tritiumglo
Junior Member
I have been a major fan of JL Audio for over 20 years. I have thousands of dollars of their products. Recently, I pulled my W0 15s out of storage for use in a home theater application. As I was installing the older but practically unused drivers into the enclosure the surrounds literally fell apart. Now, my 2 channel room that uses a single 12W3 started making a horrendous noise. The surround is falling apart on it as well !!!! Disintegrating!!!! Strange since it is in a home application with no extreme temperatures or humidity........
I did not consider these failures to be the end of the world. The response that I got from JL was. No parts are available for any drivers that are not current gen. They basically told me they cannot and will not fix them. I told them I was not trying to get a freebie and expected to pay for repair. Forget it. If your JL drivers are not current you can pretty much forget parts and service. I was referred to a 3rd party speaker surround company. So now its either throw these away or re foam them myself. I can do it but I would rather pay JL to do it. I guess thats not an option. The scarier scenario is what if a W7 owner suffers a surround failure and cant get it fixed? That would be a grand in the garbage can!!!
Apparently this is a common issue. JL has since changed the surround material to rubber instead of the garbage foam that falls apart.
I have heard some dealers complaining about JL customer service issues. One store was VERY unhappy about the way JL was handling a warranty claim on a Fathom. I ignored the warnings but now I can see it first hand. I have been buying and promoting JL since the early 90s. My patronage is apparently meaningless to JL.
This is a shame. JL has always made some of the best SQ products in existence. A very well designed and excellent sounding product. It is most unfortunate that if you encounter a problem you are on your own.......................
I did not consider these failures to be the end of the world. The response that I got from JL was. No parts are available for any drivers that are not current gen. They basically told me they cannot and will not fix them. I told them I was not trying to get a freebie and expected to pay for repair. Forget it. If your JL drivers are not current you can pretty much forget parts and service. I was referred to a 3rd party speaker surround company. So now its either throw these away or re foam them myself. I can do it but I would rather pay JL to do it. I guess thats not an option. The scarier scenario is what if a W7 owner suffers a surround failure and cant get it fixed? That would be a grand in the garbage can!!!
Apparently this is a common issue. JL has since changed the surround material to rubber instead of the garbage foam that falls apart.
I have heard some dealers complaining about JL customer service issues. One store was VERY unhappy about the way JL was handling a warranty claim on a Fathom. I ignored the warnings but now I can see it first hand. I have been buying and promoting JL since the early 90s. My patronage is apparently meaningless to JL.
This is a shame. JL has always made some of the best SQ products in existence. A very well designed and excellent sounding product. It is most unfortunate that if you encounter a problem you are on your own.......................
