Support Overview / Car & Marine / Car Speakers / Subwoofers / W12GTi MkII
W12GTi MkII

W12GTi MkII

4000-Watt, 12" Differential Drive Subwoofer

Sold from 2006 until now

Predecessor Product: W12GTI
Made in: China

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Product Specifications

Size
12
Series
Gti
Peak Power
4000W
Power Handling (Peak)
4000W
Nominal Impedance
3 or 12 ohms
Frequency Response
18Hz–1kHz ±3dB
Power Handling (RMS)
700W
Sensitivity
(2.83V@1m) 91dB
Mounting Depth (in)
10-1/4
Mounting Cutout Diameter (mm)
280
Mounting Depth (mm)
260
External Diameter (mm)
312
External Diameter (in)
12-1/4
Mounting Cutout Diameter (in)
11
Mounting Depth
10-1/4 inch (260mm)
Cutout Dimensions
11 inch (280mm)
Driver Radiating Area
(Sd – in2/cm2) 74.3/480
Magnetic Gap Height
(Hag – in/mm) 1.0/25.4
Voice Inductance
(Levc – mH) 0.75 (parallel VC connection)
Voice Coil Height
(Hvc – in/mm) 2.6/66.04
Suspension Compliance
(Cms – ?m/N) 135.28
Voice Coil
vDual 6-ohm Differential Drive®, 3" (76mm) diameter
Compliance Volume
(Vas – ft3 / l) 1.58/44.75
Maximum Excursion
(Xmax –in/mm) 0.8/20.32
Vented Polepiece
Yes
Progressive Spider
Yes
Surround
Nitrile-butylene rubber – one-piece with gasket
Low-Frequency Transducer
12" (305mm) Kevlar®-impregnated paper cone
Total Q
(Qts) 0.51
Diecast Aluminum Frame
Yes (vented)
Motor Force Factor
(Bl – Tm) 14.64 (parallel VC connection)
Electrical Q
(Qes) 0.55
Voice Coil DC Resistance
(Revc – ohms) 3.2 (parallel VC connection)
Mechanical Q
Q (Qms) 6.68

Completely rethinking how to create great bass from a 12" subwoofer.

The JBL® W12GTi MkII 12-inch (300mm) subwoofer is nothing short of amazing. Using technology from JBL’s professional audio division, where subwoofers have to fill large venues like stadiums and movie theaters with incredible bass, this subwoofer takes a completely new approach to moving air in a car. It all starts around the patented Differential Drive® Design (US patent no 5,748,760 and other patents pending) motor, which uses light and agile opposed 3-inch (76-millimeter) voice coils in a neodymium magnetic gap to provide completely linear control of cone excursion all the way up to Xmax. Symmetrical Field Geometry™ design ensures linear cone travel and low distortion at virtually any output level. Surrounding the proprietary motor design are other high-tech materials, including a cast-aluminum frame, Kevlar® cone, a nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) one-piece surround, gold-plated speaker-terminal binding posts, progressive spider and vented pole piece. This subwoofer handles an amazing 4,000 watts peak power (700 watts RMS), and all of its parts work in harmony to cool the voice coils for maximum output. This sub is one of the best car subwoofers that money can buy. It’s the 12-inch reference standard. Nothing else even comes close.

JBL engineers designed the W12 GTi MkII subwoofer to produce uncompromising, mammoth bass from an amplifier capable of delivering up to 4000 watts of power. This is nothing short of incredible. What’s more incredible is not just how much power this subwoofer can handle but how it handles the power by using patented, high-tech materials. In the end, this sub is the 12-inch (300-millimeter) reference standard for car audio subwoofer technology. Nothing else even comes close.
JBL W12GTi MkII subwoofers employ Differential Drive Design (DDD), a patented technology developed by the JBL Professional Audio Division. Differential Drive Design employs two 3-inch (76-millimeter) voice coils, each suspended in a separate magnetic gap. At low power, both voice coils drive the subwoofer’s cone, and any motor nonlinearities are cancelled. As power input increases so that one coil rides completely out of its gap, the other coil still applies force to the cone for significantly higher power handling.
One of the breakthroughs in speaker design is the use of neodymium instead of heavier ferrite materials. Typically, audio makers use small amounts of neodymium in tweeters and midrange drivers. JBL engineers use generous amounts of neodymium in the W12GTi MkII subwoofer to ensure much greater magnetic-energy density. As a result, this subwoofer provides superbly accurate cone movements. It delivers a high degree of control that is virtually without comparison among car subwoofers.
The Kevlar fiber is a well-known composite material that the military and law enforcement use for bulletproof vests and combat helmets. JBL W12GTi MkII subwoofer uses this rugged material in its cone. Since Kevlar material is extremely lightweight yet rigid and stiff, it’s the ideal cone material to move large amounts of air without flex or distortion.
Nitrile butadiene rubber – commonly known as NBR – is a tough industrial gasket material. W12GTi MkII subwoofers use a single-piece surround and mounting NBR gasket that provides a complete seal between the front and back of the subwoofer – an essential design feature when you consider the high pressure levels that develop within subwoofer enclosures. NBR is also environmentally stable under a wide range of conditions and temperatures, which ensures that the subwoofer will replay sound in your car equally well during the summer or winter.
JBL engineers designed the W12GTi MkII subwoofer’s proprietary die-cast aluminum frame from the ground up. Unlike the “off the shelf” frames in some other subwoofers, this sub’s aluminum frame features significant venting and heatsink fins to add power handling. And since aluminum is a rigid material, it keeps the critical voice-coil components in perfect alignment while they travel through the linear-excursion range.
The W12GTi MkII subwoofer’s progressive spider provides restoring force to the cone in varying degrees, depending on the amount of excursion – hence the name progressive. The spider allows the cone to move easily under subtle music conditions, which results in a more musical subwoofer. By progressively adding more restoring force as movement increases, the spider ensures that the cone travel is always controlled, under even the highest excursion conditions.
Conventional dual-voice-coil woofers use a pair of voice coils wound on the former and layered over the top of one another, and then both voice coils are centered in the speaker’s magnetic gap. The W12GTi MkII subwoofer’s voice coils rely on a push-pull system, each using its own magnetic gap. The two coils may be connected in series or in parallel to maximize an amplifier’s output power. A Differential Drive Design (DDD) motor relies upon magnetic braking, which prevents damage from over-excursion.
Tinsel leads carry ab audio signal into the voice coil. Because the W12GTi MkII subwoofer’s tinsel leads are fully insulated, you need not worry about any arcing or electrical shorts. It’s just one more detail that makes this subwoofer such a mechanical wonder.
The W12GTi MkII 10-inch (250-millimeter) subwoofer features rugged, gold-plated binding posts for the speaker-wire connectors that accept the large-gauge wire commonly associated with high-power subwoofers. With positive terminals placed on one side and negative terminals on the other, this subwoofer features a unique jumper system: A single input terminal connection is needed for parallel (3-ohm) or series (12-ohm) configurations.

Images & Videos

W12GTI II - Black - 12 inch Differential Drive Design Subwoofer - Hero
  • W12GTI II - Black - 12 inch Differential Drive Design Subwoofer - Hero
  • W12GTI II - Black - 12 inch Differential Drive Design Subwoofer - Front

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