Aerial SW12 or JL Audio F113 music/surround sub

I have 2 SW12 subs that perform great for both stereo and A/V.
System - Aerial 20T, Theta Citadel amps, Theta VIII pre/DAC, Theta Compli transport.

I am a dealer for both subs . I have 2 sw 12 subs in an Aerial 20 T system as well. I have directly compared the sw 12 to the JL FL13 . The Aerial is better for music as it is fast , articulate and has rich timbre capability. The JL is better than I initially thought . After some experimenting I was able to get a smooth frequency output and liked what I heard. It is as good as the Aerial for theatre applications. It has a touch more bottom end slam. Overall, if I had to choose , I would go with the Areial as it excells in music and does theatre very well. If it was a theatre only decision , it would be more difficult.

Thanks Brian. The concern I have with the JL audio F113 in my system is too much extreme low frequency which is great with movies but too heavy in the bottom end for music. My Theta dealer told me to crossover my Aerial 9 speakers at 40hz with a 24 slope which will let my front speakers do some of the low end work & the 24 slope will give the JL F113 more definition. What is your suggestion to get a smoother midbase out of the F113? Thanks. Robert

One of the nice features of the JL over the Aerial is the mic - calibration feature and this takes some of the guess work out of attaining a smoother frequency response synergy between the two. Look , the JL is a good sub , esp for the money. You will not be disapointed. If you cant swing the Aerial sub the JL is a good second choice though a Rel would be my personal selection.

Be careful re placement. Against convential wisdom, I do not like corner placement of subs.

Be careful re placement. Against convential wisdom, I do not like corner placement of subs.

I agree - corner placement seemed to get me more/louder bass, but at the price of clean, well defined bass...just my experience.

I had a REL Storm III sub to augment the low end of my Wilson WP7's and rolled them off at 30 Hz as I do with my JL Audio F113. IMO both subs do a great job on blending in with the WP7's, probably because I only use them to pressurize the room. The F113 has a lot more adjustments than the REL and needs them. I spent a lot of time adjusting crossover point, rolloff rate (I use 24db/octave), phase control, and then using the microphone to eliminate the highest room mode. The REL just seemed to blend in without much work. That being said, the F113 has a lot more bass impact. I never heard the Aerial sub so I cannot comment on it, sorry.