Wanted to share my recent experience with some JL products. This post is geared to all those people who have a serious hard on against JL products.
I recently bought a used BMW 330xi (great car btw) and looking to upgrade the stock system. In the past I have had extensive experience with very high end brands and most of my systems were on the upper end of the quality spectrum. Here is a summary list of the product I have used.
Amplifiers:
Tru Technology Billet Amps
Mosconi AS
Audison VRX
Audison Lrx
Phoenix Gold Ti
JL HD Amps
JL Slash
Speakers:
Hertz Mille
Hertz High Energy
JL VR Series
Subs:
Hertz High Energy
JL W7's
JL W6's
JL W3's
Processors:
Audison Bit One
JL Clean Sweep
As you can see I do have experience with JL products and honestly have always had nothing but a positive experience with. So with this new install and a limited budget I decided to go back to JL and eneded up with the following set up.
Head unit:
Clarion CZ702
Front Stage:
JL ZR650
Sub:
JL12w3HO Wedge
Amps:
JL XD 600/6 (front stage)
JL XD 600/1
I am running an active two way plus sub set up off the clarion head unit. This set up is very impressive and is on par with any of the higher end arrangements I have had in the past. There doesn't seem to many reviews on the zr's on this forum but they are great sounding components. I have them running off the bridged channels 1-4 of the 600/6 getting 200 watts per side crossed @ 50hz and a 12 db slope. They handle this power with no problem and playing lowers than any set i have to date including the highly regareded Hertz ml1600 mids. The tweeters are running off channel 5 and 6 of the 600/6 getting 75 watts per side crossed @ 2.5khz and a 12db slope. They were a little bright initially but I was able to use the clarions internal 5 band eq to tone them down and sound clear and detailed. I will admit that the Mille tweeter was better but not by a huge margin and I think only because they could handle a 1.8khz crossover point creating better imaging.
The w3 and xd 600/1 is also an impressive combination. JL build a very nice box with this sub and although ported provides great sound quality. This leads me to the xd amplifier. These are what an amplifier should be and do. They are incredibly small and have a lot of power for there size. Sound quality is equally impressive. They sound very clean and detailed providing great dynamics on the most demanding music. After using these and my experience with other high end product such as Tru and Mosconi I am starting to buy into the believe that there isn't much difference in amplifiers. I honestly am not sure if I replaced these with a Tru Billet I would hear much difference.
So you may be asking yourself, "what is the point of all this"? Well it's that I don't think JL gets enough credit or recognition for how good their products really are. Yea they are expensive but I have never paid retail for anything I have ever bought and also applies to this build. I think JL is a great brand and a great company. For some reason people are so negative and don't like to see people succeed and excel and that's exactly what JL has done. They offer a top rate product and get a premium price for it. What's wrong with a business model like that. Now if they ever go down the road of sacrificing their heritage by going to the big box store route or start skimping on the quality front then you obviously wouldn't see me writing something like this.
I'm not going to change people's perspectives or opinions by writing this other than to say I've spend upward's of $5-7,000 on previous builds and this $2,000 build is on par with those so is JL really as bad as most make them out to be? I"ll let you be the judge.
I recently bought a used BMW 330xi (great car btw) and looking to upgrade the stock system. In the past I have had extensive experience with very high end brands and most of my systems were on the upper end of the quality spectrum. Here is a summary list of the product I have used.
Amplifiers:
Tru Technology Billet Amps
Mosconi AS
Audison VRX
Audison Lrx
Phoenix Gold Ti
JL HD Amps
JL Slash
Speakers:
Hertz Mille
Hertz High Energy
JL VR Series
Subs:
Hertz High Energy
JL W7's
JL W6's
JL W3's
Processors:
Audison Bit One
JL Clean Sweep
As you can see I do have experience with JL products and honestly have always had nothing but a positive experience with. So with this new install and a limited budget I decided to go back to JL and eneded up with the following set up.
Head unit:
Clarion CZ702
Front Stage:
JL ZR650
Sub:
JL12w3HO Wedge
Amps:
JL XD 600/6 (front stage)
JL XD 600/1
I am running an active two way plus sub set up off the clarion head unit. This set up is very impressive and is on par with any of the higher end arrangements I have had in the past. There doesn't seem to many reviews on the zr's on this forum but they are great sounding components. I have them running off the bridged channels 1-4 of the 600/6 getting 200 watts per side crossed @ 50hz and a 12 db slope. They handle this power with no problem and playing lowers than any set i have to date including the highly regareded Hertz ml1600 mids. The tweeters are running off channel 5 and 6 of the 600/6 getting 75 watts per side crossed @ 2.5khz and a 12db slope. They were a little bright initially but I was able to use the clarions internal 5 band eq to tone them down and sound clear and detailed. I will admit that the Mille tweeter was better but not by a huge margin and I think only because they could handle a 1.8khz crossover point creating better imaging.
The w3 and xd 600/1 is also an impressive combination. JL build a very nice box with this sub and although ported provides great sound quality. This leads me to the xd amplifier. These are what an amplifier should be and do. They are incredibly small and have a lot of power for there size. Sound quality is equally impressive. They sound very clean and detailed providing great dynamics on the most demanding music. After using these and my experience with other high end product such as Tru and Mosconi I am starting to buy into the believe that there isn't much difference in amplifiers. I honestly am not sure if I replaced these with a Tru Billet I would hear much difference.
So you may be asking yourself, "what is the point of all this"? Well it's that I don't think JL gets enough credit or recognition for how good their products really are. Yea they are expensive but I have never paid retail for anything I have ever bought and also applies to this build. I think JL is a great brand and a great company. For some reason people are so negative and don't like to see people succeed and excel and that's exactly what JL has done. They offer a top rate product and get a premium price for it. What's wrong with a business model like that. Now if they ever go down the road of sacrificing their heritage by going to the big box store route or start skimping on the quality front then you obviously wouldn't see me writing something like this.
I'm not going to change people's perspectives or opinions by writing this other than to say I've spend upward's of $5-7,000 on previous builds and this $2,000 build is on par with those so is JL really as bad as most make them out to be? I"ll let you be the judge.