Recently, the folks at KICKER have given us a reason to take a look at a product that’s designed to literally shake the industry – the KICKER SoloXS L7XS subwoofers. Designed with massive continuous power handling, extreme excursion capability and some unique service features, these monster subwoofers will move air like few others. Let’s check them out!
KICKER SoloXS Specifications
The first thing you’ll notice about the KICKER SoloXS series subwoofers is that they are part of the L7 series, which means they are square drivers. KICKER specifies that the 12-inch drivers have an effective surface area of 625 square centimeters. Typical round 12-inch subwoofers are in the 450 to 550 square centimeter range, so this is a LOT more cone area per subwoofer. More cone area means more efficiency, which is king in the game of producing as much bass as possible.
Moving on, the Solo XS drivers are available in 12- and 15-inch sizes with your choice of one- or two-ohm voice coil impedance.
With respect to general specifications, the subwoofers are rated for 1,500 to 3,000 watts continuous power. While the power-handling numbers are impressive, the Xmax specification is otherworldly at 43.1 mm (1.71 inches). Frequency response is specified as 18 to 100 Hz for the 15-inch and 20 to 100 Hz for the 12-inch.
KICKER makes it clear that these subwoofers aren’t just one-note wonders. Despite their competition-level output capability, the SoloXS drivers are designed to deliver musical bass when installed in a properly designed enclosure.
Design Features
The SoloXS subwoofers are based on eight-spoke cast-aluminum frames with extensive cooling openings beneath the spider mounting ledge. At the base of the chassis is a massive triple-stacked 705-ounce ferrite magnet assembly. The T-Yoke beneath the magnets includes eight vents directly under the voice coil to allow hot air to escape from the motor assembly. KICKER calls this Forced-Air Cooling.
Knowing that these drivers might see as much as 55 amps of current through the voice coil, the electrical connections are appropriately beefy. The spring-loaded terminals can handle 8-AWG cables, but there is also a terminal block that accepts dual 4-AWG leads. This makes daisy-chaining multiple drivers together in parallel easy.
The voice coil windings in the SoloXS subwoofers have a diameter of 3.4 inches and are made of aluminum. Aluminum weighs about one-third as much as copper, so the mass savings are significant. The drivers use an oversized Nomex dual-spider design that purportedly allows up to 5 inches of peak-to-peak cone excursion. The cones are made from 4 mm-thick fiberglass-reinforced pulp paper and feature a carbon-fiber dust cap. The surround is made from nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) and includes proprietary vertical ribs at the corners to ensure unobstructed excursion. There are two rows of stitching to help keep the surround firmly attached to the cone.
Replaceable Cone Assembly
If you’ve attended an SPL contest, then you have likely seen a blown subwoofer or two. When competitors are trying to eke out every tenth or hundredth of a decibel of output from their systems, sometimes parts fail. KICKER knows that a blown subwoofer is a fast way to end your day. To that end, they offer recone kits for all four subwoofers. The assemblies include the cone, voice coil former, surround, spider and leads. The kits cost about 25% as much as a new subwoofer, so they are quite affordable in the grand scheme of things.
The key feature here is that no adhesives are required to perform the repair. The recone kits bolt into the basket using 16 hex-head fasteners in an aluminum ring around the top edge of the driver. There is another dozen fasteners under the spider plateau. Not having to worry about aligning the voice coil, how much glue to apply or waiting for things to set up is a massive time-saver and ensures the geometry of everything is perfect.
Lastly, the engineering team went to great lengths to ensure the users could choose either impedance of recone kits. If you want to switch from 2-ohm subwoofers to a 1-ohm impedance, just buy the appropriate part number.
Massive Bass for Your Ride
KICKER hasn’t left bass heads wanting for power. Their Warhorse WXA3600.1 amplifier is rated at 3600 watts of continuous power into a one-ohm load, ensuring the SoloXS subwoofers have the juice they need to perform.
If you are in the market for a subwoofer capable of serious output, then it’s time to drop into a local authorized KICKER retailer and ask about the SoloXS series of drivers. You can find a retailer near you using the locator tool on the KICKER website.
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