Kicker L5 12's

[Musto]

hey... i just bought 2 Kicker L5 12's. im going to run them on a JBL 1200.1 , someone told me that the 1200.1 wont be enough power for the both of them and that i should buy another 1200.1 and run 1 to each. do any of you have the L5's? are they going to be verry loud with 1 1200.1? i know there are alot of factors that go into how loud theyll be, but im sure some of you have some and will know if they are-- thanks-- also if anyone has them, what amp are you running them off of? thanks,

Matt

[wesleysh]

That will be plenty of power. That "someone" you are talking about knows little about car audio, just thinks he/she does. Please verify everything that person says with us BEFORE taking their advice. I say this because they have made a major mistake, and gave you BAD advice that could have blown your subs. Next they would have probably told you to put them in a large ported box with that much power to get a louder sound, then KABOOM!!
You have a little OVER Kicker's max recommended power handling for the L5's. 600 per sub is the recommended max. You will be putting a little more than that into them because the JBL is underrated, but the Kicker's will be able to take a little more, so it evens out. Not even the L7's are recommended to take 1200w/ piece, so this person scares me with their logic.
Long story short, one JBL1200.1, not two.
Next you will need to set your gains correctly. What kind of head unit do you have and what is the preamp voltage?

[Musto]

i have a pioneer 50x4 head unit. the guy ( a local car audio shop) said ill need a amp for my highs so that ill be able to turn the bass up without the highs getting distorted, so im using an alpine V12 amp i had from my old system. yes- he did tell me to put it in a large ported box, but i also told him i want to be hitting 140s so maybe thats why he said that i need 2 amps and a large box? can that be achived with a small box and 1 amp? ive heard theese subs are LOUD and alot of punch.... but i wont know till i get them in. but i think he might have said that because i told him i wanna hit 140s.... any ideas??

Matt

Pioneer HU 50x4 pioneer highs and mids pushed by alpine V12. 2 kicker solo baric L5 12s, jbl 1200.1 and efx cap

[wesleysh]

When you make a box larger, you make the subs more efficient. Meaning they can reach certain SPL levels with less power than before. When you port the box, they become even more efficient. The tradeoff? Power handling. With a large ported box you might not even be able to put the rated rms power into the subs. So how does he think he is going to accomplish putting TWICE the recommended rms power into them after making the subs handle about HALF the power they could before. If BigBassMan was going to do it for you I'd feel it could be done, but I wouldn't trust just anyone with such a task.
I recall a guy on another board who is running a KX1200.1 to a 12" L7 in a large ported box. As you know, the L7's can handle more power than the L5's. He has replaced that sub several times. I think you know why right?
If I were you I would go with a sealed box. The JBL doesn't have a subsonic filter, which could hurt you in a ported box below the tuning frequency if not done right.
Save yourself the headache. Or move to another amp such as the Ultimate Digitalis 1200, Lanzar 1200D, MTX 8100D or US Acoustics(not sure the model name).
I'm not a big fan of Alpine amps. A good US Acoustics would do you well.
Hope this helps.