Help with Kicker L5 Sub

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Tim Kingsley

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I just upgraded my Kove 10" sub to a Kicker L5 and new box. My new sub is 12" and is 600W RMS. The amp i have currently on the Kove is 430+ Watts. DO i need to get an amp that will match the RMS of the new Sub? Or can i use my existing amp on the new sub. I am just worried about maybe damaging or getting poor performance from the 430w amp.



Thankx in Advance.



Help My Trac Bump!

 
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WIth an amp that weak compared to the sub you wont get a good sound coming out of the sub. Also, theres a higher risk of overheating the amp because the sub will want to draw alot more power than the amp is putting out. If you do get a bigger amp be sure its not so much power that it will blow the amp either.



How are you going to mount the box? I have a 12" flat sub thats volume was, i thought, just barely enough to get by. Take some pics if you can!!
 
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I just have it sitting on the rear passenger seat in the box right now. Gonna do same for 12" box. For now i have the seatbelt around it for airborne control incase of accident :unsure:
 
I don't agree with Conrad necessarily.

1. You WILL get good sound, however, the L5 will be able to handle quite a bit more power, hence a larger amp, though not necessary, will give you more leeway in your search for bass.

The L5 will NOT draw any more power than what it is given, and you're more likely to overheat from running cables that don't provide sufficient amperage to what the amp is wanting/needing.



You will want a larger amp that can give the sub what it needs. Chances are, you purchased this amp for it's bass ability and not it sound quality, I would suggest reading <a href="http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/msgboard9e.asp?BOARDNAME=MSG&VIEW=731319&sitename=mysporttrac"target=top>this </a> thread as it will cover much of what you want to know. The amps I listed on that thread will also suit your power needs.
 
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well, i just learned what i said from personal experience. The sound for example, although you will feel bass, and deep bass with power like that, you wont feel anything near what the sub is capable of. The depth of the sound, not just the volume will change. I also had an amp that put out less then what the sub wanted, and the amp would overheat. Although it wasnt the best amp around, it just couldnt put out the power that i wanted to hear from the sub. I had two 12" kicker comp VR's in my civic, and i noticed the change significantly when i upgraded to my hifonics amp. With the 12 i have in the trac now, the difference from the first amp to the AUdiobahn in there now was like night nad day.



If youre just looking for loud sound, by all means keep that amp. But thats not good enough for me anymore, so i went with sound quality over quantity, and if you want that too, you have to be willing to do your research and invest the money. Check out my setup in my library if yo uwant to see the setup i went with.
 
if your amp was overheating the subs may not have been wired to the correct ohms. single voice coil, dual voice coil it all makes a difference.
 
Having an amp with a less rms power output than the sub can handle rms isnt going to hurt either thing under msot circumstances... keep your gain down on the amp, so its not tryin to work too hard. easy on the volume and the low eqs...i know ppl that are runnin 100rms into 400rms subs no problem, and vice versa i know ppl that are running 800rms into a 300rms sub...you just need to be smart about the controls, or else something will go. Use your gain/level controls, bass controls responsibly and that L5 should still slam. Myself, im runnin 283 watts rms into a 300 rms sub, mostly sq, and it sounds amazing! It's very hard to match up exact rms with amp and sub..
 
Thanx for the suggestions guys. I returned the kicker l5 and went with a JL Audio 12" and custom made Ported box. My amp handles this baby just fine and it hits nice and hard for now. Maybe ill updgrade the amp soon.



Bumpin Red Trac
 
Regardless of what amp your using (as long as it has built in crossovers) your bass will sound fine... Im sure that amp sounds great on that JL, and with going to vented, you free'd up alot of room for error. Subwoofers are much more efficient in a vented enclosure than a sealed, so I bet that JL sounds great.
 
GOOD WORK RETURNING THE KICKER! I runnin a ported JL 10w3 and they do slam hard and clean! the bass isnt muddy or anything liek that of a L5...good luck with it

thanks

andy

 

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