I am planning on putting a system into my car. I wanted to get stuff tahts close to being the best (Because beign cocky is what I do, I know thats bad) SO I was all about JL as being the top thing ever with the W7 and stuff. After reading this forum for a couple of days, I notice you guys really like the Brahmas and Resonant Engineering. Those things are a lot cheaper than JLs, so is buying JL just paying for brand name or is there a reason their subs are so expensive? What would you guys say, is it better to buy a JL or go with the not-so-famous names or what-not?
it shows that you are responsible(to a certain degree lol), and went through the extra effort to do some research, instead of asking inane ?'s right off the bat.
I'm no expert but from what i've read all over the net - JLw7 is said to be 1 of the greatest ever SQL subs made (never use any but dying to get my hands on 1 or 2 !) BUT the only reason ppl dare to diss JL is ONLY because of the price . Like everything else in life a few products will stand high above the rest & obviously those manufacturers of it can call any price they want for it . Alot of other manufactures measure their subs by JL yardstick/standard - but i guaranty u 110% that if JL changed price on their subs to the price level of others in the morning ,u will see how many of those same ppl who diss it will line up to buy them by the pairs .
I might come off sounding like my dad owns JL - but thats what i think on the issue !
Above applies to the JL brand in general & not just the W7 subs . U know whats strange - have u ever wondered why u don't hear ppl dissing excellent component speaker companies like Dyn,Dls,Focal,Morel,Rrainbow,Cdt & others ???? - they can cost around $1200 & more a pair while a good standard brand like Infinity can costs reasonable like $100-$300 .
b/c after they have heard the difference between a $300 set of Infinity's and a $1200 set of DLS, or Dynaudios, the sound is like night and day, and you can't complain about price.
but when you spend $1000 on a sub, when your buddy spent $400 on his brand "x" sub, and they sound relatively the same, people tend to lean for the cheaper one, and can't understand why someone would want to pay that much more for the same performance.
of course sound is subjective, and install is a HUGE factor in your systems performance, especially at positioning your 2 or 3-way comp set, or building the right box for your sub and giving it proper power.
you can't just buy a $1200 set of speakers and throw them in your car and expect them to sound impeccable.
JL as an overall brand isn't overpriced IMO. Try to find a component set to outperform their VRs and XRs for the price, or amplifiers that have a frequency response of +0, -.1 db, THD of .007%, and produce its power from a large variance of vehicle voltages in their price range.
Their subwoofers are higher in price, but it's because they build their high end subs (W7, W6v2, and some W3v2s) 100% in their Florida plant, and their reputation was built upon with their subwoofers because they have been in so many competition winning systems. Their price is high because people will pay it. The only thing that JL doesn't custom make for the W7 are the screws that fasten it to the MDF board that it is packaged in. Adire and RE can't even say that.
man i like this thread i'm a huge JL audio fan. and it's nice to seem the company get respect and not put down b/c of their price. even when i didn't have the money for JL products i always wanted them and i settled for less. but now i'm jl audio all the way
don't get me wrong, i never said JL was crap. if anything it is one of the highest-end audio you can buy, i simply said, for the money, and only for the money, you can get stuff that will compare to JL's "yardstick" if you will if JL's prices were closer to that of these smaller companies, definitely, i would be in that line to buy them by the pair. lol
i have VR components and they are very crisp and clear.... the only thing that doesnt make me say they are perfect is they lack the midbass a little. in the future i want to purchase the XR 3 way components as well as get a pair of kickers SS series midbass speakers. that should really do it.
I have the XR 6.5 coaxials in my door...i put them in yesterday afternoon...and all i can say is damn sounds better then the majority of anything i have had in my cars.....but the slick thing i like about the Xr components is the crossover for the tweeter....i love em and for the 280 dollar price tag their awsome!!
i agree with jonathan and muddy. great subs, great amps, great company. but because of its greatness, everyone owns it. that in no way subtracts from its credibility. it's just too easy to want jl without knowing why, besides its name and reputation (kind of like a benz). then again, if I could have an entire system completely different than anyone else, and still sound as good or better (for less) i would do it each and every time. it's what i'm trying to do now, and i was a huge jl fan (except for the w7). it's just become too commercial for me. but we've been down this road before.
the price is a huge drawback....but in my local area and for where i work at part time.....it gives me a huge benifit on what i can do and how much i can get it for....if i had to pay the retail price instead of what the dealer gets it for then i prolly would be running RE and Infinity components. and as far as a lot of people running JL.....in my area they are next to none.....but they know what they are and what to expect out of them. i always get a kick out of when people at a car show sit in my car and listen to a song they just played in their car and then hear it in mine.....they just go wow!!! i can't believe that's a single ten or that's just 2 coaxil speakers! for the price of their components and the output they have...i deem them worth buying regardless if everyone has them. nothing like spending under 300 bucks and having something just blow you away at what they are!!
I have been doing a ton of research on the JL W7 line and the JL W6 line, b/c I am about to buy one of the 2. After talking to tons of installers and reading opinions, I wouldn't get the W7 if I had the money to buy four. From what I have read and been told the W7's specs are inaccurate and power hungry. Tends to distort at medium-high to high levels and is provides and inconvenient enclosure build. Spoke with this guy who works and has a sponsored car with JL and he said the better buy and cheaper buy would be the W6V2 series. You can get two W6V2 for less than the price of a W7. Now if you want pure SPL, then you can't go wrong with a W7, b/c that is what it is purely made for.
You can't complain about price till you have lived in Canada. I think we must have crooks running our country. Not only do we almost pay 50% in taxes on our gas, we pay 15% on every thing we buy. On top of that, we produce 90% of gas we use in our country. And everytime there's a gas problem in the States, our prices go up higher than down there! Then we have audio equipments. Everything here is 2x - 5x higher in price. JL for example, for 10W7, it's $950 before taxes. 12W7 is $1200 before 15% taxes. 13W7 isn't even stocked cause look at the 12W7's price! Rockford's cheap amp that's $350, costs $900 here. I have no idea why we get $crewed so much here. I'd love to pay the prices you guys are complaining about. In fact, I'd trade our politicians with yours any day!
