JL Audio E-112 Subwoofer, $2500
(16.23h, 15.5w, 18.39d, 74 lbs, 1500w amp, Black Ash)
JL Audio’s E-112 should be on the list of every subwoofer shopper. It is a full out, serious product, made in the USA that hits like a middle linebacker.
JL is made near Ft. Lauderdale. Almost all similarly priced subs are made in China. Why does that matter?
First of all, JL pays attention to the details of building subs like nobody else. There’s no question that its DNA comes from the TLC of Americans who love audio and build without cutting corners.
*All JL subs are sealed, not ported. Running a sealed design assures the tightest possible bass.
Some companies use smaller active drivers and tie them to passive radiators. It’s certainly cheaper to do that, but sounds looser. JL won’t accept that.
*All JL subs have their drivers built into a one inch aluminum baffle to go on the face of the sub enclosure. Literally everyone else takes 8 screws to affix their Chinese built woofer into the front of a soft MDF panel. The added rigidity of JL’s construction leaves the other guys in the dust.
*E-112 has a deep, double spider 12” driver. Take a look at this driver! Compare it with SVS or anybody else. By the way, the JL subs are actually made in Florida. They’re not purchased from China and screwed into a JL box here- and “called” American.
*JL’s 12” cast driver can achieve excursion lengths of 3 full inches! That’s part of the reason JL can deliver class crushing bass response.
*E-112’s driver is bolted into the metal face describe above. It is also force fit from the rear of the internal cabinet. Literally everyone else uses those 8 screws to install the woofer, and then the tail end wobbles around inside as it plays. Time is is not kind to cheaper designs. Whatever tautness was planned from day one doesn’t hold as years roll on.
*JL Audio builds its own 1500w amp in the US. They do not buy a plate amp made by a generic Chinese vendor to slap in their box. The amp is indeed, 1500w. You’ll see many competitors using a 200-400w amp. They’re OK but… JL really BRINGS IT!
JL’s crossover is exceedingly clean. Even if you’re a Maggie fan, you’ll be happy with how seamlessly JL subs blend in. You can run from your preamp out- right into the input on E-112 and be done. OR… you can run pre out into the sub inputs, and run sub outs to your power amp, and save your wing speakers from handling the bass. JL is the ONLY brand where we would recommend you loop through like this without incurring any sludge in the process.
There are a zillion subwoofers on the market. Yet only JL Audio of Florida builds subs to this level of quality- and at a reasonable price no less!