JL Audio 8W0, 6W0 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.

6WØ 8WØ

Subwoofers

owner’s manual

JL AUDIO LIMITED WARRANTY (USA)

Automotive Subwoofer Components

JL AUDIO warrants this speaker to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the original date of purchase, contingent

upon installation being performed or approved by an authorized JL AUDIO dealer,in writing, on the original sales receipt. If the preceding condition is not met,

the warranty term is limited to ninety (90) days from the original purchase date.

This warranty is not transferrable and applies only to the original purchaser of the product from an authorized JL AUDIO dealer. Should service be necessar y under this warranty for any reason due to manufacturing defect or malfunction, JL AUDIO will, at its discretion, repair or replace the defective product with new or remanufactured product at no charge.

Damage caused by the following is not covered under warranty: accident, misuse, abuse, product modification or neglect, failure to follow installation instructions, unauthorized repair attempts, misrepresentations by the seller. This warranty does not cover incidental or consequential damages and does not cover the cost of removing or reinstalling the unit(s). Cosmetic damage due to accident or normal wear and tear is not covered under warranty.

Any applicable implied warranties are limited in duration to the period of the express warranty as provided herein beginning with the date of the original purchase at retail, and no warranties, whether express or implied,shall apply to this product thereafter. Some states do not allow limitations on implied warranties, therefore these exclusions may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state .

If you need service on your JL AUDIO product:

All warranty returns should be sent to JL AUDIO freight prepaid through an authorized JL AUDIO dealer and must be accompanied by proof of purchase (a copy of the original sales receipt.) Direct returns from consumers or non-authorized dealers will be refused unless specifically authorized by JL AUDIO with a valid return authorization number. Warranty expiration on products returned without proof of purchase will be determined from the manufacturing date code. Coverage may be invalidated as this date is previous to purchase date. Return only defective components. Non-defective items received will be returned freightcollect. Customer is responsible for shipping charges and insurance in sending the product to JL AUDIO. Freight damage on returns is not covered under warranty. Always include proof of purchase (sales receipt).

For Service Information in the U.S.A. please call:

JL Audio customer service: (954) 443-1100 during normal business hours (Eastern Time)

JL Audio, Inc

10369 North Commerce Parkway, Miramar, FL 33025

International Warranties:

Products purchased outside the United States of America are covered only by that country’s distributor and not by JL Audio, Inc.

Printed in USA JL6-8WØ-02-2003

MEDIUM GRAY (MINIMUM):

From a reliability standpoint, this zone represents a very comfortable operating power range for each driver. This level of power will not stress the woofer but will not extract all of its performance potential, either.

Use of less than the minimum power level will not damage the woofer, but may result in unsatisfactory performance.

LIGHT GRAY (OPTIMUM):

This zone represents the best compromise between long-term reliability, high-output and low-distortion performance and is centered on each woofer's continuous power rating (as published in its specifications). In this zone,you will be taking full advantage of the woofer's optimum, low-distortion performance range without undue risk of failure.

DARK GRAY (MAXIMUM):

In this zone, low-distortion output and long-term reliability will be compromised (especially by an aggressive user). Slightly more SPL will be gained by pushing the power into this zone, but typically not more than 2dB, compared to the light gray zone. The closer you are to the black zone, the higher the likelihood of driver failure. Operate with caution.

BLACK (WARRANTY VOID):

We do not recommend operating woofers at this level of power. In this zone, there is a very high probability that the driver will fail due to excessive heat and/or mechanical stress.

Subwoofer drivers operated at these levels of power are NOT covered under warranty.

JL Audio offers an extensive line of high-performance subwoofer drivers to fit a wide variety of enclosure and power applications. When designing systems with our drivers, it is very important to achieve a good power match between the subwoofer amplifier and the subwoofer driver's capabilities. The power levels listed in the above chart represent continuous (RMS) amplifier power per woofer and assume that the user will regularly make full use of that power without dr

astically

overdriving the amplifier(s). Make sure you factor system impedance and the total number of subwoofers into your calculations. Adhering to these power

recommendations will result in systems that are both reliable and enjoyable.

6WØ

1W 30W 60W 125W 250W

8WØ

MINIMUM

OPTIMUM MAXIMUM

LEGEND:

WARRANTY VOID

RECOMMENDED CONTINUOUS (RMS) POWER RANGE FOR ONE SUBWOOFER DRIVER:

• The enclosure recommendations listed above

are external dimensions which assume the use of 3/4" (19mm) thick material. If you are using

5/8" (16mm) thick material, subtract 1/4" (6.5mm) from each dimension. Do not use any material with a thickness of less than 5/8" (16mm) as this may compromise the rigidity of

the enclosure.

• All enclosure volumes listed above are net internal volumes! Driver displacement, por t

displacement and brace displacement must be added to obtain the final gross internal volume. All enclosure dimensions above have already taken this into acount.

• When using multiple subwoofers in a common enclosure you will need to recalculate the enclosure and port dimensions. For assistance please contact your authorized JL Audio dealer or JL Audio Technical Support at 954-443-1100.

• To obtain a 4Ω mono load using three 12Ω WØ’s you must wire all three subwoofers in parallel.

• We recommend the use of this speaker in a

bi-amplified system using high-quality satellite speakers and a high-quality amplifier. We do not recommend the use of this subwoofer with a passive crossover (coil), as this type of device will adversely affect performance.

• All specifications are subject to change

without notice.

WØ EXPLODED VIEW... ANATOMY OF A WINNER

Large diameter,

progressive roll flat

spider for outstanding

mechanical control

and alignment

Patented “VRC” vented

reinforcement collar

greatly improves

structural integrity and

voice coil cooling

Massive six-layer

(8-layer for the 12ΩWØ)

voice coil on Kapton

former for superior

thermal powerhandling

Sealed Polypropylene Dust Cap

Large roll, foam surround provides superior centering at high excursions

Prolonged exposure to sound pressure levels in excess of 100dB can cause permanent hearing loss. This high-performance speaker can exceed this level. Please exercise

restraint in its operation in order to preser ve your ability to enjoy its fidelity.

When installing a subwoofer in your vehicle, it is extremely impor tant to secure the enclosure firmly. We recommend bolting the enclosure through the metal of the floorpan or the frame of the vehicle with large diameter washers for reinforcement. If an enclosure is not firmly attached, it can become a projectile in a collision.This is par ticularly impor tant in a hatchback, station wagon, sports utility vehicle, or van.

SUBWOOFER SEALED ENCLOSURE PORTED ENCLOSURE

Volume External Dimensions Volume External Dimensions Port

(net int.) (Width x Height x Depth) (net int.) (Width x Height x Depth) (Inside Diameter x Length)

6WØ-4

0.175 ft

12" x 7.25" x 7" 0.25 ft

9" x 8" x 11.5" 1.5" x 9.3"

5.0 litres 305mm x 184mm x 178mm 7.1 litres 229mm x 203mm x 292mm 38mm x 236mm

6WØ-8

0.175 ft

12" x 7.25" x 7" 0.25 ft

9" x 8" x 11.5" 1.5" x 9.3"

5.0 litres 305mm x 184mm x 178mm 7.1 litres 229mm x 203mm x 292mm 38mm x 236mm

6WØ-12

0.175 ft

12" x 7.25" x 7" 0.30 ft

10.75" x 8" x 11" 1.5" x 7.8"

5.0 litres 305mm x 184mm x 178mm 8.5 litres 273mm x 203mm x 279mm 38mm x 198mm

8WØ-4

0.375 ft

16" x 9" x 8" 0.75 ft

11.75" x 10" x 17.75" 2.5" x 12.4"

10.6 litres 406mm x 229mm x 203mm 21.2 litres 298mm x 254mm x 451mm 64mm x 315mm

8WØ-8

0.375 ft

16" x 9" x 8" 0.75 ft

11.75" x 10" x 17.75" 2.5" x 12.1"

10.6 litres 406mm x 229mm x 203mm 21.2 litres 298mm x 254mm x 451mm 64mm x 308mm

8WØ-12

0.375 ft

16" x 9" x 8" 0.75 ft

11.75" x 10" x 18" 2.5" x 13.5"

10.6 litres 406mm x 229mm x 203mm 21.2 litres 298mm x 254mm x 457mm 64mm x 343mm

RECOMMENDED ENCLOSURES

CAUTION

2 JL AUDIO 6WØ/8WØ JL AUDIO 6WØ/8WØ 3

SUBWOOFER: 6WØ-4 6WØ-8 6WØ-12 8WØ-4 8WØ-8 8WØ-12

Free Air Resonance (Fs): 36.7 Hz 38.8 Hz 41.7 Hz 31.9 Hz 32.2 Hz 30.7 Hz

Electrical “Q” (Qes): 0.503 0.50 0.535 0.447 0.579 0.484

Mechanical “Q” (Qms): 9.028 8.059 7.261 9.029 9.029 9.029

Total Speaker “Q” (Qts): 0.477 0.471 0.498 0.426 0.544 0.460

Equiv. Compliance (Vas): 0.342 ft

0.342 ft

1.02 ft

9.68 litres 9.68 litres 9.68 litres 28.9 litres 28.9 litres 28.9 litres

One-way, Linear Excursion: 0.298 in 0.280 in 0.277 in 0.266 in 0.292 in 0.274 in

(Xmax) 7.6 mm 7.1 mm 7.0 mm 6.8 mm 7.4 mm 7.0 mm

Efficiency (1W/1m)*: 81.6 dB 82.3 dB 83.0 dB 85.0 dB 84.0 dB 84.2 dB

Effective Piston Area (Sd): 20.9 in

20.9 in

33.8 in

0.0135 m

0.0218 m

DC Resistance (Re): 3.42Ω 7.28Ω 11.59Ω 3.30Ω 6.40Ω 10.23Ω

Nominal Impedance: 4Ω 8Ω 12Ω 4Ω 8Ω 12Ω

Power Handling (continuous): 75W 75W 75W 75W 75W 75W

Mounting Depth: 3.5 in 3.5 in 3.5 in 4.063 in 4.063 in 4.063 in

89 mm 89 mm 89 mm 103 mm 103 mm 103 mm

Mounting Hole Diameter: 5.625 in 5.625 in 5.625 in 7 in 7 in 7 in

143 mm 143 mm 143 mm 178 mm 178 mm 178 mm

Driver Displacement: 0.019 ft

0.019 ft

0.023 ft

0.5 litres 0.5 litres 0.5 litres 0.6 litres 0.6 litres 0.6 litres

*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”. All other specifications remain the same.

SUBWOOFER SPECIFICATIONS