Why is JL stuff so friggin expensive?

Looking high and low for a 15w3v2 sub but the best prices seem to be in the $300 range. 

Need this particular sub because of the 500W rating and good performance in a relatively small enclosure.  Nothing else will stand up to my Peavey CS-800 amp. 

Do you guys know of  a dealer that is a bit more reasonable??

DYohn] wrote:

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eavy CS800?  You building a PA or an instrument cabinet?  I would not use JL for this.  Try an Adire Tempest or an Eminence Magnum or any of several great sounding 15" pro sound drivers from Fane, EV, Beyma, or hey, even the famous Peavy Black Widow.

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Yeah, the CS-800 is considered a PA amp but this is actually my part of my home stereo system.

That is my sub amp and I have 2 CS-400s for mid and high.   But these old amps speaker loads have to be the right value or they go into protect mode.  For 800W mono I need the dual 4 ohm voice coil JL 15.  And the JL doesn't need a huge cabinet like most 15s do.  Looking at a ported 4 cu ft cabinet for this thing.

Been buying dead Peaveys on Ebay dirt cheap and fixing them.  Usually problems are dirty connections on the preamp boards, broken controls ect.  So far there has not been any major problems with them.  You can see why they don't make them like this anymore.  :)

gus1]S wrote:

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unda like we've got a bass player here..... I'll second Mr. Yohn's opinion. Car audio woofers, while sounding great in a car, won't "cut" on stage, so to speak. Try out a JBL, EV, the Peavey BW 1504-DT, and, if you want something really nice, check out B&C, RCF, or try and source a Mesa Boogie driver.

I'm rather partial to the B&C and RCF stuff.... RCF 18" hammer like there's no tomorrow in my EAW SB1000's! Just feed a good clean 2500wRMS into each cabinet....

Gus

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No, bass player here.  (but that would be cool though!) Just need a sub that will stand up to some real power in a home stereo. 

All the gear is PA though.  3 Peavey CS amps and a Rane AC23 Xover.  The only 'processing' is a old original BBE Sonic Maximizer.  Using an OLD, OLD, Sony Vfet amp as my preamp.  The obsolete FET outputs are bad and made of unobtainium.  It has preamp outs and makes a very clean preamp. 

The system sounds unreal and I have made many believers in old and cheap PA gear. 

Right now I am running the CS-800 one channel to a old Crunch Pro 12.  It has preformed well for many years but it is starting to show it age and has not held up well with 400W being slammed to it. 

So it is time to upgrade to a single 15" that will  handle the entire amp, not just one channel.

because it's got that little "JL" symbol on the dust cap

JL is so expensive because they dont use off the shelf parts like other companys, they use quality parts. I own a 12" WO and I think it is just as good or better then similar subs in the price range

customsuburb wrote:

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JL is so expensive because they dont use off the shelf parts like other companys, they use quality parts. I own a 12" WO and I think it is just as good or better then similar subs in the price range

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They don't use "off the shelf" parts?  So they custom make everything.   Gotcha.  I often wondered if there are just a few plants that actually manufacture speakers and most company just buy them and put their name on them. 

That is usually what happens with most consumer electronics.

When you buy JL you pay for the name...

gus1]A wrote:

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h.... a BBE "boom and Sizzle" box. I won't get into that....

If you're building a home audo/theatre sub, you should look at the BW. They sound pretty good in that application, and for decently cheap (hmmm... $170ish CDN last time I needed one for a monitor reduild project) The replacable basket assembly is a nice touch for when it decides to release the magic smoke as well.

Gus

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Everything in moderation.  :)  You can leave the gain controls flat on the BBE but still hear the stereo imaging come to life by using it.   You will hear nuances that you didn't notice before.   Works great on CD recorded AAD.   I don't run any EQ in the system.  The only EQ is 18Hz filter for infersonic freqs.  I really think the BBE sonic maximizer would have been a flop if there was not some kind of 'boost' control in it.  Most people don't have a real ear for music.  Some can't hardly  tell the difference between AM or FM.  But if there is a big fat knob to turn that make the bass big and the highs screech then they think they are getting something for their money.

Francious70 wrote:

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https://www.audiohoilcs.com

Good HT and home audio forums.

As for a good HT sub that can take 800 watts mono @ 4 ohms, you're gonna have to do some looking, cause they don't make many single drivers that take that much. If there's a HT amp that pushes that, usually it's with two drivers.

Paul

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Darn, that link is dead.   I guess their audio budget got out of hand. :)

I don't expect any one sub to stand up to 800W continous.  Actually listening levels will be rather low.  Then when my wife leave to go shopping I will crank it up!  :)  500W  sub will do fine even on a 800W amp.  Even playing it loud I won't be putting the kind of power to it to kill it.  But that kind of power will really make it perform.

I know jl has a lot of there technology patented.  I think  that they buy there baskets, magnets, and probably a few other things from some company.   check out this auction. https://cgi.ebay.com/dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5736401921&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

but it is the stuff inside that makes the difference

Go for the adire tumult for home audio... and make a sonotube enclosure for it...aka the water heater.

Or dual shivas...  Hit the net for design plans...many people have done this set up.  If i remember right...it goes down to 19hz at like 100Db. 

norcalcreations wrote:

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I know jl has a lot of there technology patented.  I think  that they buy there baskets, magnets, and probably a few other things from some company.   check out this auction. https://cgi.ebay.com/dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5736401921&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

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I think it is the other way around. That other company ripped of JLs W0. 600 Watts of RMS power on that "raw power labs" sub and the JL can only handle 125 watts RMS. I dont think so. I guess the red "powerpainted" finish on the outside makes it handle 475 more watts

dude man, the powder coating can double the wattage a sub can handle, come on its common knowledge.  can do wonders for the amps output to.   Almost as much as the dust the guy didn't clean off before listing.  If anything the patent for the w0's probably ran out.  If anyone is interested in parts for making subs here is a website I came acrosst a while ago.  I think it would be tight to have a speaker I built myself,  but I figure the thing would probably sound like crap.     https://www.xiangyangusa.com/index.html   Does know how to search the forum.  When I use the search button at the top it seems to search the site, and not the forum. I have questions, but don't want to spam the forum with a bunch of questions that I am sure have been awnsered 100 times.

That amp looks like the crap "Sound Barrier" brand.  The red paint is just a ruse.  I don't know if they still do this but years ago a company would come to town and do big advertsing "factory closesout high end audio gear car and home".  Usually they would have an exotic car on display or some uberbabe that has won some bogus beauty contest (Miss Junk Audio of 1989)   Well, if you even went to one, you have to PAY to get in.  The brand name stuff was sold out accept for some low end refurbs.  The exotic car was not there, the uberbabe wasn't much to look at and what they were selling was CRAP. 

 Power coated?

Most likely painted with a spray bomb.  You can't tell anything from the pics.

customsuburb wrote:

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norcalcreations wrote:

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I know jl has a lot of there technology patented.  I think  that they buy there baskets, magnets, and probably a few other things from some company.   check out this auction. https://cgi.ebay.com/dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5736401921&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

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I think it is the other way around. That other company ripped of JLs W0. 600 Watts of RMS power on that "raw power labs" sub and the JL can only handle 125 watts RMS. I dont think so. I guess the red "powerpainted" finish on the outside makes it handle 475 more watts

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Yeah, it looks like some company/individual bought some old stock/damaged JL subs, repainted the basket, screened new logos on the rest of it, and then made up some bogus ratings for some poor sucker, er, potential customer to be impressed by...