Help me build my stereo system

Brian, that is a really good piece of info I was not aware of with JL audio, thanks. Who should we turn to online for JL products?
I hearby renounce my signature.
I will however incorporate a donkey into my avatar. Hope you won't take offense.

 

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/jlaudio_pages.php?page_id=111

Follow that link if you're curious who's authorized. Theres more than crutchfield.

Jimirich, thanks..... I wasn't really bothered by it anymore, we just got off on the wrong foot. We all have valuable information to share and I hope I can learn some from you.

From my point of view... I wouldn't be bothered buying a JL "slash" series amplifier on ebay. (they're the silver ones like the 500/1) I know from experience is it hard as hell to blow one of those things, they have wayyy too damn much smart circuitry on them. I would actually be willing to buy one that someone claims is 'broken' for a good deal, because 9 times out of 10, someone had a bad ground, or faulty wiring which forced the amp into a 'protection' mode and reduces output, thus the user thinking they blew it. Funny thing about it is the 'Protect' light doesn't illuminate in this condition.
I don't necessarily recommend eBay, but I'm just saying, JL amps are smart, and I wouldn't be bothered by buying one from a third party, expecting it to never break. Subwoofers on the other hand, I would NOT. Pay the full price for a JL subwoofer from an authorized retailer, get the warranty. JL subs sound great, but are a little picky in their power source. I've seen people power them with shitty little amplifiers that come nowhere near their power rating and blow them. Why? Becuase cheap amplifiers have horrible distortion, and cannot accurate reproduce a clean signal.
Also, JL underrates everything they sell. Their W3's are typically rated for 250-300 watts. Guess what, you can go up to ~500 and still be covered under warranty. Their amplifiers... underrated as well. The JL 500/1 bench tests at 14 volts to over 733 watts.... RMS. Those cheap sony amplifiers that everyone is buying from Wal-mart these days.... the high power 1000watt kind..... they're rated at 1000watts peak. In reality, they're probably closer to about 300 watts, and distort like hell. I hate sony car audio. I've had dozens of people claim their system is badass, and they're running 1000watts, when in reality, my little 500/1 outperforms their equipment 2 fold.

Well, as you can tell I'm a big advocate for JL, but I need to stop ranting so I can get to work. Hopefully I've given you a little input, if not skewed you to the JL side Good luck, any other questions I'll be happy to provide input.

 

Alot of people overlook the JL HD series amps as well. Those things are beasts, alot of comp guys are switching to them, and Manville Smith (JL VP) personally runs them.
Just my 2cents

 

I would love to have a set of the JL Audio HD amps (or even the 5 channel one about to come out), but they are out of my price range.

 

Yes those amps are beasts (I may use them in my new competition system) and Manville must have received one heck of a promotion since last I heard he was VP of Marketing at JL.

 

Coz, How did you get around the JBL harness?
Did you splice the power wire and run a new amp turn on wire?
I'm really wanting to do this H.U. install myself.
I know I can do the amps and speakers but the F#C#in JBL harness is compatible with nothing!
RSVP.
What did you do with all that crap (wire) running down the passenger side. I wanna rip that sh*t out to make room for my my new wiring.

 

you can pm so we don't hijack this thread.

But I did have to address the Harness. I had bought the really expensive harness kit that is for tacos with JBL. Basically I just disected that thing. I cut 75% of it off and threw away.

As far as wires down my side I didn't change them at all. There was adequate space for my new blue wire, new 14 gauge speaker wire for 2 runs of speaker wire since the crossovers are in the back.