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I was wondering if anybody knows what would cause a sub to burn up or start to smell? I have a kicker l7 and these subs supposedly are competion subs and if i have the volume up for a while the sub will start to smell with full bass. would this be because of it not getting enough amps or because the head unit is up most of the way, or wrong wire size. I really cant figure out what would cause this. I have the amp to the correct settings for my head unit to match it. My amp is a kicker 850x2 channel bridged and i have a capacitor. If anybody knows what is going on i would appreciate the help

 
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so you are feeding your kicker 1700 watts??
my man, the Solo Baric L7's are meant to handle 750 watts rms. you are feeding your sub almost 1000 watts more, if you said you have a kicker 850.2 bridged to one sub... that's not gonna be too healthy for it.

 
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I dunno. I have a 15" compvr that was made to handle 500rms. My amp is kx1200.1. I've been pushing it with 1200watts @ 2ohm for almost 2 years now.
I'm a big kicker fan, not too much of their square subs. The thing with square subwoofers is that they are loud as hell, but tend to be a lil unstable. So just unbridge it and see how it goes.

 
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the 850.2 puts out 425 x 2 @ 2 ohms... you get the 850 watts when you bridge the two channels into a 4 ohm mono load... so no, he's not giving it 1700 watts... and an S12L7 can handle 850 watts with no problem, so overpowering isn't your issue...

is the sub brand new?... if so, did you allow it time to break in before you started hammering the snot out of it?... if not, you probably smell your voice coils screaming for mercy, and you can go ahead and start the countdown to sub failure... hope you got a warranty...

neither the KX850.2 or ZX850.2 (don't know which model you have... either way, it's the same specs, just a different model year) have subsonic filters, so if you have a ported box, you may be beating the **** out of your sub (i.e. hyperexcursion when you're jammin out to Lil Jon, etc)... so just double check your low-pass filters, crossover points, etc...

there are alot of glues, chemicals, etc used in manufacturing a subwoofer, and when you're bassin out, the sub heats up... you may just be smelling a normally operating subwoofer...

as far as speaker wire is concerned, i'd say 18 gauge at the very least, and you should be good to go...

the KX1200.1 is only putting out 600 watts at 2 ohms, maybe that's why it hasn't blown in 2 years

 
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is it brand new? my friend had a 15 and he associated the burning smell with the fresh sub. dont play it so loud all the time. u have to break it in before fully blasting the bass.

 
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heh...I never really broke in mine, but then again I never smelled anything and I didn't even push it when I first got it and still really don't (I alos don't have kicker.)

 
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you are right. I'm not really fond of kicker products so I wasn't sure how much power that amp was putting down. I suspected 850x2

 
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usafcushman i did the break in period of two weeks at a volume under 20 and no more than that according to kicker. i also got the amp set to what kicker told me to leave it at to match my headunit so i got put to much gain on the amp and blow my sub quicker. I thought that the kickers were suppose to be in vented boxes? Maybe i got the wrong type of box not meeting the requirements of the sub. do you happen to know how long you can have the subs going before they get to heated up and should let it cool down. i might be playing it for a long time and that would be what is causing them to blow cause im not letting it cool down.
Thanks for the replies

 
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ported vs sealed, it's just personal preference...

is it a prefab or custom box?... if it's a prefab box, it may be killing your sub... L7s are picky as to what kinds of enclosures they perform well in...

don't worry about overheating or cool down, they're made to take a beating

 
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it is a box that was on ebay that supposedly was for this sub but seems now that its probably not good for it. once i blow this sub i will get a different box for the new one and see how long it last.
thanks for the help

 
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A friend of mine blew a pair of those up. I do not think they can take as much power as every one thinks. Imo kicker is not making the quality speaker they used to. That same buddy went with a pair of resonant engineering subs. Now those are siiick very heavy huuuuge magnet and does not cost alot. Plus it can take quite alot of power. I have never been inside a car to where you could yell or sream at some one next to you and you hear nothing lol.

 
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if you're trying to save money and wanna go the eBay route, just pick up one of the sealed boxes... i have used 2 different eBay ported boxes for the S12L7s (one had a vertical center port, the other a horizontal one across the bottom) and they both sounded like ***...

i had 2 S12L7s in a sealed prefab box, and it was sick...




well then you've never been in any of my rides lol... if you can hear for three days after getting out, it's not loud enough

 
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i had 2 12" L7's running in a prefab ebay box. no one around my area could build me one and prices were just downright ridiculous to ship a big box. what i did was find the biggest ported box on ebay and email kicker to see if they approve it over the other boxes sold on ebay.

 
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LOL thanks but I am trying not to join the losing my hearing by 30 club. I will stick to my puny little basslink. Btw how many db's have you hit so far?

 
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hey man, you think your kickers can keep up with my best friends all SQ system? He's running 2 12'' RE XXX with a soundstream amp, pushing about 5000watts total. Also speakers are SEAS LOTUS components, and Boston Z6 components for rear fill. To push the speakers he's got 3 4channel polk audio momos.

 
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the system pictured is not my current system... i stuck that in the trunk for a week-long camping trip to Lake San Antonio out in Cali, hence the prefab box and the speakers in the trunk (tailgate parties lol)... my current system is undergoing some more tweaks as usual, but the components are in my signature...

what are you asking?... if i would beat him in an SQ competition?... don't know... i'm running a pair of KQ30 30-band parametric equalizers in addition to the filters and EQ settings in my H.U., so my **** is clean and clear... my primary drivers are run off of a Dolby Digital surround sound decoder, and with all time delay settings in my head unit and audio control unit, i bet i would give him a run for his money...

are you wanting to know in terms of SPL?... don't know... it's ridiculously loud... my original intent was to strap the two mono amps together and run them at a 2-ohm load, but i decided to run them each independently to a pair of subs so i could only run 1 pair during my daily driving... ever heard 4 SoloBaric 12"s in a fully soundproofed Civic? i'm not going to be cocky and say that my Civic will pwn every vehicle i come across in a dB drag, but put me up against any other competitor in the Super Street 3-4 class, and yes, i'll hold my own

props to your boy for having a purpose-built system rather than just slapping together a random system... he is running an awesome array of electronics, and as a professional audio installer, i say "job well done"... BUT....

my system is also purpose built... sure, it has great SQ... hell yeah, i can set off car alarms a block away... but my intent was to showcase my skills in order to attract more business... i don't have a shop, i have a 2-car garage... and my name isn't on billboards, and flyers; my advertising IS my system... i roll through a car club meet, enter my car in a show, hell, even when i'm just chilling with my boys in a parking lot, and people stare... they wanna know who did my system, and when i tell them i did every single aspect of the ICE install, that gets my name out...

 
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I'm sure your system is well thought, and from what you told me you really put alot of money and time in it. I was just asking cause I was curious how do L7s match up to RE XXXs (old lineup)
Kicker is a reputable brand, even though I did test out the SX lineup of the kicker amplifiers and I wasn't that impressed. The 4 channel (sx900.4) was not as clean as I expected it to be (I was running active crossovers, so I ditched the passives on teh comps), and the monoblock, sx650.1 didn't put out too much power. Basically I had tu turn the gains all the way up, just to see my Kappa Perfects move. There was no way in hell I could affor those two amps and the SXRC remote, but I did work at Circuit City for a short period of time, and we got all the kicker lineup for a really awesome discount.
As for the Kicker subs, I can't really say anything about them, since I only heard the 12 inch L5's in sealed box in my friend's truck, and those were VERY LOUD. Maybe because the subs were hitting right behind me in my seat.
It was really fun though. As for the sound quality, well, they kicked really nice, but they had alot of overhang. Not too good for the kind of music I listen to. BTW, I never heard the L7s in a car or truck before. Only in a sound room.
Sorry for all the rambling.
Mad props for all your work.

 
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hey, it's all good... i appreciate the compliments... in a perfect world, we'd all be running JL 13W7s and 1000/1s lol, but we work with what we have, and i have Kicker hookups...

the mids and highs are crisp and clean, and the bass is deafening (literally lol)... SQ may not be top-of-the-line, and like i said, i've been punked out by other systems... it makes ME happy, and it gets the job done

thanks for not being a di(k lol


oh, and RE XXX's are SICK... put enough power to them, and they'll make my system look like i'm running Sony Xplods lol...

 
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That's all that matters , and by the way, I wouldn't underestimate the L7's.... Like I said, the L5's were stupidly LOUD, so yeah...
I also believe there's better subs out there than the xxx's ...for my taste anyways... :cough: IDMAX :cough:

 
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BTW, in MY HUMBLE OPINION, I think the IDMAX is a better all around sub than the W7.... (I'm gonna get flamed for this like there's no tomorrow...haha)

Like I said, it all comes down to personal preference.

 
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IDMAXs are badass... Treos are sick, Digital Designs subs are crazy, then there's the good ol' MMATS Juggernauts... there are ton of subs out there that absolutely kick ***...

during a test run of the new setup, i vibrated the arm off of the frame of my Oakleys lol... that's when i decided it was loud enough

 
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thats basty buring smell is most definantly the smell of your voice coils. dude run you amp and 4 ohms and you should be fine.

hey dont be hating the KICKERs i had 3 L7s in the trunk and my trunk used to flex like mad and i bent my licience plat i was hitting 146dB but i also have focal ploys glass mids hoooked up to my us amps. Ya so im a strong beleiver in Kicker Livin Loud to be the cream of the crop.

 
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Just need to stop all the big talk because as long ad your using kicker anything your not gonna have s### if you have kicker and think you got something you just think you know what true spl feels like and sounds like stop if your gonna go all out why go with a cheap audio brand like kicker at least step up to some Rockford Fosgate power series like at least Power T1 12" 2×2ohm subs if you want real bass that's your lower level power series that will make you say kick um what?who? They will definitely take a beating there built like a tank I don't care for kicker from many years of experience they dont have the ability to get enough excursion and can't handle much true power there useless if you want real air moving well unless if you got 40 subs in a van or something but Rockford Fosgate Power series subs and amplifiers will school you in grown man spl if you want to stay ignorant and stay thinking you have any kind of bass just as well mids and highs stay down with the kiddos so y'all can have these little chats on weak car audio you'll stay with the low level brand if you get ***** and decide you want to finnaly see hear and mostly feel what real bass is go with Rockford fosgate Power series everything,then come back and see if you can get into this blah blah kicker talk I bet you won't see a point in it 30 yrs in it and still learn I'm very experienced in the car audio game but never will you know it all and always learn always will