A little disappointed with JL ?

OK, hopfully I got the attention of  the "JL Junkies"  :-).   About 3 or 4 weeks ago I purchased a JL Pro wedge with 2 10w3's.  I'm driving them with an older RF Punch 500a2.  I hadn't had a decent audio system in my car in about three years, so when i hooked everything up and tweeked it I thought, "sounds pretty good, not quite what I remember but pretty good".  My old system consisted of the same amp and I had picked up a pair of 10" RF punch XLC's (which, by rights, should not compare to w3's).  I had sold my old box w/ the XLC's to my brother a while ago and hadn't heard thm since.  Ok, he finally got an amp for that box recently and i went for a ride to listen to it.  Damn!  Its that punchy, chest shakin' bass I remember!  They sound awesome!  And here's the kicker, the amp he's using is a 300 watt MTX hunk of metal that he got ripped off on.  I can't imagine that the subs themselves are causing the difference, but here are the only variables.  The box i sold him is a monster.  I believe there is 1 or more individual cubic feet per 10" woofer and its ported.  I had bought it used, don't know who made it but its def. a quality box.  JL's pro-wedge is a smaller sealed box, but obviously should be built to the exact specs of the subs.  Is it possible that the difference is sealed vs. ported??  The olny other thing I can think of is that he has a little Jetta with the back seat down and the ports blowing right at my ears, and I have a Jeep Cherokee which is a bigger space to fill?? I dont know.  But I just paid $450 for  these JL's (cause Im a loyal JL flunky) and I'm not sounding as good (or as loud) as 2 $90 subs in a box thats bigger than they should have.  Should I be returning these w3's or what?!

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'97 Jeep Cherokee sport
subs: JL 12w3v2 : RF 500a2 :
RF 1F capacitor
doors: 6" Diamond D361i -> RF 200a4

call 989-731-5552, and ask for jeremy. i'll tell you what to do, how to solve your problem. return your speakers, they are junk.

look here, rockford subs are more spl than sq whereas JL focus on sq, so they will probably sound quieter but they are a hell of a lot more clear than the rockers. the rockers also produce very tight bass enhancing the ass-shaking feel. if you want bassssssssssssssssssss, then buy sum rockers or kickers or some spl monster. always research before you buy

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6* Rockford T2's
6* POWER AMPs
BLACK CORRADO
BAANNGGIINN

not to mention enclosure size does have much to do with the reproduction of chest rattling bass. for example, my 10W3V2 shakes my vision and provides for a public nuisence, but i dont get that chest shaking feeling. i have a small box, probably .75 in^3 before the sub. and it's loud, but not as loud as if it were in a ported or just larger sealed enclosure. on the other hand, my friend has a set of 8 ohm W0s in a large sealed enclosure, and it produces chest shaking bass in a house. enclosure specs have a great effect on bass production. also are those W3s or W3v2s?

They are 10w3v2's, i hope (i bought them in the box from a reputable dealer but i never pulld them to check).

"if you want bassssssssssssssssssss, then buy sum rockers or kickers or some spl monster. always research before you buy"
I dont really want spl monsters, I'm def. more of an SQ guy.  But i still expect a certain amount bump in my trunk ya know.  And i def. thought i did a fair amount of research on these subs.  Reviews I read on-line were all good for SQ and SPL. But perhaps your right about RF just being alot punchier, which is what i want.  I listen to more rock type music than anything so i like to feel the bass drum kicking the back of my head in. 

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'97 Jeep Cherokee sport
subs: JL 12w3v2 : RF 500a2 :
RF 1F capacitor
doors: 6" Diamond D361i -> RF 200a4

what kind of truck? your box may be a little on the small side if it is a regular cab.. all i know is my 10W3v2s kick a lot... like i said, it litterally rattles my vision. is yours a DVC 4 ohm?

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2000 Chevrolet S10
Premier DEH-P860MP
JL Audio XR650-CSi components
Boston 4x6 splits
JL Audio 10W3v2
Alpine MRP-M350
Clarion APA-4162

Ported box vs. sealed box? Sedan vs. SUV with the boxes pointed in differant directions? Differant amp brands and power ratings? And you're wondering why they sound differant?!?!?! My guess is you're confusing quality bass with efficiancy. Louder does not always mean better.

Sounding differnt I can live with.  I'm not gonna pretend I have the best ear, but IU've heard a fair share of systems. It seems like the sealed w3's have a narrower band width and distort sooner.  I am trying to play with my gain and crossover settings a little more hoping for the best but there isn't much tweeking to be done on one amp.  My old box always sounded good no mater what I put in it.  My first subs were JL bottom of the line'ers with a rip in one of them and they sounded pretty good considering.  Maybe its the car vs suv though, i really dont know.

modena0 - what type of enclosure do you have them in???   If you (like many) are having good results then either I'm doing something wrong, or the place I bought them gave my and older or wrong model sub (i never pulled outta the box).  Do you getting a good bandwitch from them??

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'97 Jeep Cherokee sport
subs: JL 12w3v2 : RF 500a2 :
RF 1F capacitor
doors: 6" Diamond D361i -> RF 200a4

Sounding differnt I can live with.  I'm not gonna pretend I have the best ear, but IU've heard a fair share of systems. It seems like the sealed w3's have a narrower band width and distort sooner.  I am trying to play with my gain and crossover settings a little more hoping for the best but there isn't much tweeking to be done on one amp.  My old box always sounded good no mater what I put in it.  My first subs were JL bottom of the line'ers with a rip in one of them and they sounded pretty good considering.  Maybe its the car vs suv though, i really dont know.

modena0 - what type of enclosure do you have them in???   If you (like many) are having good results then either I'm doing something wrong, or the place I bought them gave my and older or wrong model sub (i never pulled outta the box).  Do you getting a good bandwitch from them??

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'97 Jeep Cherokee sport
subs: JL 12w3v2 : RF 500a2 :
RF 1F capacitor
doors: 6" Diamond D361i -> RF 200a4

Sorry about sounding a little harsh but these are really good woofers and should smoke the RFs.Couple of things to check, believe it not I once had a dual 10" WO box come to my shop with the woofers wired out of phase from the factory. Check your polarity. Also there will be a large differance if the woofers are facing to the front or back of your truck, try rotating 180 degrees. Hope this works.

tcss:

Thanks, I'll give that stuff a try. And don't worry about sounding, i want sumone to smack me around and set me straight with this.  Also, I agree these should be GREAT woofers. I am by no means a Rockford fan and I don't really want to comapre the 2, but me being out of the car audio loop since I went to school and got a job, those are the only subs i've heard in a while and my only basis for comparison.  Hmm...speaking of job, maybe I should do some work instead of checking this forum every 5 minutes?? nah  :-p

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'97 Jeep Cherokee sport
subs: JL 12w3v2 : RF 500a2 :
RF 1F capacitor
doors: 6" Diamond D361i -> RF 200a4

mine is actually in a sealed box with very little airspace as it sits behind my seat in a standard cab pickup.i have great results with mine. a friend of mine has a set of Alpines, either type S or R, and mine smoked his. definately check the polarity, and make sure you have your setup at the right load, because if the load is too high you wont get very good bass response.. per se if it is a 4 ohm amp and the speakers are set up for 8 ohm, then you lose half the response. I'm judging by the fact that you said you havent taken them out of the box that you havent looked at the wiring configuration. if the installer wasnt thinking straight he may have not wired the setup in the interest of the amplifier.

Also i took a couple of minutes to check out the specs on your amp, and i think you also may be underpowering the W3v2s a little bit. at 2 channels 2 ohm the RMS is rated at 250W x 2, and 4 ohm is rated at 125W x 2. I pump 350W @ 2 ohms RMS into my single 10W3v2, and it sounds mint.

so the basic rundown is check the impedance, try changing direction (mentioned above by tcss), and try powering a single sub in a mono configuration and see how that goes.

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2000 Chevrolet S10
Premier DEH-P860MP
JL Audio XR650-CSi components
Boston 4x6 splits
JL Audio 10W3v2
Alpine MRP-M350
Clarion APA-4162

Yeah, I am def. going to rip 'em out when I get home and check out the polarity.  I dont think its it but I REALLY hope it is.  My amp is an older 500a2, so i don't think under power is a problem.  Back before Rockford sold out to best buy and used to be a decent product, they gave specs on each idividual amp, i dont think they still do.  Anyway, mine acctually puts out 768 watts bridged @ 2 ohms.  Im supposedly running it bridged at 4 ohms which should be around 600 watts somewhere, which should be the w3 sweet spot (and one of the reasons I chose these).  I think its probably a little easier to get voice shakin bass in a smaller truck cab, but i also have two of them so i would hope that would make up for it.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

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'97 Jeep Cherokee sport
subs: JL 12w3v2 : RF 500a2 :
RF 1F capacitor
doors: 6" Diamond D361i -> RF 200a4

you may also have problems with your wiring kit, if it not thick enough to send the power to the amp. it is wise to buy a kit that will give your amp what it needs if you know what i mean.

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6* Rockford T2's
6* POWER AMPs
BLACK CORRADO
BAANNGGIINN

OK, I just got back from my dealer and I took a loaner out for the night.  He gave my a 12" Treo.  I forget the series name but it was one of the better ones, and it absoultly POUNDS.  its just 1 12" and my ears are still ringing.  Its abuot $100 more than my 2 JL 10's so i dont know.

The amp does have enough power though.  I ran 4 gauge back off of a breaker instead of a fuse and splits to 8 just before the amp.  But i tried about 8 different cominations of subs today and found the even 2 12's were distorting if they didnt have a really high power rating.  But I'm gonna go back tomorrow and try out a 12w3 in these really nice custom boxes they make and see how it does.  Thanks for the advise, I'll post the out come tomorrow if anyone's curious or gives a damn.

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'97 Jeep Cherokee sport
subs: JL 12w3v2 : RF 500a2 :
RF 1F capacitor
doors: 6" Diamond D361i -> RF 200a4

Which 12" W3V2 box are you going to try? The single 12" HO box is my favorite.

I ended up going with a 12w3v2 in a box made by some guy in Allentown, PA.  Its called a Bomb Box.  Its basically a slot ported type box but he curves the port around almost behind the sub so the sound waves dont lose as much energy bouncing off walls as it enters the port. I guess its similar to the HO box but a little less complex.  It sounds much better than the 2 10w3v2's in a sealed box in my opinion.  I've always had a ported box thinking i was a sealed box kind of guy and it looks like i was wrong.  I was really close to going with a TREO 12" SSi (https://www.treoonline.com/ssi.html) which sounded amazing but it was $100 and the w3 sounded good enough to save the cash. But anyone looking for a good all around sub with high SPL capability should look into these TREO's.  They make a quality product.

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'97 Jeep Cherokee sport
subs: JL 12w3v2 : RF 500a2 :
RF 1F capacitor
doors: 6" Diamond D361i -> RF 200a4