[redSVT_03]

Welp had a diamond d3 4ohm in my car that I put in new last fall, I used a american bass amp I know peak is 1150 cant remember rms. Anyway I had nothing against this set up It hit pretty good, but I saw a good deal on craigslist yesterday and jumped on it. I got a 4ohm kicker L7 in a ported box for 100, but traded my old box to knock 20 off and sold the d3 to my buddy for 80 so I am out no money on this deal. Just wondering if an expert in this area could tell me how I did, I have not pulled it out to check model number yet but it is an older silver front model. I know I'm not pushing it very hard even with my amp turned all the way up I am not powering it as much as I could. Enough rambling I just want to know if you guys think this was a good Idea. Thanks [ffrocks]

 

[freemind]

No, I do not think it was a good idea.

The D3 is a much, much better sub.

Do you mean that you have the amps gain turned all the way up?

If so, that is a very bad idea.

 

[redSVT_03]

I have the gain trimmed to about 4/5. You really dont think the L7 is better though? I havnt heard anything bad about them. Still fine tuning with the l7 now just trying to get it sounding its best but If I cant get it as tight sounding as I would like I may switch back to the d3. But not likely I really think the l7 has more of a punch to it

 

[freemind]

The L7 has a lot of boom. It is more of a SPL sub. The D3 is a very good SQ sub. I am an avid fan of SQ. It is all going to come down to having the right box for either sub to the sound you are looking for.

You need to turn the gain to 1/2 at least. High gain leads to clipping which destroys speakers.

 

[alaskanzx5]

the l7 is a great sub for either spl or sq. just depends on the box. all subs havent a different sweet spot with the gain. turn the hu up just over half way or so. then adjust the gain to were the bass sound the the best. i know these are good subs, now you just need a matching kicker amp.

 

[freemind]

^Yuck. Square subs have bad SQ harmonics period. But are good SPL subs FWIW.

Carry on.

 

[mitchv]

lol kicker makes nothing for sq. and Ive heard lots of bad things about the build qualitys on those like spiders start rubbing up against the coils and eventualy unravel them

 

[alaskanzx5]

its not only about the shape of the sub the box has a big part in it. ive heard 2 systems with kickers that just sounded amazing. some funky looking boxes but sounded great.

 

[redSVT_03]

Well I have given it the ear test and I have gotten it to sound better and hits way harder then my diamond ever did. Maybe because my box was off? I had a 2 cubic foot with it and thats what they recommended for it.. If I ever switch back to diamond I would probably get another d3 so I would be running two of them so it would have good sound quality and hit pretty hard. that or a jl w7 would be ideal but pricy

 

[mitchv]

Never get a jl w7... sooo many other subs for that price sound better.

 

[redSVT_03]

lol I'm new to audio, am I effin up bad?

 

[alaskanzx5]

no, not for a newbie at it...

 

[freemind]

The correct enclosure size is nearly everything.

You can make a raw driver in the correct enclosure sound better than a name brand driver in a pre-fab enclosure.

 

[An Audio Guru]

Here's my 2 cents. I sell Diamond and I think its pretty good stuff myself. I also sell Kicker and have been using an L7 8" for over a year with no problems. It gets played at MAX everytime that dang girl gets in the car. She blasts all the bass at max. Irritates the stew out of me!!! Anyway. I think the quality of boths contsruction is equal. But Alaskan and Freemind are right. You will get 2 completely different sounds out of these subs even if you have similar boxes and a matching amp. It would probably be easier to get quality and volume out of the Diamond though. Although I am an avid fan of kicker amops and subs and always have been. Never had not 1 kicker item f up on me yet. Heck I am still running kicker tweets from 2003. What does that tell you about quality and durability??