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Water Unregistered guest | Pros W sandwich cone, push-pin terminals, woven tinsel leads, long stroke Cons Over-rated, over-priced, RMS power ratings are over-rated, foam surrounds The Bottom Line Sell it and buy three w6 v1/aes or w3v2 subs and prepare to be amazed. Same ammount of money for more good woofers = more spl and better sound quality. Full Review I don't mean to be offensive to anyone who believes that this woofer from JL Audio is God's gift to this green Earth. Instead, I am going to be truthful and honest with you so know what exactly you think you are buying. I am certified through JL Audio to sell and install all JL Audio products and even have the "W7" certification. I have built many systems over the last ten years and swear by their w6 v1/ae and w3 v2 lines. However, I must say that I am very disappointed with the w7 line and to show you why I have broken this review into easy to follow sections for your convenience. Packaging and Warranty: All JL Audio w7s arrive in a double boxed package that is well protected for your piece of mind. These woofers weigh in the neighborhood of 40-55 lbs and the extra packaging is needed to make sure that they don't get damaged or cause any damage by falling through the bottom of an unpackaged box. JL Audio actually states on the packaging and in the paperwork that is included not throw away any of the packaging. Failure to do so will mean that you have voided your warranty. They tell you that exactly what I mentioned earlier about the hazards of such a heavy woofer and use it as an excuse for the packaging being needed to honor your warranty. One other thing to note is that they will not send you a new product if you ever have any problems with your speaker. Instead they will opt to repair your product or if deemed necessary send you a refurbished product. However, if they feel that you have abused your speaker (i.e. over and under powering, clipping, distortion, ect) they will consider that abuse and not be obligated to help you. About the only thing good I can say about the packaging is the MDF cutout that is included with the speaker. Why? Because when you unmount the speaker from the board the circular cutout is the perfect sized template to use to draw the holes of your enclosure. Installation: It is difficult for the average consumer to install this product for mainly due to the fact that the mounting screws are underneath the surround making it very hard to access. Another problem that most people should be aware of the depth of this driver. Its mounting depth is almost as great as its diameter. Ouch. Not great in the automotive environment where space is limited and that is not including the enclosure. The amount of space this woofer takes up in the recommended enclosure is enough to fit two or three of its w6 or w3v2 line. Why would you want to do that? I will explain a little bit later. In store testing / car testing: If you go to an authorized dealer and request to "take a listen" to these pieces (as JL puts it) you should be told a few things by the sales people. It sounds better in the car and it sounds louder in the car. The second, by the laws of physics is true given a good electrical system with the same equipment that is used on the floor. However, when the sales person has to face the JL HO112w7r-3 enclosure around to hide the distortion at high volumes, something is wrong. After all, JL Audio specifically states that this woofer "barely exceeds the 10% distortion limit at 1000 watts and anything at or below this limit is in audible". Sure. If this is true then I have one question for you JL. Why do you brag about having the cleanest class D amplifiers on the market if nobody can hear the difference. If you can't hear the difference an MTX class D amplified that is rated at a full 1% would do the job just fine given a good electrical system, one band parametric eq, and a 24db per octave crossover. Right? Now that the sales person has told you that "it sounds better in the car" let's take it out to the car and see what he have. We are going to test it three vehichles with three different enclosures and six amplifiers. The first install is a JL High Output 12w7 enclosure with an MTX 1500d (1500 watts RMS)in 2000 Chevy Suburban with a pioneer head unit and an upgraded alternator, battery, and cap. The customer in this situation wanted a system with loud and undistorted bass. I did tell him that his amp would definatley be the weakest link in his quest for perfect sound (10% distortion). In his vehicle the setup sounded muddy, boomy, and lacked definition. This was like I said due in large part to his amplifier. But according to JL you can't hear the distortion because anything at or below 10% is in audible. He sure heard it and we swapped the amplifier out for the JL 1000/1 (1000 watts RMS). I have to admit that we both heard a big difference in sound when we did this and that was with the one band parametric eq and subsonic filter off! When we set both items to what JL recommends it sounded even better. However, it still wasn't loud enough and even worse this box took about 65% of his cargo area. He was disappointed but still opted to keep everything because he felt that in the future he was going buy another speaker and run it off the same amplifier. An amplifier, which by the way, that was way too strong for this speaker. This speaker bottomed out at higher listening levels with the equalizer setting set flat and loudness/BBE turned off! Installation number two was with my 1998 Mercedes c230 kompressor. In it I have an Eclipse 8v high voltage low impedence cd player with no amplifier and a copper plated chasis, a jl 300/2 going to mb quart premium refference components, a 500/1 (rated at 500 watts RMS)going to a 12 w7 in a custom-made slot vented enclosure, with M series monster cable used through out, and a deep cyle battery. This is a mercedes and I just wanted "something good to listen to". I was pleased with everything except for the speaker. It wasn't loud enough at low volumes, too assertive at higher volumes, and it over emphasizes low frequencies just like the last installation. While the extra oomph is nice it just has no place in music. When you go to a live performance and they are using a $400,000 sound system this extra bass is not there. If it isn't there in concert on such an expensive system or isn't there in a live musical symphony it shouldn't be there. JL thinks that trying to fool us into thinking that it was missing that we are all dumb enough to re-evaluate what fidelity sound is supposed to sound like. Says who. A company that has never made a pro audio or home audio product that can be used by proffesionals. More importantly the sound doesn't blend in with anything else in your system it is just there. A lot of loud low frequency extra sound that most of us call distortion. My third and final test installation for this review was in a friend's 1994 Dodge Ram truck. We built a custom vented box for a 13w7. He had a Kenwood eXcellon Cd player, MB Quart Q series components, a Phoenix Gold titanium amp going to his components, 0guage power and ground cables, a deep cycle battery, a phoenix gold bass cubed, a phoenix gold 10 farad capacitor, and a Phoenix Gold MS2250 amplifier (rated at 1080 watts RMS)for the sub. How did it sound? It sounded better than the 12w7 in the last two installations, but the sub still couldn't handle the juice as noted by it bottoming out at higher volumes with the voltage only dropping down to 13.2 volts. It sounded a lot deeper than the 12 given it is only an inch and a half larger. Next amplifier, a phoenix gold tantrum 1400.1 amp (Rated at 1400 watts RMS). More distortion than the last amplifiers but a little more juice. I also noticed that the bass cubed had to be used sparingly with this amplifier as opposed to the last one mainly because of the increase in power and distortion. By the way the gains on the amlifiers were set according to the input voltage from the deck. The bass of the amps were turned all the way down and the bass cubed was set for sound quality. The final amplifier was the stuff dreams are made of, the Lanzar OptiDrive 2500 (before Pyramid bought them and turned them into a flea market brand 250x 2 rms LOL). This amplifier produced the highest SPL out of the bunch at a modest 500 watts. Keep in mind that when this amp was introduced it was banned from IASCA because of its modest rating. It actually produces an excess of 2000 watts. Keep in mind this is class AB power and not D. This kind of power has less distortion but will drain your electrical system more than a class D would. The end result: the 13 w7 nearly blew with this last amplifier. The secret to SPL: In performance racing there is an old saying "there is no replacement for displacement" and in SPL competition the same holds true. There is only so much one speaker can do. Bass is just a speakers ability to move the air around it. Two or three good woofers will move more air than one high-end woofer. For example two 12w6 v1/ae or two 12w3v2 will sound louder and or have more untimate potentail than one 12 w7. Even JL Audio states this in their literature. They actually say that three 10w0s will sound louder than one 10w7. just because a woofer has a long stroke doesn't mean that it will beable to move more air. There is more to it. If we look at the case of the w7 it has one of the longest excursions in the industry, unfortunately it can't move all that air fast enough to sound like three entry level speakers. As it is moving forward and back, the lesser woofers have already moved forward and back and average of 2 to 3 times. Also keep in mind that force by which the speakers move the air is almost the same. The lesser woofers also take up the same space as the w7 and are more efficent with power. One final note, if a speaker cannot rebound fast enough (like the w7) then it cannot articulate bass well enough to be considered an SQ sub. Final thought/Recommendations: The old saying "a picture says a thousand words" can be translated to "listen to your ears" when it comes to audio. Simply put, listen to it before you decide to buy it. If you listen to this product, as opposed to other similar products, you will more than likely come to make some of the same conclusions as I have. However, everyone is different and sometimes people can hear or see things that others can't. I have a very trained ear for high fidelty audio from spending a lot of time listening to and performing live music, not to mention selling and installing car audio and home audio products for many years. One thing that I have learned is that a $100,000 pair of speakers isn't any better than a $100 pair of speakers if none of your clients can hear the differnce. Let your ears be the final decision maker before you go out and buy into a high priced item such as this. Give the w6 v1/ae and w3v2 lines a listen and or try Image Dynamics ID Max woofers if you want something other than JL. Recommended No Amount Paid (US$): $239 |
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Silver Member Username: Dominirica012Charlotte, North Carolina US Post Number: 185 Registered: May-05 | u paid 239 for a W7?..if u did were because ill buy one at 239 |
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Silver Member Username: 54danny54Post Number: 542 Registered: Nov-04 | lol...i never really liked the w7 2 much...i like that it could excur that far but i loved the spl of these 2 10 inch w3v2's...they hit like a mofo |
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Anonymous | uumm, he just copied and pasted that review from somewhere else. that 239 is a dealers price you tard. |
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Silver Member Username: Riebread77Post Number: 221 Registered: Jun-05 | The w6v2's impressed me the most out of all the JL's as far as value and quality. As far as a concert, and low bass having no place in music. That isn't true...bass is heard better when in a small room, so a concert takes a ridiculous amount of woofers to fill that size of a room up with bass or possibly infinite if it is outside...Take the best NYC CLUBS, for instance, some of the best sound systems in the world. 100,000+ watts (conservative estimate)...The subwoofer enclosures in the best NYC clubs are bigger than refrigerators...when they hit, and your next to it, your heart stops for a second...but it won't do that if your not next to it because it has to fill the large room with bass...and they have 4 or 5 of them on the floors...concerts don't have that. so he is wrong in that aspect that bass has no place in music. Addressing a past issue about imaging that surround sound isn't necessary because concerts only put speakers in front. That's because concerts have performances and they are done on stage IN FRONT OF YOU. Again if you take a look at some of the best clubs in the world where all they do is play music and serve drinks to make money...They have the DJ in front performing and spinning, but also ultimate surround sound, and ultimate bass. |
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Gold Member Username: Jonathan_fGA USA Post Number: 4229 Registered: May-04 | "If we look at the case of the w7 it has one of the longest excursions in the industry, unfortunately it can't move all that air fast enough to sound like three entry level speakers. As it is moving forward and back, the lesser woofers have already moved forward and back and average of 2 to 3 times." That has got to be the most idiotic statement I've heard in a while. If that was true, then the W7 would be playing a DIFFERENT FREQUENCY. I'd like to see where that theory came from. "If it isn't there in concert on such an expensive system or isn't there in a live musical symphony it shouldn't be there. JL thinks that trying to fool us into thinking that it was missing that we are all dumb enough to re-evaluate what fidelity sound is supposed to sound like. Says who." Wow, so the W7 is actually capable of adding something other than what was present on the music signal? It's all "there" and nothing more is "there" than what comes to the subwoofer through the signal. Audio is 75% install. It was not JL's fault, it was the fault of the person who designed the system. A car is a totally different environment to have to accomodate, cabin gain has to be controlled either by using an equalizer or designing a subwoofer box that will give a more natural frequency response in the vehicle. |
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Silver Member Username: 54danny54Post Number: 543 Registered: Nov-04 | well 2 me the w7 is good but like i stated b4...its just my opinon. I would take 2 10 inch w3v2's cause i can get em cheaper than a w7 10 inch and i think they would pound a lil harder |
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Gold Member Username: JmloughreyFarmington, CT Post Number: 1302 Registered: Jul-04 | ...please, dont ever review anything again...anything. |
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Bronze Member Username: Dz43893Chicago, Illinois United states Post Number: 90 Registered: Jun-05 | well i heard 2 13w7's and i dont understand why anyone would want more bass than that. it was insanely loud.i had to step away because i felt like sum1 was steppin on my chest. |
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Gold Member Username: InvainMichigan United States Post Number: 2998 Registered: Aug-04 | ohhhhhhh, but he did.... |
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The truth.41 Unregistered guest | i have the jl w7 13 with a 1000/1 jl and my other ride hits harder and that just a fact, why cant people except it .... the jl at low power sounds nice and clean, but soon as you turn it up it misses notes thet the amp is supposed to pick up and if you max it out it as if the woffer is moving but no real audioable tones are coming out ... i have had kickers l5 and l7 and the coms vr and jl w7 13 and mtx 9500 and now xxx 15 and yes they all sound different and one has better ability then the other.. i was wating for jl new stuff and paid for what i thought would be a quality system.... now dont get me wrong that amp is love somthing realy worth keeping but the woffer i belive you could get the same quality for at least have the price and no 3 ohm and 1.5 loads. trust me buy somthing else this is not it. and people are rite this one woffer is not the equivlent of two as many want you to belive with hype and size and price......750$ and i could have bought any thing else and been much more content like 2-15-XXX that what iam rolling now and i know for a fack that one of my XXX is better then 1 13 w7 , for sq and spl. |
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Gold Member Username: InvainMichigan United States Post Number: 3008 Registered: Aug-04 | "and if you max it out it as if the woffer is moving but no real audioable tones are coming out " Wow, so at close to full excursion, the JL suddenly stops producing sound? That's pretty amazing. |
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Silver Member Username: Sploosh56Ohio Post Number: 707 Registered: May-04 | lol. that guy is an idiot. yea that was copied and pasted. i've seen that posted here before. |
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Gold Member Username: InvainMichigan United States Post Number: 3011 Registered: Aug-04 | Yep. It's really a review from an online store. I can't remember what site it was originally written on, but I have seen it before. |
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Water Unregistered guest | Jeff Loughrey These are not my reviews I will listen to all the JL sh!t possible in a few hours Ill post what I think Later It wont be detailed like these reviews just a thumbs up or thumbs down check out my w7 13'' post i wanted to know if any 1 heard the PPl amp he used he felt it was better then the slash amp |
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Silver Member Username: Riebread77Post Number: 223 Registered: Jun-05 | I personally don't care for JL's...they sound too bloated...as if they hit too low and miss the upper bass...especially for $600-$700...for $700, I better be f*ckin amazed and I wasn't so i'll look elsewhere for subs... |
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W7 cheerleader i F last night Unregistered guest | ya man i bought this sub thinking it could do all but know it misses and i mean it misses all hig beats.... and to all fagsssss who talk with out having one every day i THERE car ya any one can pump some little jhon and hear it hum but skiping throw cds and not having it hit on songs it hit befors in other system? it will drive you mad |
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Gold Member Username: InvainMichigan United States Post Number: 3049 Registered: Aug-04 | I'm glad to see you can speak english.... |
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talk123 Unregistered guest | dont worry about grammer when it people like you i am talking to...come on tell me how you no so much but dont own it.. |
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Silver Member Username: FordpwrLos angeles, CA Usa Post Number: 273 Registered: Dec-04 | " w7 cheerleader- talk 123" What the fu(k do you mean it "misses" ? I don't even beleive you own the W7 or have before. When properly installed they are awesome subs.I'm a x.x.x. fan but I got to admit W7's are awesome subs,expensive, but still awesome. I have owned it and matched with 4 other amps and I have no fu(king clue of what you're talking about. Compluva are you Water ? 'cause that Water fella is an id1ot |
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Bronze Member Username: Kaos15thPhoenix, Arizona USA Post Number: 70 Registered: Mar-05 | you can tell thats a d@mn foreigner typing this stup!d sh!t you cant understand sh!t of what he is trying to say. |
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Water Unregistered guest | Compluva are you Water ? 'cause that Water fella is an id1ot Tell me why im an idiot? |
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Silver Member Username: 54danny54Post Number: 584 Registered: Nov-04 | im donny keen remeber, just a namechage cause i found a new found love of kicker comp and comp vrs lol |
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Silver Member Username: FordpwrLos angeles, CA Usa Post Number: 274 Registered: Dec-04 | Water- Jonathan explained it very well in your other 13w7 thread as to why I was forced to call you an idiot,but,like he said, if you did'nt write the review your self then don't take it personal. I have owned quite a few top subs( I'm known to get pretty much any sub,amp,etc. for a fraction of what everyone else has to pay,and brand new,some of my past subs include the 13W7,MTX 9500 15", and the Orion H2, I'm currently waiting on a avalanche that I bought from a shop employee, oh and my current set-up 1-18"x.x.x. in a dual ported 7.5 cu. enclosure-I had 2 15" before this) and have tested them not only with diff. amps but diff. vehicles,enclosures,sealed and ported, as well as the SS enclosures, some vehicles with HO alt. others with stock alt.( By the way this is why I don't understand W7 cheerleader's post on how it "misses" all the high beats)You just can't take a sub, hook it up to a couple of amps and write "a review" or what you think of it based on your "tests". Its just not fair especially for someone looking into the gear your putting down. |
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Water Unregistered guest | Well Its obvious I didnt write the review Because It says I did not in both threads if you been on this board for god knows how long and cant respect opions without name calling then you need to grow up the w7 is over priced |
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Silver Member Username: FordpwrLos angeles, CA Usa Post Number: 275 Registered: Dec-04 | No sh1t, I know its overpriced. That,however,does not make it a bad sub. Weather you wrote the review or not makes no diff., why would you post something that makes a awesome,excellent quality sub look bad ? If someone's got the cash to blow on a pair of 13W7"s then good for them, and if you want respect then register.This way I can set you a side from all the other unregistered nuts who have never anything good to say. |
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Silver Member Username: FordpwrLos angeles, CA Usa Post Number: 276 Registered: Dec-04 | Bottom line is, whoever wrote this review had a disagreement of some sort with JL and now he wants to bad mouth 'em |
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jl nut Unregistered guest | ... and looks like Thetruth.41 didn't set his gains properly, 'cos if they're turned too high that's exactly how the JL sounds... |