Hey guys, I just bought a 12inch JL 12w3 sub in a ported enclosure. I have no clue what impedance it is thou. How can I find out if its 2 or 4 ohms?

 

Digital Multi Meter. You can find one at Canadian Tire that works like a charm.

You could pop the woofer out of the box. The model number is probably on the back of the magnet...

 

Ya I'm sure its got the model number on the back, I just don't really wanna take it out of the enclosure.

Thanks for your advice thou! I'll probably drop by CT tomorrow and pick one up!

 

so i guess ur out of the question for my 13w3 now

 

uh quick note about the DMM, though it will give you the impedance i think the reading you get will depend on the wiring of the sub ie 2 2 ohm coils wired in parallel will give you 1 ohm, so you might think its a 1 ohm voice coil. your best bet still is to take it out of the box, but TragicMagic has more posts than me so he ranks higher than i do so if he says something else just do what he says

 

It really doesn't matter whether its a dual voice coil or not. What you really want to know is what the final impedance is.

For curiosities sake, if its a 12W3v3 then it will be either a single 2 ohm or single 4 ohm, therefore having the same final impedance respectively. If it is an older model then it will be a dual voice coil, final impedance of 1 or 4 ohms is a dual 2. Impedance of 2 or 8 are dual 4 ohm.

 

Ok, I'll just take it out of the enclosure tomorrow and check for sure. I think its just gonna be easier that way.

 

hahahaha

 

Alright, so I got the sub out of the enclosure and its a JL 12w3-D6 sub. What kind of impedance am I looking at and what would be a good amount of power to give it?

 

It's a dual 6ohm voice coil sub run it paralleled at 3ohm and any decent quality 4ohm mono stable A/B amp will run it just fine.......the sub will handle 500w no problem.....good score.....