Opinions on JL amps and experiences

My access cab originally came with the flux-capacitor sub.

best thing I ever did for this truck was gut all the factory audio.
The 8” box is simple custom cube
Out of mdf with gray carpet stapled over it.

the back seat is for my dogs so there’s a platform of sorts. I’m going to redo it and maybe the sub box at some point. Might pull the rear seats completely and add a second 8 or maybe one 10”.

 

Ahh ok. Hadn’t seen the AC subs before. Pretty cool

 

JL makes awesome amps. I'm using an XD 600/6 with four channels bridged for midwoofers. It sounds great & makes plenty of power. Also have an XD 400/4. They both easily fit under the seats of my 1st gen.

 

Great. Thanks for the info

 

I installed Hertz 6.5s components in the front also. Had those on hu power for awhile they are rated at 100rms 200 peak so I wasn’t expecting a lot at first. After a bit I installed my amplifier, kenwood 50x4 300x1. I’m not sure how it would sound in the DC but upgrading the rears in my AC made a pretty noticeable difference in overall sound. Rears are Hertz pro series coaxial. Sub is a JL8w3V3 it’s pretty impressive for what it is but leaves me wanting more so I’ll be continuing the build until I get what I want out of it. With 75-100 watts in the doors I might consider going a little bigger then an 8 for a double cab.

 

Thanks @$yoda$ great info. If didn’t want to keep my storage bins, id prob consider a 10 but I think any improvement in bass over not having a sub will suffice for me now. Did the deck power running to those hertz at first sound any better than stock until you added the amp? How do those Hertz sound in the front with amp power?

 

Here are a few when I had the access cab Rana rockford P3D4 10" sub back then,, sounded pretty good

 

Same here @dand what part of SE VA are you from?

 

Newport News

 

Good Area. Lived there for a while in Hampton. Good ol Mercury Blvd and Jefferson

 

Lol

 

The first thing I installed was the hu it made the factory speakers sound a bit better but a lot of that was more tuning control and of course a little bit more wattage. The second part was the front components at this point I also did some vibration damping and utilized the factory wiring to power the speakers. The highs were cleaner but I lost bass and it felt like I lost some overall power. The hu simply didn’t have the power to make the speakers work correctly but expected that. I got the amp next and got that all wired up. I was a little bit surprised by the results I got, the mids were nice and loud but still produced very little bass. You have to add a sub at this point at least in my opinion. No way I would have been happy stopping there. At first I wanted to save space in the cab and was pretty happy with the way the JL sounded in the shop so I went with that. It’s one of the best performing 8’s I’ve ever had but it’s still an 8 in a shallow box there is only so much it can do. Just finished the back doors recently. A lot of people say they don’t matter but I could absolutely hear the improvement so maybe it’s personal preference not sure.

 

@$yoda$ i appreciate that DESCRIPTION and feedback. Pretty much the same path I will be going. I have my deadening material to add once it warms up a little. I’m debating on the rear speakers at the moment but I could always add them later if I feel like I’m missing something after the sub.
Thanks again for taking time to write this.

Has anyone here tried those Sound Digital amps? Super small but they seem to get great reviews and 5 Star Audio seems to be impressed by them as well

 

I guess you also could go 3 channel now, then add a 2 channel for the coax after if you decide to. Just a thought.

 

Great thought. I guess it depends on which route I go for amps. Thought about the 4ch Audio Control 4.300. I initially thought about running that 2ch to the front giving me the option of using it as a 4channel if I do upgrade the rears and then have a mono amp for the subs. After considering JL, I’m having to research my amp options as they don’t make them quite as small as the AC amps

 

This. In the mid to lower high end category of amplifiers, JL is tits. Same for Audio Control.

JL makes pretty okay speakers but there are better options in the same price ranges.

 

Just for size factor, i may go with the Audio control 4.300 bridged to the fronts. It will be small with more power than a 3 channel JL to run everything. I can do the AC 1.300 to the sub and still have a small amp. At least thats what im thinking at the moment

 

I just replaced an AudioControl LC6.1200 and miniDSP 6x8 with a JL VX1000/5. I am not disappointed in the sound/clarity, and the TuN is really easy to use - and there are a ton of support videos for it....

 

@CoastieRon That looks really good. If i didnt want to keep my storage space. id go something similar to that set up