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Which car subwoofer is best? Jl audio W7's or the Kicker L7's? And what type of amp would support 2 mid ranges, 2 tweeters, and a dual set of subwoofers? I prefer phoenix gold brand amplifiers. BTW the brand of midranges and tweeters would be mb quarts. I know this is kinda basic stuff, but i just wanna make sure. Thanks

I think alot of it depends on what size you can afford for 'em.

money is no problem. I have decided....ill get the kickers. Maybe just a single kicker instead of dual. I went to my cousin and he told me 1 is enough and 2 might crack ur windows if bumped up. I didnt realize dual L7 kicker subs would be that strong So i guess single is good enough.

Personally, I like to go for smaller subs rather than larger ones. I don't listen to rap music, or much of anything with electronic lows/bass. With that said I have a single 10" Alpine Type R in my mk3 VW GTi hatch in a small truck box, putting about 250W RMS through it from a blaupunkt solid state amp,and let me tell you what... it KNOCKS.

L7's are best ported with a lot of air space, so I hope you have enough room for it.

Also a lot of people say that the L7's aren't that great a SQ, but that was a couple of years ago.

Both are good subs but it really depends on what kind of music you listen to. I prefer sealed enclosures as they sound "tighter" and give better rolling bass. If you want boomy, go with a ported or ban-pass type box.

Its been a LONG time since i have looked at car audio stuff. I did my last sound system about 8 years ago and it is still going strong. It's almost time for a new stereo, and a new car to put it in.

just to let you know the L7 is not a good sub. The Jl audio sub will blow it outta the water in both clarity and loudness depending on the amp and all.
I have installed alot of the kicker subs because people love the kicker brand. I infact hate them they are the most over rated subs there is period. And as far as 1 cracking your window i think not. As i installed 2 in a vw jetta in a slot ported box with obscene amounts of power and no cracked windows there. Go with either the JL audio or get an alpine type R or type X you will be much better off

hey thnx for the info. Dang, i hate over rated products. I didnt realize the kickers were overrated. I remember hearing the kicker in my cousins car (donno which model) but it sounded really clear and deep in the lows. I was like whoa, sounds pretty nice, not bad at all.

here's the situation.


im buying a kicker L5 12"
600 RMS
1200 Peak

would a kicker 400.1 be enough to push it, and still have the sub hit pretty hard?


and later, if i wanted to could i buy another L5 and run it off of that amp?

i would appreciate your input

I apologize for bump the old topic, but I have some interesting observations that I would like to share, maybe this will help someone in the future because once I was on the lookout for useful advice.
Two completely different woofers with completely different objectives.
It depends on what music you listen to, space, power you will be putting to it. Just a bunch of variables. If you like a Musical sub that will still pound the W6 is for you. If you like a sub that will hammer but lack in some of the musicality the L7 is for you. I have two L7 12's under my dash and they pound!
The JL is an exercise in balance and precision. It's linear, fast, low distortion, deep, and does these things with minimum moving mass. Great musicality and it will hammer.
The Kicker is pushing around a lot of moving mass with more of a single-minded focus. It's an absolute jackhammer but not very articulate.
I have a 12" L7 with the KX1200 https://atfulldrive.com/best-car-subwoofer running it and it absolutely slams but as other's point out, it's not the same SQ as the JL. Do you want boat shaking bass(L7) or do you want a sub that hits hard on the dubstep but also adds some deep tones to country (W6)? I personally like the rip your head off bass but on some songs, you can tell that it's not the best choice of sub for that particular song.
There are a lot of useful videos on this subject on Youtube, I'll leave one here, Hope this helps someone. Good luck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYZ-ZTa_BcA