I am looking to hook up a sub in my 2003TL. I am looking at 10W6V2, IDMAX10 and an Eclipse Titanium. I noticed that the 10W6V2 has the smallest enclosure, but also the worst sensitivity. Anyone have expereince or opinions about the 3? I am not looking for the JL advocate, just unbiased info.

 

you can not compair the 10w6v2 to the idmax 10... they are in two totally different classes.. jls equivilent to the idmax is the w7... and to be honest you can not go wrong with either one... they are both going to perform well beyond your expectations.. with subs you are not to worried about sensitivity... and enclosure size is just a recommendation.. you make the box to fit the allowed space you have unless you are going with a ported enclosure then you have to tune the port...but a sealed enclosures are alot more forgiving..

 

The IDMAX is the best sub I have ever owned. There is no way you would be dissappointed with one. I have heard great things about the W6V2 and Eclipse but, I have not personally heard either. Like Shawhite said however, the W6V2 is not in the same class as the IDMAX. That is the W7's job. If you get a chance to hear the Eclipse, let us know what you think.

 

Guys, thanks for the info. I guess I should have clarified myself on what I am looking for and why I am comparing the IDMAX to the JL W6V2.

I was purely talking about performace from a sound stage and quality standpoint. I don't need my windows to crack, and I don't care too much about SPL, they will all do. I am looking for clear and precise. The reason I am looking at he JL is because I heard the W6 and thought it sucked compared to the W6V2 in quality. I also have heard some really loud, but crap speakers, like Audiobahn (I am not trying to rip on anyone's Audiobahns).

I want accurate and pounding, but not earth shattering. With that, is the IDMAX still super superior to the W6V2? W7 is toooooooo expensive.

And has anyone heard the Eclipse Titanium? Specs are good, but woofer surface area is small in comparison.

I am using a Fosgate 501BD with a 1 Farad Cap and 2 guage wireing kit.

 

well i personally love my 12w6v2 but the idmax is going to give you more spl and sq will be just as good... the eclipse titaniums are good speakers as well but i think the idmax out performs all the speakers you listed hands down...

 

Shawite, you are the bomb, thanks for the responses. How do you like the JL? What kept you from the IDMAX? It is cheaper than the JL.

Was the sub easy to hook up? I heard two different things:
1. The car has the pre-outs to the subwoofer amp behind the seat
2. The car does not have pre-outs, and you have to convert from the head unit

Which is true?

 

And holy cow on the Cap!! Would love to see your molded dash mod!!!

 

well i went with jl becuase i got the jl equipment for a very good price... and the guy i dealt with was unable to get the idmax at the time... but all and all the 1 12w6v2 i have sounds really good... i am in the process of switching over to a ported enclosure and i hope that is going to make it sound even better... ok to answer your question... the stock acura system does not have any rca outs but everything is ran low level then amplified so it is up to you how you want to splice in and run your system... if you get the signal before it reenters the headunit or before it enters the stock sub amp then all you have to do is attach some rca connectors and your good to go... but if you decide to use the signal after it has already been amplified then you are going to need a loc (line out converter)... here is a picture of my dash with the tv molded in... the screen was off a little so i am currently in the process of redoing the dash...

 

well that did not work... go to this link..

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...5533&members=1

 

I work at a stereo shop where we sell ID, Eclipse, Audiobahn, Rockford, and JL and in my opinion and that of everyone I work with, there is no better woofer than a JL.

 

I would assume you mean the W7? If you are saying JL's best against everyone else's best, then that would be fair. But, not just any JL woofer? Please clarify. I have heard the W6V2 and to me, they do not compete with the IDMAX.

 

i would have to agree... i have the w6v2 and there is no way it is competing with the idmax... eclipse titanium well maybe...

 

I love these forums...they have so much info, and I love the competing nature of everyone!!!

Shawhite, kick ass dash. Looks super professional, how did you do it? What does your trunk look like? And where did you get the Acura book from???? I have been looking for that thing forever!!

Looks like I may be going with the IDMAX for now. Anyone have any info on the best way to aim the subwoofer. You prefer up, back, to the left side or right side of the car?

I am thinking of removing the Jack kit and placing the enclosure on the side of the trunk so I don't lose depth. Does the sub screw up the Navi DVD at all? I can't imagine it likes all that vibration.

 

ok for the dash piece it is custom molded out of fiberglass by me... took about 4 days to make but well worth the effort... my trunk is on version 3 so it is not done yet either.. when i get everything finished i will post pictures of the whole car... for the acura book it is the acura factory service manual made by helms you can find one @ www.helminc.com but they are pricey... good choice with the idmax.. but i dont think you will be able to mount it on the side because that speaker is pretty big... but if there is a will there is a way... as for what direction to aim the speaker... i personally have had mine facing the rear of the car and now it is facing thru the ski pass thru but the box is ported now also... it is all personal preference.. so just try out different locations until you find the one that fits your taste...

 

cant go wrong with JL Audio or most other major brands. Just choose on price, look and what sound you are looking for.

 

W7 has some competition.......http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/produ...ategoryKey=172

 

rf is not messing with jl on the sub tip... they can give that up...

 

RF looks interesting, but I totally disagree with the point that OU sig made. I don't think any major brand will due. If there is one thing that I learned, it is the major brands (like JL) that are usually overpriced. They spend all their money on marketing instead of engineering.

For example, Bose. They suck ass for the price. The speakers are respected by people that don't know shit about homestheater speakers, because the 'specialists' give good demos.

This is why I started looking outside JL, and low and behold, I found the IDMAX at the same price as the W6V2, and apararently it kicks its ass.

But alas, I am more interested in sound quality and box volume than loudness. ANYTHING is better than that shitty Blose sub. The one quality that I see JL having is a small enclosure volume, otherwise, I would really have to hear them all side by side to hear the quality differences.

 

sq is not a big factor when compairing subs.... jl does put alot of money in marketing but they also have good quality products.. there craftmanship is second to none.. well at least in subs... box volume is also not a big deal since you can put any sub in almost any size box and it will work.. the box volume that are listed on the specs of these subs are for optimum performance.. but i have built plenty of boxes that were not of spec that sounded way better than friends that has the same speaker with the same amp in a box built to spec.. simply put.. build the box for the space you have available.. and dont worry about it...

 

You obviously have no idea what I was talking about and you read into my comment way too far. We all know Bose is overpriced for what you get, but they are obviously doing something right. I only said that because if you just want some good bass sound, most subs will be fine. If you get in the the W7 or IDMAX area, then you will get something totally different.
MOF, dont talk shit for no reason.

 

Not talking shit buddy, only wanted to point out that not "Any major brand" will work. As an EE I can tell you that some of the brands that I have tried and heard of are built like crap, and they market the hell out of it (not JL).

To your point though, if you grab a well repected brand, such as JL or RF, then yes, you will get something good. But I don't want good, I want awesome. In my opinion, RF maxes awesome amps, and good speakers.

Same with Audiobahn. Very popular, very cheap, very loud, sounds like shit when compared to the JL.

Also, to the point that sound quality is not an issue. When comparing the JLW6V2 to the IDMAX that may be the case, I don't know. But there is a HUGE sound difference between the JLW6V2 and the W3V2. The W6 is MUCH more accurate. I listened to a Jazz CD at a stereo shop, and the W6V2 had MUCH more punch and response to changing music than the W3V2.

But hey, that is the point of this forum, to generate discussion.

I am not ragging on the W3V2 either. In fact I am not raggin on anyone or thing in particular, just trying to flush out some good opinions. Thanks for reponding.

 

of course the w6 is going to sound better than the w3 hint the reason it is like double the price.. but do yo really think that you will hear that much difference in sq with the sub being in the trunk... i seriously doubt it... my buddy has a 12w3 and i have a 12w6 both v2's.. but sitting in the car you can not really tell a difference in sq... something that is going to make a night and day difference is your front stage components... now that is where sq comes in...

 

Finally someone on the same page as me.

You are so right, with a trunk I am in a big disadvantage with sq and spl, and anyone in a car is also in a disadvantage. Now you get in a sound proof studio then you can really tell - Ive done this also. For now, my front components make the biggest sound difference by far. I cant explain the great sound they make. I really love music and I am very impressed with my setup. Now of course you can get "better" or more expensive, but I challenge anyone near to hear my system and make a complaint. Anything louder - bass wise, and I would need to do something else with my trunk or something. I have dynamat all over and it shakes the hell out of it, also Im not going for max SPL so I just want something that I can crank loud when I want to and something that sounds good at any volumes.

I do love discussion and I apologize for jumping down your throat MOF.

 

OU and Shawhite are exactly right,with subs being in the trunk almost all subs sound the same (decent subs) because they all do the same thing, move air, you could get some that hit harder but your trunk will rattle. I have some 2001 HX2 by fosgate with two sets of fanatic Q components, 400 a2 and 800 a2 amps and my sound quality is mellow as hell, meaning u can hear highs, mids, and lows. Everything is well toned. Maybe not the hardest hitting sub but sound quality is well above average.

 

W7! W7! W7! :toothless

 

Guys, thanks for all the info. I am going to go with the IDMAX 10". Any thoughts on enclosures? I think I am going ported, but I am going to do custom. I want to make the enclosure look seamless in the trunk. I am also going to make it somewhat small, maybe 1.5' cube. I don't want the trunk gone. Is there a rule for minimum depth? I was thinking of about 10" deep because the sub is 8.5" or so deep. Then I can adjust the width accordingling to make it fit perfectly.

 

As long as the magnet is not touching the back of the enclosure, you can go as shallow as possible. Also, you can go as low as 1.00 cubic foot on that sub. I too am debatting a 10" IDMAX over a 12. Mainly because I found a great deal on one.

 

Concept subs and amps are absolutly amazing..... www.conceptconcept.com

there is a CSP-15 - a Quad Coil (yes that's four) with an RMS of 1000 and a MAX of 2000 Watts PER COIL!!! so a total of 8000 (under-rated) watts out of one sub. with a Magnet that weighs over 28LBS!!!!

there is (close to) no comparasion for quality to size. I have a ONE 12inch Mid class concept sub - and I hit 140dbl in my S-10 extended cab. I beat many many people with multiple subs - I have even beat a guy with the same truck and a wall of PPI 12 inches (EIGHT TOTAL) in the extended cab part of the truck. He hit 139.6 - I hit 140.1 ! with one 12inch!! you should have seen the guys face!! I had increased my score by 5dbl from the week prior!! custom box - is the answer to any set-up.

Why would you want to get 2-4 ok quality subs when you can spend the same money on one sub and get eight times the power and quality of sound (just ask the JLW7 owners - lots of money - but tons of quality and power, a hell of a lot better than 5 w3's with your trunk completly full with a speaker box, completly useless IMO!).

 

agreed on the get one vs. multiple theroy, but bets are off in a trunk, and to get max SQ and SPL out of a ''super" sub like that takes alot. Unless you want to get a rewound alternator - I wouldnt have more than 1500 watts max in our cars. therefore - nearly all of your power needs are with your sub, while I have 2 12's with 350 watts to each and I hit nearly 142DB - plenty damn loud.

 

One more question till I am off to the garage. What do you guys use for the amp turn on lead? Is there an amp turn on lead to the shitty sub amp in the back of the car?

Also, did you guys use a new battery terminal clamp? I decided to go with a new one since I am running 4 Ga all the way to the splitting terminal. The one on the car now looks full, and I hate doing things half assed.

I will post pics up when I get it up and running (will take a while).

 

Alpine SWR-1241z, buy far the cleanest and hardest hitting subs, i emphesis on CLEAN, run them at 2 ohm ( if you ahve two) with an alpine V12 501 , at 275 RMS per sub, and put some dynamat in the trunk , these things will blow you away, i know it might not sound CRAPPY LOUD, which some peeps love, but it will sound the cleanst LOUD you can find , later

 

Yeah there is a turn on lead for the stock sub amp. However the switched wires all were showing around 9V with the car on when I measured em. Might not be enough to turn on most amps. Didn't work for my rockford or PPI. If your getting behind the radio there's a WHITE w/ RED striped wire that you can use for a switched 12V source.

 

hey guys..... can anyone tell me what the color wires are for the mids and highs of the stock amp..... i want to add my pro series mids and high but i need to know the color wire for the stock mids and highs that are coming out of the stock amp...... can anyone help???????????

 

Well, Everything got hooked up. The IDMAX showed up today. I am running into problems with the RCAs. When I hook the sub RCA inputs to the pre outs from the equalizer (ones in the back of the car near the amp rapped in the brown casing), I get some strange results. There is no volume, but when I adjust the amp, the sub bottoms out.

I don't want to kill the IDMAX, cost a fortune.

I checked everything. I am considering using LOCs. Any experience with this problem? I thought it might be the amp, but I used another source, and everything is OK.

 

Shawhite or whoever,
A little off topic but I have 2 W6 v1's (Great deal on them). What's the smallest amp I can use to push then really good. Had an mtx thunder but it fried on me.
Thanx

 

you are going to want 250-300watts to each speaker... or you can get the jl 500/1 it will push those as well.. not sure what your budget is so i cant be to specific..

 

Thanks Shawhite...........
I was looking at the JL amp but my total amp budget is around $300. Any recomendations??

 

Here is the link. I uploaded some pics to the Yahoo site. The Box for now just sits under the DVD player. In the future (maybe a couple weeks) I am going to mask the box with another board so that it looks seamless in the trunk. It will look more professional. For now, any questions, let me konw.

The one thing I did that I thought was cool, was too the RF punch bass control knob and installed it into the open dummy plate next to the interior light control. It looks somewhat stock, and works awesome. It is in the RF amp knob photo.

Thanks to all that helped! :smokin:

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/bc/mferreir

 

Here is a pick of the finished setup:

 

Has anyone tried the new PPI DCX subs?