JL Audio Speakers and Sub

Didn't find a lot of reviews for these speakers on this board so I thought I'd provide some feedback.

JL Audio C1 690 - 6x9 components
JL Audio C1 650x - 6.5 coaxial
JL Audio ACP108LG-W3v3 - 8 inch powered sub w/ JL enclosure

Stock 2019 Head Unit w/ Navi.

The speakers are clean. The vocals are clear. The music is full sounding. The highs are not too high where it's ear piercing. I can easily listen to talk radio and broadcasts without having to turn the volume way up like with the stock system. The speakers seem to pair well with the stock head unit. I was going to go with the c2 at first but decided i didn't want to add a separate amp at the moment. Trying to save some money where ever I can. I'm not using these for bass so I can't comment on that b/c i have a subwoofer. The volume can be turned way up without distortion. Much louder than I can stand to listen to while in the truck. I did not sound deaden the doors but plan to do so in the future. The tweeters were installed in the factory tweeter brackets by drilling out the old tweeters.

Are there better speakers out there? Yes there are. These are not full competition speakers so don't expect them to be. There are lot of better options out there but only if you want to spend more money and add a separate amp. Depending on your music preference and how high you like your highs this may not be for you. But if you want a big improvement over stock with added clarity it's a good choice when paired with a sub.

Subwoofer
This is a complete package from JL Audio. Comes in the JL factory box and has an internal amp from the factory. The speaker fits in the bin behind the rear passenger seat without any modifications. For an 8 inch sub this thing surprisingly hits. I've owned alpine type r's, s, e, MTX, bazooka, audio bahn, kicker, polk and JBL's in the past. All in various sizes and pushing up to a 1000 watts. I can only compare these to what i've owned in the past. Paired with the speakers you get a nice full sounding audio system. The bass is clean, responsive and direct. Does not drown out the speakers. Sounds great within the truck and a huge improvement over any stock system. It's NOT earth thumping bass that vibrates the crap out of your neighbor's houses. Does it sound good in the truck? Yes it does. Does it vibrate your butt and make your hair tingle. Yes it can. Can you hear it outside the truck? Yes you can. You can definitely tell your system isn't stock. Is it over bearing and rattling the crap out of the truck? No. It's just right to complete a decent system without breaking the bank.

Overall i'm very happy with this system. Sounds great within the truck. Has decent bass. Speakers are clear without distortion.

All products purchased and installed by Car Audio Xperts in La Puente, CA. Sam was very helpful and did a great job on the install.

Note: I've listened to lots of systems/samples on youtube. What you hear from the computer and headphones do not give any system any justice. Way different when heard in person. When ever you have the chance try to listen to someone else's set up in person. It's the only way to actually tell if something pairs well and meets your needs.

 

No pics? Cmon mannnnn

 

pics added.

 

I was looking at getting the dual 8 inch microsub box. I have a 1000 watt Fosgate Amp which is overkill but I can keep the gain wayyyyy down

 

The dual 8 inch micro sub box with the JL 8's would really hit if you turned up the bass playing off an ipod or something. The regular radio doesn't hit as hard as when I'm playing off the iphone. I keep my bass at half way.

 

thanks for the write up man! I am thinking about installing the same speakers in my taco powered by a 5 channel amp and 2 10" JL Audio subs. Did you consider any other door speaker options/brands before settling on these?

 

also anybody out there have the C2's and can compare? wondering how these C1's line up compared to some Infinity Reference (mid tier) or Focal Integration (also mid tier).

 

Looks like a nice setup man, I did C2's all the way around off of a Sony XM-GS6DSP GS Series. Glad to hear this works well with the factory head unit. Unfortunately when I bought my truck it had an aftermarket head unit already installed

 

I had Infinity references and changed to kicker k series and was completely disappointed. They just have a very specific sound. Thats when I switched to the C2's and couldn't be happier. Just a very balanced set up with alot of potential in any direction.

 

I also looked at the following speakers before deciding to get the JL C1:

Kicker CS
Kicker KS
Alpine S
Alpine R
Infinity Reference
Focal
JL C2

The kickers just don't sound as clear as Alpine, Infinity, Focal or JL Audio. The kickers can get pretty loud off the stock system and when amplified, but loud doesn't always equal clarity. The Alpine, Infinity and Focal where all very clear. The highs are just a little too high/ear piercing for me. Great for listening to talk radio since it's very clear. Others may like this but I listen to more hip hop, R&B and some country. On lower volumes this isn't much of a problem but when the radio is cranked up I've noticed it hurts my ears from listening to my past systems and my friends systems. Except for the Focal I have owned speakers from all of these brands in the past, including polk and harmon kardon. I few of my friends have had focals and all seemed to like them.

These are the reasons I ended up choosing JL C1:
Sound is clean and clear. Not that different from the C2 on stock head unit. Big difference if going to amplified C5 and C7. If i was going to amplify the speakers i probably would have gone with the C2 since the C2 can handle more power.
Does not hurt my ears at high volumes.
Full sounding. You get highs, mids and bass.
Even at low volume I can clearly listen to talk radio while driving. Very useful when the family is asleep on long car rides.
Works very well off the stock head unit and can get very loud. I was already planning to add the JL subwoofer so I didn't think i needed another amp or 5 channel amp to power everything. Wanted to keep it simple.
$$$$. Yes kicker doesn't cost much to upgrade and is an improvement over stock. But I felt that if i'm going to spend a little money on upgrading the speakers I wanted something better than the kickers. I also didn't want to spend $1,000 on just the interior door speakers. I'm too old for this shiet.

Your audio system is a game of balance. There are a lot of options out there and anything is just about an improvement over stock. But you also want to match speakers to the music you listen to, the volume it's played at, if you have subs and whether or not you plan to amplify them. And if you end up buying expensive speakers ($1,000 range) then you should get a really good amp to power them. Otherwise you are not maximizing the speakers potential.

 

My super unpopular opinion was that I preferred my stock speakers to the kicker K series. I listen to a really wide variety of music and they just produce a very specific sound no matter how much you adjust the balance.

 

That's exactly why people need to get speakers that worth for them and not just buy the most expensive or least expensive option out there. It may not sound like an upgrade if not matched/balanced to each person listening to it. If it was one speaker fits all we wouldn't have so many choices to choose from. The best is trying to listen to other people cars to give you an idea of how different speakers sound.

I had to keep my volume to 15-40 with stock speakers to hear the radio host talking in the mornings depending on the station. Now i can clearly hear them even with the volume setting between 5-10.

 

There was 2 reasons I went with Kicker DS model Line:

1st reason is I am not powering them other than head unit only and they have a high sensitivity rating given greater volume for watts inputted and a moderate rms rating so powering them off headunit would be ideal. Also, the 6x9 was a three way providing clarity.

2nd reason is crtuchfield ran a sale and I got both front and rear speakers for about $110 delivered and crutchfield included the easy connector plug and play harness and mounts. So it was cheap.

There are many great options and I had pioneer and infinity in past set ups and was also happy. I was more concerned about the volume of output in general and clarity figuring the subs will handle the bass. I am happy so far with purchase.

 

This is such an insightful comment. Thank you. Really helps make the right decision.

 

Just replaced stock JBL "premium" setup and installed the JL Audio JL Audio C1 690 6x9 components and JL Audio C1 650x 6.5 coaxials along with 2 10" JL Audio subs. The subs make a world of a difference.

Honestly kind of disappointed with the door speakers though. The tweeter highs sound sort of "tin-canny" and distant-sounding. Perhaps it's not the speaker quality itself and just my taste towards warmer tones. IDK but for a $280 upgrade it just doesn't sound quite as "full" as I was expecting. Thinking about swapping for some Infinity Reference series or Kappa series (I hear they're warmer)----can anybody comment on these?

 

That's a lot of bass/subs for a small cab. I assume you have your volume level is 30 or more when listening to music? If so you're truck is thumping and the subs inside the cab will drown out the speakers. The Infiniti might sound a little clearer to you but don't know by how much. With two 10" JL Subs you're going to probably want to amplify the door speakers to balance out with the subs. You're too bass heavy in small cab and whatever speakers you go with you'll need to amplify them so they're not getting drowned out by the subs.

 

Good point, sorry forgot to mention, the door speakers and subs are amplified by a 5 channel amp power matched to the speakers. Generally run volume 15-25.

I do turn the bass knob down about halfway because it thumps pretty damn hard for daily driving. Highs are just a bit to crisp for my liking though. Will try tuning the EQ on the headunit.

 

Adjusting the EQ helped a ton. Still a little bright but definitely more bearable.

 

ic. too me the infinti sound even more crisp. Have you had a few hours of play to let the speakers break in? Some speakers tend to sound a little better over time. definitely play with the EQ. This will help mellow out the tone a bit. A better head unit would provide you a better range of adjustment as we are pretty limited with the stock unit. Let us know how it works out after you adjust the EQ.

 

Good deal. Still need to break em in. Played with the EQ on the Pioneer headunit...the preset options were all garbage but a little custom tweaking for each frequency range seems to have been the trick...