kicker and amp system advice

[ThugNinja 10+ year member]

I have a 2002 camaro z28. I have a 500watt (supposedly) stock monsoon head unit and i'm plannin on gettin 2 square kicker 12s (hopfully they will fit). Should i get the L7 dual 2ohm or dual 4ohm subs? I think 4ohms means higher quality or efficency or sumthin but needs more watts...and your supposed to match ohm wit the amp?

Also, what amp should i get.. i think im gettin a direct 250 and a direct 250d, but if im not what do u recommend for kickers? The rms recommended is 750watts while peak is 1500watts and I dont have really any cost restraints, just tryin to get the most out of the limited space i have in the back of my camaro. Neway u can tell i dont know shyt about puttin together a system, I just want sum quality sound wit a little bump.

Any help will be appreciated. Thx.

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[wesleysh 10+ year member]

What Ohm speaker you should get depends almost completely on the amp your getting and how you plan on wiring the two subs together. It has nothing really to do with the "quality" of the speaker, though the specs are a bit different. Really, if your not getting an amp that is 1 Ohm stable, you probably don't need 2 Ohm speakers. 4 Ohm speakers give you the freedom of wiring for a 2 ohm load or an 8 ohm load to your amp. While a 2 ohm speaker gives you the option of a 1 ohm or 4 ohm loads. Amps that are stable down to 1 ohm are usually expensive, so I stick with 4 ohm subs, for practicallity.

Kicker does make an amp that is stable at 1 ohm(the KX1200.1). It's 300w @ 4 ohms, 600w @ 2 ohms, and 1200w @ 1 ohm. Its expensive, but if you were going to get it you could get the 2 ohm L7's.

As a side note, I don't see how your going to fit those in your car, but if it can be done, it will probably be a Kicker that will do it. Good choice. But if your looking for a "little" bump, you might want to step down into the L5's as well as getting 10"s or maybe even 8"s. Those 12's in the L7 are the kind that I have to get out of the car to hear up all the way, too loud for my precious little ears, LOL.

If cost isn't a concern, you might want to look into the Precision Power amps. Just my suggestion.

 

[wesleysh 10+ year member]

Just in case its not clear, you don't match the ohm with the amp. Its like the speaker shows the amp an ohm figure, and the amp responds to what it sees.

Say you have an amp that is rated at 500watts @ 4 ohms. That means if it sees a 4 ohm "load" it will respond with 500watts(not exactly but for arguements sake). Wiring two speakers in parallel cuts the ohms in half, while wiring them in series doubles the ohms(which effects the output of the amp). So for the amp above, if you wired them in parallel, the amp would see a 2 ohm load, even though you have two 4 ohms subs. It would respond with ruffly 1000watts of power. While if you wired the same speakers in series, it would see an 8 ohm load, and would respond with ruffly 250watts of power. If you used 2 ohms speakers and wired them in series, the amp would see a 4 ohm load, and respond with 500watts of power. While wiring them in parallel would make the amp see a 1 ohm load, which if the amp were stable at 1 ohm, it would respond with ruffly 2000watts of power.

Now all you have to do is go to crutchfield.com and find out how to wire your subs in parallel or series.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Or just tell the shop your intentions if their going to do it for you.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

the before mentioned kicker amp..the dei 1100d ..memphis 1000d...jbl 1200.1 (the jbl might shut down)

 

[ThugNinja 10+ year member]

Thx for replys...ya im goin for as much power as possible with the space i have if i cant fit the squares i guess i could get a couple 10s or sum round 12s or sumthin- maybe competition mtx. Anyway thx for reply...now i kno what ohm means.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[ThugNinja 10+ year member]

should i get 2 kx1200s? would 1 be enuf? i can get one with a "lightning audio strike LS10 stiffening capacitator" free. um what does that do?

thx

 

[wesleysh 10+ year member]

Here's where your knowledge of Ohms pays off. If you get two 4 Ohm subs, than you'd need two KX1200.1's, or one Precision Power PCX1500 . But if you get two 2 Ohm subs, then you could get away with just one KX1200.1. That is because the KX is stable down to 1 Ohm, and will put out 1200 watts at that impedence, which is PLENTY of power. But you couldn't get the PCX1500, because it is not stable at 1 Ohm. Unless you wanted to wire the subs in series, which would cut your power down to 600 watts, and why would you want to do that .

Also look into getting the JBL 1200.1. I think too many people are using it to dismiss it when its time to look at sub amps.

I'm running the PCX1500 on my two 10" Solo-Baric L7's. And that thing could run two 12's or 15's if I wanted it too. I have two 4 Ohm subs, wired in parallel, which makes the PPI push out 1000 watts. Since PPI underrates their amps, it can most likely push even more than that. Check for it here http://www.cbrstereo.com or at one of the sites given at the main page at http://www.caraudio.com . As far as space is concerned the Kicker is a bigger amp size wise than the PPI. But I like the looks of the Kicker better, PPI is mainly about quality and not eye appeal.

 

[ThugNinja 10+ year member]

i think im gonna go with 2 ohm L7s..If i put 2 KX1200s on em would that be too much power?

also what does the "lightning audio strike LS10 stiffening capacitator" i mentioned in the other post do?

what would be the best way to learn about car audio and gettin best sound quality and whatnot..im thinkin bout goin competition and apparently u would kno best //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

lastly, how do u like those kickers?

thx again

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

caps store voltage very qwik...shouldnt be confused with a power device as they supply very little current...(you need both) they can make sub amps sound better. as for my kickers they are a good mix between sq and spl but i am sure i run mine differently than most here. i will still switch subs by next year. idmax baybay!!!!

 

[wesleysh 10+ year member]

You can get 2 KX's if you want, but its a bit of an overkill. You should only do it if your planning on getting more subs eventually. Having 4 or more subs in your car.

Like I said, I'm using the PCX1500 and its too much for my subs, I have lots of room to spare. I could put more in and run them off of this amp if I wanted to, and they'd still sound good. Remember, the more power your running in terms of watts, the bigger power sources you need as far as alternators, batteries and caps.

 

[EPanther99 10+ year member]

you should like thouse kickers a lot, i have had mine a week and i love them

 

[ThugNinja 10+ year member]

tight thx