Best sq box for a 15in Kicker CVX with Kicker ZX1000.1

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

honestly i think its like every other sub in the right install they can sound good. they do require huge boxes sealed and a bigger ported box than normal but they acomplish what most people want them for. of coarse they wont win sq comps but the noobs that run them generally get wht they are after since most of them dont know what a sq sub is. i have used the comps in ib situations and they do perform quite well and in my truck they keep up quite well and only lag in the most complex of kick drum passages.

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

I'd say an Obsidian Audio 12 assuming you're on a tight budget.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Wow lots of bs information from people lacking experience. Obviously not many who have commented have actually owned a CVX and built a box for one. I will never understand why people with no ownership experience, still feel the need to contribute worthless nonsense....

Now thats out of the way, the CVX line can have pretty decent sq if kept in a low tuned box. A month ago I built a box for a single Kicker CVX 12 and it had sq that was close to my Boston G5s (which are better than JL w6s imo) however, I had to keep the ports loaded in a corner or close to a wall in my trunk or else it would begin to roll off somewhere between 55-60hz, with a tuning of 32.5hz from 2 3inch pvc pipes and 1.85cu/ft after all displacements. It played easily into the 20s and even played Kanagroux's remixed song with a 12hz line in it. No bottoming out, only beginning to stink after 10+mins of full volume burps and music on 934rms before rise.

Listen to Mobile Enclosures on airspace requirements and just tune the box low at around 30-32hz and make sure the box is very rigid and has a good amount of port area and it will have good sq and still get loud.

 

[Fi_ 10+ year member]

Plus the CVX and CVR are just round versions of the square subs anyway, with a little more cone area. Kicker will get loud in ported, sealed is meh.

The CVR has nothing in common with the L5 and L7 if anything the CVX does but only because they use the same soft parts imo the CVX is superior to the two in SQ and SPL. I've heard L7's in sealed boxes and ported and they're very impressive in sealed and Kicker highly recommends the Solo Barics in sealed. I don't even know why this is an argument I though this was like widely known lol, you sound like you've never even heard a sealed Solo Baric.

/endrant yes they move more air and probably hit better numbers ported but they sound way better sealed and they still get loud and move tons of air I think it's a close comparison if done right, argue with me once you've done a correct sealed box for L7's.

 

[Fi_ 10+ year member]

Wow lots of bs information from people lacking experience. Obviously not many who have commented have actually owned a CVX and built a box for one. I will never understand why people with no ownership experience, still feel the need to contribute worthless nonsense....
Now thats out of the way, the CVX line can have pretty decent sq if kept in a low tuned box. A month ago I built a box for a single Kicker CVX 12 and it had sq that was close to my Boston G5s (which are better than JL w6s imo) however, I had to keep the ports loaded in a corner or close to a wall in my trunk or else it would begin to roll off somewhere between 55-60hz, with a tuning of 32.5hz from 2 3inch pvc pipes and 1.85cu/ft after all displacements. It played easily into the 20s and even played Kanagroux's remixed song with a 12hz line in it. No bottoming out, only beginning to stink after 10+mins of full volume burps and music on 934rms before rise.

Listen to Mobile Enclosures on airspace requirements and just tune the box low at around 30-32hz and make sure the box is very rigid and has a good amount of port area and it will have good sq and still get loud.

I agree with this man, CVX's love big low tuned boxes and they take well over rated in these boxes... I've seen some big numbers off a lot of power and low tuning in a car with these and I have to say even for Kicker I was impressed.

 

[wickedwitt 10+ year member]

The CVR has nothing in common with the L5 and L7 if anything the CVX does but only because they use the same soft parts imo the CVX is superior to the two in SQ and SPL. I've heard L7's in sealed boxes and ported and they're very impressive in sealed and Kicker highly recommends the Solo Barics in sealed. I don't even know why this is an argument I though this was like widely known lol, you sound like you've never even heard a sealed Solo Baric.
/endrant yes they move more air and probably hit better numbers ported but they sound way better sealed and they still get loud and move tons of air I think it's a close comparison if done right, argue with me once you've done a correct sealed box for L7's.

A CVR motor and an L5 motor are identical, I'd say that's having something in common. I wasn't saying anything about putting lower end Kicker gear up against your favorite little brand; what I was saying was why would someone that doesn't like Kicker, and has little to no experience with them know how to make them loud vs someone who has seen and been involved with hundreds of their installs? Oh that's right, you wouldn't. I never said low end Kicker is the bees knees. They like big boxes, low power, and get loud. For most people, that's all they need.

The Solo X has impressed me more as far as any single sub (not manufacturer, not numbers in burp boxes) I have ever heard. When that changes, I will change brands of woofer. Kicker does nothing for you if you a are a good customer, they don't help you on pricing or send you to SBN (things many other companies help you out with if you are a big dog for their brand), You are a number to them. The reason I stick behind it is because no one can come up to me with similar cone are on similar power and be as impressive. The day that happens, I'll be having my local store order me that brand of woofer so we can do a build for it.

 

[wickedwitt 10+ year member]

The CVR has nothing in common with the L5 and L7 if anything the CVX does but only because they use the same soft parts imo the CVX is superior to the two in SQ and SPL. I've heard L7's in sealed boxes and ported and they're very impressive in sealed and Kicker highly recommends the Solo Barics in sealed. I don't even know why this is an argument I though this was like widely known lol, you sound like you've never even heard a sealed Solo Baric.
/endrant yes they move more air and probably hit better numbers ported but they sound way better sealed and they still get loud and move tons of air I think it's a close comparison if done right, argue with me once you've done a correct sealed box for L7's.

A guy here has 2 15 L5s and had a huge excellent sealed box. It sounded good, got decently loud. He built a trash ported box for them and lost a bit of SQ but gained 3db instantly. The box was flexing, the port was flexing and his tuning was awful. My local store helped him with a proper ported box, and he gained every bit of SQ back from the sealed box, and ended up 5 db louder on only another 1 cu. ft. sized enclosure than the sealed box. Yeah, squares love them sealed boxes...

 

[IonRL205 10+ year member]

The CVR has nothing in common with the L5 and L7 if anything the CVX does but only because they use the same soft parts imo the CVX is superior to the two in SQ and SPL. I've heard L7's in sealed boxes and ported and they're very impressive in sealed and Kicker highly recommends the Solo Barics in sealed. I don't even know why this is an argument I though this was like widely known lol, you sound like you've never even heard a sealed Solo Baric.
/endrant yes they move more air and probably hit better numbers ported but they sound way better sealed and they still get loud and move tons of air I think it's a close comparison if done right, argue with me once you've done a correct sealed box for L7's.

I have heard many sealed kicker setups. Nothing too impressive, now ported definitely got loud.

My town is full of car audio noobs who have ran L5s and L7s in sealed boxes. I've heard both sealed and ported and ported outperformed it easily.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

I have heard many sealed kicker setups. Nothing too impressive, now ported definitely got loud.
My town is full of car audio noobs who have ran L5s and L7s in sealed boxes. I've heard both sealed and ported and ported outperformed it easily.

how many of these guys have spec boxes though? im no kicker nut hugger i generally like sundown or dd but if dont right the kickers can get quite loud. yes ported is always louder at tuning but sealed has the ability to play much flatter over more octaves than most poorly designed ported boxes

 

[Fi_ 10+ year member]

Ok think what you guys want lmao I've heard sealed proper boxes get louder than ported ones on sealed SoloBarics I've done testing as well, ported SoloBarics sound like such **** that I wouldn't care about a 1-2db gain lol. Their responses are weak and their range is low they are just SPL air movers man, I can solidly say they will take more power sealed and that's a fact. When you put 2800w to 2 12" L5's in a ported box come see me.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Ok think what you guys want lmao I've heard sealed proper boxes get louder than ported ones on sealed SoloBarics I've done testing as well, ported SoloBarics sound like such **** that I wouldn't care about a 1-2db gain lol. Their responses are weak and their range is low they are just SPL air movers man, I can solidly say they will take more power sealed and that's a fact. When you put 2800w to 2 12" L5's in a ported box come see me.

Ok u put that power to l5s so what i have 800 going to my comps does that mean they sound like **** or dont get loud no. I put up a respectable 138 with two cpmp 10s sealed. Could i get louder probably but they are fine for me. My cruze had 2 z12s ported to 32hzmy and it did sound better and got louder but i had more power and subs that cost me ten time more. To say they straight sound like crap means either youre a diehard sq guy or your just hating

 

[Fi_ 10+ year member]

Ok u put that power to l5s so what i have 800 going to my comps does that mean they sound like **** or dont get loud no. I put up a respectable 138 with two cpmp 10s sealed. Could i get louder probably but they are fine for me. My cruze had 2 z12s ported to 32hzmy and it did sound better and got louder but i had more power and subs that cost me ten time more. To say they straight sound like crap means either youre a diehard sq guy or your just hating

They don't sound bad compared to sealed per say just a lot more sloppy and less power handling from my experiences. The guy who will quote what I've said hits 152's off his 4 15 L7's sealed off 4k I'm just saying they get almost as loud sealed as ported and they sound a ton better, I wouldn't port L5's or L7's, I'm not saying COMPS don't get loud ported they do lol and sound good doing it the square subs don't hell CVX's like big ported boxes with low tuning. I've just NEVER heard a good sounding ported L5/L7 system, never.

and putting 800w to a pair of comps is nbd I use to run a AP1500.1D to a pair clipping and they lasted awhile sounded terrible though... I think we can all agree almost 3k to 2 L5 12's sealed is pretty wicked.

oh well apparently I'm clueless I don't run Kicker so I could be wrong but I've seen good ported and good sealed builds with L5's AND L7's and I deffinatly prefer sealing the Squares.

 

[oldschool4me 10+ year member]

i had cvr 12s and 10s. ok at best imo. key word is had....poop sq...no punch at all sealed or ported. if you like rock stay away from those. heard a l5 12 and it was kinda the same...two l7 8s ....same thing. no punch. i had a comp 12 that had more punch and sounded better imo. but none of the newer ones that i have hear compare to the old kicker round solobarics and bigger comps aka seperates. love my os kicker 18s and i also have an old mint round solobaric. if i was going for a sq type set up i woudnt consider kicker at all. just my 2 pennies.

 

[Moble Enclosurs 10+ year member]

Ok think what you guys want lmao I've heard sealed proper boxes get louder than ported ones on sealed SoloBarics I've done testing as well, ported SoloBarics sound like such **** that I wouldn't care about a 1-2db gain lol. Their responses are weak and their range is low they are just SPL air movers man, I can solidly say they will take more power sealed and that's a fact. When you put 2800w to 2 12" L5's in a ported box come see me.

It sounds like the ported designs you have messed with may have not been properly designed. Any ported enclosure with the transience of a sealed design and the phase output that is a smooth rollover can be much different in the right environment from a sealed design. SO, in my professional experience, unless you have an idea on whether a sealed or ported enclosure for the mentioned designs are required for a particular space, and what the proper characteristics are, then the comparison of the two are completely nulled and only based on personal experience and personal preference.

You can make a sealed enclosure sound much better than a ported one in the right space and within the right constraints. BUT, as long as the ported enclosure is proper and you are comparing SPL measurements, the ported enclosure will be far greater in output than any sealed one on the market, based on added acoustics and efficiency,as long as power is constant among other factors.

You cannot compare an SPL setup either with one of SQ based acoustics due to the fact that nearly every factor of each are completely designed in different manners as well. SO, it sounds like there is a confusion between the two while this discussion is continuing. Better first to figure a proper comparison than throw out personal experience on only one environmental factor, where at lest 3 are required for accurate calculations with a comparison.

To me, most of the information on this thread is null. No proper comparison seems to have been made to back up most of the information here anyhow. No graphs visible, no real world experiences are noted or recorded. It is all personal preference at this point and most seem to be based on ported designs that have not been properly designed for the comparison to be accurate anyhow.

If you have a ported design that matches the response and phase curves and other variables of that with a sealed enclosure, then a proper response and final one can be concluded about which kind of enclosures these will outperform the other in certain areas in an anechoic environment. And then, only then, can the factor of environmental variables come into play for different situations to give changes in those responses to give which would be better in that type of environment for the preference measured (SQ, SPL ETC).

Too much has not been done for any one to say yet which type of enclosure any of these drivers will work best in. Mainly because it can change if only a single factor changes.

basically, any driver can be put into any enclosure and have its own response and output. No single one is the same nor should they be..its pure physics and acoustics. BUT, some can compare very well to each other, and to tell you the truth....a comparison between sealed and ported is not very accurate because they are naturally very different and are designed different as well. Just not a good comparison to go by. Better to have one done from scratch then rely on anyones personal experience, because yours may be much different in design and output.

Some environments just won't work for what you are looking for and then limitations are a major factor to what you can make work. Too much involved to trust any words of general volume, port area, placement, etc for someone to use accurately. Granted, you may get what you are looking for, BUT until you hear a proper one for your specific setup, you may be limited to your own hearing abilities until one day you do finally realize something else is better out there.

Take the example of using a FLAC recording vs an MP3..WORLDS OF DIFFERENCE!, But some people swear by the quality of MP3 and even use it in SQ comps. because they may have never heard a FLAC before. Just an example.