I knew that these JL Audio "Flat" (shallow mount) subwoofers have been in the plans for a while, but I figured they were just comparable competition for the other flat subwoofers from Pioneer, Clarion, Rockford, Kicker, etc. And usually these flat subwoofers have pretty mediocre performance because they are limited by how they have to be built, and this is why I don't have any of these "flat" subwoofers in my truck. But these JL Audio Thin-Line TW5 subwoofers from JL Audio appear to be taking flat subwoofers to a new level. I think these subs will really open up some doors for those of us who want powerful bass, but are limited to building a shallow sub enclosure.
I talked to Steve Duffield, the Technical Support Manager at JL Audio. He told me a lot about these new subs. And I was really surprised by some of the specs. These woofers appear to put all other “flat” woofers to shame. The TW5 subs have a stronger motor than the equal size W7 subwoofers!
All previous flat subwoofers have a stamped steel frame. The TW5s have a cast aluminum frame. The voice coil is huge (7”dia.), which is twice as big as any other flat subwoofers voice coil. The TW5s are rated at 500 watts for the 12" and 600 watts for the 13.5". They are 3 ohms, which should help squeeze a little more power out of your amp, compared to a 4 ohm sub. The Xmax (excursion) is greater than any other flat sub, and it's also greater than lots of conventional build subwoofers too. And they do this all while being shallower than any other flat sub. Fitting these in any truck should be easy, even regular cabs. The enclosure air volume they require is less than most other flat subwoofers too. According to Steve, the TW5s are going to have about the same output as the W3v3 and have the sound quality of a W6v2.
A lot of work and research appears to have gone into making these subs, and I really look forward to trying one out. I've owned lots of JL Audio products in the past and I've always been impressed. I think these new Thin-Line subs will be impressive as well. I plan on getting a 13TW5 as soon as it's available in April.
http://mobile.jlaudio.com/jlaudio_pages.php?page_id=213
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