JL Audio 12W0 - A Piece of Mind for the Well-Rounded Listener...
Written: Feb 10 '04
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Pros: Everything...
Cons: None...
The Bottom Line: The JL Audio 12W0 is one of JL Audio's finest affordable subwoofers.
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| soupcraze's Full Review: Jl Audio 12W0 Car Subwoofer |
JL Audio is considered to be one of the finest names in mobile audio. They make some of the most expensive but best subwoofers on the consumer market. The JL Audio 12W0 is the lowest-end variant of the 12" W-series subwoofers offered by JL Audio. Even though it's not the highest-rated subwoofer when it comes to power, it's still one of the damn best subs I've ever heard!
-Price-
*The JL Audio 12W0 is priced around $100 or so per driver. This is pretty expensive compared to a lot of other drivers on the market which go for less than $100, but it's a very good one. Some might think that the 125 Watts of RMS might be too low, but that's not the case when it comes to the JL Audio 12W0. It might not be the best competition sub since it doesn't handle hundreds of Watts, but for the person who enjoys good music and wants incredible bass, then the JL Audio 12W0 is a great choice. You get what you pay for, or even more when it comes to this.
-The Set-Up-
*The JL Audio 12W0 was in the back of a 2001 Jeep Liberty Sport. It was already using its Infinity Gold sound system which already came in the car. It was powered by a Alpine MRP-M200 amplifier which definitely allowed for satisfactory amplification by pumping out 150 Watts of maximum power into the subwoofer at 4 Ohms impedance. There was only one subwoofer driver being used. It was in a single-driver ported bass enclosure placed in the cargo area of the SUV.
-Build Quality-
*The JL Audio 12W0 isn't a crazy looking subwoofer like some that you see on the market (Kicker, Sony XPLOD, etc...). It's plain looking, but it has the JL Audio symbol in the center of it. This would definitely grab attention from any car audio enthusiast. It seems to have very solid build quality. It's just another great high-quality product offered by JL Audio.
-Performance Measures-
*The JL Audio 12W0 has a maximum RMS of 125 Watts. For some, this might seem a bit skimpy. A lot of subwoofers these days run at hundreds to even over a thousand Watts of power! However, a lot of people have the high-rated subwoofers as competition subs. If you're someone that likes music where you hear very clean, accurate, and powerful bass, then the JL Audio 12W0 is pretty good for you. It's not gonna break windows or make your car fall apart, but you'll definitely be getting bang with this.
-Sound Quality-
*The JL Audio 12W0 sounded nothing less than excellent. It had very accurate and strong bass. This is pretty good if you're the type of listener that enjoys music from classical to rock n' roll. This is pretty much the kind of bass that an audiophile would expect to hear in there car. It doesn't distort or sound lifeless like some cheaper subwoofers do. If you listen to lots of ghetto rap or don't care about the quality and want just extremely boomy bass, then you can go with a much more highly rated and cheaper subwoofer + amplifier. However, they won't come close to the accuracy of the JL Audio 12W0. I listened to different kinds of music. I started off with classical pieces and piano instrumentals which required the softest of bass. The JL Audio 12W0 delivered exactly what I wanted to hear. Then I listened to some Led Zeppelin, and the JL Audio 12W0 pounded nicely with realistic and clean bass. I even put in some ghetto rap, and the thing still got loud. But it remained clean. For those of you who like to annoy the hell out of people in other cars, it's not going to do that as well as some more higher rated but "dirtier" subwoofers. For the well-rounded listener, the JL Audio 12W0 doesn't fail to impress.
-The Verdict-
*The JL Audio 12W0 delivers the excellent JL Audio sound bass qualitry that you expect at a price you can afford. It also is capable of providing powerful bass at pretty low wattage compared to a lot of other subwoofers out there. So if you're a well-rounded listener who wants an accurate and powerful subwoofer, then the JL Audio 12W0 is for you. If you just like something boomy or are looking for a competition subwoofer, look elsewhere.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): ~100
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soupcraze
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