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Going From 2 10"s To 1 12" Need Opinions

2K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  Rooz 
#1 ·
My girlfriend currently has 2 10" JL W3V2 in a prowedge box sitting in the trunk of her 540i. It used to be mine but i gave it to her when i upgraded :D She doesn't use the subs anywhere near their potential. I want to lighten the load a little and get some deeper bass and not so much of the pound. So I was thinking of selling the 2 10"s and going for 1 12" W6v2 in a box. What do you guys think? As far as sound quality and performance. Anyone have experience with these two subs? How will the bass differ?

So i might have a JL Audio Prowedge Box housing 2 10" W3v2's for sale if anyone is interested. You can check the specs at JL's website under enclosures
 
#2 ·
I've owned JL subs, but not those, so there, I can't help. But I might relate some universal principles regarding low frequencies if you don't already know.

Bass for the most part is mixed mono, and is surely output in mono via a mobile audio amplifier. Because of this, I still don't understand the need for two subs in a car. Most of the better systems I've heard involve single sub set ups.

Secondly, one really decent sub is gonna outperform two crappier subs any day. You will enjoy better sound qualtiy at higher volumes, and elimate the potential for frequency cancellation.

Lastly I prefer the frequency response of 12's over 10's for car audio applications. While 10's are generally capable of higher SPL, 12's just sound much fuller at frequencies below 50hz.

As long as you buy an amp big enough, I think you would be very happy with a single 12W6.

Just my $.02
 
#3 ·
One 12w6 is more than enougth, but she will need a pretty nice amp for it Of course a w7 would be better...

Let me put it to you this way, I was thinking of getting 2 12w6's with a 1000/1 amp, humm, when I went to get them, I tried them in the sotre bcs they had them on display, and well, when he turned them on, when the bass would hit, it made my clothes shake. And the guy said that they had the w7's on display, until it started to blow up bulbs and what not...
 
#4 ·
Originally posted by jllphan@Jan 24 2005, 09:00 PM
Because of this, I still don't understand the need for two subs in a car. Most of the better systems I've heard involve single sub set ups.

As long as you buy an amp big enough, I think you would be very happy with a single 12W6.

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The two subs are mainly for volume, you gain 3 decibels every time you double your woofers. The sound quality should be identical, providing the enclosures are the same, i.e. 1 cubic foot for one 10", and 2 cu ft for 2 - 10s etc etc.

jllphan hit the nail on the head there, if your amp isnt big enough to drive the W6, the W3s may outperform. Its like trying to push a drag car down the track with a Briggs and Straton engine. (maybe too drastic, but you get the point :p ) The W^ is an awesome woofer but you need the 500-1000 watts RMS (key word there RMS) to drive that speaker to its potential.
 
#5 ·
To add to what da_bull said, having enough amplifier power is key. In fact, if you underpower your sub, you risk damaging it and/or your amp. I've read that it can actually be worse to underpower your sub than to overpower it. Basically, find an amp and sub pair that have close to matching power ratings (RMS, not peak). For a JL 12w6v2, I believe that an amp rated at ~300w, possibly up to 500w, would give you the most performance.
 
#6 ·
Originally posted by plusnone@Jan 27 2005, 01:13 AM
To add to what da_bull said, having enough amplifier power is key. In fact, if you underpower your sub, you risk damaging it and/or your amp. I've read that it can actually be worse to underpower your sub than to overpower it. Basically, find an amp and sub pair that have close to matching power ratings (RMS, not peak). For a JL 12w6v2, I believe that an amp rated at ~300w, possibly up to 500w, would give you the most performance.
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That is so true the speaker gets the worse part of it because I've seen people buy a high powered sub and complain because their amp wont drive it hard enough, and it actually sounds worse than what they had before.

Ignore any Peak, Max, or any other way of rating an amplifier aside from RMS. That is the real world numbers, anything else is just a made up number by the manufacturer, typically just doubling the RMS and you wont EVER achieve that in the car enviroment. They achieve this number in the lab by running the amplifier at 10-20% distortion (unlistenable by the human ear) and just a half second before it blows up, it gets the "max/peak" rating :wink
 
#7 ·
Thanks for all your replies. I actually started off in car audio a few years a go and have since moved into performance so I am pretty familiar with rms/continuous and max/peak as well as frequencies, spl, q, basically most audio lingo. The W3 is a great woofer, but the main reason we want to go to one sub is to lighten the trunk load. I picked the W6 because of JL's reputation for subs and I love my 2 12 W6v2.

As for power, the amp that will be pushing the W6, if i get it, is a Viper 1100.5 At 1 Ohm impedance it will RMS at 600 watts which is perfect for the 2 10" W3v2s because each woofer RMS at 300 watts (I rewired them to present a 1 ohm load). At 2 Ohm impedance RMS for the amp is 400 watts, which is perfect because the 12" W6v2 is rated at 400 watt RMS and its final impedance is 2 ohms, (i've benched tested the amp and I know that these numbers are underrated) so I don't think power will be an issue.

When I hook the W3v2's to my amp, 1000 watt RMS, they thump so hard I moved a fridge with just the vibration. I don't think she needs this much bass. We would still like to get good bass, which i know for sure the W6 and W3 are both capable of, but lighten the load from 2 10" to 1 12" granted the 12" does have a bigger magnet being a more powerful sub, but it still should be lighter overall right?
 
#8 ·
It should be. A lot of manufacturers use the same basket on their upper-end woofers and just make the magnet, voice coil, etc. bigger and able to cool better (hence more power). Your box will be smaller for sure so even if the woofers weigh the same, the box will be lighter.
 
#9 ·
Originally posted by Rooz+Jan 24 2005, 09:51 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rooz @ Jan 24 2005, 09:51 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>1.One 12w6 is more than enougth, but she will need a pretty nice amp for it Of course a w7 would be better...


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Originally posted by da_bull@Jan 26 2005, 10:07 PM

2.The two subs are mainly for volume, you gain 3 decibels every time you double your woofers. The sound quality should be identical, providing the enclosures are the same, i.e. 1 cubic foot for one 10", and 2 cu ft for 2 - 10s etc etc.
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Originally posted by plusnone@Jan 27 2005, 01:13 AM
3.In fact, if you underpower your sub, you risk damaging it and/or your amp.  I've read that it can actually be worse to underpower your sub than to overpower it.
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@Jan 27 2005, 09:35 PM
4.We would still like to get good bass, which i know for sure the W6 and W3 are both capable of, but lighten the load from 2 10" to 1 12" granted the 12" does have a bigger magnet being a more powerful sub, but it still should be lighter overall right?
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1.That kinda doesn't make sense. If you already have more than you need, why would you want more?

2.Ehh, kinda. In principle, but in close quarters (like a car, or more particularly a car's trunk) things work a bit different.

Theoretically, there are actually two different ways to get that magical 3db increase in SPL. A double in speaker surface area, or a double in power. The problem with doubling the speakers (right next to each other, in a trunk) you have to contend with phase cancellation. A double in power to a sinlge sub will give you more amplitude in most car audio applications.

3.As you turn up the volume, you increase the power output of the amp. When an amp runs out of power, it starts making distortion. Distortion blows speakers, not power. You could run 1000W to a decently made sub if the amp was clean enough (THD%).

4.The single biggest difference you will hear is this...

Your tens are just fucking loud. They will hit so hard it hurts. It's that punchy hard hittin shit.

A good twelve will be much more capable of that deep bass you feel, but it's more vibrate your ass, then making your head and stomach hurt.

Sorry to get graphic, but that's the best way I can describe what I experience.
 
#10 ·
Originally posted by jllphan+Jan 28 2005, 12:47 AM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jllphan @ Jan 28 2005, 12:47 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-Rooz@Jan 24 2005, 09:51 PM
1.One 12w6 is more than enougth, but she will need a pretty nice amp for it Of course a w7 would be better...
1.That kinda doesn't make sense. If you already have more than you need, why would you want more?

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The w7 is the newest JL sub made, they sound better than w6, the base is more perfected than the previous serie. If it still doesn't make sense, let me know
 
#11 ·
It still doesn't make sense. You said that a W6 is MORE than you need. If that is more than you need, why would you recomend something that is even louder than something that is already more than you need. Just messin with you, thought it was funny that you said that. :p
 
#12 ·
More than enougth as in "sort of speech", lol :p
 
#13 ·
Originally posted by YoungExec728@Jan 24 2005, 12:39 AM

So i might have a JL Audio Prowedge Box housing 2 10" W3v2's for sale if anyone is interested. You can check the specs at JL's website under enclosures
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Still got those 2 10w3's for sale??
 
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