Of course the L7 continues to be a top seller. It is a good TOOL to use to make a bunch of money for Kicker...without question. I have been in the business for a long time. I worked selling Kicker equipment when the logo was still someone riding a bucking bronco, so I have a little knowledge about Stillwater Designs. In the mid 90's Kicker was struggling to gain marketshare. There was NO question about that. At CES in the late 90's we got to see the new subwoofers and they unveiled the square subs in their little booth. The square sub was a marketing tool, plain and simple. That is not to say that they did not put design, thought, or tons of money into the design, but they needed something to try to gain marketshare and make more money, because that's what is all about for ANY company. The square sub put Kicker into a much better place in marketshare, where they were not before. If you work for Kicker, then you can probably see this for yourself, with the release of this sub, Kicker began to make a lot more money, and this was solely due to the release of this subwoofer. Kicker has always been a great company, I know this. Its not like they were going out of business, but they sure weren't the company they are today...I doubt anyone would argue that point. I would be willing to bet that this sub has been Kickers biggest success story in the history of Kicker. Having a square sub was not a necessity to sound quality or any other aspect of car audio for that matter, because it is not any better design than a round sub, unless you are speaking of how many subs you can fit in a box...lol. The square sub was designed to get people to buy subwoofers from Kicker, rather than from a competitor. I mean, honestly, what would be the purpose of having a square subwoofer? Does it "work" better? Do they play louder than a comparably built round sub? Which design is structurally stronger, square or round? So, why, honestly do you think they built the sub in the first place? If it wasn't for one of the above reasons, then what was it? I am not saying this was a bad thing at all. I think it was GREAT. I made TONS more money selling these subs. People came into the store and asked for these and we couldn't keep them on the shelves when they first came out. And I hope you didn't miss the part where I said how much I love Kicker product! But if this product (just like any other "new" product) wasn't designed for marketing reasons, then I don't know why it was. Maybe Kicker's sponsorship of Alma Gates originally was just out of the kindness of their hearts, right? Or maybe just like Ms. Gates, the square sub was brought out to expose more people to Kicker, advertise for Kicker, and to gain more marketshare. You said "a tool gets used". Yes, the subs get used, over and over and over. But Kicker, without any question, used the square sub as a tool to make money, plain and simple...just like ANY good company would.
