how ofter do manufacturers upgrade subs line

R

romantic

Junior Audioholic
i'm looking for a sub now and will probably get jl audio; however, the fathom series came out in 2004 so it's been about 5 years already. i'm worried about buying the sub now and they come out with the upgraded model.

please advice

Thanks
 
bandphan

bandphan

Banned
i'm looking for a sub now and will probably get jl audio; however, the fathom series came out in 2004 so it's been about 5 years already. i'm worried about buying the sub now and they come out with the upgraded model.

please advice

Thanks
There is no way to tell for sure when they will. Some times its drivers, sometimes software,sometimes cabinets. If your going to get a JL, dont worry you get a great anyway.
 
R

romantic

Junior Audioholic
i see a lot of f112 and f113 selling at audiogon right now that's why i'm worried if they are coming out with sth new

btw, i still take your recommendation on f110 but i'm thinking about 112 or 113 as well cuz the prize different is not much at all, especially 112 and 113. i mean street prices
 
J

jostenmeat

Audioholic Spartan
Um, I don't think it was released as early as '04. The dealer who started the official JL sub thread at AVS didn't even receive his first demo until Oct '06. Anyhoo, the JL rep over there stated this recently:

". . . there are no plans in the short-term to upgrade the f113 as our resources are currently focused on other projects. Once some of those are done, we will revisit the entire Fathom lineup, but this will probably be in 2011.

Best regards,

Manville Smith
JL Audio, Inc."
 
R

romantic

Junior Audioholic
Um, I don't think it was released as early as '04. The dealer who started the official JL sub thread at AVS didn't even receive his first demo until Oct '06. Anyhoo, the JL rep over there stated this recently:

". . . there are no plans in the short-term to upgrade the f113 as our resources are currently focused on other projects. Once some of those are done, we will revisit the entire Fathom lineup, but this will probably be in 2011.

Best regards,

Manville Smith
JL Audio, Inc."
Should i wait for 2011 or get it now? i can do both so i dont know which will be better.
 
J

jostenmeat

Audioholic Spartan
Should i wait for 2011 or get it now? i can do both so i dont know which will be better.
Uh. I dunno. Two years, or more, is a long time to be without subwoofer. I don't know what he exactly meant by "revisiting", but maybe that's when they start researching, and not even producing. Who knows.

If you are dead set of JL, and were in fact thinking of the 10", yeah I'd go for the 12" if the size/money is ok with you. The 13" will get you more efficiency, and more power, but the 12" maintains linearity in the higher registers much better than the 13", for better implementation with bookshelves.
 
R

romantic

Junior Audioholic
This is the newly designed sub from the company I get my speakers from. I realy don't know much about designing subs, but the old design they have has been around at least for 10 years. Maybe with a few changes, but nothing noticeable. These I did not audition yet. Teir top model puts out a max of 128db.

http://www.sourcespeaker.com/-_HVS_subwoofers_blue_back___7-23-09.pdf
if nothing noticeable changes in about 10 years, i will definitely get a sub now :)

thx for the info
 
R

romantic

Junior Audioholic
Uh. I dunno. Two years, or more, is a long time to be without subwoofer. I don't know what he exactly meant by "revisiting", but maybe that's when they start researching, and not even producing. Who knows.

If you are dead set of JL, and were in fact thinking of the 10", yeah I'd go for the 12" if the size/money is ok with you. The 13" will get you more efficiency, and more power, but the 12" maintains linearity in the higher registers much better than the 13", for better implementation with bookshelves.
in fact i did, but i'm leaning toward 112 or 113 cuz of the price different.

i'm not sure if i should go with 112 or 113. ive got KEF XQ30s for my fronts. my room is 20*7.5*8 but has open area including everything would be about 2500 cu.ft. I still have a lot of things to get to complete my system but that will be after a few years. Getting a sub is the last thing i could with my budget now.
 
lsiberian

lsiberian

Audioholic Overlord
i'm looking for a sub now and will probably get jl audio; however, the fathom series came out in 2004 so it's been about 5 years already. i'm worried about buying the sub now and they come out with the upgraded model.

please advice

Thanks
The W7 drivers in their subs are an engineering acheivement few companies have made. They are among the best in the world and there is very little room for improvement.

There are literally a handful of drivers that can get the SPL of these drivers without distorting.

The 8w7 is the greatest 8" sub I've ever seen. You'd make no mistake by purchasing a JL Audio sub.
 
lsiberian

lsiberian

Audioholic Overlord
Uh. I dunno. Two years, or more, is a long time to be without subwoofer. I don't know what he exactly meant by "revisiting", but maybe that's when they start researching, and not even producing. Who knows.

If you are dead set of JL, and were in fact thinking of the 10", yeah I'd go for the 12" if the size/money is ok with you. The 13" will get you more efficiency, and more power, but the 12" maintains linearity in the higher registers much better than the 13", for better implementation with bookshelves.
Don't underestimate these drivers. The 10" is better than a lot of 12" subs out there.

If you have tools and woodworking skills. You can build these subs for a far lower cost.

A JL Audio 12 costs 450 for the driver.
 
walter duque

walter duque

Audioholic Samurai
[
QUOTE=romantic;601123]if nothing noticeable changes in about 10 years, i will definitely get a sub now :)
This model seems to be the first minor change in design that I have noticed. Maybe before the amps and drivers improved over time, but some of the cabinet designs have not changed that much. It's not a major purchase that is absolete in a year or two. I have one sub for 15 years and it can still hang with the best. So what ever you buy you're good for a long time.
http://www.sourcespeaker.com/Sublist-2.html
 
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F

fredk

Audioholic General
The W7 drivers in their subs are an engineering achievement few companies have made. They are among the best in the world and there is very little room for improvement.
While I would agree with this statement, it is worth noting that there has been a lot of advancement in the world of subwoofers in the last few years and there are now a handful of manufacturers that produce drivers that rival the JL line.

It would be cool if somebody out there were able to do klippel testing on a number of drivers to verify this, but thats not likely to happen (the klippel is an expensive piece of equipment).

To the OP. I wouldn't wait two years for potential improvements. I would also pay attention to Jostenmeat's suggestion of the 12 vs 13. The slam that people often complain about missing is produced by the upper end of a sub (greater than 80Hz). There is more to a sub driver than how low it reaches and many pro-drivers are known to deliver a lot of slam for music because they have so much headroom at the upper end of their range.
 
cwall99

cwall99

Full Audioholic
i'm looking for a sub now and will probably get jl audio; however, the fathom series came out in 2004 so it's been about 5 years already. i'm worried about buying the sub now and they come out with the upgraded model.

please advice

Thanks
Besides, if you get something at the end of it's model's life span, you have a great opportunity to pick it up at a substantial discount. I bought my B&Ws (granted, they aren't subs) from a local dealer when he was clearing out his 600-series merchandise to make room for the new 68x series. I got his demo models for 35% off. Warranty was as new, and, from what I've heard, I think the 603s sound better than the 684s that replaced them, but that's just me.

It's just like car manufacturers ... buying last year's model in August tends to get you a pretty good discount.
 
E

Ed Seedhouse

Enthusiast
I bought my B&Ws (granted, they aren't subs) from a local dealer when he was clearing out his 600-series merchandise to make room for the new 68x series. I got his demo models for 35% off. Warranty was as new, and, from what I've heard, I think the 603s sound better than the 684s that replaced them, but that's just me.
I don't know if they sound better than the 684s, but I sure am glad I bought 603s. They showed my what is possible with stereo imaging.
 
annunaki

annunaki

Moderator
The Fathom line will not be upgraded until they produce a driver that exceeds the performance envelope of the W7 based units.

JL will not upgrade for the sake of saying its upgraded or a new model. They only upgrade when there is a true performance gain. in this case an inprovement over their existing driver technology.
 
lsiberian

lsiberian

Audioholic Overlord
While I would agree with this statement, it is worth noting that there has been a lot of advancement in the world of subwoofers in the last few years and there are now a handful of manufacturers that produce drivers that rival the JL line.

It would be cool if somebody out there were able to do klippel testing on a number of drivers to verify this, but thats not likely to happen (the klippel is an expensive piece of equipment).

To the OP. I wouldn't wait two years for potential improvements. I would also pay attention to Jostenmeat's suggestion of the 12 vs 13. The slam that people often complain about missing is produced by the upper end of a sub (greater than 80Hz). There is more to a sub driver than how low it reaches and many pro-drivers are known to deliver a lot of slam for music because they have so much headroom at the upper end of their range.
Most certainly. The TC Sounds subs are better drivers, but The list is very short. Especially when you throw in the cost and size elements.

To the OP. both 13" and 12" drivers model essentially the same. So I'd just go with the 12 inch due to it's smaller box, and lower cost. You'll only lose 2db at 20hz. Which is insignificant.
 
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R

romantic

Junior Audioholic
The Fathom line will not be upgraded until they produce a driver that exceeds the performance envelope of the W7 based units.

JL will not upgrade for the sake of saying its upgraded or a new model. They only upgrade when there is a true performance gain. in this case an inprovement over their existing driver technology.
Thanks a lot annunaki. this helps clear my doubt a lot. i don't think JL audio would do things like that, but somehow i was worried about nothing :p

Most certainly. The TC Sounds subs are better drivers, but The list is very short. Especially when you throw in the cost and size elements.

To the OP. both 13" and 12" drivers model essentially the same. So I'd just go with the 12 inch due to it's smaller box, and lower cost. You'll only lose 2db at 20hz. Which is insignificant.
Thanks again lsiberian. Now i can finally get going on the last piece for my budget :eek: Too bad tho it's not complete system yet and i would need at least 2 more years to get going on this again :(

Anyway, Thanks a lot all of you guys for help me get this done beautifully. I'm now very happy with the sound and will be happier with the sub :p
Seriously, i couldn't imagine how true sound was like when i was with Bose.
 
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