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Review 2 of 11
Price Paid:
$100.00
from Local Shop Year / Model Reviewed:
2001 S8L7/DVC (2O) Strengths:
- Loud for an eight, sounds like a twelve
- High power handling (450 watts rms)
- Uses small enclosures (.33 cu ft min)
- Nice-looking design
- Well-manufactured from quality materials.
- Made in the U.S.A. Weaknesses:
- Priced a bit high ($229 msrp), but can be found for around $100 Summary:
Kicker's S8L7 Solobaric eight inch subwoofer was probably one of the top three subwoofers of its size when it was introduced in 2001. It's probably still one of the ten best eights out there, but this is partly because the newer Kicker S8L7 models have edged it out.
How can I make a claim like this? Well, for one, I've purchased several subs in the past few years, a few of them eights, some of them tens, and a couple of twelves as well. I've also spent countless hours tinkering and listening to subs made by JL Audio, Rockford Fosgate, MTX, Pioneer, Infinity, and some low-end brands. I've listened to many others at auto sound competitions and in friends' cars. When I'm not listening to subwoofers, I enjoy reading reviews based on lab and listening tests performed by professionals. One of the things I've found from my own experiences and learning from others is that all good subs are able to do one thing very well: move lots of air in a controlled manner.
If you want a subwoofer that can create clean and accurate bass, you have to find one that will move enough air so that it can play both loud and low when the music demands it. For an eight inch driver, the Kicker S8L7 moves a lot of air. How? For starters, it has a powerful motor that can push (and control) the cone over a great distance. The S8L7 has a respectable 10.5 mm of cone "throw" in each direction. This means nearly an inch of peak-to-peak motion when driven to max output levels. Not many twelve-inch subs, let alone eights, can achieve this level of performance.
Another reason the Kicker S8L7 can move more air is its squared cone. Not simply an aesthetic element designed for generating sales, the square shape is functional because it provides a larger surface area than traditional circular cones - 20% more to be exact. So not only can the S8L7's cone move further than most others, it also pushes a larger volume of air with each movement.
I currently have a single S8L7 installed in a custom built .75 cu ft sealed enclosure in the trunk of my 1998 Riviera. Firing through the armrest opening and receiving a solid 200 watts rms from an Infinity BETA 100 class-D amplifier, this little monster really puts out the low notes with authority. No, it's not the loudest sub I've heard, but I'm not feeding it all the power it can take, either. It's loud enough to integrate with the rest of my system, it sounds very clean, and it goes plenty low for a single eight - strong to 35Hz, then starting to drop off below 30Hz, but still somewhat able to reproduce the deep 20-25Hz notes.
Although not SPL machines by themselves, two or three S8L7s could make a heck of a lot of noise inside any car or truck. In a vented box, you could expect even more output and a "boomier" sound. I've heard of some folks hitting 140+dB with multiple S8L7s, and Kicker actually went above 150dB using only two of them!
A final note on build quality and materials - as usual, Kicker excels in this area. The S8L7 is built like a tank with a cast aluminum frame, stitched rubber surround, tough poly cone, and spring terminals that accept big-gauge wire. Yes, you pay a bit more for all of these goodies, but it's all necessary for achieving the goal of moving more air, and it's a decently attractive speaker to boot. Of course, it's made in the U.S.A. by a company who's been making car subwoofers since 1980, so what did you expect? Similar Products Used:
- JL Audio
- Rockford Fosgate
- MTX
- Pioneer
- Infinity
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