Kicker Amplifier and Subwoofer Help!!

Jmass03 · Outlaw Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 239 City: OrLaNdO

Well let me give me the application that the amps and sub are going to be going in. It is a 2006 Malibu Wakesetter VLX wakeboard boat. Fully loaded with a tower. The boat already has a 6 Kicker Speakers with a seperate amp, running with a Sony CD/Mp3 player etc. Overall, I think this CD will be fine. I'm somewhat familiar with car systems, but working with a boat stereo is somewhat different being that you have to battle with noise issues--engine noise, water, etc. The tower is going to be outfitted with Skylon Rubicon 450's so I want something loud enough to balance out the sound.

1) Are the ZX series that much better than the KX series?

2) I'm considering the Kicker Solobaric L7 series, but my concern is space. I have two places I can currently mount the sub. The amps will be away from water and moisture. They will be in a compartment behind a seat, next to the two batteries (which leads me to my next question). Since this is a boat application, open in the elements. I will be keeping the subwoofer dry from water as either location will be either A) inside a compartment or B) under the steering wheel, in the driver foot place. I understand that ported or sealed, it still requires a minimum of 3 cubic ft, where would you recommend?

3) Is it necessary to have a marine grade battery, or can I go with a higher amp yellow top, or will this wreak havoc on my boat alternator?

4) I see that the Solobaric L7 can be had with either dual 2 ohm or dual 4 ohm voice coils. My question comes in here: The ZX1000.1 only allows you to transmit 1000 watts at 2 ohms, and 500 by 2 at 4 ohms. The latter is not my worry, however I know the KX series which is obviously older has the KX1200.1 which is stable at 1 ohm, in which case I could run the 4 ohm subwoofer, or would you recommend the 2 ohm? I would prefer to stick with the 2006 series as I am also considering the ZX800.4 which is nearly identical i assume to the KX800.4 (either of these amplifiers will be powering my one pair of tower speakers rated at 425-600 watts rms each).

I hope that my question wasn't too long, and I hope that it is clear enough. Please give me your opinion. Thank-you!

Jonathan

joedirt00 · Posted: Aug 21, 2006 4:24 am Post subject:

3 cubic feet is huge If you can fid it on a boat and live with it, go for it.

Battery type is not really a concern, just your preference. However, do not mix Gel batteries and conventional acid batteries. Use both of the same kind.

With out digging up full specs on the amps and sub, I would go with the ZX. If it is putting out 1000w at 2ohms, it will be most likely be more than the 1200 can do at 2 ohms. The 1200 is probably 800-900 at 2 ohms. Based on that if you go 1 sub I would go with the dual 4 ohm model so it can be bridged to 2 ohms. If you are going with a pair then I would go with the dual 2 ohm model, wire each one into 1 ohm and then bridge the 2 into 2 ohms for the amp.

The tower speakers do the same as the sub find out what your final impeance will be when wired and buy a amp to match. It will take a little more thinking because you have 4 of them but the impedance is what is important to get the right amp.

You can see my set up here
http://forums.wakeboarder.com/viewtopic.php?t=51122

Jmass03 · Outlaw Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 239 City: OrLaNdO

the KX1200.1 actually transmits at 1 ohm. Is the lower the OHM load, the more consistent the amplifier is, in that is it going to run cooler, etc.?

Jonathan

joedirt00 · Posted: Aug 22, 2006 4:04 am Post subject:

Thats right. the KX can do 1200@1 ohm but if you run it at 2 ohms it it will be less than 1000 watts. The ZX does 1000 at 2ohms.

The lower the Ohm load or impedance the more power it can theoreticly put out. IMO, I think its harder on the amps to run them at the lowest impedance. I have no personal experiences to back that statement up though.
If I'm running amps at the lowest impedance, I try to over size them for my application so I don't have to push them on the watts. This cuts down on heat build up since its not being pushed to its max.

jjaszkow · Posted: Aug 23, 2006 6:06 am Post subject:

joedirt is absolutely correct, the lower the impedance, the more power that is put out, and on the same note the more heat is generated which is generally a bit harder on the amp. Do not run your gains set at a high level when running the amp at the lowest impedance, otherwise you may find that the thermal protection will kick in after running for a while.
Conversely, the lower ohm load an amplifier is stable at, it is generally even more stable at higher ohm levels. That said, most mono amps are pretty stable if the gains are set correctly, even at their lowest impedance load.

The minimum of 3 cubic feet seems a bit large to me unless you are running a 15, which might be difficult to conveniently fit on the boat. Kicker's specifications say the following:
L7 - 8 : Sealed .33-.75 cu ft, Vented .66-1.0 cu ft
L7 - 10: Sealed .66-1 cu ft, vented 1.25- 2.25 cu ft
L7 - 12: Sealed .88-2.0 cu ft, vented 1.75-3.25 cu ft
L7 - 15: Sealed 1.5-6.0 cu ft, vented 3.0 - 6.0 cu ft

pickle311 · Newbie Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 48

I have to chime in on this one, audio is my thing. I have a ton of experience with kicker products. To answer your question, yes the ZX amps are better than the KX although it will not benifit you in any way. In a boat, you will not get good enough sound quality to benifit from the amps. They are designed for a true car audio competitor. The KXs will be perfectly fine and they are great amps, I'm getting ready to build an SQ car and it will use all KX amps. Now for the sub, I personally run a Kicker L5 10 in my boat and it's freaking LOUD!!!!! The box makes it though. I don't know how much bass you are looking for, but I don't see any reason to get anything bigger than a 10. Also, my speaker is way under powered and capeable of much more but I don't want it. The way to really make the L5s and L7 crank out some sound is to follow Kickers specs and use the MAX size for the vented enclousures, truse me. My 10 is in a 2.25 cu ft box. If you don't believe me, call the guys at Kicker for yourself and they will tell you to put it in as big of a box as possible. Also, with a ported box the efficiency of the speaker is increased dramatically, meaning you don't need as much power. Mine peaks at 900watts and has and RMS of 450, those specs are for a very small sealed box. In a large ported box, I'm running about 300 watts max to it, big difference from the 900 it can handle. I can honestly say that my boat is the only one I've ever been in where you can actually hear the bass while wakeboarding at 75 feet. It's not that loud, but you can hear it. Good luck

lowcashfireman · Outlaw Joined: 15 Apr 2006 Posts: 150 City: Paragould

I have a Kicker 10" L7 in my boat and its in a Kicker ported box and is powered by an 800 watt 2 channel amp and it hits real hard. I knew it would be loud but had no idea it would be nearly as loud as it is. Solobarics are real good subs and if I had a choice thats def. what Id go with. Id also go with the ZX amp.