JL Audio 12TW3-D4, 12TW3-D8 Owner's Manual

OWNER’S MANUAL

12TW3 Subwoofer Driver

Congratulations on your purchase of a JL Audio subwoofer component. Your JL Audio subwoofer

is a precision loudspeaker which has been engineered to produce the highest quality sub-bass

performance in your vehicle. Authorized JL Audio dealers have extensive technical information

for many different applications of your new speaker. They also have the knowledge, skills and tools

to build a high-quality enclosure that will maximize the performance of your speaker. We highly

recommend that you have your enclosure built by an authorized JL Audio dealer.

Inside you will find specifications and two recommended enclosures for your speaker; one is a

sealed enclosure, the other is a ported design. Both types of enclosures will give you excellent sound

quality and low-frequency extension. The sealed enclosure is a better choice if space is extremely

tight, but the ported enclosure will produce 3dB more output at the same power if you have the

extra space to work with.

JL AUDIO 12TW3-D4 / 12TW3-D8

AMPLIFIER

AMPLIFIER

AMPLIFIER

2Ω (D4)
4Ω (D8)

1Ω (D4)
2Ω (D8)

0.7Ω (D4)

1.3 Ω (D 8)

A1

B

D

E

C

A2

12TW3 SUBWOOFER

PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Nominal Diameter:

Overall Major Diameter (A1):

Overall Minor Diameter (A2):

Mounting Hole Diameter (B):

Bolt Hole Circle (C):

Magnet Diameter (D):

Mounting Depth (E):

Net Weight:

Driver Displacement:

12.0 in
300 mm

13.2 in.
335 mm

12.5 in
318 mm

11.625 in.
295 mm

12.5 in.
318 mm

6.125 in
156 mm

3.5 in
89 mm

14.9 lbs

6.8 Kg

3

0.029 ft

0.82 liters

SUBWOOFER 12TW3-D4 12TW3-D8

Free Air Resonance (Fs): 26.460 Hz 32.660 Hz

Electrical “Q” (Qes): 0.558 0.715

Mechanical “Q” (Qms): 10.766 10.071

Total Speaker “Q” (Qts): 0.531 0.668

Equivalent Compliance (Vas):

One-way, Linear Excursion

(Xmax)*:

1.72 ft

48.73 litres

0.60 in

15.2 mm

1.205 ft

34.12 litres

0.60 in

15.2 mm

3

Efficiency (1W/1m)**: 84.11 dB SPL 84.23 dB SPL

Effective Piston Area (Sd):

83.517 in

0.0539 m

2

83.517 in

0.0539 m

2

DC Resistance (Re)***: 9.280 ohm 14.800 ohm

Nominal Impedance:

Dual 4-ohm
voice coils

Dual 8-ohm
voice coils

Power Handling (continuous): 400 W 400 W

12TW3 Dual Voice Coil Wiring

Please Note: The T W3 is a dual voice coil driver.
BOTH voice coils must be connected to the amplifier
(in series or parallel) for the speaker to operate
properly. To accomplish this, each TW3 features a pair
of main input connection push-terminals for each
voice coil. Verify that the connections are properly
configured based on these wiring diagrams to
achieve the desired load prior to sending signal to
the subwoofer.

Voice Coils Wired in Series

(Multiple speakers wired in Parallel)

8Ω (D4)

AMPLIFIER

16Ω (D8)

4Ω (D4)

AMPLIFIER

8Ω (D8)

3

Voice Coils Wired in Parallel

2

(Multiple speakers wired in Parallel)

2

2Ω (D4)

AMPLIFIER

4Ω (D8)

1Ω (D4)

AMPLIFIER

2Ω (D8)

AMPLIFIER

2.7Ω (D4)

5.3Ω (D8)

* Xmax specifications are derived via one-way voice coil overhang method with no correction factors applied.
** Efficiency (1W/1m) is not an accurate indicato r of a subwoofer’s outp ut capability an d should not be used as a c omparison to

other subwoofers to determine which one is “louder” !

*** Re (DC resistance) is me asured with the voice co ils in series, for par allel-wired sp ecification d ivide Re by 4. All other specific ations

remain the same.

AMPLIFIER

0.7Ω (D4)

1.3 Ω (D 8)

All specifications are subject to change without notice.

2 JL AUDIO 12TW3-D4 / 12TW3-D8