Jl audio subs

Anyone have any experience with JL infinite baffle subs? Just was wondering your thoughts vs. Jl normal sub that requires an enclosure.

I had those JL Marine Subs in my Magic with no box and hated them...I still have 2 basically brand new ones in my garage. I had a box built for the area and went back to the JL 12w6 and it is night and day...The level of bass I can have, is ridiculous.

I put one of the IB10's in my outdoor bar and it still sounds like crap.

Thanks for the insight, for clarification dont they make a marine grade that requires a box just like the W6. Reasoning I like the look of the sport grille

boataholic said:

Thanks for the insight, for clarification dont they make a marine grade that requires a box just like the W6. Reasoning I like the look of the sport grille

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Yes there is a 10" designed for a box.

As SD Broker said, if you are looking for more than just filling out the bottom end of regular speakers, you want a box. For example, my parents have IB 10's in their boat, and love it, but it would not satisfy me. it sounds good, but doesn't have any 'punch'.

I wish i would have known that before I purchased the 3 sets of JL coaxials last summer. My plan was to add subs this year, and I just assumed from JL history they provided a quality sub.

boataholic said:

I wish i would have known that before I purchased the 3 sets of JL coaxials last summer. My plan was to add subs this year, and I just assumed from JL history they provided a quality sub.

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Its a great sub for what it is, no IB sub is going to provide you the same output as a sub in a box. If you'll be happy with an IB sub, the JL will work well for you, but it just won't have the output of a sub in a properly designed enclosure.

So my question is does JL make a marine sub that is not IB?

Does the JL marine sub that is designed for a box sound good?

boataholic said:

Does the JL marine sub that is designed for a box sound good?

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I have not heard one :/

I have two jlw3 13.5 inch subs. They sound really nice but I need to keep them down a little because everything rattles like the cleats, anchor in ski locker, things in cup holders ect. I hate the rattling sound. I bought my boat with that setup. I wish I could build a box to seal them more however. They are mounted in the bulkhead

Bpracing1127 said:

I have two jlw3 13.5 inch subs. They sound really nice but I need to keep them down a little because everything rattles like the cleats, anchor in ski locker, things in cup holders ect. I hate the rattling sound. I bought my boat with that setup. I wish I could build a box to seal them more however. They are mounted in the bulkhead

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Those are big subs for that bulkhead! I think you could get 10s in there pretty easily with sealed boxes, but 13s would be a challenge. I looked at putting 10s in my bulkhead but, I ended up doing a sealed box inside the passenger front seat bottom.

I had both kind of JL 10's in my Mastercraft. The infinite baffle JL was under a seat with no box and I had the other one in a box on the other side of the boat. I was really surprised how good the infinite baffle JL sounded on its own. Granted it was in a compartment under a back seat with some help of the interior to boost low end. Might be a different story if it were in a bulkhead. But I was very satisfied by the performance, and back to back with a standard JL 10 it was equally as good.

boataholic said:

Thanks for the insight, for clarification dont they make a marine grade that requires a box just like the W6. Reasoning I like the look of the sport grille

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I don't believe so...They have the IB, which I had (and disliked), and I switched to a non-marine W6...Like Paradise mentioned, an IB sub will only add a minimal amount of bass. If you listen to country, rap, top 40, etc., you wont be happy with the IB series.

Dan Lorenze said:

I had both kind of JL 10's in my Mastercraft. The infinite baffle JL was under a seat with no box and I had the other one in a box on the other side of the boat. I was really surprised how good the infinite baffle JL sounded on its own. Granted it was in a compartment under a back seat with some help of the interior to boost low end. Might be a different story if it were in a bulkhead. But I was very satisfied by the performance, and back to back with a standard JL 10 it was equally as good.

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Are you sure it wasn't a sealed space? I've yet to see a scenario where they sound comparable. I went from people asking if my amp was broken to my wife telling me its too loud as she can hear the bass when Im at the beach (150yds away). Only change was the IB to the W6 in a box.

sd broker said:

I don't believe so...They have the IB, which I had (and disliked), and I switched to a non-marine W6...Like Paradise mentioned, an IB sub will only add a minimal amount of bass. If you listen to country, rap, top 40, etc., you wont be happy with the IB series.

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So you are saying when I bump Beethovens's 5th on the beach it will sound good with IB subs?

FWIW my single Alpine Type R 10 inch sub pounds pretty hard in a box. I typically have to turn down the sub a bit. I am happy I went that route as opposed to an IB sub, and probably would have done 2 IB subs.

My 13s were already there when I bought the boat. So not much I can do now besides build a new bulkhead panel. They are good if you keep them down a little. If I turn them up they can drown out the speakers and rattle the boat into sinking. I can feel them in my truck while the boat is on my trailer. If I had my choice 2 10s or two twelves in a sealed box. I am putting a new amp so that may help some too

boataholic said:

So my question is does JL make a marine sub that is not IB?

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Yes, there are two different M-series one designed for a box and one IB and the MX-series is designed for IB only.

I have 2 10"s. I am very happy with my JL audio components.

As a followup on this, we just put a 12" IB sub in scouters toon. it is in a quazi box (mostly sealed peice of interior) and I think it sounds really good. For someone who just wants a solid stereo, it'll be great for that purpose. if you are looking to make your eyes shake, look elsewhere

boataholic said:

So my question is does JL make a marine sub that is not IB?

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Yes the do. I have 4 of them in my boat.
http://www.jlaudio.com/m10w5-sg-wh-marine-audio-m-series-subwoofer-drivers-91736

I just got my M12w6ib it’s said to be a marinized W6 with an extended throw voicecoil for ib mounting.
The description shows 3.2cu for sealed and 5.5cu for vented. I’m putting in the starboard bulkhead behind the mcob seats hoping for a decent result.
Talked to both Adam at W4S as well Mike at SPL2K both recommended this over doing two sealed M10’s as they are basically the W3’s and the MX10ib’s are basically W1’s

As a heads up, i got my M12 installed it truly exceeded my hopes for sound.

Bringing this thread back to the top, I'm thinking about doing 2 IB subs (either Rockford Fosgate or JL under my rear seat) and am trying to decide which ones to go with. Reading this thread, I don't really have anywhere to put a box for subs. Anybody have any other feedback on newer subs (M3 or M6 from JL or Rockford M2)?

I now own the boat with the m12 and I’ll concur that this sounds beyond what people would normally think of an infinite baffle sub. It’s not even being fed much power (400 watts). A big part of it is the install. The woofers are great but isolating the front side of the cone from the back wave and doing so in a rigid fashion will go along ways.
The way the m12 is installed is such that there is also a very good seal on the back of the woofer which makes up its “enclosure”. The baffle is also several layers thick. .
I love the woofer but wish they made it in a 15” or 18” version.