2018 JL Audio system tuning WOW

[larry_arizona]

I had my SA in for the 20 hour service, only complaint was the JL system was slightly disappointing, Dealer said they would tune it.

It sounds incredible now!!!!! Something clearly was off from the factory.

Bass and clarity will rattle your teeth now with no distortion.


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[MJHSupra]

Nothing like the feeling of the filling coming loose.

[KnoxMojo]

I had my SA in for the 20 hour service, only complaint was the JL system was slightly disappointing, Dealer said they would tune it.

It sounds incredible now!!!!! Something clearly was off from the factory.

Bass and clarity will rattle your teeth now with no distortion.


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What did they tune? Amps or settings in ice, or both?

[larry_arizona]

Amps for sure. Not sure what else.

I was getting significant distortion at about 40% out of the tower speakers and sub.

Had it up to 60% in the driveway and it’s was crystal clear, no distortion and strong bass.


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[KnoxMojo]

Amps for sure. Not sure what else.

I was getting significant distortion at about 40% out of the tower speakers and sub.

Had it up to 60% in the driveway and it’s was crystal clear, no distortion and strong bass.


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Awesome, on our demo, it was clear as a bell, so I should be good

[larry_arizona]

I got 3 songs that will test your system.

Linkin Park “Lying from you”
Future “low life”
Machine Gun Kelly “til I die”

If you get no distortion on these 3 you are doing great.


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[KnoxMojo]

I'll check them out, thank you

[Edo88]

Closer by kings of Leon is a good one as well


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[kharb]

I have the same issue with my 2018 SR. Looks like I’m going to be playing with the amps this weekend.

[larry_arizona]

Spent some more time playing with sound system tonight.

1) use the preset equalizer settings, rock and jazz work best in my opinion. Manual EQ is not very friendly.
2) on the zone control, I don’t like 100% for each zone. For example, wake setting I have 10% front, 10% rear,100% tower, 100% sub
3) honestly anything over 60 volume is incredibly loud and I am sure others on the lake will hate you.

The more I discover on the JL system, the more I love it.

It’s making sense now why the big boys use JL Audio.




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[kharb]

Larry_arizona,

Spent some time messing with the amps and settings this weekend. I’m setup now similar to your settings you mentioned. It definitely gets loud now. I think it sounds better but I’m still not completely happy with it. My system from my wakesetter just seemed to sound much higher end to me. I expected a lot more out of a 10 year newer system in the SR.

Few questions:
1. What are using as an input source? I’m playing off my iPhone and have tried BT, USB, and Aux. The latter seems to sound the best to me.
2. Do you get a loud “thump” (or as my wife calls it “thunk”) when you start the boat through the speakers?
3. If you turn the music off, can you hear white noise? We can clearly hear a loud white noise through the towers and the dash tweeters.
4. What battery setting do you use (1, 2, 1+2]?

Now that I type this, I wonder if I have ground issue...

Kharb

[larry_arizona]

1)IPhone X Bluetooth
2)Yes I get the thunk at start up
3)slight white noise
4)battery 1 mostly sometimes 2

What sound system options do you have in the SR?

I think the SA has 2 more cockpit 6.5”’s

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[kharb]

You're correct. The SA has 2 additional 6.5" speakers, I believe by the driver's knee and opposite in the passenger seat. I have to give mine a little more on the zone control for front and rear (~40% vs your 10%). Otherwise, I think the SA and SR systems are pretty much same if you get the same upgrade package. I have the 1.2W package (sub and 2 JL towers). It was my dealer's demo so he selected everything (and gave me an offer I couldn't refuse after my Malibu sold). I thought I would've wanted the extra 2 towers but, after turning the gain (input sensitivity) up on the tower amp, I'm thinking they would've been way overkill.

Still want to solve the white noise issue. Off to research if I can do anything about it. Thank for the reply!

[larry_arizona]

Seems several 2018 owners get the “thunk” on start up. SR, SA, SL included


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[KnoxMojo]

I had my SA in for the 20 hour service, only complaint was the JL system was slightly disappointing, Dealer said they would tune it.

It sounds incredible now!!!!! Something clearly was off from the factory.

Bass and clarity will rattle your teeth now with no distortion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Hey Larry, any chance you could ask your dealer what they did for your system? Mine sounds pretty clear, no on/off thunk, thank goodness, but not much out of the sub. Would like to tune it some to wake it up before jumping right to replacing it. Thanks.

[larry_arizona]

Hey Larry, any chance you could ask your dealer what they did for your system? Mine sounds pretty clear, no on/off thunk, thank goodness, but not much out of the sub. Would like to tune it some to wake it up before jumping right to replacing it. Thanks.

Will do, I will call tomorrow and report back


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[Broke Pilot]

First thing, don’t crank your gains up indiscriminately! It’s not a volume knob! It’s to match the level for the ICE box.
To properly tune the Supra’s by ear, set the EQ to flat, pull all the RCA’s (leave one set in at a time) and tune one set of speakers at a time. Each channel and set of speakers is going to be different. From what I’ve found, the ICE is only good to about 70 on the volume before it sends a distorted signal which is normal.
I set mine to 65 max, then tuning one set of speakers at a time, turn the crossover all the way down (left) if in high pass mode. Then turn the gain up until you can hear it distort and then back it off a touch. Start adding the crossover back in, 6.5’s shouldn’t be getting anything lower than around 100-120hz signals IMO. Test the volume at 65 again for distortion.
Do that for every pair of speakers, even the sub, but turn the crossover all the up (right) since you’re in low pass mode.
That’s how to tune by ear.
The Hissing at low volume I’m convinced is from the ICE box having a different ground. (Among it’s many other issues) if you can get under there and run a new ground wire to the amps or the battery the amps are powered off of will hopefully stop the hiss. Haven’t had time to run one on mine yet. Mine doesn’t have the on/off thunk, but moving the ground over should help stop that also. Generally that happens when the amps get the trigger signal to turn on before the head unit is ready.

Hope that helps. Tuning that way will let your speakers live a happy long life!

[larry_arizona]

Talked to dealer tech,

Slightly increased gain on sub and tower channels and simply used the preset rock or jazz equalizer settings. I had the bass and treble eq settings much higher and that was no Beuno.

This system exceeds my expectations now.
LOVE IT.

I agree with BP, I cant physically take much more than 65 on the ICE. It hurts at that level.


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[KnoxMojo]

BrokePilot, thanks buddy. I am not a rookie to the stereo game, have tuned many boats, including my last with a full Exile install, but I do appreciate the heads up. Larry answered my question as I am new to this ICE system and all the settings and how it works. The stereo has been pretty dialed in by the dealers best guy as it was their boat show demo boat. Just wanting to make sure I get the best sound out of the sub as possible being that it is only a 10".

[larry_arizona]

My sub THUMPS!!!!


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[Ryann]

Question, where are you guys setting your bypass filters to? Factory had the m880s at 60hz, and the 770s at 80hz. I’m interested to hear what you guys set your filter on for the towers.

On tuning, I can’t audibly hear distortion until it’s really bad. JL amps have a specific tuning procedure using a voltmeter and a 1 kHz sample track. You can also use a distortion detecting tool. I’ve used both and the gains worked out to be set in the same exact spot. No distortion below 75 volume. The ice box put out NO distortion even at 100% volume. That’s according to a distortion detection tool. One weird thing is that over Bluetooth, I get distortion when setting the phone to full volume. No distortion of I back it off one click of volume from full.

SMD distortion tool...

[MLA]

I get distortion when setting the phone to full volume. No distortion of I back it off one click of volume from full.

Phone volume on max absolutely kills the sound quality. The other thing is the phone internal EQ. We suggest the be set to off or flat, no custom settings like rock, jazz, etc. These are tuned for earbuds, not full range systems.

[Prospersigman]

Phone volume on max absolutely kills the sound quality. The other thing is the phone internal EQ. We suggest the be set to off or flat, no custom settings like rock, jazz, etc. These are tuned for earbuds, not full range systems.

I couldn't agree more. I can hear the distortion on my SL stereo when my phone volume is at max. I turn my phone down 3 clicks from the max, leave it there and control with boat stereo. I can run up to 100% without distortion with these settings. I will tell you that 4 JL 8.8" tower speakers, with the 2 10" subs, 4 8.8" cockpit speakers with 3 JL amps running it all is a huge improvement over the stereo that was in my 17 SA.

[Ryann]

I couldn't agree more. I can hear the distortion on my SL stereo when my phone volume is at max. I turn my phone down 3 clicks from the max, leave it there and control with boat stereo. I can run up to 100% without distortion with these settings. I will tell you that 4 JL 8.8" tower speakers, with the 2 10" subs, 4 8.8" cockpit speakers with 3 JL amps running it all is a huge improvement over the stereo that was in my 17 SA.

That setup SCREAMS. Do you anchor and play music often?

I'm curious how long your batteries are lasting powering all that equipment. I want to say mine came with two group 27 batts. I haven't found the time limit on even one battery....

[Prospersigman]

We anchor and jam for 3-4 hours sometimes a little longer after surfing 1st thing in the morning. After I throw out the box anchor I switch the battery switch to battery 1 and have never had a problem. After we jam out and drink for a few hours I switch it back to 1+2 on the switch and head out for the earlier evening surf sesh.

Not sure I have found the limit either, but it lasts long enough for us and blows my buddies Nautique and Malibu system away so we typically jam my system.

The 8.8" cockpit speakers are amazing...I'll take 4 of those instead of the six 6.5" cabin speakers I had before.

[MLA]

Id suggest not finding the limit of both. Kind of defeats the purpose of having 2 banks. :p