Whats Wrong With Kicker?

[Polecat]

things do happen, but agree, very rarely you see someone say "I put 1500 watts on this 8", ported at 32hz and it blew...damn speaker company..."

then someone ask "did you have the SSF on?"

they say "what is that??"

Things can and do happen. But how a company does to fix or remidy it, is also important.

Honda's have had recalls.

[meade916]

i see alot of people on this forum hatin on kicker.

you do? where? at least not any more then any other brand...none of them are safe from dumb ass haters. Unless its a REAL BAD brand like rockwood or boss, you really wont here a ton of trash talking on any brand. Even then its not a lot of "hating" on those products. Boss amps do suck, its not hating if someone is telling the truth .

But of course even with the good brands like kicker, a few people like to blow stuff out of proportion, and usually its there own fault something went wrong.

[Torres]

i havent noticed any trash talkin about kicker either, except for a couple jokes between some members. but they know it's all fun and games

[LSN2meBoom916]

I run Kicker so I will add this:

I don't see "HATING" on the brand "per se"....but AS A BRAND....it is considered/treated/openly discounted as inferior....when compared to the aforementioned Fi, RE,DD,T3,Atomic, & AudioQue to some extent etc...which are in my eyes the REALLY HIGH power AND pretty High $$$ per sub companys that tend to show up more and more in comps.

My build philosophy is keep the COST to a minimum...there fore I don't think any SUB SETUP (just woofers) should cost more than $1k...and that should be a RIDICULOUSLY loud setup.

When I go to soundoffs, I get all kinds of "just cvr's?" and "You should run better subs" "your ##'s would be higher if you ran real subs"

Out of 13 (I think )... I've only been to 1 show where I didn't leave with a trophy.

Most Streetbeaters that know what the "big dawgs" are running generally follow/imitate what they see winning in the lanes, and those HIGH power companys is what seems to be the trend, not to mention MOST people will generally only "take a chance" (drop mucho $$$) on a company that they see others doing well with, and hence its a lot easier to defend the claim "The winningest guy" runs brand X, therefore it must be great.

That is however pretty much like saying "Brand X CAR company must make the best daily drivers because they win all the races"

The "regular joe" non-educated basshead will likely just buy "the best thing he/she can afford" that is avail to them (i.e. what you see in chain stores JL, MTX, Kicker, Fosgate, Pioneer, Kenwood, etc)

it's kinda apples & oranges to me.

If I set goals on an install I will choose my product accordingly. If/When I want a setup to do high numbers on a TL, I would have to consider my (this is MY world we're talkin here) MAIN limitations... such as airspace available, and BUDGET.

But I personally only RARELY, if ever, find folks that could even handle that kind of system...much like a too fast racecar, most folks couldn't handle...it's only "the few"...that seek out the extreme/higher end and thus are the MAJORITY on sites like this.

I like how kicker subs sound in MY car.

That doesn't mean I'd like them in anybody else's setup tho or that anyone would like the sound in My car. It's really hard to say "these subs definitively sound better" than any other....cuz what's that comment based on? how many different setups have you heard all running said gear and who built em? Pretty much the same OUTPUT. Who can squeeze the most outta each product...and at what cost? SQ? Longevity? Some dude was doin a 150+ on a TL sealed up w/ 1 Alpine Type R 10 in a pickup...but last I heard he kept toasting the sub.?

I know I could get as much output as my 4 CVR 12's with 2 Fi BL 12's ported in the same airspce but I would need more power wich means more amps, more battery/alt power etc... Ulitimately driving cost up. I could do the same as those 4 12's "or better" with some higher dollar Fi/RE/DD 12's or 1-2 15's too...it's just where you draw the line.

IMO-Kicker's bang for your buck is just about THE BEST out there.

You can get inexpensive subs like CVRs and just run as many as you can fit....or step up to CVX's or L7's or Solo X's as your "need for higher numbers" exceeds your focus on SQ....plus you can always compromise on your BUILD to compensate for w/e ur gear lacks, and vice versa.

I have 4-CVR12's (2005 series, $300 BNIB off ebay) in 5-6cft sealed box in a hatchback.

I'm running one PG Tantrum 1200.1 to the subs...birthsheet on this one said 1400ish I think so between 300-350rms per sub.

Most recent USACi/dbDrag/burp 146.3db TL w/ mic in the kick.

I'm happy w/ my kicker subs and the only time I have seen them blow is when they were overpowered.

[Polecat]

I run Kicker so I will add this:

I don't see "HATING" on the brand "per se"....but AS A BRAND....it is considered/treated/openly discounted as inferior....when compared to the aforementioned Fi, RE,DD,T3,Atomic, & AudioQue to some extent etc...which are in my eyes the REALLY HIGH power AND pretty High $$$ per sub companys that tend to show up more and more in comps.

thanks for all your kind words, and just want to piggy back on this some.

I know the owners of T3, and Fi, and they aren't really comparing apples to apples. They build alot less drievrs than we do, and sell, alot less. Doesn't mean they are better, or worse for eaither manufacture.

We build for the masses. A street driven car, anyone can get. Now, you look on car audio forums, many will spend thousands and thousands of dollars on amps and subs. Most consumers don't. What, real audio freaks are less than .000000000000000001% of the worlds population?

But, say T3, or Scott and his group at FI can't do 20,000 12;s a month, and say 20,000 10" subs a month (just throwing random numbers out there, so don't think thats the case )

But, we don't build a sub that holds 20,000 watts for 30 seconds,35mm Xmax, etc....

But, I remember Michael Hughes in 2002/2003ish, beat everyone that had those huge woofers back then, with off the shelf L710's...people FREAKED. And it's the same street woofers that dominated USACi last year.

But dbDrag, where stupid power is being made in all classes, they may not. And we are fine with that, and honor any other brand that wants that.

But, like Neill Barber's Blazer, James Herrens car at finals last year, loudest street A car in US, all using off the shelf woofers. I can live with that. I am not taking anything away, from Atomic, DD,RE,FI,etc...but comparing thir line of subs against ours, isn't really apples to apples. Build what fits, what you want to sell.

[Tub Asko]

I love mine also. I would switch to dc, fi, etc. But the price is right on the kickers 4 me. Damn confidentiality agreement . . . hehe

So I run kickers. Given the option to run lvl 5s or btls or what have you I would, but as the gentleman above me said, you have to accommodate their need for power with more/bigger amps, even more electrical, wiring, deadening, etc. to fix that. I have hella trouble keeping my zx2500.1 afloat and I'm stressing over the cost of the irragi alts (only thing in my build I'll pay full price for). It's amazing how much money you have to dump to get a massive system. That much I didn't realize a year ago when I made my first kicker order. I know now ahead of time so I can prepare for the costs but from what I hear, tripling up on my system will cause me more problems than I could ever imagine with the vehicle.

There are so many considerations to look into. Kicker as a consumer product like all other brands make various levels of woofer/amp for various price ranges. For a consumer an l7 15 costs as much as a lvl 5 15. The lvl 5 15 may be better than the l7 but in my opinion, there is something about putting that Kicker name on your vehicle or when someone asks what you run . . . you are happy to say KICKER. Or as meade said before . . . you tell em you run FI and they look at you like wha?

[qu1cks1lver56]

my thing with kicker is that everyone i know that owns them thinks that no one can beat 'em, and i havent heard a kicker speaker that had any sq worth a damn imo

[Tub Asko]

my thing with kicker is that everyone i know that owns them thinks that no one can beat 'em, and i havent heard a kicker speaker that had any sq worth a damn imo

then you haven't heard any kicker INSTALL worth a damn

[Polecat]

my thing with kicker is that everyone i know that owns them thinks that no one can beat 'em, and i havent heard a kicker speaker that had any sq worth a damn imo

so blame the install, not the equipment.......

[Kicker Guy]

my thing with kicker is that everyone i know that owns them thinks that no one can beat 'em, and i havent heard a kicker speaker that had any sq worth a damn imo

Install is atleast 80% of the system..... you can take the best SQ sub in the world and make it sound like ass