Aww. What a cute amplifier!

Any frequent customer of ours knows we like JL Audio.  We’ve carried JL Audio as a brand, completely, since 2004.  We sell every speaker line, subwoofer line and amplifier line.  We appreciate the product they design and produce as well as the company itself and how it doesn’t give us, the small business owner, a hard time.  If we aren’t given a hard time, neither is the customer.  With that said, I’d like to introduce you to one of our favorite JL Audio products.  This year alone has seen some exciting additions to their product lines.  In the future, we will address other JL Audio products as well.

JL Audio produces 4 different amplifier lines.  The JX, XD, the classic Slash V2 and HD cover every price line, size and needs most customers have.  I want to introduce you to one of their newer lines, the XD.  It’s a cute little thing.  I know men don’t like hearing that, but it is.  It’s about the size of a cigar box.   No longer do you need an amp the size of a dual, sub woofer box to run a sub or subs with real, clean power.  Not only are the XD amps cute in size but they have a few that can accommodate many different space and budget needs.  I enjoy seeing a man’s face curl up in disbelief of the XD’s abilities when I show them the amplifier as an option because women LOVE proving men wrong.

For example, the XD500/3 is a 500 watt, D class amplifier with 3 channels.  Depending on how you wire it of course, you have the ability to wire your sub woofer channel for 300 watts RMS and your 2 main channels for 200 watts RMS.  This will vary with your wire and ohm configuration.  This sweet little amp has allowed many customers to not have to choose between amplifying their door speakers or their sub woofer.  This one amplifier, clean and compact, will cost them around $420, depending on current JL Audio promotions.  You no longer have to worry about where 2 amps will fit nor how you will pay for 2 amps.  You no longer have to settle for only amplifying one part of the system and convincing yourself that one day, you’ll be back to finish it.  This amp has been a great upgrade option for customers who thought they wouldn’t be able to afford amplifying their mids and highs and it has been a fun way to convince people they could amplify the door speakers to begin with.

Why amplify the mids and highs?  The difference is you no longer have to turn the radio all the way up to hear more of your audio’s range or the music’s lyrics or to not hear yourself sing.  Amplifying your interior speakers allows for clearer and better sound in general but also at lower volume.  The idea that amplifiers will blow up your door speakers is false.   Amplifiers don’t kill speakers, people kill speakers; especially your 16 year old borrowing your car for the weekend.

Our, and by that I mean Chris’, philosophy for amplifying mids and highs is simple.  It is based on the range of sound and a bunch of technical jiggly goo that causes my eyes to glaze over.  It is a way to sell good quality audio to people who may have thought they had to buy a lot more and didn’t because of money constraints.  Simply put, when you are at a concert you are facing the speakers.  They are in front of you, maybe beside you, but they aren’t behind you.  With that in mind, and considering the size of the vehicle, we have allowed customers to go from pretty good sound that is better than factory to, “Wow, that makes a big difference!”

The XD500/3 has been popular for us this year because for the first time in years, compact vehicles are popular again.  Compact doesn’t just decrease the amount of fuel you consume but it lowers the amount of air space sound waves have to travel.  I cannot even begin to count how many coupes, small sedans and trucks have left this store with high quality sound and all they bought was a good quality pair of mids and highs for the front, a subwoofer or two for the rear and one, 3 or 4 channel amplifier.  We’ve had a few people resist the ideology of not replacing rear speakers but we have convinced them to consider a twist.  Chris will ask them, for example, “How much were you planning to spend on each pair of speakers?”  The customer usually replies with maybe, “$200 a pair”.  Chris then explains the whole concert philosophy and then asks, “If you feel like you need to replace your rear speakers then how about replacing them with a $100 pair of speakers and putting the remaining $100 into the front pair?”  This often creates an “ah ha” moment.  They will react as if to say, “What a great idea?”  It is a great idea.  Who is in the back anyway?  If there is someone back there it’s either someone temporary or a kid that is smearing food or spilling drink all over the backseat while you are still making payments on those seats.  You certainly don’t care if they are blown away by your sound.  You, the one still making payments, or justifying why you don’t want to make payments, do care.

Our thinking is, where do you listen to music the longest?  Do you drive an hour in traffic every day?  How often do you take the time to have a “Risky Business” moment in your living room?  I bet you listen to music a lot more often in your car than you do at home.  However, I bet you think spending money on your home audio is more acceptable.  Why?  So you can stare at your speakers while you’re helping with homework, folding laundry or trying to catch up on “Lizard Lick Towing”?  (That was a shout out to my peeps.)  You don’t need good quality sound for that stuff.   Enjoy your sound.  Enjoy your ride to work.  Enjoy your time spent in the carpool line at school or your time stuck in traffic.  Enjoy your audio for the first time and not care or notice how long you are waiting at the drive-thru.  With an iPod or any digital player in your car you can have your “Wayne’s World” moment anytime and it sound so much better than you.  Even better still; when you get rid of that food and drink stained car for a newer and cleaner one, the speakers, amp and sub woofer will most likely fit that newer version and you can keep on, keepin’ on.

As usual, we love, and by that I mean me, proving men wrong.  Call us or come by and check out our display and listen to your favorite music.  Get an idea of what we are talking about in person.  Don’t, however, ask me, which speakers are the best.  The best speakers are the ones your ears like the most; and the ones your wallet can afford.    There are many other JL Audio amplifier options, but this is the only 3 channel one, which is brilliant!  There are many other cute sized XD amplifiers from JL audio that will also fit many different needs.  Call us or email us with any questions.