too.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Being a trailer there is a ton of available room. Since im not trying to squeeze a sub into a small vehicle, should i ditch the 8" size all together?
I dont need a super loud system as i wont be trying to entertain the entire campsite. Most of the time i will have music playing at low to medium volume levels. Playing off my cell phone. My buddy is good with audio and told me since my source is just my cell phone, that i will never benefit from the much higher quality components.

He said JL subs and Alpine amps are well respected. Im open to anything really. Lower cost the better and JL doesnt appear to be the lower cost option.

yes if u have lots of room and want good bass get a decent 12" sub in a ported box.. u can get sundown E bstock for $95 on car audio bargain.. u can get pioneer 3003 d4 $75 on ebay mine sounds good in prefab ported box (look at videos in my sig) as far as ohm lod depends what amp u get how much u wanta spend.. if u get pioneer and prefab (unless u want to make a box that'd be better but ironically pioneers seem to do better in prefab i'm not only one that has said that) $150 and a $170 amp with $40 wire kit u be great.. depends how much bass u want how much $ u wanta spend.. if u listen to mostly rock and don't care about super low bass u can get a sealed box but u will get 1/2 the bass..

 

[wopachop]

Thanks everyone i will have to read the replies a few times and try to digest it all. Appreciate the direct suggestions on brands and models that helps a lot.

I do listen to mostly rock and want a system that will not drain my trailer batteries too quickly.

Looking to power 1 subwoofer and 4 coaxial speakers. (2 pairs)

Been trying to research and learned i can buy a monoblock for the sub and a separate amp for the mid range. Or buy a multi channel amp to power everything.

Whats the most practical for a low power setup, low cost, low power draw?

Guess what im looking for is a cheap low power system. Just trying to make the music sound a little better. Hear the bass guitar and lows a little more.

edit: Thats wrong i dont want cheap its not a budget build. $250 for the sub is fine if thats what a decent well liked unit cost.