JL Audio Dominion d110 Powered Subwoofer

Powered Subwoofer with 10-inch Driver & 750 Watt Class D Amplification

JL Audio Dominion d110 Powered Subwoofer

Powered Subwoofer with 10-inch Driver & 750 Watt Class D Amplification
From $1,099.00
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Overview

Born from JL Audio’s vast collection of advanced technologies, Dominion® powered subwoofers combine a state-of-the-art Subwoofer and an advanced Class D amplifier to deliver unmatched performance and value for a wide variety of compact applications.

The High Notes
A Lot of Tech Packed Inside

A Lot of Tech Packed Inside

JL Audio’s Exclusive DMA Technology, VRC, FCAM, and more all live inside this compact sub.
Incredible Start/Stop Ability

Incredible Start/Stop Ability

The high excursion woofer can move 2.7 inches from peak to peak and is capable of starting and stopping on a dime.
Peak-to-Peak Excursions Over 2.5 Inches.

Peak-to-Peak Excursions Over 2.5 Inches.

Thanks to the DMA technology inside, this subwoofer can produce high output levels with no audible distress or distortion.

JL Audio makes some of the best car, boat, and home theater subwoofers. In fact, their most expensive home theater sub, the g213 v2, is a whopping $20,000. However, in this article, we will look at the opposite end of the spectrum and review their entry-level sub, the Dominion d110.

In the early ’70s, Jim Birch and Lucio Proni, two college friends, started to build loudspeakers as a hobby. Their passion quickly became a business when they realized people wanted to buy their speakers. By 1975, they combined the first letter of each of their names and created JL Audio, a speaker company that, over the last 50 years, has become one of the most well-respected audio companies in the world. Today, their subwoofers are known for their powerful performance, outstanding build quality, and being built in the USA with global components.

Jim Birch and Lucio Proni

Design & Build Quality

The JL Audio Dominion d110 is a 10-inch powered subwoofer designed for home theaters and two-channel applications. The cabinet is carefully engineered and constructed using solid, CNC-cut MDF with multiple braces on the inside. It comes in a black ash finish or a black gloss finish. Be sure to check the prices of each finish, as they will vary in price, so you can save a few bucks by choosing one over the other.

JL Audio Dominion d110 Subwoofer on floor beside a counter

We unboxed a d110 in gloss black and immediately noticed its solid construction and beautiful exterior. It is a sealed cabinet about 13 inches tall, 12 inches wide, and 16 inches deep. And it’s a rather compact ten-inch subwoofer that won’t take up much space. It weighs in around 40 pounds, which is a testament to the high-quality materials and components it was constructed with. On the front is a matte black steel baffle plate that is actually part of the driver and that takes up almost the entire face of the subwoofer, providings a rigid launch platform for the long-excursion driver. There are four holes to slot in the mesh grille to cover up the entire front if you prefer that look. All of your controls and inputs live on the back. You get an LP Filter that you can turn on and off, an LP Frequency (Hz) dial with adjustments from 25 to 130, a master level dial, a phase (deg.) dial that goes from 0 to 280, and a polarity switch for 0 or 180 degrees. Below the huge heat sink on the back are speaker level inputs, line level inputs, a wireless link input, a switch for grounded or isolated, and the power input.

If any of these switches or knobs are confusing or you don’t know how to set them up, we’ve got you covered.

JL Audio Dominion d110 Subwoofer back panel view

When you purchase your JL Audio sub from Audio Advice, not only do we offer free shipping, lifetime support, and a price guarantee, but we also can have our home theater experts available to help you along the way to make sure you have it set up perfectly so you know that you’re getting the most out of you purchase.

Features & Technology

Let’s get into some of the tech that makes the d110 unique. Inside, you have a 750-watt Class D amp with a tightly regulated switching power supply that allows the amp to generate massive amounts of unclipped output voltages. This ensures the sub stays within its comfort zone, which is well beyond where most smaller subwoofers run out of power or driver capability.

In between the amp and the driver is a DMA Optimized Motor. DMA, or Dynamic Motor Analysis, is JL Audio’s proprietary behavior modeling system, used to understand linearity under real power. This system was developed in 1997 and has been refined over the years. It has played an important role in the design of all the current JL Audio subwoofers. A lot of research and technology has gone into the DMA system that we won’t go into here, but if you’re interested in how it all works, check out our in-depth article at audioadvice.com, which we will link below. All you really need to know is that the end result of the DMA system is vastly reduced distortion, higher output, and tight, clean, and articulate bass. As a result, it's capable of peak-to-peak excursions over 2.7 inches without audible distortion. Quite impressive!

JL Audio Dominion d110 Subwoofer cutaway view

JL Audio also uses a Vented Reinforcement Collar (VRC), which is meant to improve the rigidity and stability of the cone, spider, and voice coil junction, which will reduce glue breakdown and material weakness. It also directs the airflow over the voice coil windings for improved thermal performance. This may seem like a small detail, but it dramatically increases its reliability to ensure this subwoofer lasts a long time.

No matter how perfect a company tries to get their production part dimensions, it’s inevitable to have some slight variations in all of these small detailed parts. To help solve this, JL has created its FCAM or Floating Cone Attach Method. This is an innovative method of bonding the surround/cone assembly to the voice coil former/spider assembly, which helps ensure the concentricity of the surround, spider, and voice coil without torquing the suspension and providing precise alignment and pistonic movement. Essentially, it prevents any slight variation in one of the production products from negatively impacting the integrity of the suspension and coil-centering at high excursions.

Managing the lead-wires on a long-excursion woofer can be a challenging aspect of its design. Many long-excursion woofers rely on a simple solution that simply weaves the lead-wires into the spider of the driver. However, this can affect the spiders' stretching behavior and lead to reliability issues over time. You can use a “flying lead” to overcome those issues, but they also come with unique challenges. So JL Audio has patented their Engineered Lead Wire System, which is used in the d110. They use flying lead-wires but are carefully engineered inside entry and exit support structures molded into the terminals and the voice coil collar. This is a much more labor-intensive approach, but ultimately gives you reduced distortion, reduced mechanical noise, and improved reliability.

JL Audio Dominion raw driver

Performance

We set up this sub with a pair of Sonus Faber Lumina II bookshelf speakers and a Rotel S14 integrated network streamer. We did plug in via line-level, but we also want to note that you can use JL Audio’s JLINK TRX system to wirelessly connect your sub anywhere in your room up to 100 feet away.

Sonus Faber Lumina II bookshelf speaker on a stand in front of a plant and brick wall
Rotel S14 integrated network streamer on a counter

We kicked off our audio journey with "Wasted Times" by The Weeknd, and introducing the d110 into our two-channel setup was an eye-opener. The immediate transformation it brought to the overall sound left us in awe. The d110 exhibited an astonishing level of speed and precision, showcasing perhaps the best start and stop behavior we've ever encountered in a subwoofer of this size. It blended seamlessly with our speakers, disappearing during more articulate passages and also standing out in bass heavy parts of songs.

We next tested Miles Davis’ track “So What” and again were impressed with how much detail was added to the low end and how well it blended with our speakers. In fact, its seamless integration was so remarkable that some of our team members, who typically prefer a two-channel setup without subwoofers, expressed their willingness to incorporate the d110 into their own systems.

The compact sealed subwoofer design played a crucial role in delivering an articulate and musical sound without any lingering bass overhang. Around the 2:20 mark in Wasted Times, the bassline unleashes a barrage of punchy attacks and many subwoofers in this price range might sound a bit muddy. However, the d110 handled it with finesse, exhibiting impeccable responsiveness by starting and stopping on a dime while delivering a substantial amount of bass.

Moving on to the car chase scene in "6 Underground," we aimed to put the d110 to the test with explosive action sequences. Let us unequivocally state that if you crave lightning-fast, deep, and high-output bass, the d110 unquestionably delivers. Despite its size, it displayed a robust attack with deep extension during every heart-pounding action sequence, infusing the room with an astonishing level of impact. As we cranked up the volume to the max, the sheer amount of air this subwoofer moved and the incredible excursion of its woofer left us thoroughly impressed. It achieved all of this without a hint of distortion, maintaining its lightning-fast response throughout.

JL Audio Dominion d110 Subwoofer on the floor aganist a wall

Overall Recommendation

If you are looking for a subwoofer that is able to deliver fast, tight and deep bass in a two channel or home theater system, the JL Audio d110 will not let you down. It is extremely well built and designed to last a long time with all the features you should need. In our testing, we’d recommend if your theater or media room is bigger than roughly 300 square feet, go with two or more of the d110’s to really fill your room. And with how small and affordable they are, you could add three or four of these to a room and connect them wirelessly if you want to really fill your room with even coverage of bass.

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Details & Specs

Purpose-built to reproduce powerful low-frequency events with stunning impact and precision, the Dominion® driver employs JL Audio’s exclusive DMA (Dynamic Motor Analysis) technology to produce higher output levels with reduced distortion, as well as improved dynamic tracking and resolution. As a result, Dominion® subwoofers are capable of peak-to-peak excursions well in excess of 2.5 inches (63 mm - d108), and 2.7 inches (68 mm – d110), without distress or audible distortion.

Dominion® amplifiers utilize an advanced Class D design in order to extract the most from the long-excursion driver platform. This design features a tightly regulated switching power supply, allowing the amplifier to generate prodigious amounts of unclipped output voltages. These technologies ensure that the Dominion® powered subwoofers remain in their comfort zone, which is well beyond the point where most small subwoofers run out of power or driver capability.

To contain the immense pressures created by the Dominion® driver, each beautiful cabinet is carefully engineered and constructed using solid, CNC-cut, MDF material with extensive internal bracing and advanced assembly techniques.

Dynamic Motor Analysis - DMA Optimized Motor

JL Audio's proprietary Dynamic Motor Analysis system is a powerful suite of FEA-based modeling systems, first developed by JL Audio in 1997 and refined over the years to scientifically address the issue of speaker motor linearity. This leads to vastly reduced distortion and faithfully reproduced transients... or put simply: tight, clean, articulate bass.

DMA is a Finite Element Analysis (FEA)-based system, meaning that it takes a large, complex problem, breaks it down into small solution elements for analysis, and then assembles the data to form an accurate, "big-picture" solution. DMA's breakthrough is that it actually considers the effects of power through the coil as well as coil/cone position within the framework of a time-domain analysis. This provides a highly accurate model of a speaker's actual behavior under real power, something that the traditional Thiele-Small models or other low-power measurements cannot do. Because DMA does not rely on a steady-state model, it is able to consider shifts in the circuit elements being analyzed. These modeling routines are intense, requiring hours to run for a whole speaker.

DMA is able to analyze the real effects of fluctuating power and excursion upon the magnetic circuit of the motor, specifically the dynamic variations of the "fixed" magnetic field. This delivers intensely valuable information compared to traditional modeling, which assumes that the "fixed" field produced in the air gap by the magnet and the motor plates is unchanging. Analyzing this behavior is critical to understanding the distortion mechanisms of a speaker motor and sheds light on the aspects of motor design that determine truly linear behavior:

  • Linear motor force over the speaker's operational excursion range
  • Consistent motor force with both positive and negative current through the coil
  • Consistent motor force at varying applied power levels The payoff is reduced distortion, improved transient performance, and stellar sound quality

True 2-Way Crossover

The d110's built-in two-way crossover permits easy integration into two-channel audio systems.

In high-performance audio systems, a crossover's function is to act as a gateway, filtering and directing precise audio signals toward each speaker as appropriate for its driver's particular size. For example, with a conventional two-way home theater or home audio system, the smaller, main stereo speakers are tasked with reproducing the mid to upper-frequency ranges, while larger subwoofers are responsible for the lower frequencies.

Designed with system versatility and practicality in mind, the D-Sub's onboard active crossover can be used in two distinct modes.

Vented Reinforcement Collar

JL Audio's Vented Reinforcement Collar (VRC®) improves the rigidity and stability of the cone/spider/voice coil junction and directs airflow over the voice coil windings for improved thermal performance.

The Vented Reinforcement Collar (VRC®) is a composite structure that addresses two issues related to reliability. By reinforcing the critical junction between the cone, voice coil, and spider, the VRC greatly reduces failures due to glue breakdown or material weakness. It does this by greatly increasing adhesive contact area and providing stress relief to the spider material at excursion extremes.

Vented Reinforcement Collar Diagram

The VRC™ also features slots that facilitate airflow directly onto the voice coil windings. This reduces thermal compression effects and enhances reliability. Current versions of the VRC™ also incorporate lead-wire strain relief structures to improve mechanical reliability.

Floating Cone Attach Method - FCAM™

This assembly technique, conceived by JL Audio, ensures proper surround geometry in the assembled speaker for better excursion control and dynamic voice coil alignment.

JL Audio's patented FCAM™ technology is an innovative method of bonding the surround/cone assembly to the voice coil former/spider assembly. This feature helps ensure concentricity of the surround, spider, and voice coil without torquing the suspension to achieve it. This allows for the inevitable, slight variations in production part dimensions without having them negatively impact the integrity of the suspension and coil-centering at high excursions.

Engineered Lead-Wire System

Carefully engineered lead-wire design and attachments ensure controlled, quiet lead-wire behavior under the most extreme excursion demands.

Managing the lead wires on a long-excursion woofer is one of the trickier aspects of its mechanical design. To address this, many long-excursion woofers today rely on a simple solution that weaves the lead wires into the spider (rear suspension) of the driver.

The biggest problem with this approach is that spider-limiting behavior plays a hugely important role in a woofer's performance. Lead wires that are attached or woven into the spider material can alter the spider's "stretching" behavior. The tinsel wire naturally has less 'give' than the fabric material of the spider leading to asymmetrical spider behavior and non-uniform stress distribution around the spider circumference. The wire attachment points can also cause localized pulling and tearing forces at the spider's excursion limits. As such, longevity becomes a major concern and makes the woven-in design less than ideal for very long-excursion designs.

While a traditional 'flying lead' design does not compromise spider linearity or radial stability, it creates its own challenges on a long-excursion woofer. Managing the 'whipping' behavior of the wire and making sure it does not contact the cone or spider is one challenge. Another is ensuring that the leads do not short one another or the frame of the woofer.

To overcome these issues, JL Audio's engineered flying lead wires work in conjunction with carefully engineered entry and exit support structures molded into the terminals and the voice coil collar. Some models also feature jacketed lead wires to further reduce the likelihood of shorting and fatigue. The result is flawless high-excursion lead-wire behavior, with outstanding reliability and none of the compromises inherent to a woven-in lead wire system. Building woofers this way requires much more labor and parts complexity than the simpler woven-in approach, but the payoff is in reduced distortion, reduced mechanical noise, and improved reliability.

Built in U.S.A. with Global Components

At a time when most audio products are built overseas, JL Audio’s commitment to in-house loudspeaker production continues to grow. To pull this off in a competitive world market, their production engineering team has created one of the world’s most advanced loudspeaker assembly facilities and established a global network of quality component suppliers who build to their exacting specifications. This, combined with their commitment to state-of-the-art assembly technology, allows their skilled workforce to efficiently build JL Audio products to extremely high quality standards, right here in the U.S.A. Since most of their premium loudspeakers incorporate proprietary, patented technologies requiring specific assembly techniques, JL Audio finds it is vital that the people who designed their products have close access to the people manufacturing them. All Dominion® powered subwoofers are built in their Miramar, Florida factory to deliver years of listening enjoyment.

Model d110
General Specifications  
Enclosure Type Sealed
Enclosure Finish Black Gloss
Frequency Response (Anechoic) 27 - 111 Hz (±1.5dB)
-3 dB at 25 Hz / 118 Hz
-10 dB at 21 Hz / 143 Hz
Effective Piston Area (Sd) 48.71 sq in / 0.0314 sq m
Effective Displacement 127 cu in / 2.08 L
Amplifier Power 750 W RMS short-term
Power Mode Automatic (Signal-Sensing)
Light Modes N/A
Signal Processing  
Unbalanced Inputs Stereo or Mono (two RCA jacks)
Balanced Inputs N/A
Speaker/High-Level Inputs Stereo or Mono (removeable plug)
Input Grounding Isolated or Grounded
Input Modes N/A
Level Control Variable, from full mute to +15dB over reference gain
Filter Mode(s) Low-Pass
Filter Slope(s) 24 dB/octave
Filter Frequency Range 25 Hz - 130 Hz
Filter Defeat Function Yes
Polarity 0 or 180 degrees
Phase Variable, 0- 280 degrees, referenced to 80 Hz
Extreme Low Frequency (E.L.F.) Trim N/A
Line Outputs N/A
Output to Slave N/A
Calibration Mode N/A
Physical Specifications  
Dimensions (WxHxD) 12 x 13.4 x 15.86"
305 x 340 x 403 mm
Weight 38.2 lbs (17.3 kg)
Warranty 3 Years

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