Will an 07 12" Kicker L7 run alright with low power?

[stocker08 10+ year member]

My friend is going to sell me his 07 12" Kicker L7 for $100 in a ported box. I have an Alpine MRP-M350 which puts out 350wrms at 2-ohms. I really dont want to buy another amp since i just bought this one.

My question is.....since i would be underpowering the sub by quite a bit, would it damage either the sub or amp??? How would the sound compare to a sub closer matched to the rms power of the amp???

Click to read more...

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

Under powering a sub will not hurt it. Ever.

Set the gains correctly on the amp and you won't be hurting the amp by attempting to over drive it.

 

[BrianChia 10+ year member]

Less power = less output (and typically less distortion). Anytime you don't have your volume turned all the way up, you are giving your sub "low power" (less than whatever the amp is rated). And it still sounds the same, it is just not as loud, right? So why would using a lower power amp be any different? It's just like you aren't turning it up as much.

As long as you don't clip the amp you have nothing to worry about.

 

[adas Pro Seller]

thats a pretty **** good deal for an L7, take it it'll be about 3/4 loud of what it can do with more power. It'll do well, gain match with a dmm for ~350w and all is good.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[stocker08 10+ year member]

thanks for the input. i usually never run my amps gains higher than halfway up.