
GRAND TOURING
®
SERIES
GTO1014 
GTO1014D 
GTO1214 
GTO1214D 
GTO1514 
GTO1514 D
car audio subwoofer 
owner’s manual
THANK YOU
for purchasing a JBL®Grand Touring®Series subwoofer. 
Subwoofer installation requires woodworking skills and some 
experience in disassembling and reassembling automotive 
interiors. If you lack the tools or necessary skills, have your 
subwoofer installed by an authorized JBL dealer.

WARNING: Playing loud music 
in an automobile can permanently 
damage your hearing as well as 
hinder your ability to hear traffic. 
We recommend listening at low 
levels while driving. JBL accepts no 
liability for hearing loss, bodily injury 
or property damage resulting from 
use or misuse of this product.
CHOOSING AN ENCLOSURE
Grand Touring Series subwoofers 
are optimized to perform best in 
small, sealed, vented and prefabricated band-pass enclosures. While 
infinite-baffle mounting of GTO subs 
is possible, power handling will 
be greatly compromised because 
there’s no enclosed volume of air 
to prevent the speaker’s cone from 
moving past its limit. For this reason, 
we do not recommend infinite-baffle 
mounting for GTO subwoofers.
You should choose the enclosure 
you will use based on the type of 
music you listen to, how much 
amplifier power you will use for the 
subwoofer and how much space 
inside the vehicle you can devote 
to a subwoofer enclosure.
Because a sealed enclosure 
provides the most control over 
the woofer’s movement, a woofer 
mounted in a sealed enclosure will 
handle more power than a woofer 
mounted in another enclosure type. 
Sealed enclosures provide more 
accurate sonic reproduction than 
other enclosure types when 
mounted inside a vehicle, so they 
are well suited to all types of music. 
Sealed-enclosure construction is 
straightforward and there are many
prefabricated sealed enclosures 
available. An optimum sealed 
enclosure is always smaller than 
other types of enclosures optimized 
for a particular speaker, so they 
require the smallest amount of 
space inside the vehicle.
Vented enclosures provide better 
efficiency in the 40Hz –50Hz range, 
but this efficiency comes at the 
expense of sound in the lowest 
octave (below 40Hz) and at the 
expense of some control and power 
handling at the lowest frequencies. 
If you are using a small amplifier, 
a vented box will provide more 
perceived bass output from less 
power. Vented enclosures are also 
well suited to a variety of music 
types. Because vented enclosures 
require the volume of the enclosure 
and the size of the port to have 
a specific relationship with the 
characteristics of the woofer, the 
enclosure must be built exactly to 
the specifications provided. While 
there are some prefabricated 
vented boxes available, matching 
a prefabricated box to a particular 
woofer is difficult. If you wish to 
use a vented enclosure, we strongly 
recommend having your authorized 
JBL dealer build it or verify that your
design is correct if you wish to build 
it yourself. An optimum vented 
enclosure is always larger than the 
optimum sealed box for the same 
woofer and will require more space 
inside the vehicle. 
Band-pass enclosures often provide 
the most output available from any 
amplifier and subwoofer combination, 
at the expense of sonic accuracy. 
If sheer SPL (sound-pressure level) 
is what you desire most, choose a 
band-pass enclosure. Band-passenclosure design is very tricky and 
the aid of a computer and enclosure 
design software is necessary. If you 
are an experienced installer or have 
some woodworking experience, 
you may wish to build the band-pass 
enclosure described in the enclosure design sheet included with this 
woofer. Fortunately, there are many 
prefabricated band-pass boxes 
available and they are all optimized 
to extract the most output possible 
from any woofer. Band-pass 
enclosures can be quite large and 
may require a lot of space inside 
your vehicle.
2

CONNECTING YOUR SUBWOOFER TO YOUR AMPLIFIER
JBL Grand Touring Series GTO 
subwoofers are available in two 
different configurations: a single 
4-ohm voice coil or dual 4-ohm 
voice coils. You may use GTO 
subwoofers in singles or multiples 
to maximize the power available 
from your amplifier(s). To achieve 
the maximum amplifier output 
possible, you should design a 
speaker system that provides 
the lowest impedance that your 
amplifier will drive safely. When 
designing a subwoofer system, 
consider the following rules:
1. Do not mix different subwoofers 
or enclosure types in the same 
system. Subwoofers being used in 
the same enclosure or powered 
by the same amplifier should 
be identical models. Mismatched 
woofers and enclosures can 
result in poor performance from 
your subwoofer system.
2. You may connect the coils of a 
dual-voice-coil woofer in series, 
but we recommend that you avoid 
connecting separate woofers in 
series. 
3. You must use both coils of a dualvoice-coil woofer connected 
either in series or in parallel.
4. Most amplifiers deliver exactly 
the same amount of power 
bridged into a 4-ohm load 
as they do running a 2-ohm 
stereo load.
To design a subwoofer system 
that maximizes available amplifier 
power, keep the following rules 
in mind: 
1. The total system impedance 
of woofers in parallel can be 
calculated using the formula: 
Impedance =
1
1+1+1
w1w2w
where w is the nominal 
impedance of the woofer.
2. The total system impedance 
of voice coils (or woofers) in 
series can be calculated using 
the formula:
Impedance = w1+ w2+ w3...
The diagrams at right show parallel 
and series speaker connections.
Figure 1. Parallel connection
Figure 2. Series connection
...
3
3

SPECIFICATIONS
GTO1014 GTO1014D GTO1214 GTO1214D GTO1514 GTO1514D
10" 4-Ohm 10" Dual 4-Ohm 12" 4-Ohm 12" Dual 4-Ohm 15" 4-Ohm 15" Dual 4-Ohm 
Subwoofer Subwoofer Subwoofer Subwoofer Subwoofer Subwoofer
Power Handling, RMS 350W 350W 350W 350W 350W 350W
Power Handling, Peak 1400W 1400W 1400W 1400W 1400W 1400W
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m) 88dB 91dB 90dB 93dB 93dB 96dB
Frequency Response 25Hz – 400Hz 25Hz – 400Hz 23Hz – 400Hz 23Hz – 400Hz 23Hz – 400Hz 23Hz – 400Hz
Impedance 4 Ohms 8 Ohms/2 Ohms 4 Ohms 8 Ohms/2 Ohms 4 Ohms 8 Ohms/2 Ohms
Mounting Depth 5-7/8" (148mm) 5-7/8" (148mm) 6-5/16" (160mm) 6-5/16" (160mm) 6-13/16" (172mm) 6-13/16" (172mm)
Cutout Diameter 9" (228mm) 9" (228mm) 11" (278mm) 11" (278mm) 13-15/16" (354mm) 13-15/16" (354mm)
Overall Diameter 10-9/16" (268mm) 10-9/16" (268mm) 12-5/16" (313mm) 12-5/16" (313mm) 15-5/16" (389mm) 15-5/16" (389mm)
A valid serial number is required for warranty coverage. 
Features, specifications and appearance are subject to change without notice. 
These products are designed for mobile applications and are not intended for connection to the mains.
Declaration of Conformity
Harman Consumer Group, Inc. 
250 Crossways Park Drive, Woodbury, NY 11797 USA
516.255.4JBL (4525) (USA only) www.jbl.com
© 2008 Harman International Industries, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
JBL and Grand Touring Series are trademarks of Harman International Industries, 
Incorporated, registered in the United States and/or other countries.
Part No. GTO-14SUBOM3/08
We, Harman Consumer Group, Inc.
2, route de Tours 
72500 Château du Loir 
France
declare in own responsibility that the products described in this owner’s 
manual are in compliance with technical standards: 
EN 61000-6-3:2001 
EN 61000-6-1:2001
Klaus Lebherz
Harman Consumer Group, Inc.
Château du Loir, France 3/08
www.jbl.com