JL Audio 12W3 Owners Manual

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.

If you decide to build one of these enclosures yourself, you must have the construction of the box

inspected and approved by your authorized JL Audio dealer in order for the 1 year limited warranty to

be valid. Please read the warranty information carefully.

12W3

Subwoofers

owner’s manual

AMPLIFIER

W3 VOICE COILS IN SERIES: W3 VOICE COILS IN PARALLEL:

W3-D6: 12.0Ω W3-D4: 8.0Ω W3-D2: 4.0Ω

W3-D6: 6.0Ω W3-D4: 4.0Ω W3-D2: 2.0Ω

W3-D6: 4.0Ω W3-D4: 2.7Ω W3-D2: 1.3Ω

W3-D6: 3.0Ω W3-D4: 2.0Ω W3-D2: 1.0Ω

W3-D6: 1.5Ω W3-D4: 1.0Ω W3-D2: 0.5Ω

W3-D6: 1.0Ω W3-D4: 0.7Ω W3-D2: 0.3Ω

2 JL AUDIO 12W3

SUBWOOFER: 12W3-D2 12W3-D4 12W3-D6

Free Air Resonance (Fs): 26.7 Hz 26.1Hz 26.7 Hz

Electrical “Q” (Qes): 0.506 0.475 0.523

Mechanical “Q” (Qms): 8.103 8.103 8.103

Total Speaker “Q” (Qts): 0.476 0.449 0.491

Equiv. Compliance (Vas): 3.28 ft

3.28 ft

92.9 litres 92.9 litres 92.9 litres

One-way, Linear Excursion: 0.513 in 0.463 in 0.473 in

(Xmax)* 13.0 mm 11.8 mm 12.0 mm

Efficiency (1W/1m)**: 87.2 dB 87.2 dB 87.1 dB

Effective Piston Area (Sd): 81.5 in

81.5 in

0.0526 m

DC Resistance (Re)***: 3.70Ω 7.23Ω 10.38Ω

Nominal Impedance: Dual 2Ω Dual 4Ω Dual 6Ω

Power Handling (continuous): 250W 250W 250W

Mounting Depth: 6.563 in 6.563 in 6.563 in

167 mm 167 mm 167 mm

Mounting Hole Diameter: 11.0625 in 11.0625 in 11.0625 in

281 mm 281 mm 281 mm

Driver Displacement: 0.070 ft

0.070 ft

2.0 litres 2.0 litres 2.0 litres

*Xmax specifications are derived via one-way voice coil overhang method with no correction factors applied. **Efficiency (1W/1m) is not

an accurate indicator of a subwoofer’s output capability and should not be used as a comparison to other subwoofers to determine which one is “louder”. ***Re (DC resistance) is measured with the voice coils in series, for parallel-wired specification divide Re by 4. All other specifications remain the same.

SUBWOOFER SPECIFICATIONS

WIRING OPTIONS

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