JBL GT5-12: main picture thumbnail JBL GT5-12: alternate picture thumbnail JBL GT5-12: alternate picture thumbnail JBL GT5-12: alternate picture thumbnail

JBL GT5-12

12" Single 4 ohm GT Series Car Subwoofer

  • 4.5

(17 reviews)

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$119.95

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$99.95

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Big Bass

For anyone who likes to crank it up in the car, the new JBL 12" high-output GT5-12 subwoofer is the real deal. The JBL GT5-12 subwoofer features a single 4-ohm voice coil and a vented motor structure, and offers 1100 watts of peak power handling. The GT5-12 also features JBL’s newest design, combining classic elements with modern ones.

All-New Design

The GT5-12 follows the design of the more-expensive JBL subwoofers, combining classic elements with modern ones.


Significant Power Handling Capabilities

The GT5-12 handles 275W/1100W (RMS/Peak) power and offers nearly 20 percent higher Xmax than many competitors.


Increased Reliability

With its fully vented motor structure and rubber-coated tinsel leads, the GT5-12 is able to withstand even the most intense bass assault.


Dual-Stacked, Oversized Magnets

Unlike competing entry-level subwoofers, the GT5-12 is based on a solid motor structure featuring two large magnets covered by the classic JBL rubber ring.


General Features:

  • 12" Single 4 Ohm GT Series Subwoofer
  • Power Handling:
    • Peak: 1100 watts
    • RMS: 275 watts
  • Impedance: Single 4 ohm
  • Polypropylene cone woofer
  • Rubber surround
  • Rubber coated tinsel leads
  • Vented motor structure
  • Single 4 ohm voice coil
  • Dual-stacked, oversized magnets
  • Frequency response: 27-450 Hz
  • Sensitivity: 90 dB
  • Authorized Internet Dealer
  • 1-year Manufacturer's warranty

Product History:

JBL GT5-12 thumbnail
(newest, current model)
JBL GT4-12 thumbnail
(previous model, replaced by JBL GT5-12)

Sonic Electronix, Inc. can only ship JBL products within the United States of America.

Subwoofer Specifications
Subwoofer Series GT
Subwoofer Size 12"
Peak Power Handling 1100 watts
RMS Power Handling 275 watts
Voice Coil(s) Single
Impedance (Per Voice Coil) 4 ohms
Voice Coil Diameter 2"
Frequency Response 27 - 450 Hz
Sensitivity 90 dB
Xmax (millimeters) 14.2 mm
Subwoofer Design Round / Circle
Main Cone Color Black
Silver
Woofer Composition Polypropylene
Woofer Surround Rubber
Magnet Structure Double Stacked
Subwoofer Grille No
Re-Cone Kit Available No
Recommended Enclosure Specifications
Recommended Enclosure Type Ported / Vented
Sealed
Minimum Sealed Box Volume 1.0 cubic feet
Maximum Sealed Box Volume 1.0 cubic feet
Minimum Ported Box Volume 1.75 cubic feet
Maximum Ported Box Volume 1.75 cubic feet
Top-Mount Depth 6-7/16"
Cutout Diameter 11-1/4"
Shallow Mount Installation No
Electromechanical Parameters
Free-Air Resonance (Fs) 29 Hz
Equivalent Compliance (Vas) 54.2 liters
Total Speaker Q Value (Qts) 0.58
Electrical Q Value (Qes) 0.64
Electrical Resistance of Voice Coil (Re) 4.00 ohms
Mechanical Q Value (Qms) 6.39
Warranty and Return Policy
Return Policy Standard Return Policy
Parts Warranty Duration 1 year
Labor Warranty Duration 1 year
Warranty Provider Manufacturer
Customer Review Summary for JBL GT5-12
Average Customer Rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars:
  • 4.5
based on 17 Reviews
Share your thoughts with others:
Rating Distribution:
5 star:
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65%
4 star:
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18%
3 star:
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18%
2 star:
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0%
1 star:
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what's this?
Average Attributes Rating:
Durability
  • 4.5
4.5
Value
  • 4.8
4.8
Features
  • 4.4
4.4
Design
  • 4.6
4.6
Usability
  • 4.8
4.8
what's this?
Quick Comparison:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews:
March 27, 2011 Personal Experience Says This Is One Excellent value
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Review by
Hamiltonian Bass Fiend from Lincoln, NE
Overall
  • 5.0
Durability
  • 5.0
Value
  • 5.0
Features
  • 4.0
Design
  • 4.0
Usability
  • 5.0
Hi, everyone, welcome to this review. Let me start this off with just telling a little bit about myself and my audio background. Being an Electrical Engineer, efficient and well-thought out design is key to any and all products which I consume. I've gone through the all the stereo in a boxes and decided to step things up and design a home system from the ground up each component carefully hand picked on a budget of $500 for the whole system.

The system: This 12" rated subwoofer driver was chosen to go into my hand built 3/4" MDF ported 2.05 cubic foot enclosure (not including port or driver displacement). It is driven by an MB Quart Discus 4-channel A/B amplifier with channels 3 & 4 bridged, feeding 320 watts of rated power. The amp feeds off a 400 watt continuous rated DC power supply. Though I rarely take advantage of all the available power.

Performance: While I only have personal experience with a few budget subwoofer drivers, I am a musician with a keen ear for sound nuances (I'm also somewhat of a bass fiend). I own earbuds and headphones that produce very flat sub bass curves, easily down to 20 hz, these can outdo any 12" subwoofer driver in below 35 hz sub bass, So I know what to look for. After more than 100 hours of listening with every possible musical genre, I can say that this performs as well as expectations. My main focus in a sub driver was to have very accurate and LOW frequency reproduction. Now, anyone with experience in these matters knows that ratings don't necessarily line up with reality. (Notice there is no threshold mentioned [such as +/- 3 dB]... vague ratings are hard to get an accurate idea of actual performance. However other reviews around the internet, along with the a look at the manufacturer supplied frequency response graphs, seemed to also give me the impression that this driver stands above the rest in low frequencies. Now, it all depends on the acoustic environment obviously. A car is much friendlier to low frequency reproduction than a big room, hence the reason for choosing this driver. Using my own tests with test tones and the sub placed optimally for the listening vantage point to be squarely in an anti-node for very low sub-bass frequencies (below 40 hz), I came up with, to my ear, about 33 to 35 hz accurate frequency reproduction and topping out slightly above 100 hz --- this is with the threshold being half the peak volume. As far as I know this is quite good for a setup such as mine. A 12" Pioneer sub of equal cost and same setup was much higher at this threshold (about 40-42 hz). At sub frequencies this low, the difference is very noticeable in bass music tracks, and even in the low rumble of a concert bass drum, however metal/rock/country/pop or what have you, the difference will be unnoticeable.

In summation: this driver performs very well at it's intended purpose low frequency reproduction, in the price range of less than $100. If you intend to burp out 40-70 hz bass at incredible dB, you could probably do better (get a low-end kicker model or some such, they might handle more power, but it seems some of those drivers don't respond well in ultra sub-bass). Very happy with this purchase.
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August 8, 2009 Awesome sound and underrated RMS power handling.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Review by
matthew from callahan, FL
Overall
  • 5.0
Durability
  • 5.0
Value
  • 5.0
Features
  • 5.0
Design
  • 4.0
Usability
  • 5.0
these subwoofers really really kick out the tunes. the powerhandling is way underrated and the can definitly handle more power than they say. i currently have them wired for 2 ohms and 1000 watts RMS between 2 of these and now my rear view mirror looks down when i crank the volume. these subs really get the job done and sound clean and undistorted the whole way through. also, they produce low notes beyond the rated 27Hertz.
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April 17, 2009 Best bang for the buck
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Review by
Jason from Watertown, MA
Overall
  • 5.0
Durability
  • 5.0
Value
  • 5.0
Features
  • 5.0
Design
  • 5.0
Usability
  • 5.0
A subwoofer with 14mm of REAL xmax for this price is unbelievable. It wasn't long ago a subwoofer of this quality would set you back quite a lot. The build quality is excellent from the heavy gauge stamped basket to the rubber coasted tinsel leads. All of the glue joints seemed neat and clean, I have no reason to believe this sub won't last me the life of my car.



In my opinion this woofer is completely underrated at 275W RMS. A 2" coil with vented pole piece means thermal compression should be minimal. A large linear throw, and progressive spider to handle high power transient peaks means the woofer is mechanically robust. As long as you have a moderately sized sealed enclosure or a PROPERLY designed ported box 400-500W should be no problem for this beast.



I've been running two of these in a sealed enclosure (1cf per sub no fill) with 300W RMS of class AB power. They're as efficient as any subwoofer I've used before, and handle everything down to 20Hz with plenty of control. The haven't struggled with anything I've thrown at them and just sound darn good with all types of music.



The only thing I don't like is the cheesy plastic dust-cap. I liked the old orange JBL logo with the peak wattage stamped proudly in large font. Oh well, nothing is perfect.
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July 14, 2012 this is best in price
Review by
reza from iran, Hong Kong
Overall
  • 5.0
Durability
  • 4.0
Value
  • 5.0
Features
  • 3.0
Design
  • 4.0
Usability
  • 5.0
I have 2 of these subs and I have them in a closed box powered by 800w rms and MARVEL me.
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November 1, 2011 More impressed than the rock P1 or P2
Review by
SB from Los Angeles, Cali
Overall
  • 4.0
Durability
  • 3.0
Value
  • 5.0
Features
  • 5.0
Design
  • 5.0
Usability
  • 5.0
Was quite surprised in the sound quality and the difference in the bass that it produced compared to the difference surface design of my Rockfords.

Personal fan of the type R but will def do for a replacement and for time being.
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View All 17 Reviews for JBL GT5-12
Subwoofer Grilles
Protect your subwoofer while making your enclosure look great! These subwoofer grilles are the perfect addition to your new subwoofer.
  Product Price Add?
12" Universal Subwoofer Grille 12" Universal Subwoofer Grille
Protect your subwoofer with this aluminum grille that is simple to install.
$18.99
Speaker Wire
Choose from our recommended speaker wire to hook up your amplifier to your new subwoofer. The higher quality of speaker wire that it used for this connection, the better your subwoofer will sound.
  Product Price Add?
15 ft. of 12 AWG StreetWires Speaker Wire 15 ft. of 12 AWG StreetWires Speaker Wire
This SuperCable from StreetWires is a noise free link between your amplifier and your subwoofer.
$24.99
20 ft. of 12 AWG Kicker Speaker Wire 20 ft. of 12 AWG Kicker Speaker Wire
Kicker uses twisted pair technology and hyper-flex cable to provide you with the cleanest sound and a simple installation.
$39.95
Sound Dampening Material
Get the most sound out of your new subwoofer with some high quality sound dampening material. It will keep the road noise out and the music inside the car.
  Product Price Add?
Dynamat Rubber Roller Dynamat Rubber Roller
Install your Dynamat with ease! This heavy duty rubber roller is designed specifically to install your Dynamat!
$18.99
Dynamat Xtreme Trunk Kit Dynamat Xtreme Trunk Kit
Get better sounding bass from your new subwoofer with enough Dynamat Extreme for your entire trunk.
$93.99
Enclosure Accessories
These accessories are designed to help you build the custom enclosure that you have always wanted, or add to the box that you already bought. Either way, these products can assist you in achieving better sound, better looks, and more bass!
  Product Price Add?
20 oz. Bag of Poly-Fil 20 oz. Bag of Poly-Fil
Polyester fiber fiberfill adds better bass to your system.
$5.99
16 oz. Can of Adhesive Spray 16 oz. Can of Adhesive Spray
Spray adhesive used for adhering carpet to subwoofer boxes without bubbles.
$5.99
Binding Post Terminal Cup Binding Post Terminal Cup
Use this to easily install a binding post terminal to your subwoofer enclosure.
$4.99
Banana Clip Terminals Banana Clip Terminals
These high grade banana clips allow you to plug into your banana clip ready terminal for a secure connection.
$4.99
Installation, Tools & Accessories
Don't forget to get the tools and accessories that will help you install your new subwoofer in your vehicle. Whether you opt for the professional installation card or the do-it-yourself method, you will need the following to help you out!
  Product Price Add?
Car Stereo and Speaker / Subwoofer Installation Tool Kit Car Stereo and Speaker / Subwoofer Installation Tool Kit
Includes Test Light, Crimp/Splice Tool, Multi-bit Screwdriver and more.
$14.99
System Optimization and Tuning
Use these items to assist in testing and tuning your new car audio system to perfection!
  Product Price Add?
Scosche SPL Meter Scosche SPL Meter
Monitor the noise level of your new car audio system with this SPL meter measuring from 60-135 dB.
$24.99
AutoSound 2000 CD-101 AutoSound 2000 CD-101
Low frequency test CD
$12.99
AutoSound 2000 CD-102 AutoSound 2000 CD-102
High frequency test CD specifically designed for the set-up and evaluation of sound system imaging and placement.
$12.99
AutoSound 2000 CD-103 AutoSound 2000 CD-103
Audiophile reference series test disc for evaluation of all audio components.
$12.99
Main Product
  Product Price Add?
JBL GT5-12 JBL GT5-12 $99.95

For more information on wiring subwoofers, visit our Subwoofer Wiring Guide: Subwoofer Wiring Guide

Product Summary

Manufacturer: JBL
Model number: GT5-12
UPC: 050036119412
Weight: 16.00 lbs
Internal SKU: gt512
Internal product ID: 10580