Car Audio Buff

JL Audio’s 10W6 (version 1), which has now been replaced by the 10W6v2, was one of car audio buffs’ favorite 10″ subwoofers—great punchy/quick bass combined with undemanding space requirements made it easy to experience up-front bass. Let’s relive the 10W6 and provide an all-in-one resource for owners or soon-to-be owners of this great subwoofer.

Specifications

Fs (free-air resonance)	23.2 Hz
Qts (total speaker “O”)	0.432
Qes (electrical “Q”)	0.463
Qms (mechanical “Q”)	6.567
Vas (equivalent compliance)	2.30 65.1
Xmax (linear excursion one-way)	0.469 11.9
Efficiency (1W/1m)	84.2 dB
Sd (effective piston surface area)	53.6 0.0346
Re (DC resistance)	10.8 Ω (in series)
Znom (nominal impedance)	Dual 6 Ω
Pt (continuous thermal power handling)	300 Watts

Dimensions

Frame Diameter	10.125 in.
Mounting Hole Diameter	9.125 in.
Mounting Depth	4.875 in.
Overall Depth	5.5 in.
Magnet Diameter	6.5 in.
Displacement	0.06 ft3

Recommended Enclosures

Sealed Enclosure	0.625 ft3	18” x 11” x 9”
Ported Enclosure	1.00 ft3	17” x 12” x 13.75”

Sample Reviews

“I have had my 2 10w6s for about three years. I purchased them at a pawnshop so I do not know how old they really are, but they were in perfect shape when I bought them for $100 each. I agree with the statement that they are bulletproof. I have cranked them extremely loud, louder than they should have gone, without any problems. I have used two different box sizes with them and agree that if you go too small you lose the quality you paid for. I originally used .8 ft3 and they went so low that you could almost count the frequency. Now I put them in .65 ft3 and they hit unbelivably hard, although they are less efficent at the ultra low frequencies. I would not suggest going any smaller than .6 ft3. You would lose too much low end and think that they suck.”

“Tight, accurate, detailed bass. Loads of power handling. Can play super quiet or super loud and still be musical. Worth ever penny.”

Sample Images

JL Audio 10w6 1

JL Audio 10W6 2

JL Audio 10W6 3

JL Audio 10W6 4

6″ x 9″ two-way loudspeaker

I have been trying to search for a review on these 6x9s for a long time now; most of the stores that carry these do not have user reviews. Yes, I know the REF9612 has been discontinued, but these used to sell really well. Currently, the REF9632CF and the REF9633CF are the 6x9s offered by Infinity.

Still looking for that review…

Here’s from a buyer at Amazon.com, it may not be much but you still might pick-up a thing or two about what this guy—a certain Max Xiong from Denver said.

“I replaced my old and I mean “OLD” Bose factory rear 6X9 speakers. They were the paper type and had been sitting in the sun for like ages and the paper had seperated from the middle of the speaker. After replacing with the Infinity Reference 9612I OMG!!! it was clean, crisp and clear. No distortion of any kind even turning up to volume to max. The vehicle I have came with a factory AMP of 240 watts so It handle the new speaker perfectly. No complaints here… For the price, these are a STEAL…”

If there’s anyone else who knows of a good review for this product, please send them in; a link or your own review will do.

Specs

Woofer	Plus One woofer cones
Tweeter	Edge-driven silk dome
Warranty	1 year
Power Handling, RMS	100 Watts
Power Handling, Peak	300 Watts
Sensitivity	92dB
Frequency Response	46Hz – 21kHz
Mounting Depth	3″
Impedance	4 Ohms

Image

Infinity Reference 9612i

Compared to other 6.5-Inch speakers in this price range, the Polk Audio db650 had the most balance and organic sound. For whatever reason, these speakers always delivered or more “musical” tone. I listen to jazz, pop, R&B, classical, rock, etc, and these speakers seemed to have the best frequency response. Mids still are still not strong, but better than other 6.5s. The highs are clean and organic, not sharp and crisp like other speakers with metal tweeters. The bass is there, but since it’s a small 6.5 there isn’t a lot. You’ll need larger speakers to go along with these to make up for the bass.

The db650s sound very clear even when cranked up. At first, they were way too bright and shrill. However, now that they are broken in, they sound great. The pair has a pretty accurate response, I can’t detect much coloration on these, music sounds they way it should, no missing instruments. Really good sound at a reasonable price.

Specs

• Mid/Woofer: 6 1/2″ Diameter (16.51cm); Polymer/Mica Composite cone with rubber surround
• Tweeter: 3/4″ Diameter (1.91cm); Silk/Polymer composite dome
• Overall Frequency Response: 40Hz-22KHz
• Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms
• Power Handling (continuous): 60 w
• Power Handling (peak): 180 w
• Efficiency: 92 dB
• Mid/Woofer Top Mount: 2″ (5.08cm)
• Mid/Woofer Bottom Mount: 2-5/16″ (5.87cm)
• Tweeter Surface Mount Height: 3/8″ (0.95cm)
• Driver Cut-out Diameter: 5″ (12.70cm)

Polk Audio db650

8″ Subwoofer

The discontinued W3v2 subwoofers offer phenomenal performance at moderate power levels, making them ideal for those seeking sound quality and solid impact from compact enclosures.

These subwoofers incorporate the patented Elevated Frame-Cooling technology for enhanced thermal dissipation and 20% more power handling than the original 10W3, 12W3 and 15W3. Cosmetic upgrades include a powder-coated silver frame finish, a dished cone/dust-cap design and a rubber mounting flange gasket that accepts grille mesh inserts directly (grille inserts sold separately).

The 8W3v2 comes in 3 variants, namely, the 8W3v2-D2, the 8W3v2-D4 and the 8W3v2-D6.

Subwoofer Specifications

• Order: 8W3v2-D2, 8W3v2-D4, 8W3v2-D6
• Free Air Resonance (Fs): 33.1 Hz, 34.5 Hz, 34.0 Hz
• Electrical “Q” (Qes): 0.392, 0.468, 0.465
• Mechanical “Q” (Qms): 7.84, 7.84, 7.84
• Total Speaker “Q” (Qts): 0.373, 0.441, 0.439
• Equivalent Compliance (Vas): 0.79 cu. ft./22.4 liters, 0.79 cu. ft./22.4 liters, 0.79 cu. ft./22.4 liters
• One-Way, Linear Excursion (Xmax): 0.39 in./9.9 mm, 0.39 in./9.9 mm, 0.42 in./10.7 mm
• Reference Efficiency (no): 0.199%, 0.189%, 0.182%
• Efficiency (1W/1m): 85.2 dB SPL, 85.0 dB SPL, 84.8 dB SPL
• Effective Piston Area (Sd): 33.2 sq. in./0.0214 sq. m., 33.2 sq. in./0.0214 sq. m., 33.2 sq. in./0.0214 sq. m.
• DC Resistance (Re): 3.35 ohm, 6.70 ohm, 10.31 ohm
• Nominal Impedance (Znom): Dual 2 ohm, Dual 4 ohm, Dual 6 ohm
• Thermal Power Handling (Pt): 125W, 125W, 125W
• Driver Displacement: 0.035 cu. ft./0.99 liters, 0.035 cu. ft./0.99 liters, 0.035 cu. ft./0.99 liters
• Net Weight: 7.0 lbs./3.2 kg, 7.0 lbs./3.2 kg, 7.0 lbs. / 3.2 kg

Owner’s Manual

Click here to download the 8W3v2′s user’s manual.

Sample Image

JL Audio 8W3v2

Notes

The 8W3v2 has been replaced by the 8W7 series, particularly the 8″ 8W7-3.

4-Channel Bridgeable Amplifier

The GM-6400F is one of Pioneer’s latest amplifiers (2009 model) and was designed to fit both cosmetically and technically with Pioneer subwoofers. The GM-6400F gives you total installation freedom and no distortion.

With an H-shaped chassis for vibration control and a PWM regulated power supply, you can drive multiple speaker channels or subwoofers and turn your in-car audio experience into the sound staging environment you’re looking for.

Review by E. Rodriguez, Miami

I installed this amp in my F-150 two weeks ago and wanted to test it out a bit before submitting my review and so far, I couldn’t be happier. My mids and highs are extremely clear now and I can actually hear small details in music that I couldn’t hear before with just my pioneer head unit powering my speakers. I’m using this amp together with a GM-5400t bridged powering a 10″ Kicker CVT and the systems sounds extremely clear even at high volumes with no distortion.

Being a relatively cheap amp, I wasn’t expecting much out of it but I’m truly impressed by it’s output and clarity. I also read that the previous version of this amp the GM-6300f had some overheating issues but I think they have been resolved with this model. I have two amps mounted behind my rear seat with barely any ventilation and neither of them have turned off once. I’m sure that there are better amps out there but in this price range, I can’t imagine one being better.

Review by Andrew R. Williams, Miami

Been in my car for a month or so now and sounds great. I have it hooked up to my 4 factory in-car speakers (98 Eclipse Infinity speakers) and they sound crystal clear and very loud. All my settings are set to default out of the box on the amp and the stereo is set for max highs and slightly below highest setting for mids. I don’t need to go higher on any of the gain values default is great on the amp. Although I’m not using this amp for any bass it sounds great if I do turn the bass level above 0 on my stereo (I have a separate amp for bass on a sub).

One thing I didnt like is the way the speaker out part is. They are ontop of each other but the rears extrude out further as if they where steps. It sticks out quite a bit and for some reason left and right are backwards so its right speaker and then left? Besides that its a great amp, looks nice to with the black and the red on the sides.

Pioneer GM-6400F

First, some specs…

RMS Power Output (Watts x Channels) 500 x 1
Peak Power Output (Watts x Channels) N/A
Power @ 2 Ohms (Watts x Channels) 500 x 1
Bridged Power (Watts x Channels) N/A
Minimum Impedance Bridged N/A
Minimum Impedance Unbridged 1.5
Frequency Response @ Rated RMS Power 20-250 Hz
THD @ Rated RMS Power 0.05%
Signal to Noise Ratio 95 dB
Input Voltage 14.5v

What people are saying…

The R.I.P.S makes all the difference when paired with the bass control this amp gives you. Almost no system will push an amp to its full potential due to lower than 14.4v to the amp. This amp doesn’t need that so the 500w is the real thing, makes my 12w6v2 sound great, if you want a JL sub make sure you have money for this amp as well. JL subs need the clean power that this delivers.

Mike, Iowa

I have this amp and a JL 12w6v2, and the combination is insane in my truck! I used to have a nice Alpine amp with the same rms rating and it didn’t sound half as good or was half as loud. I’ve never notice with other amps the difference in quality when you crank it up until I got this one. This is the best amp you can buy and it will make any sub sound a lot better. Plus Amazon.com has it for a steal.

Klein, New Hampshire

Very nice amp. I have this powering my JL 10w7 in my tahoe and it is simply amazing. The power coming from it is very clean and is always consistent. I would recommend that you buy the bass knob to get your “custom” listening preference.

Chamberlain, Charleston, SC

This is an absolutely awesome amplifier! The power and clarity are just fantastic! It says 500 rms, but in reality (as most in car audio know) it is pushing around 700+ rms. Unbelievable tuning capabilities. I purchased the remote bass knob which is an absolute godsend – comes in really handy when using an IPOD and you switch from bass heavy music to older music that has not been mixed as well. This amp is a little pricey, but you get what you pay for. I have run Alpine amps for around the past 10 years and decided to try something different. MO the JL amplifiers are in a totally different league. The sound quality is just phenomenal!

Negatives: Be really careful, the allen bolts that tighten down the speaker, power, and negative cables are made of really soft metal and will strip easily.

KYHO, Great Falls, MT

JL Audio 500/1v2

Type-R Series 12″ Subwoofer

There is not a single thing wrong with this sub. The sound quality is perfect and when you want it to, it will blow you away with smooth powerful bass. I have it wired to an alpine MRP-M650 amp and it sounds perfect. It’s actually better than the two twelves I had before. The best thing about this is the price, you can’t beat it. Trust me, I did a lot of shopping before I picked this one. I listen to a lot of rock, techno and some rap. This sub sounds great with it all. I highly recommend it. The bass is deep and is definitely clean. Don’t get me wrong, this thing does have the power to bring the apocalypse but that is why you can adjust your amp to your preference. Tyler – Detroit, MI

The Alpine Type-R. Where do I begin? I’ve been in the car audio scene before I could legally drive. I am now 30 years old and still enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few subwoofers that outclass the Type-R in my opinion. The Kicker L7s and the JL Audio W7s, but for the price… they can’t be touched. I can’t believe someone would put these under Audiobahn. The Alpine Type-R will not fall apart, blow, or distort if matched with the proper amp and wired correctly. I was so impressed that now I am now curious if something for a $100 sounds so good, what do the Type-Xs sound like? Might have to buy a pair and find out. If you seriously want a great and powerful system for under a thousand dollars, go with the Type-R as your subs. Don’t cheap out and go Audiobahn, Lanzar, Soundstream, Sony, or any other cheaply priced and manufactured subs. Those subs are priced under 50 dollars for a reason. Elena M. Allen – Amazon.com

Alpine SWR-1242D

1-Channel Mono Subwoofer Amplifier

The Alpine MRP-M500 mono amplifier drives your subwoofer system with up to 500 watts RMS — enough to satisfy the hungriest bass setup. The low-pass filter puts you in command of the frequencies that reach your subs, while the variable bass boost is armed with plenty of low-end punch. A subsonic filter prevents wasted energy by eliminating ultra-low bass, putting all the power where you need it.

Preamp and speaker-level inputs allow you to connect this amp in almost any vehicle. Let a V-Power amplifier transform the sound of your car’s audio system.

Sample Reviews

I just recently had this installed in my blazer along with a Boston Acoustics G1 12″ sub in a sealed box. I am highly impressed with the amount of power this puts out and the fact that it’s black blends in perfectly with the color of my cargo area: much harder to see thru tinted windows. Mounted on the rear passenger cargo area, it was wasted space but not anymore. The only item that had me leaning toward the JL Audio Amp was a remote bass hookup, which the Alpine doesn’t have. My installer, wired one up with RCA Plugs, and I have never looked back. Would buy another in a heart beat. Great stuff at a great price.

buhusky2000, Scranton, PA

This is really where this little amp shines. Sound Quality with my single Pioneer 305DVC is great. The lows especially sound much better than my previous amp (Visonik V500HC). The punchy bass sounds a little less than my previous amp, but I was using 2 subs with that, as opposed to now. The fact that this amp with 1 sub, sounds nearly as good as my previous amp with 2 subs makes me very happy. It seems to be very efficient, barely dimming my lights (my fault for weak electrical) at full volume. For the money, it’s a great sounding amp.

darcness, Grand Blanc, MI

Alpine MRP-M500

Features

5.8-inch touchscreenMap data on flash driveVoiceBox for voice control of iPod and BluetoothMSN Direct (with subscription) Satrad (Sirius or XM) and HD Radio ready. Steering wheel control compatibility (optional, requires separate interface)DVD playbackSix-channel preamp outputs (front, rear, subwoofer).

Navigation

The main selling point for most consumers, of course, is going to be the navigation. The map data covers the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii (and Canada) on a 2GB flash drive. That contains the usual list of POIs as well. The graphics are fine and the lane departure indicator is terrific, but the voice guidance could have provided faster alerts to turns on surface streets and exits off freeways, for example. But the bigger problem was that accessing data can test your patience. Searching for a POI “around the current GPS location” requires a wait of a few seconds to get to the next menu window. Also, I looked for Nixon’s library locally as a tourist attraction, but it wasn’t listed on the search result. When I typed it in on another search I finally got the address. So there are some things you might think should be more intuitive than it is; however, I should add that I find this kind of problem a lot with various nav devices. What compounds the issue of an already slow system is something more fundamental: I counted anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds for the system to load when I started the car. The only thing I could do during that time was insert a CD and adjust the volume. Whether or not this is a big deal will depend on your level of patience. I just don’t happen to have a lot of it.

There are issues such as the above that make what was potentially an amazing product a decent product instead. The lesser-than-average visibility of the monitor, especially during the day, the average touchscreen responsiveness and the flat, difficult-to-use volume knob also detract from what was a great concept: a multimedia navigation unit priced for the masses. Early adopters of the AVIC F-series have encountered problems with the Bluetooth, iPod functionality, and the system loading time. On the F900BT, I experienced dropped calls as well. To address the different problems Pioneer released a firmware update. You can go to the company’s website, pioneerelectronics.com and go to the navigation section. There are explicit directions for downloading the firmware and for loading it via SD card to your F900BT or other F-series unit (the F500BT is excluded). You’ll find that it will improve the performance of a product, making it that much more worth the price. And ultimately, at this price point (and that is the point) there isn’t another product with as much to offer and that is as easy to use while being so feature-rich. The question is: How much is too much for a product with great and various capabilities that are countered by some functionality issues? There are always value or quality trade-offs when you buy things. I would suggest you go for your own testdrive to determine if the new AVIC is worth it for you. I should note that the latest shipment of AVICs have the firmware included, which should make your decision to buy a little easier.

General

The double-DIN AVIC-F900BT unit with a 5.8-inch touchscreen has map data (from TeleAtlas) completely contained on a flash drive. A lot of nav users will be glad to hear that DVD-ROMs are no longer necessary. So, you have navigation, DVD playback, and music galore via disc, iPod, a thumb drive, or an SD card, not to mention HD Radio and satellite radio with adapters, which have to be purchased separately. Conveniently, there’s also a mini-jack connection on the face of the source unit. The 3.5mm mini-jack aux input is a great feature, but that too requires Pioneer’s CD-RM10 cable in order for you to connect an A/V device to the unit.

The AVIC also has Bluetooth. You can connect three phones and the F900BT will store 400 contacts; it allows you to be totally hands-free. That applies for accessing music from your iPod as well. The F900BT has voice recognition software (called the VoiceBox Conversational Voice Search Platform) that makes it possible for you to select music folders and tracks by voice command. As with a lot of voice command systems, it can have problems understanding your requests. Be it the Ford Sync, the AVIC-Z3, or a separate aftermarket Bluetooth kits-I’ve yet to find a product that works as advertised in terms of the voice recognition quality. In theory, you can make calls, select tracks off your iPod, and even make some navigation commands just by using your voice. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than not having the option. Caveats or not, the above features are a pretty amazing collection of options. They may be found on other pre-existing (and separate) products, but at $1,100, this seems to be a real steal.

Add the option for MSN Direct for traffic information, movie time listings, and a list of the gas stations with the best per gallon prices and more, and you can see why I say that the F900BT is the complete package. MSN Direct is a must-have. And the GOOG-411 service is a nice add-on feature. You can use it to search for and connect to local businesses via a toll-free number. The only thing that is important to me that the unit lacks is the ability for DVD-Audio or, say, SACD playback. But then when was the last time you actually bought a disc in one of those formats? OK, not big misses there. On the audio side, the F900BT takes care of business, and will probably be robust enough for most music fans. There are seven preset EQ curves; and you can make a couple of your own custom EQ settings. There’s also a three-band parametric EQ that allows you to select the Q factor, a highpass filter, adjustable loudness, and SLA (source level adjustment) to keep your volume settings consistent over different sources.

Pioneer AVIC-F900BT

The Arc Audio 4200SE is a medium-sized 4-channel amplifier, measuring approximately 19 1/2″ x 8″ x 2 1/2″. The power connections are on one end and the signal connections, on the other. This arrangement allows for maximum isolation of noise by keeping the noisy power and ground cables as far away from the signal and speaker conductors as possible. Throughout the amplifier were similar thoughtful details, dedicated to the minimization of noise and maximizing the sonic performance. The amp is relatively plain looking, finished in a low-sheen black and brushed aluminum, but it is nicely put together, with panel-mount RCAs and very good fit and finish. The Arc Audio emblem on top illuminates when the amp is turned on: in blue if everything is working correctly, and in red if there is a problem. The manual even explains how to remove the illuminated logo and custom paint it to match your install, and then how to sand off the paint to make it light up again when you’re done! The logo’s illuminating background can also be changed to over 200 shades of color using a sequence of events using the remote bass control knob. Nice!

The top-mounted controls are hidden under a brushed aluminum panel, which is removed by taking out four small Phillips-head machine screws. Lifting off the panel, (complete with Mr. Zeff’s signature laser etched onto the brushed aluminum) you find a great assortment of switches and knobs. In fact, there are no less than 28 separate controls, enough to satisfy even the most avid tweaker.

This is one of the few amps in recent memory that uses individual gain controls for each channel, something I feel is missing on many “would be” high-end amps. Sure, one control is easier to set up, but having the extra control of independent pots allows you to finesse the installation and provide a little compensation for things like speaker proximity. You can’t do this stuff with a balance control without affecting all the other channels, not to mention that in many cases a single pot is not always well matched left to right throughout its range of adjustment. Chalk up another point for the legendary Zeff attention to detail, and his understanding of the application for the product he’s designing. Here’s a guy who clearly does not take the train to work… I’d bet a lot of money he drives a car with an audio system in it, and like the rest of us enthusiasts, he “gets it.”

The 4200SE has some of the most comprehensive crossover capabilities in any amp at any price. Each pair of channels has the usual highpass and lowpass settings, but the range of adjustment is from 30 to 550Hz, which is wider than most, plus there is a x10 switch allowing for those frequencies to be multiplied by 10. In other words, you could set either crossover anywhere between 30 and 5,500Hz!

And, the preamp section control doesn’t end there. The crossover slopes can be set individually for 12dB or 24dB per octave slopes, or even set to a bandpass setting with a different slope on each end if you prefer! I’ve seen some digital crossovers that were not this flexible and well thought out.

Additionally, there are controls for bass boost level and frequency, allowing up to 18dB of boost, ranging from about 20 to 80Hz. Then there are special signal steering switches for using the amp in bridged mode that allow the user to select whether the left or right signal is used when stereo bridging, or the sum of the two for subwoofer applications. Still other controls allow the remote level control to adjust the level of all four channels, or just the rear channels so it can be used as a subwoofer volume control with an adjustment range of approximately 60dB. There is also a pair of RCA outputs for routing the rear signal to a subwoofer amplifier.

The controls and configuration of the amp are extremely flexible, allowing for virtually any conceivable installation requirement, and were obviously designed by someone who “gets it” when it comes to high-performance car audio.

Verdict

The Arc Audio amplifier is sonically excellent. Plus, the included features are among the best thought out and most useful of any amplifier I have tested in recent memory. But, this performance and flexibility does not come cheap. At a retail price of $1,399.00, this is not an amp for everyone.

If you merely considered the amp in terms of watts per dollar there are quite a few amps that will provide almost double the power per dollar spent. However, very few of those have the attention to detail, flexibility of features and sonic excellence of this one. So, the choice is yours. If money were no object, this would be a pretty easy choice… but I have to wonder how many $1,399.00 4-channel amps are sold… even great ones like this.

Arc Audio 4200SE