I just hate how people like JL b/c of the promotions from celebrities and bust on underground companies. Ask a rookie to the car audio scene whats the "Best" brand and 8/10 of them will probably say JL.
Do you know much of the history of JL Audio? They were an underground brand for several years (late '80s early 90's). They became the brand to beat in IASCA duringthat time without even being available except from one shop in central Florida, Speaker Warehouse where two car audio innovators, Manville Smith and Lucio Proni, developed the JL line of subs as their house brand. They made a name for their brand by going to the IASCA world finals with multiple vehicles and winning several years in a row. I've been personally using JL subs since '92. Even then they were almost impossible to get outside the Southeast. JL made themselves into what they are by making good products. The fact that they pretty much ARE the best mainstream product is why so many people think of them as the best. Believe me, if Sound Splinter or Adire or eD or RE could get to the level of brand recognition that JL has among the mainstream, there would be a ton of people on here hating on them, too. As far as the uneducated go, who cares what they think? Back when I had my first JL people had the same reaction as they do now when I tell them I have a Resonant Engineering sub. I currently live in the city where RE is headquartered and the majority of people haven't heard of them.
The only reason that ANY of us have heard of any of the smaller companies is because of the internet. JL made themselves into THE brand without the benefit of the internet to spread the word. This was at he time when Kicker and Rockford were the brand to have. JL turned came from nowhere to become a premium brand name by sheer performance. You pay more for JL not because THEY charge more for their products but because they want to protect their name. They don't allow internet sales because they want to protect their dealer network and in that way try to keep the smaller shops open. The middle man markups are what make the prices what they are. As long as people are willing to pay the price, it isn't too much.
It's funny, I've only ever heard two types of complaints from people about JL. The first is price. Fair enough. If you don't need the help of a shop to do the install, that is a somewhat fair argument. The second is that they don't get as loud/handle as much power as other subs out there. That argument is akin to saying that a hammer makes for a lousy screwdriver. There is truth to the argument but it is a matter of application. With the exception of the W7 series, you don't NEED much power to get the full potential out of JL subs so they don't need to handle much power. They are meant to sound really good not get loud, so for the money there are much louder subs out there, but they need a bunch of power and/or sound like crap with musuc. JLs are efficient SQ drivers meant to be used to listen to music. If this is not what you want to do with your subs, don't get JL. They'll get pretty loud, but if really loud is what you want from your subs, don't get JL subs. If you want to listen to music at a reasonable volume and don't want to tax your car's electrical system with a huge amp or lose your entire trunk to a sub enclosure, then JL might be for you.
I have a RE XXX 12 in my car right now. Truth is I love the way it sounds. Truth is also that I don't have enough power on tap to get very good performance out of it and I can't justify the total loss of the utility of my trunk with its performance. As a result it will be coming out soon. I am keeping my options open right now, but it is quite possible that I will be going back to JL subs. IMO and experience, you will be hard pressed to get more output with equal sound quality with modest amounts of power with another brand. I wouldn't mind a bit if someone were to prove me wrong.
