Customer Ratings & Reviews

Awesome Value

This sub is awesome it looks simple and thats what i like about it. Theres more than meets the eye on this sub. It hits a lot harder than i expected and powered with the right amp it will be all you expected from this JL sub. I recommend this sub to anyone especially for the price listed. :D

Clean, Crisp and LOUD!

I have just ONE of these... It is hooked up to a 5 channel RF amp and it is getting about 360-365 watts rms power. I have it in a custom sealed enclosure which is 1.35 cubic feet. I used bass box pro to determine my box size. It is tuned to about 45hz. The sound is Crisp and Clean, no matter what I am playing. I like Rock, Country, Rap, Classical and Jazz. The bass is very clear.

I used to have Rockford 10s (2 of them) and they were loud, but not as crisp. This ONE 12 is Louder and Clearer than those 2 tens were. I have this in my Truck, so one is just fine... Does everything I want it to do.

I am more of a sound quality guy, and this sub is great for SQ. Although it will push some SPL as well... but I was mainly concerned about sound quality, so I went with this. From everything I have read on the W3, it is made for SQ, and so far, I couldn't agree with what I read more. Between the subs I have owned and what friends of mine have owned, I am familiar with the sound and capability of Rockford, RE, Alpine, Kicker, JBL, MTX, Boston Acoustic, and JL... So far this W3 is my favorite. The W7's are nice, but more than I cared to spend and require a much more powerful amp. The W7 is more for spl anyway. Rockford, Boston acoustic, and JBL, are definitely for spl, while this W3 seems to give the best SQ I personally have heard so far. AND, It still produces a good amount of spl.

This sub has seemed to get louder after I broke it in for a few days, and Now I am getting ready to turn up the amp. So far I really Love this sub, and if you read my review and see yourself in a similar category as far as what you are looking for, Then I would say to just get this. The price is good on sonic and it is worth every penny. I am very satisfied that I bought this sub. Very well made...

awsome!

I baught 2 of these last year from sonic and all i can say is WOW!!! jl really showed off and put there foot into W3. the sleek look and the power they can handle puts them way above the comp. be careful not to UNDERPOWER them because u will damage the voice coils!! must have them in the right enclosure for max output! would recommend to any one for medium to compitition grade!!

Bang for the Buck

I had the 12W3v2-D2 and loved them, well 5 years later and my stupidity while installing speaker covers (which were the wrong ones anyway) they got ruined, replacements were impossible to find. So I found a great deal at Sonic (local shops wanted an extra $100 a piece) and ordered them right away. Shipping was fast and right on! Installed subs, and loved them as much as my previous ones. After some break in, I noticed the bass was hitting a little harder than the previous version, even though they are only a single voice coil! I only have about 300 watts running to each sub(actually slightly less) and they still sound great! When I hooked my system up originally I wasn't looking for obnoxious bass, but turn these bad boys up and even with the little amount of power, they bang and bang hard!! Perfect for my enjoyment inside the vehicle, without the crappy sound on the outside of the vehicle, plus no worries about being pulled over!! If I have the money in the near future I would love to throw a class D 1000 watt amp to them and hear them really scream!!!!! BUY THESE SUBS AND SAVE SOME CASH!!!

Wow, this sub is amazing.

When I bought this sub, I thought I was gettin a good quality, mediocre sound quality and loudness subwoofer. WOW was I wrong. This sub KILLS my friends' Alpine Type-R's and Clarion 12" subs. It is amazing. The SPL is crytal clear, but it still gets loud enough to rattle my trunk. All of this is running at 300watts(which is RMS)! JL makes a great sub. Period. After my sub was installed, I had my friend come over with is 03' 325i with 2 12" Clarion subs. I asked him if his bass was all the way up and he said yes. I was SHOCKED. It hits twice as hard. no joke. This is without a doubt the best sub for the money, hands down.

Well worth it

Bought this sub to upgrade from a 12wx. Installed it in the box that the 12wx was in with the same Kicker 300.1 (351 watts at 2 ohms birth-sheet) and it hits easily twice as hard with much better better SQ without even being broken in yet. When the weather gets warmer I want to get a second one and build a custom box for the two and a new amp.

One con: For some reason the metallic badge thing on the front doesn't have the W3 logo on it, it just says JL.

great sub

I have two of these in a 95 camaro. I have a 1600 watt hifonics amp to them in a ported 3 cu box (1.5 per sub) and an orion hcca ten with a power acoustic ps2-2600 amp bridged to it and my setup hit about 154 DBs! Best sub for the money. I was never a jl fan until a friend talkd me into buying these.

JL Audio 12w3v3-2

This sub hit harder than you would believe. I have it in a self-made down firing box. Located in the back of my Jeep Wrangler. It's being pushed by a 500w mono JBL amp. The sub hit so hard I have to turn down the sub volume. Just keep in mind the size of your box is very important. Also don't stress too much over getting your settings for this sub just right. All speakers have to be "broke in" before you get there full potential. So you'll just be make more changes to your settings in about 30 days. In the end, I love this subwoofer!

Bang for your buck isn't a reality with this one.

This is an EXCELLENT driver, one of the best 12's for sound quality, i should know, i owned 2. But even better is the massive audio hippo. i got mine on sale months ago on sonic for the price of 1 W3 and it just hammers! It is very loud for one 12, but it has great sq. If you are on a budget, but want loud freakin bass without sacrificing sound quality, i recommend the hippo 122.

12W3v3-2

this sub is amazing, theres just no other word for it. im feeding it with 300 rms and sounds awesome, the bass is tight, deep, and clean. i also love the way the drums kick you with this sub. i have it on a sealed box that i also bought from sonic, sonic u are gr8!

Great Quality

The sound quality out of my JL is exactly what I have come to expect in clarity. If you have a larger vehicle get 2 12" I have one and its loud enough.

It kicks

I bought this trying to update the sound in my 2002 explorer. this was a winner move it kicks deeper and cleaner the sub that cost much more. I am even debating putting another one in the trunk to shake the car next to me at red lights.

Excellent Entry Level Sub

For the price of this subwoofer, you honestly can't beat it. It purely has the smoothest sound of any sub in its price range. Bass is tight and clean, no matter what genre of music you listen to. I can rock out with some double bass, or pound my ears with some heavy hitting bass. At 300 watts RMS, this thing will just not die! I have pushed this sub to my stereo's limits multiple times and it never falters to deliver perfect sound every time.

This Sub Booms

The W3v3-2 hits extremely hard, and is a great purchase. There isn't a better quality/louder sub on the market for cheaper. This is a great sub.

Loud as Hell

I have 4 of these in a sealed box on a Power Acoustik 5500 watt amp. These subs sound amazing nice clean clear bass. I can't cut it up past makes my head hurt there doing all this before there broken. They pound so hard within minutes my trunk didn't open from all da bass. I would recommend without a doubt.

JL Audio12w3v3-2

I bought this sub but have not installed. Very impressed with shipping and company easy to work with. the item is bran new and great shape easy installation.

Love this brand

Great sub! Love this brand.
The bass is soo tight and deep. The magnet in the back is heavy and big(which is good)

Great Value

Excellent Product at an unbellievable price. Very happy. Delivery was fast.

Great Sub

I thought at first they really werent gonna hit that hard just of cause of much the max wattage is but i was totally wrong till i heard them for the first time that day i went out to my local music shop and bought their solid bass hits clear and crisp

Amazing!

i would recomend this sub to anyone who wants clear deep bass and top of the line quality. Just installed two of these in my nissan titan and when i turned them on they blew me away! whether you enjoy fast bass lines in a rock song or deep bass of a rap song, these will pick up every beat! Hit HARD for being relatively shallow subs. JL is the way to go! end of story.

JL AUDIO 12 IN

I would and have recommended this product. Very good quality sound. amazing deal.

WOAW!!!!

good BASS!!!!! very very loud!!!! i got too many tickets with these bad boys!!!! CLEAN SOUND I DO RECOMMEND!!

JL Audio

I purchase this Sub a couple months ago and it has great sound quality !

LOVE IT!!!

Love this sub! I have 1 of these in a sealed box with a JL XD600/1 Mono amp running this at 2 ohm. Hits super hard and very clean. The low frequency bass is amazing.

Great sub

This sub is amazing! So deep and quick to respond. I didn't buy them from Sonic but I wish I would have. Love this website and love the subs.

Excellent subs for the price!

I recently purchased two of these to replace some cheap no-name subs I was using temporarily. They are mounted in a sealed enclosure with 1.4ft^3 for each sub and I've got them wired up at 1ohm, pushing 450w rms to each. These things pound!!! Not only do they put out tons of bass, but the sound quality is fantastic as well. I highly recommend these subs and you cannot beat the price!

Clear sub

I power this sub with D1200 Orion amp and let me tell you this Sub is so clear. JL rules!!. I will get a second one... this has SQ and bit SPL. Enclosure? , JL specifications sealed enclosure. Clean, Clean clean... Amazing

best sounding woofer i have ever had.....

Highly recommend this driver. I have read about how people think it can't handle power, it has a poor cooling system, blah blah blah. Listen, power it up right and this speaker sounds great, and it will last you a long time.

Hits low notes like a 15. Couldn't believe it when I first heard it. The sound quality is outstanding, and for a 500 RMS driver, it gets impressively loud. Can't image having a w6 or w7. I will never purchase anything other than a JL product ever again.

Using an RE audio amp at 560 RMS in a sealed Sonic box with 1.48 cubic feet, I asked several reputable installers and technicians, and every one of them said this speaker is such high quality that it can take about 100 watts over RMS continuously.

good sound, terrible quality & reliability

After receiving a pair of w3's from a friend, i listened to them, they failed, and I then ripped them apart and here's what i gathered. JL fans, don't read this.

PROS: the sub's SQ is superb when its working. cone seems to work well, as well as the surrounds. cage is non-resonant. spider seems average and works decently. terminals are great and hold wire really well and look professional. lead wire is average size for most mainstream subs. also, the whole woofer just looks pretty.

CONS: serious lack of venting; easily melts coil/ separates it from its former. the only venting is through little spaces between the motor and basket that are about the size of a quarter slot for a gumball machine. its former is made of some nonsense layer of vinyl (thinner than computer paper), so the coil easily separates from it and forms a rats nest under harsh conditions. the coil is around an inch in diameter (seriously? its a 500 watt sub..); this also means there are pretty much no recones available for the ridiculous coil size except through JL, and if you haven't already noticed, all of their products cost serious $$, so i'm sure recones are no different.

OVERALL: its a "decent" sub, but definitely not what you should expect from a 500 watt sub at this price. its crappy design and materials are somehow overlooked by people simply because it says "JL" on the front. for this price range (speaking from personal experience, not word of mouth), i recommend you get an RE se-x or an AQ sd2.5. both outperform the w3 in pretty much every way, and both have many recones available.

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS? if you want a clean looking sub that performs well and you have a small, good quality amp (like most reviewers said, they loved the sound on 300 watts), then yes. the w3 was made for older people (non-teenagers LOL) who want straight up sound quality and don't push their subs very hard. JL's subs sound amazing when a modest amount of clean power is put to them. however, i cannot stress enough that these subs CANNOT take abuse. if you have an amp that truly pushes 500 watts or more and you plan on listening to this sub heavily, dig an early grave for the JL w3 because it will die in a short period of time.

smooth yet potent.

I've always heard about how excellent JL is, but I had never had the chance to listen until about 6 months ago. This pair of 12's is without a doubt the best money can buy before you go spending thousands of dollars for multi thousand Watt w7's. The tone range is clean and constant. They hit harder than Mike Tyson. They are more than enough for general use. But there is no need for me to review, if you are considering these subs, you already know what you're in for. Have fun. Enjoy responsibly.

JL 12w3

I had an 1800W amp and this sub hooked up it was gettin 900W and it hit soooo hard... only problem is was that after 3 weeks or so the bump wore down and it didnt hit near as hard since... It worked great before this happened. Sonicelectronix has the best price on audio I looked everywhere and I had the best service here at their site

Quality

I'm using just one of these for my pickup and it's perfect. Not overpowering, just the right balance... though if i want i can get a lot of bass out of it.

stick with kicker

Bought 1 sub with alpine 500 mono amp. Blown it in 5 days. Weak speaker. JL's are known to hit hard but are very weak. Blast your sub for 5 or 10 min ur sub will get hot and smelling burnt. They are the most blown subs even the W7's blown easily, too. Stick with Kicker. Last longer and doesn't blow that easily.

great products for low prices

sonic electronix items are genuine at a very fair price....they also ship crazy fast...

Best in class!

I highly recommend this sub. Clear and POWERFUL! Capable of tight bass for rock and country but also will bump with the best to rap and hip hop. It doesn’t need as much power as similar subwoofers to produce the same volume and bright clarity.

By Cade on May 17, 2020 Verified purchase

Skull pounding bass!

I installed this sub in a 1.3 cf sealed box. Mounted securely on four sides in the trunk of a 2000 VW Jetta. It is more than enough bass and hit for all needs. I had to turn down the bass control on amp and radio. I would recommend to anyone. Great value. Thanks Sonic Electronix.

By alan on May 2, 2017 Verified purchase

Perfect sub for my application

Have a JX 500/1D pushing this thing...Just to be upfront, I have gone through two of these over the last 4 years. The first one was great, but I pushed it a little too hard (albeit it was probably my fault, playing bass tracks to see how low it could go!). The second one I have had for two years and it is still going strong. It hits hard in such a small box (1.125 cu ft) and produces nice, clean, powerful bass. Couldn't be happier. Best sub I have owned thus far.

By Nate on February 11, 2016 Verified purchase

Can’t Beat JL Audio

As expected, it sounds great!!! Such clean and loud bass!!! Gave the Value 4 stars only because I still think they could be more affordable with the competition… But I get it, they’re at the top for a reason.

By Pooji on March 22, 2023 Verified purchase

Sweet sound

I bought 2 of these recently hooked up to a HiFi Zeus 1200.1 amp. At first I was skeptical because I didn't make adjustments until I had it on at low volume. As I tinkered with it more (raise this, lower that) I finally had it set to match my head unit. I was a die-hard kicker and fosgate fan....not anymore. These 2 subs blew those boys out of the water. Much cleaner sound, much deeper bass (even at low volume), after I broke them in they sound even better. Since FI and AA is way out of my budget, these are solid until I can afford my unicorn. I highly recommend these to Bass heads on a budget. A decent amp and these..... beautiful. It's been. 5 months now and zero complaints from me !!!

Awesome sub

I am powering it with a Jl rd900/5. At two ohms it’s getting 500rms and I think it pounds. For just one sub if produces a ton of clean bass. I have it in the sealed enclosure recommended on the data sheet.

Great value

I recommend this speakers they are great I bought 1and installed it on my o5 gmc yukon I'm thinking of buying one more 12w3v it's a great speaker

Best subwoofer you can get for both the price and only 500w rms

This sub hits absolutely accurate and as hard as you want it to. I have it hooked to my rd500/1 amp and it's PERFECT for it. No clipping. No distortion, and the sound is just so on point. I love this sub. It's actually the 3rd one I've owned, and I keep coming back to it! That has to tell you something.

By Robert l on December 20, 2024 Verified purchase

W3

It sounds much better than the WO handles more watts good sub

By Brok on April 11, 2026 Verified purchase

Amazing subwoofer

I wouldn’t buy anything else ! JL has been and is still one of the top brands I go to, expensive , but you get what you pay for! And this 12w3v3-2 definitely shines!! Lows are deep! At moderate power. I am pushing slash 500/1v1 amp on it and that’s all it needs

By Jacek on January 7, 2025 Verified purchase