jl-audio 8W6

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $350.00 from Daytona Audio

Year / Model Reviewed:
2005 coupe

Summary:
I am reviewing the 8.3 Microsub. JL Audio made three microsub enclosures in the mid-late 90's. There was the 8.1 which was a ported enclosured the smallest of the three microsub's this enclosure housed an 8w1 driver with a 100 watt RMS rating then there was the 8.2 microsub which is essentilay the same as the 8.1 but instead housed two 8w1's then the last microsub was the 8.3 which is totaly different than the other two as this enclosure is sealed and housed three of the legendary 8w6 subs with a 600 watt rms rating.
I have had the 8.3 microsub in and out of my cars for the last 8 years and it continues to put a smile on my face I have tried "upgrading" to bigger and more powerfull subwoofer's (13w7,13w6v2,two 10w6v2's etc) and always come back to the little microsub this subwoofer setup provides the tightest cleanest bass I have heard even after owning much newer subs and it is so incredibly small (only 8 inches deep) and when fits snug against the back seat giving me virtualy full use of my trunk, I can tell you right now it is very hard to find a subwoofer setup that provides good bass without taking up the trunk. I have tried giving the microsub diferent amounts of power (between 250-1000 watts)and this little enclosure definantly starts to come alie after the +700 watts mark currently I run a JL Audio 1000.1 to the litte 8w6's and it handles it beautifuly as long as all bass enhancements are turned off. I realy can't say enough good things about it it's so small and light (about 25 lbs) handles good power and plays every kind of music with accuracy not heard in most subwoofer setups if your looking to shake the neighborhood thios is NOT the setup to go with but if your looking to save space/weight and have some of cleanest sound for your music this is it.

Strengths:
Size,weight,power handling, sound quality

Weaknesses:
For people who like to show off thios subwoofer enclosure will not drop as low as they would want but for 8 inch subs they do a great job and give plenty of lowend for music listening.

Similar Products Used:
bazzoka,w7's,w6's. w6v2's,hx2's type r's

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
OK. I had two of these in a 1.0ft^3 ported enclosure in a Honda CRX. This was many years ago. I was hitting them with the bridged rear channels of a Phoenix Gold M44. They sounded great. Lots of output. I recently got a new car and decided to put a system in it. When I fell in love with the 8W6 years ago, I bought a few so I could stockpile them and always have them available for future systems. Glad I did. I put one of these woofers in a .3^ft sealed enclosure -- the smallest box size JLAudio recommends for this driver. I am feeding it witih 400 watts of clean power; twice it rated power handling. This single sub in its tiny enclosure easily outperforms the dual/ported setup I had years ago by a factor of ten. This sub truly came to life with 400 watts of power. It hits very deep notes with ease, and the output is enough to rattle everything in the car, including the brake and accelerator pedals when my feet are resting on them. If you are looking for a small sub in a small box with big output, this is the sub for you. I have a dozen in my shed right now. I will never use another sub in a car.

Strengths:
The most amazing 8" subwoofer ever. High output, high power handling, amazingly deep bass out of a tiny box.

Weaknesses:
They're not made anymore.

Similar Products Used:
a/d/s/ (fabulous), MTX (not so much), Rockford Fosgate (ummm... yeah)

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Price Paid:  $400.00 from audio shop

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1995 saturn

Summary:
The JL Audio 8W6 can be described very easily.....INCREDIBLE...I set out to get an system that had tons of power and bass while at the same time not taking up to much space in my car...I did lots od research on all the different subs (particulary 8inch) and JL seems to have the best I heard there W6 series was the best and there competition model....and they also discontinued them...had an hard time finding them but was lucky enough to find three of them ion an microsub box....these things are AWSOME....sound better than any 10 or 12 inch speaker I have heard.

Strengths:
These speakers play loud and hard and go very low,people will think you have 15's,and they take up no space in your trunk...I laugh at people who have speakers layed out all over there trunk and mine still sounds better

Weaknesses:
JL dicontinued the 8W6...they are hard to find,best bet is to look on ebay for them and grab them right away.

Similar Products Used:
JBL,Rockford,Alpine,Sony...none come even close

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Price Paid:  $100.00 from Malang City

Summary:
I have a used one 8w6 in my Katana GX. It sealed in a small and half rounded box. Very ease to hide it in my small jeep. I set it up along with Kenwood KRC 788 an amp Crossfire TEK 50.2. The excellence sound and deep bass is gathered. This is the best sub i''ve ever had. This sub is suitable for hard rock music.

Strengths:
sound, a tinny size,

Weaknesses:
poor distribution in Indonesia

Similar Products Used:
rockford; kef

Price Paid:  $300.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1990 crx

Summary:
The JLAudio 8W6 is hands down the best 8" sub ever made. I have installed 10W6's, 12W6's, and 15W6's in singles, pairs, threesomes, foursomes, sixsomes... They put out sick, sick amounts of clean, accurate, LOUD bass. If you are looking for good, deep bass without that "bass" sound that you cna hear 2 miles away, the 8W6 can't be beat. I had two in a ported box, and then switched to sealed ( and halfed my used airspace! ) and they simply pounded. Only fed each one about 100w and got very loud and very clean. Will *Always* use the 8W6 in every application for my wife and myself. No reason to choose any other sub. Paid $300 for a pair. If you are considering this sub, RUN, don't walk, to a shop and listen for yourself. Installed in a car, with a good amount of power, a pair of 8W6's will hit more like a pair of 12's from other companies.

Strengths:
Hugely accurate sound out of a ridiculously small enclosure. Massive power handling. Can easily take 400w of CLEAN power.

Weaknesses:
None. Foam surround? Well, I guess. But seriously, I've not yet found anything to complain about.

Similar Products Used:
Rockford Fosgate, Boston Acoustics, Lanzar. Are you kidding? JL. Hands down.