[quote name='Villeza1'][quote name='Dtrom1055']Comp, cvr, cvx= solid budget bump. Solo Barics= complete garbage, I'm yet to see an L7 install that didn't involve a voice coil eventually burning up, plus they sound like shet,
Solo X= very loud, no sq period. Bit pricey. All in all kicker subs are not good at all. Their amps on the other hand, are top notch.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='DCtC']Solo Xs held a world SQ championship a few years ago[/QUOTE]
[quote name='Dtrom1055']How, we will never know. :wow:[/QUOTE]
[quote name='DCtC']The X dont sound bad. Thats how. The X is a very good woofer just needs a HUGE box so its kind of pointless[/QUOTE]
[quote name='Dtrom1055']And an @ss ton of power. I've only heard 2 X installs, one sounded decent at best but was very loud, the other was a complete fail.
The X's could shine they just fall into the wrong hands because of the kicker name.[/QUOTE]
@wickedwitt[/QUOTE]
Thanks
To address Dtrom, DcTc is correct. The Solo X 18 did win SQ world the year it came out. There was so much hype about its stupid power handling and SPL capabilities, Kicker decided to show it would sound good in a musical setup as well. The X was originally designed for SPL competitors only, but that actually wasn't where it shined. I never thought the 18 to be very musical myself, more of a one note wonder sub, but with $100,000+ in R&D behind you, anything is possible. They built it a great sq oriented box, put it on 4 KX1200.1s turned WAY down and built an SQ car.
On to the 10s and 12s. I've had years of experience with both, and while they aren't the best SQ woofer out by any means, they are a wonderful sounding sub. Most people stating they have "bad SQ" would say it about all square woofers as they all have a better punch to them than they carry long notes. The heavy, huge square cones are by design less affluent to a sign wave as they will either flex, or have to be so stiff that they aren't efficient and need lots of power to get loud. Kicker's grey cones showed this by being great at 40hz kick drums, but sounded whiny above 55hz. They also wouldn't go below 30hz well without destroying what was then foam rubber surrounds. Kicker swapped to the black cones a couple of years later and fixed three key elements. The cone was stiffer, yet lighter than its predecessor so not only was it stiff enough to make proper sine waves, it also kept the cone as close to as efficient as it previously was. The grey cones would and always will meter better, but the black cones are without a doubt more musical. The other fix was the surround. True elastic rubber surrounds meant the subs didn't break down after 1" one way excursion. They actually held up on the newly rated RMS power.
Enough of my ranting about stuff you don't care about. Here's the meat and potatoes. The X does indeed love a huge box. Larger than most any other sub out in each size class. I currently have a 14.5 cu box (before displacement) for 2 12s. I have an inefficient split chamber and split port design (long story) yet the thing still does right at 150db on music from 30-45hz. They are beasts. I had them on 2 Kx1200.1s so roughly 2800w before rise (realistically maybe 2000w) and would sit at 149.7 on Ludacris all day long. I am now using a proper 3500ish of my Warhorse and would be safe to say I am playing music over 150db, but I don't care what number it does and won't be bothered to meter. I won't be metering my 2 TRFs on 8k either. Needless to say, I have ran these on music for closing in on 8 years now, and they sound wonderful while doing it. I'm seeing numbers and moving air like people running more cone area and twice the power as me. These are well built monster subs that were overlooked by many simply because the box said Livin' Loud. I'd put them up against just about every woofer their size on similar power. I have personally shamed people with arguably "better" woofers and done so with less power.
Don't hop on the Kicker hating bandwagon until you've heard them done properly. The few on this site that have heard them personally would vouch that they are rather impressive subs and don't sound like such the small cone area I have. They sound like much more.
srry
