Subs - Audio Emporium

A subwoofer can be a secret weapon. That’s IF you get one that’s NOT too big, fat and boomy. You want one that’s stealth.

You don’t want to hear it all the time. It shouldn’t encroach on your R&L main speakers. It just needs to help down low. It needs to be ready to pounce when called upon, but otherwise not be intrusive.

The smartest way to start is with JL Audio of Florida. Don’t be fooled by British names slapped on to Chinese subs. They’re not apples to apples with JL!

JL Audio

JL subs are made near Ft. Lauderdale. Almost all of JL’s competitors are made in China. Make no mistake, it matters.

JL builds drivers that are cast frame, deep and chunky. The drivers are built into the front metal baffle of the sub for ideal rigidity.

The Chinese typically use stamped frame woofers. They screw them into the soft wood of a front panel with a handful of screws. Their interface with the front baffle is wobbly compared to JL. Any sub built like this needs its screws tightened every year!

When you compare the mass and rigidity of JL vs the other guys, it’s easy to appreciate why JL is superior. You can get a JL D-110 for only $1100 that will spank the stamped boys from China. Please don’t send your money half way around the world when you have superior subs made here at competitive pricing.

JL subs are in SEALED enclosures. This helps make them clean and tight. Virtually everyone else features cabinets that are ported or use passive radiators. They simply can’t be as taut as JL Audios.

JL makes three main series of subs.

Models

Dominions

They’re cost effective yet still use big JL cast frames and JL built amps. D-110 has much more muscle than D-108. If you have the space for D-110, be sure to get it.

D-110 $1100, Black Ash

(13.4h, 12w, 15.86d, 39 lbs, 750w amp)

D-110 can fill up a good sized room. It is solid and THE best buy in an affordable sub on the market. It uses a powerful 10” cast woofer and muscular 750w amp. For many customers D-110 is the starting and stopping point. Literally everything else for just over a grand, no matter what brand name is on it- is punched out of a Chinese job house.

D-108 $900, Black Ash

(11.37h, 10w, 13.23d, 27 lbs, 500w amp)

D-108 is the best very small sub out there. It uses an 8” cast frame sub and 500w amp. Its only problem is that D-110 is much stronger. Hence D-108 only makes sense as a size option.

E Series Subs

The E Series takes you to a significantly more powerful and REFINED level of interfacing with your wing speakers.

The E woofer drivers are quite a bit deeper, stronger and more innovative than the D models. JL makes a double spider design that essentially turbo charges performance. In the E Series the woofers are bolted into the front baffle AND force fit into a rear support structure.

With everyone else, the woofers are just screwed into a soft wood front panel. The tail end of the heavy sub wiggles in the breeze as it works. Not so with JL, who supports the fanny of the sub with its own structural mechanism.

Further, of special note to critical audiophiles, the E Series crossovers are cleaner and less intrusive. Let’s say you’re running a pair of Magnepans. You appreciate the Pans’ speed and control, but you want more weight than they can bring to the party. The E Series is a better choice than the Ds because they’ll dovetail far more discreetly with the Pans. Any sub with ports or passives just can’t avoid muddying up the Pans.

E Series subs also permit running cables, preamp to sub, and sub to power amp. This option provides bass management to your wing speakers for some finer tuning. The crossover is so good in the Es that you won’t hear any insertion loss.

E-110 $1900 Black Ash

(14.24h, 13.5w, 16.51d, 53 lbs, 1200w amp)

E-110 is a GREAT sub- ideal for mating with Pans or any wing speakers that have extremely clean bass. E-110 would make a great addition to any of the Bryston or Atohm stand mounts as well. It uses the super deep, double spider design. It has plenty of power and yields tight, powerful bass.

E-112 $2500 Black Ash

(16.23h, 15.5w, 18.39d, 74 lbs, 1500w amp)

E-112 hits much harder than E-110. If you have the space and coin for E-112 and you like to drop barbells on the floor, you’ll want E-112 for sure.

E-110 is wonderful for less money. It’s a great choice for the Pans or stand mount speakers that need solid help. But E-112 can move a lot more air and bowl you over. Especially if your system

ends up in a basement, you’ll want E-112.