Kicker L7 distortion?!

[brad.vanscoyk]

So I have 1994 honda civic with stock alt, stock battery, and I HAVE NOT done the big 3 upgrade. My question is, could this cause my kicker CX1200.1 amp to clip when the gain on it is only set to about 1/4? I mean it is barely pushing the 15" L7 i have, yet when i go to crank up my HU volume to about 75-80 percent i get a very distorted sound from the sub. I am also using two 8 gauge power wires, one for the 4 channel amp and one for the subwoofer amp. The box i have the sub in is a 3.5 cubic foot ported box. I used to have an old sony amp and 2 MTX thunder series subs that i could push just as loud as this L7 with no clipping... thats why im wondering how it would be a power issue. Im not pushing this amp to its limits what-so-ever. Any input would be greatly appreciated, as i am kind of nooby at this stuff.

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[brad.vanscoyk]

bump

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

It would probably be a good idea to do the big 3 with 1/0 guage wire, and 8 guage is no where near enough for 1200 watt amp. Maybe run 1/0 guage from front batt to a distribution block in the back to split to the amps. Knu concepts has decent prices on cca-copper clad aluminum 1/0 guage wire, I thinks it's 1.95/ft, check their web page.

 

[Slobalt]

Distorted how? what do you hear? might be some settings or bad coil etc

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

I find it hard to believe that a Kicker product would ever have any distortion.

 

[DoesDad 10+ year member]

You need at least around 5 cubes for that thing first off. It's damn near the size of a round 18. 3.5 is going to make it sound like you're squeezing out a wet fart. Use a dmm to set your amp as well. 1/4 gain doesn't tell us too much. Also what are the settings like on the HU? Are you using bass boost on the HU or the amp? I've owned a couple L7 15's. They don't take much more than rated but in the right box they can get pretty loud.

 

[argenis69 10+ year member]

I find it hard to believe that a Kicker product would ever have any distortion.

Very funny.

But talking serious, You need the big 3 and maybe some more for better performance.

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

1. Power wire is WAY too small

2. You need a much bigger box

3. Big 3 is not expensive or difficult relative to other possible electrical upgrades

4. Your HU is probably sending a clipped signal. Turn it down and turn up the gain on your amps if it isn't loud enough

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

turn your bass boosts and bass down on your headunit and amp, rewire your amps with 4 gauge or bigger. don't send your sub a clipped signal

- do a search on how to tune/setup an amp

 

[2Dcore 10+ year member]

My friend put 2 in his car played them for less than a min. turned them back on and got alot of distortion, they blow. Just saying.

 

[phemps 10+ year member]

Youll be hard pressed to get any decent sound at all out of that sub but more than likely your expecting more than is reasonable with your setup. Your amp is clipping more than likely, because turning the input sensitivty to some random spot is never a sure fire way to set gain ever. If your headunit has high preamp output the amp will clip with an even minimal gain setting. As noted 8 guage is way to small for your power and I didnt read what you box is but that could be playing a very large role as well. If you ever need some help im less than a couple hours away

 

[phemps 10+ year member]

And yea that box should be bigger. What size is your port as well as tuning frequency?