Setting up JL Audio 12w6 with JL audio JX 500/1

[Z1NONLY 10+ year member]

Got the JL Audio JX 500/1 last night, DEAD ON ARRIVAL. It will not power on, just to test everything I pulled out the digital voltmeter. 12.7 v (remote), 14.3 Power Wire. These were tested at the amp. Then I finally pulled the kenwood from the attic. And connected that to my wiring to make sure and it powered right on. So I am working on how to return this amp. Do you have any idea what I may or may not try? With the amp?

Maybe it has the "audio sensing" option and it's turned on? Just check the manual for a mode where it turns on when it detects music. (usually from the speaker outputs of a stock HU, spliced into RCA's) If that's not the problem, send it back for a replacement/refund.

DOA is an easy warranty/replacement issue. Since you conneted another amp and it worked, that means that you know how to hook up an amp and the power, ground, and remote are all good. So, short of some odd operating mode, it's probably a faulty unit.

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

Ok, Kenwood could only do 250w x 2 @ 2ohms. So I just decided to stay at 2 Ohms keep the speaker in the box at parallell and use on channel from the kenwood. So I'm getting 250 watt rms from a single channel and its not bad. It's just teasing the speaker though. And I just pound my hand on the dash at my luck.

NOTE: Hey buddy I hope your still monitoring this thread. I have a question for you. I sent the Jl amp back RMA.

Now I am stuck with this kenwood for a few weeks. So here is my question. I found a panel on the amp that needed to be removed to find the adjustment screws. Now here is my question.

MY 12w6v2 d4 sub is wired in Parallell. So its at 2 ohms. The kenwood can do 250w x w @ 2 ohms. So I originally had it connected through the right channel only and it sounded pretty good. Then I took the panel off and noticed there is a switch that says mono left channel position or stereo( the switch was on stereo and I was connected to the right channel). So I switched the switch to mono and connected the speaker wires to the left channel. Now here is where I am confused and thinking something is tricky. I think they want you to switch it to the mono left channel only when you are bridging the speaker. I may be wrong here. I just didn't want to make a mistake and fry my girlfriends kenwood. Should I just leave the switch on stereo and leave the speaker connected to the left channel? Or does it matter just as long as I am not bridged I should be ok. I can still only run at 2 ohms from either channel right? The more I think about it, it doesnt matter if the switch is in the stereo mode or the left channel mono mode. Its still going to be 250 watts @ 2 ohms from either the left or right channel no matter mono or stereo. I hope, I will leave it alone until you take a look at this.

http://images.kenwood.eu/files/prod/750/5/KAC-7203_(EN).pdf

Page 5 explains the mono left and bridgable explanation. And page 7 shows rms @ said ohms.

If you have time Ill wait for your response.

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

Maybe it has the "audio sensing" option and it's turned on? Just check the manual for a mode where it turns on when it detects music. (usually from the speaker outputs of a stock HU, spliced into RCA's) If that's not the problem, send it back for a replacement/refund.
DOA is an easy warranty/replacement issue. Since you conneted another amp and it worked, that means that you know how to hook up an amp and the power, ground, and remote are all good. So, short of some odd operating mode, it's probably a faulty unit.

Definitely faulty. A real let down. So I had to spend 15 dollars to send it back with insurance and tracking. It doesn't even get back to the destination until the 9th. Then who knows how long it will take to get another one to me. That is the problems with rma's(they take way too **** long). By the way I have never seen a amp that doesn't at least have a light on when you connect power/remote/ground. You shouldn't even have to connect rca's or speaker wire to see power. If you want signal, or sound you need the rest. This amp did nothing from the get go. And I wasnt willing to do some of the troubleshooting most people would of done.

What I should of done was take the amp directly to the car battery, then take 2 inch jumper wire and connect remote to positive on the amp, then just take 2 1 foot pieces of 4 gauge and connect positive and negative to the amp directly from the battery with that remote jumper to the postive that is the true true test for a faulty amp. I didn't want to fry anything so my voltmeter and the other amp working was good enough for me. I have never heard of a amp that turns on when it detects music. I assumed it had to turn on with the remote wire, that is the purpose of the remote wire to turn the amp on when your stereo turns on.

 

[Z1NONLY 10+ year member]

My slash 500/1 has an audio sensing turn-on mode. But I just checked the JX and it doesn't appear to have that function. So your assumption of DOA is probably correct.

Just checked the Kenwood manual. I would leave it in stereo and run one side to the sub.

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

My slash 500/1 has an audio sensing turn-on mode. But I just checked the JX and it doesn't appear to have that function. So your assumption of DOA is probably correct.
Just checked the Kenwood manual. I would leave it in stereo and run one side to the sub.

That is exactly what I am doing. PHEW. The bass boost is incredibly strong on this amp. With the gain turned up 3/4 of the way and the bass boost 1/4 of the way. This amp from one side at 250 watts pounds really hard. I am using this weak *** speaker wire, some god awful small gauge wire that came with my 4 gauge kit. I am not happy with my setup right now, nor do I want to concentrate on mounting anything until I get the amp I am going to stay with. Then I might remove the panel of my truck and place the amp back there. I don't even know if I need my cap or not, if I end up using it for headlight dimming or whatever I am going to need more car audio connectors, unfortunately they is not a car audio place in my town it closed down about a year ago.

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

Hey I'm back. I got my return amp 3 days ago the JX 500/1. The only problem was I bought a really cheap wire set and one of the rca's fell apart at the end. So I ordered some streetwires and they dont get here until tomorrow. It's been a long 3 days. With this amp I want to hear really bad and no rca's.

I am going to possibly need some help with setting's and all. I also picked up a Kenwood DNX-7180 this unit is 1150.00 on crutchfield: Kenwood DNX7180 Navigation receiver at Crutchfield.com I paid 725 for a remanned unit on ebay. Anyway this head unit has some settings. I get somewhat confused on crossover settings. So maybe tomorrow, or the day after depending on when ups delivers the rca's I am going to install them in my truck. Then I have to set the JX 500/1 with my Head Unit for some decent settings. I'll tell you what the old JVC single din unit sounded way better with 75% less settings to tinker with. So any help would be much appreciated.

 

[its10v1 10+ year member]

IMHO it is so much easier to pull the sub and check the wiring than trying to use an ohm-reader on a multi-meter.

FYI a 4 ohm DVC sub can run at 2 ohm.

The 12volt.com should clear up any major questions you have.

 

[its10v1 10+ year member]

Hey I'm back. I got my return amp 3 days ago the JX 500/1. The only problem was I bought a really cheap wire set and one of the rca's fell apart at the end. So I ordered some streetwires and they dont get here until tomorrow. It's been a long 3 days. With this amp I want to hear really bad and no rca's.
I am going to possibly need some help with setting's and all. I also picked up a Kenwood DNX-7180 this unit is 1150.00 on crutchfield: Kenwood DNX7180 Navigation receiver at Crutchfield.com I paid 725 for a remanned unit on ebay. Anyway this head unit has some settings. I get somewhat confused on crossover settings. So maybe tomorrow, or the day after depending on when ups delivers the rca's I am going to install them in my truck. Then I have to set the JX 500/1 with my Head Unit for some decent settings. I'll tell you what the old JVC single din unit sounded way better with 75% less settings to tinker with. So any help would be much appreciated.

you'll have to tinker with the settings to find the clarity you like. For example: I leave all my EQ settings on my HU off, with the only exception of bass. My Bass setting is at -5/-6. Which gives the high notes more volume... without robbing the bass entirely.

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

you'll have to tinker with the settings to find the clarity you like. For example: I leave all my EQ settings on my HU off, with the only exception of bass. My Bass setting is at -5/-6. Which gives the high notes more volume... without robbing the bass entirely.

Yeah my bass setting goes from -50 to +10. I have it at zero right now, and my gain on the amp up to a little over half. I am testing with all songs that are notorious for heavy bass. Which won't help me in the long run. My head unit has settings to set the sub to the exact size which I did 12" then it has the crossover. I have not figured out how to turn the crossover off on the head unit. As of now I have the crossover set to 50 on both the amp and head unit. Then the head unit also has slope for db's I don't know what this is? I have kept the bass boost to 1/16 on the amp. So any suggestions of what I should set the crossover too. ON amp and head unit? And what slope is on the head unit?

Note: Slope goes from -6db to -24 I have it set at -12db and crossover goes as low as 30 I have it set to 50 along with the amp.

I also lowered the bass on Head Unit to -5 so the door speakers have a chance of keeping up.

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

you'll have to tinker with the settings to find the clarity you like. For example: I leave all my EQ settings on my HU off, with the only exception of bass. My Bass setting is at -5/-6. Which gives the high notes more volume... without robbing the bass entirely.

What kind of Head Unit are you using? What kind of amp are you using? What kind of sub are you using? Would help to ask the right person the right answers.

 

[kramer_212 10+ year member]

The D-4 is the only model listed for 12 inch W6v2's on JL's website. There discontinued list only has v1 W6's so I'm thinking you have a D-4 (version 2) or some sort of custom job.
That's the good news. The bad news is we still don't know how your two 4 ohm coils are wired. They come from the factory with the VC's connected in parallel. (2 ohms)

But they could be connected at 8 ohms.

Do you have access to both coils from the outside of the box or do you have to get to the speakers to wire them per your graph anyway?

this^

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

I found out earlier in the thread I was wired in parallel since I tested the ohm to the speaker box terminal's and It registered 2 ohms.

Anyway if there is anyone with a similar setup, I would love to rack your brain on some settings. I do have a amp setup cd. I will have to figure out how to use it. But no question it all comes down to the listener. But with my single din JVC and a Kenwood amp(in stereo mode) using one side(channel) with under 200 rms sounded better than what I am hearing now. Possibly because the settings were so much simpler. I do have a lot of adjustments to do.

I have a Kenwood DNX-7180

Jl Audio JX 500/1 Amp

Jl Audio 12W6V2 D4 Sub in a Ported box.

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

how do you make the bass tighter, seems real loose and sloppy with the crossover's set to 50hz.

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

Is this a good way to set up the amp and head unit? I just read this and was not doing it this way at all. I turned the gain all the way up on my amp and adjusted from the head unit downward.

Step 1. Turn any your deck’s bass, trouble, and equalizer setting to flat (center or zero). Turn the deck’s subwoofer volume control all the way up (+15).

Step 4. Set the front and rear pass output on your deck to 100 to 120Hz (you can fine tune later for best sound).

Step 3. Turn the sub amplifier’s bass boost to flat and the gain control most of the way down.

Step 4. Put in your favorite CD and crank it, until you hear the sound starting to distort, back off on the volume until the distortion goes away. Note the number on your volume control; this is the max volume clean volume. If you want more volume you’ll need to add an amp to your stereo speakers.

Step 5. Adjust your subwoofer amplifier gain . . . turn it up until you hear your sub/s start distorting and/or you reach a point where turning up the gain makes no audible difference. Done!

Now you can go back in and fine tune. You have reached the maximum volume for all of your components, from here you just back off the subwoofer volume control on the deck. If you still have too much bass, back the gain on the amplifier down. Adjust the crossover on the deck for best sound.

 

[tommyarmour 10+ year member]

My slash 500/1 has an audio sensing turn-on mode. But I just checked the JX and it doesn't appear to have that function. So your assumption of DOA is probably correct.
Just checked the Kenwood manual. I would leave it in stereo and run one side to the sub.

Hey bro, wondering if your still around. Wanted to ask you a few questions about crossovers, setting's, and slope?