JL Audio vs. Memphis

Hey Guys (and gals)

I am new to 12volt and have seen quite a few posts on this subject.  I worked at a shop that sold Memphis, JBL, Orion, Focal, Swiss Audio (yuck), Clarion, JVC, Kenwood Excellon, Pioneer, and Audiobahn.  After installing everything Memphis had to offer, from the Power Reference (entry) line to the MOJO and Mcsq (top of the line), my personal conclusion was that Memphis does in fact offer a very solid line of products.  They have a very good warranty, were fairly reliable, and sounded decent.  However, I do not believe, by any stretch of the imagination, that Memphis offers the best products in the industry.  For starters, 90% of their products say right on the box "custom manufactured in Korea".  I know that a lot of products are made over seas, but that particular quote is also found on all the off the wall swap meet brands as well.  Maybe it's just me, but that kinda bugged me.  The other 10% of their products, like the MOJO, LVS, and M3 subs along with SOME of their amps, are in fact made in the U.S.A.  The strange thing is that the MOJO sub looks just like subs that are offered by Powerbase and a few other manufacturers, wich leads me to believe that Memphis buys most it's drivers and slaps their logo on them.  That's fine I guess, a lot of manufactorers do that, but I would prefer a brand that does it's own R&D in house and builds it's own drivers rather than buy them.  To make what could be a very long story short, here is basically everything I know about Memphis, good, and bad, in a nutshell. . . .

*Memphis does not build it's own drivers

*Memphis does offer a great warranty

*Memphis offers a solid product at a very good price

*Memphis' power ratings (for the subs) are pretty much right on the money.  In short, don't drive them too far past their Rms power rating

*Their M-CLASS and MOJO amps are very good amplifiers, despite being "custom manufactored in Korea".  They sound decent overall, but in comparison to some other higher end brands (such as JL), the signal-to-noise ratios are a little high, meaning they put out more distortion than most.  Now, their Power Reference (entry) line amps SUCK!  Don't waste your money on those things.

*The entry level subs (Power Reference and Mclass) and a good sub for a beginner and are priced right (roughly $100.00 and $110.00 respectively, for 10'')  I had both a Power Reference 10 and 12 and they did very good running off my JBL 300.1 class d amp.  The MOJO 12'' sub, in a 4 cubic foot slot ported box running off 1200 watts would regularly hit about 154 db brand new.  That's loud.  They get louder as they break in.  We could squeeze almost 156db out of them after break-in (that's 1 sub!)  BUT (there is always a BUT) they don't SQ worth a darn.  They are just loud.  If you want JUST LOUD, it's a perfect sub for you.  We sold a 12'' MOJO for around $500.00, so for what it is, again, it's priced right.  As far as quality goes, I am a little disapointed in the MOJO.  It's supposed to be their flagship sub, but used very cheap components.  Memphis still uses a foam surround on the MOJO (they use a nitrile or butyl rubber on the entry level Mclass) , a pressed paper pulp cone, and like a 2 1/2'' voice coil (if I remember correctly).  The MOJO has a 225 oz. magnet and a cast chassis. and is made in the USA.

So,  after doing some research and listening (to JL products), I feel that JL offers a superior product line to Memphis, but you are also in a totally different price class.  JL is very expensive but offers what I think is and outstanding product, even when compared to all the other brands out there, not just Memphis. (by the way, if anybody has any MATURE, LOGICAL feedback on JL, please post something in the forum for me. I am getting ready to design and build a system and am considering all JL.)

*Memphis again is great for the first timer or the competitor that doesn't want to spend a grip of cash on stuff.  Memphis is in short a middle of the road brand.

Hope this was helpful

See this is where its important to listen before you buy. My personal opinion on JL is quite negative. I have very little experience with their amps, installed a couple customer ones but thats about it. They never came back so I must assume they are working fine although since they didnt buy them from me I might not ever hear about it anyways. I really dislike their speakers though including subs. I find that their components are quite overpriced. There are lines in focal that are comprable price to most of their lines and I have always found them much more pleasant but thats me. As for the subs, I wont take away from the fact that their lines have always been very successful, thats what they grew their company on so if they wernt good they wouldnt have made it this long. With that being said there is just something about the sound I dont like. I havent been able to pin it down to an exact thing, I just know when I sit in a car if its a JL in there or something else by the sound. As I said this is all personal opinion and by the list of products you posted your shop deals some nice gear, just dont get stuck in a rut where you feel you need to buy all one line of product. If you listen to a set of Focals and like the sound more then buy them, **** uniformity. I also know that when I delt orion 5 years ago or so, the HCCA line of components were awsome but I dont know what their new stuff is like, it might be trash now, I havent delt it or seen a dealer in over 4 years.

To reply to a numver of posts all at once, i guss,  I have in fact owned Focals, and they sounded excellent.  They were the polyglass line 61/2'' ers.  I don't have a problem with them at all, but since I installed and listened to them every day, I was just interested in seeing what else was out there.  I was also looking into Dynaudio and the higher-end Morel lines.  thanks for the feedback though.

but ya, I also wish Orion was still Orion.  They still produce some decent subs (the P series 12's for example, quite loud, but no sq), but they are definitely not what they used to be since Directed bought them.

Anything Orion is awesome. Great speakers and even better amps and subs! I consider Orion to be one of the best amplifier/subwoofer companies on the market today. There top of line now and always have been...listen to some H212 subs hooked up to an Orion 2500D amp and tell me they ain't loud! hahaha.