Polk VS Kicker

[Tim]

I have 2 Polk DX12's and I just bought a new truck and space is a big issue. A friend of mine has offered to trade his 2 Kicker 10'' solobarics (the older round ones) for my DX12's. I know this forum is kind of partial to Polk products but I would appreciate if anyone could respond with some information on their experiences with kicker products.

[PolkThug]

Polk rules!

[exalted512]

...and you bought up a 6 year old thread because...?

[PolkThug]

Just trying to help Tim out. Nobody in car audio will help him.

[Jstas]

Actually, in 2001, you could still get the old round Solobarics just like he said. They were quite nice!

Not as nice as the new SR's so this dude should forget about the Kickers and go with the Polks.

[jakelm]

He finally got a responce....Way to go PT......:D :p

For 6 years he has been clicking "new post"....and no one was there for him.. and then PT saw him and gave him a hand.....

[Greg Peters]

Patience is a virtue...

[1996blackmax]

Very nice :D


I actually had a couple of those old Solobarics (s12d, and s12c), they were good subs. I liked them more than the L7's.

[PoweredByDodge]

Original Solobarics, Kenwood Excelon DB subs, Polk Original Db(x) --- they all mostly sounded the same. Not exactly, but pretty close. If anything, they sounded better than a lot of stuff you buy today.

[Jstas]

The Solobarics were considerably louder than the Polks. I've been running the dB's for a while now and they are tight and clean and surprising in thier output for the sensitivty level. But the Solobarics had the same quality in sound but put out volume closer to the old Earthquake competition subs. I never heard the eXcelon DB's though so I couldn't say.


I miss that Kicker. I mean, they make some good stuff now but those original Solobarics were like a fond farewell. They haven't been the same since. The amps were pretty snazzy back then too and even thier Impulse full-range speakers were nice deals. I still have a set of 4x6 inch Impulse speakers that work like champs. Now they aren't nearly as potent and while I still read about them in competitions, they aren't the Kicker of the past. I don't know what happened. They are still in Stillwater, OK and they are still American owned. I just don't know why they got watered down.

Thier new SoloX is along the lines of what they used to do but the rest of thier lines aren't quite the same.

[JoshParsons84]

Kicker Comp CVR don't even come close to Polk Audio DB, so couldn't imagine what they'd be like compared to Momo or god forbid the SR!

[MacLeod]

The Kicker SS's didnt impress me much at all. Especially considering the $800 price tag!!! I thought they were way to bright and just thin sounding.

[JoshParsons84]

Would this be a fair comparison? How about Polk SR6500 vs Rockford Fosgate Power T162S? I dunno why but I've always favored Rockford Fosgate. I once had a pair of P1T tweeters and I'm telling you what they were simply amazing. And were just ran off my old POS Blaupunkt deck. They're woofers have always hit tremondously hurt your ribcage hard and they're amps have always been real good. To be honest I just got into Polk car speakers when I got into Polk HT, so I guess that's why I dont know much about them.

[MacLeod]

I would put the Polk Signature Reference speakers up against anything out there. In fact I actually am. Im competing in SQ competitions against guys using everything from Dynaudio, Scanspeak, Seas, Focal, Quart and on and on. I can get hook ups on all kinds of gear but I choose the Polks because I honestly think theyre good enough to compete with the best, most expensive speakers on the market. And I think Im doing a decent job of proving it. And just think, I cant tune worth a damn! So imagine how good they would sound in the hands of somebody that could! :D

[exalted512]

SRs will kill anything fosgate makes, and thats coming from a guy who spent over $2k on fosgate equipment last year.
-Cody

[JoshParsons84]

Are the Polk's really that good? What about for back speaks? Can I throw in a pair of Momo 6.5's? Found out my wife wants me to buy a "family vehicle" instead of what I really want. May end up with a 96 Saturn Wagon 5-speed (WTF ) Oh well, long as she's happy right? Plus I can rock a system in something like that can't I? Would the 6.5 Momo's be the best for back speakers?

[1996blackmax]

I liked the old Kicker Resolution components of the mid 90's or so. I also ran Kicker amps of the same era. This was solid gear back then. There was a guy running Kicker Resolution components, amps, and Solobarics that won many SQ competitions around that time.

I really like my old Polk DB3065's from that time as well (also had the DB coaxials), nice speakers. I even had the Monitor Series that were out before the DB3065's. These were the older DB's I had, not to be confused with the current line. I did not like the way the new DB coaxial speakers sounded. The tweeter I thought was on the harsh side, nothing like the old DB speakers I had.

[MacLeod]

I had the Momo components before the SR's. Excellent speaker. I still think that dollar for dollar, the Mighty MM6 is one of the best speakers ever!! I loved that thing! Built like a sub, could handle assloads of power and sounded great! Especially once you got those tweeters tuned down some. ;)

Still have mine too. Have one of the mids autographed by Matt Polk, Jim Head and Paul DiComo! Got it sitting in my World Finals trophy! One of my most prized possesions.

[powerlord]

I've said this a million times,most of your big name companies make decent speakers,some companies make total crap,90% of the sound you hear is in the install,not from the speaker by itself!