The USA built, JL Audio E-Sub home theater powered subwoofers, models e110 and e112, offer unprecedented levels of bass starting at $1,500. The E-Subs’ subwoofer drivers offer impressive, low-distortion excursion envelopes capable of handling the most demanding program material, or the most delicate. To accomplish this, JL Audio’s exclusive DMA technology is applied to shape, control and stabilize the drivers’ motor strength, ensuring linear behavior over a very long excursion range. Unlike typical steady-state modeling systems, our approach takes into account the dynamic shifts created by current flow and back EMF under real power conditions, with real program material. The payoff offered by DMA optimization is a driver that more faithfully tracks its input signal at all listening levels, leading to superior bass definition and dynamics.
The extreme mounting depth of the E-Sub driver is very deliberate. It permits wide gaps to exist between the three suspension elements (the rubber surround and the dual spiders), imparting exceptional mechanical stability over the driver’s full excursion range. This further improves linearity, reduces distortion and enhances long-term reliability. In a stroke of engineering elegance, the steel front mounting flange of the E-Sub driver also forms the entire front baffle of the finished product, while the back-plate of the driver is threaded and bolted to the rear wall of its enclosure for support.
To power these innovative drivers, JL Audio engineered a completely new switching amplifier with a regulated, switching power supply. This approach helps make the amplifier more compact, lightweight and efficient, while still delivering ample, clean power to fully exercise the E-Sub driver’s performance envelope.
The amplifier module also incorporates a studio-grade signal-processing section, which is controlled from a panel on the top of the subwoofer cabinet making adjustments on an E-Sub a much more enjoyable experience than adjusting the rear-mounted controls found on most powered subwoofers. An attractive cover is also included to hide and protect the controls during normal use.
Analog inputs are provided for unbalanced line-level signals or speaker level signals. Using a rear panel switch, the line level inputs can be configured as grounded or isolated, which is very useful in combating ground-related noise problems.
The built-in, active crossover is a true two-way, 4th order Linkwitz-Riley design, with a low-pass filter feeding the subwoofer’s amplifier and a high-pass filtered signal exiting through a pair of line outputs. When the on-board crossover is defeated, as is typical in a home theater installation, the line outputs deliver a pass-through signal that permits multiple E-Subs to be interconnected in a ‘daisy-chain’ arrangement. Switchable polarity and a fully variable phase control round out the signal processing section. All signal processing is performed in the analog domain, ensuring very low latency in critical applications.
E-Sub e110
- Enclosure Type: Sealed
- Driver: 10-inch (nominal), e-platform
- Frequency Response: 23 Hz – 120 Hz (± 3 dB)
- Amplifier Power: 1200 watts RMS short-term
- Dimensions (H x W x D)*: 14.24 in x 13.5 in x 16.51 in (362 mm x 343 mm x 419 mm)
- Net Weight: 52.7 lb (23.9 kg)
- Black Ash USD: $1500/each (available now)
- Black Gloss USD: $1700/each (available now)
E-Sub e112
- Enclosure Type: Sealed
- Driver: 12-inch (nominal), e-platform
- Frequency Response: 21 Hz – 120 Hz (± 3 dB)
- Amplifier Power: 1500 watts RMS short-term
- Dimensions (H x W x D)*: 15.5 in x 16.23 in x 18.39 in (394 mm x 412 mm x 467 mm)
- Net Weight: 73.5 lb (33.3 kg)
- Black Ash USD: $1900/each (available now)
- Black Gloss USD: $2100/each (available now)
* Height includes feet. Depth includes grille and amplifier.
JL Audio E-Sub Reviews
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