Whats better, 2 12's or a 15

Point is, thru this whole thread nobody mentioned box type or size, impedance, woofer type or power availability. There were just a bunch of general statements with no details or facts to back them up. How can these statements be taken seriously with no context?

How can you recommend JL W1v2's is the real question. Listen, if you like a woofer that drops mad mad mad low, go with a 15. If you are looking for more impact and have a good size amp, hook up a pair of 12''s DVC4 ohm run them parallel and you get some serious current running. You'll be running 24" of cone v. 15" of cone, but you won't get lower than the 15". The 12"s will provide more impact because their are two of them (providing they are the same make) than the 15" "I don't play games. I play Nakamichi and that for real yo" - Probably some japanese kid said this in the early 80's trying to sell stereo out of his trunk lol.

What do you mean by "impact" ?

Point again is, NO ONE mentioned price, box size, power, box type,room available in car or power. If you don't know any of these things how can you say which is better? I didn't recommend 12" W1V2 I only said that with equal power they were the most efficiant woofer on my floor to question the "splitting of power" theory. A lot of subs use differant motor assemblys for the same make and model of sub depending on size. If your 15" sub had a larger drive motor ( magnet and voice coil ) then your twelve would you still make your blanket statement about performance due to cone area? I think not. Buy the way, if somebody said they had around $220 to spend on a pair of 12" woofers, I would recommend the JL W1V2s.

now I didnt mention box type or power because those werent the factors in question, not to mention box type leads to a completely different discussion as far as sacrificing quality for volume.  He simply asked a very broad question which was what is louder 12s or a 15, I assumed this was comparing the same subs, because anybody can look at a single 15" fosgate p1, and compare it to two kicker l7 12s and realize the kickers (all subs are in a sealed box for comparison reasons) will probably blow the p1s out of the water.  Now as far as what I said about the 15s being slower that was a generalization, and once again comparing two of the same subs just different sizes, Ive heard the older jl 15w6s and been very surprised at their speed and clarity, and at the same time been blown away by an 8w7's depth.  The point is, there are always certain exceptions, it was a broad general question, he gave very few specifics, so we didnt narrow down the answer too much on him.

Thank you.

tcss, i don't know what your problem is or who you think you are, but my point needed none of the above information that you said it did. Period, two 12"'s provide more impact than a 15 (granted they are the same model and enclosure). Thats a given (duh). Driving power, well, just make sure even incriments get to them. Take a 1000 W amp and put 250 WRMS into each woofer (lets say 2 ohms tcss :) ) and run a total of 500 WRMS. Well, lets take that 15" and put the same amount of power (remember, this is the same model speaker in the 15") Efficiency is not really an issue with 500 WRMS compared to the 12, as it probably is about 2db and you'd need to double your power to get more out of it. The 24" of cone will provide more sound per unit of power as well as impact, just because of sheer surface area. Switch the enclosures, that's different. 1 15" in a ported could blow down the house over 2 12" sealed. JL W1V2 is a horrible woofer. I'd recommend it to no one except the idiots that work for that company. Get some Nakamichi SPW120's. They are worth it and sound good for like $70 a piece. "I don't play games. I play Nakamichi and that for real yo" - Probably some japanese kid said this in the early 80's trying to sell stereo out of his trunk lol.

Ooooooh a little testy today are we? Here's a couple of thoughts. What is impact? I've never heard that as any sort of sound measurement.Efficiency is always an issue. To get the 2 db differance ( your guess ) between the 15 and the twelves you would need between 800 and 900 watts RMS. Pretty big price jump in my eyes for someone on a budget.       Did the JL truck run over your wagon when you were a child? That' some pretty pent up anger you got going on there.My customers LOVE their JL 12" W1V2s. Twenty three years in business. Over 60,000 cars done. You?

Oh come on tcss, u think u know audio? Ahahaha. *sigh* I kill myself. Anywho, ya know what I always look at? Cone AREA. 1x15" = 175 sq in 2x12" = 226 sq in I think this is pretty much the easiest way to answer "what is gonna be louder" at a given power, holding box size and impedence and whatever tcss needs to make a call at a constant. Yea JL woofers always leave me a little cold. I have NOT, however, heard the w1. I can say authoritatively however, that the w0 was absolutely pathetic. I, out of hand, completely DISMISS anyones opinion on audio equipment when they PAID to have it installed. For that matter, I know a guy that LOVES his bazooka tube. "I'm finished!" - Daniel Plainview

Sedate, always love your sense of humor. Ya know, rough day, couldn't get the Alpine IVA-D310 to see the XM tuner in the $500K motor home. Un caring customer, need to get it done by the end of the day deal. Go find a dealer who has a JL 10" W1V2 in JLs own slot loaded box. Let me know what you think ( PM ). Where is Steven Kephart when you need him?