# Round Solo Baric general experiences



## haromaster87 (Jan 20, 2012)

Hey everyone,

I recently got my first pair of round Solo Baric subwoofers, I found two of the S8C model in 8 ohms. I know these subwoofers are enclosure specific and I've read the manual that's online and naturally they have the volume specifications which is only .33 cu ft per subwoofer. I'm putting them behind my seat in my single cab Nissan hardbody which currently has a .9 cu ft enclosure behind the seat. so I can easily make something to the .66 cu ft spec in the manual.

My curiosity is what are folks experiences with these? These are the late 90's model but I'm curious about the early round ones in general. I've searched and found some mentions in random threads, seems like people loved them or hated them. And did you all run them in enclosures exactly to Kicker's specs or a smidge bigger? I know they're pretty power hungry so I'll be amping them accordingly. But yeah, good, bad, or ugly, I'm curious what you all remember from hearing these.

Thanks!


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## rmenergy (Feb 15, 2009)

Power hungry, slightly boomy in 10 & 12” (haven’t dealt w/8’s) but a fun overall sub. They took a ton of abuse from memory. Never heard them ported but people used to swear by ported enclosures for them.

Have fun. I’d run a o/s solobaric’s in a second


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## Jroo (May 24, 2006)

I ran round solos for years. Really good subs. Only ran them sealed and I ran 12" and 15"s. I found later that running them in larger boxes than what Kicker recommended. Kicker wanted to show those small box specs and it worked, but they did get better sounded in larger than spec boxes.


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## fish (Jun 30, 2007)

I had the original 12" Solobaric in a larger than recommended box. From memory, it sounded pretty good at the time, dug pretty deep.


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## miniSQ (Aug 4, 2009)

Its a solid sub!!


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## SWRocket (Jul 23, 2010)

Just about to build an enclosure for my 2 S12d solo-barics myself. I do plan to stick to the 0.88ft3 recommendation...


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## haromaster87 (Jan 20, 2012)

Thanks for the replies all! SWRocket those are really nice 12's. I'm kind of torn between doing a box to the .33 cu ft spec for the 8's or trying a ported enclosure. It's just hard to find any concrete info on them being ran ported. I've found post of people remembering them sounding good, but then other folks pointing out that their power handling would be awful in ported, etc.

I have an amp that can do around 350w rms to each sub so I'm set on power. I might just start with a standard spec enclosure and see how the two 8's do in the single cab truck


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## haromaster87 (Jan 20, 2012)

Jroo said:


> I ran round solos for years. Really good subs. Only ran them sealed and I ran 12" and 15"s. I found later that running them in larger boxes than what Kicker recommended. Kicker wanted to show those small box specs and it worked, but they did get better sounded in larger than spec boxes.


Can I ask, do you remember having to lower your power output to them in the larger enclosures, or would they still handle significant power? Thanks!


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## SWRocket (Jul 23, 2010)

The Solobarics that had a model starting with "S" (S8c, S10c etc) were meant only for sealed enclosures. Kicker specifically says in the manual to NOT run them ported. They had a model starting with "F" that stood for FreeAir that you could put in vented enclosures, but not the S. You could put your subs in a 4th order bandpass, but, unless you really know how to design a 4th order box, it will most likely sound like crap...

Here is an excerpt from the manual:


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## haromaster87 (Jan 20, 2012)

SWRocket said:


> The Solobarics that had a model starting with "S" (S8c, S10c etc) were meant only for sealed enclosures. Kicker specifically says in the manual to NOT run them ported. They had a model starting with "F" that stood for FreeAir that you could put in vented enclosures, but not the S. You could put your subs in a 4th order bandpass, but, unless you really know how to design a 4th order box, it will most likely sound like crap...
> 
> Here is an excerpt from the manual:
> View attachment 328258


Oh yeah I know all about that, I was discussing the fact that some folks had still made ported enclosures to try them in. In my mind, the large motor relative to the speaker cone would rip itself apart. But again, I still hear about folks that have done it so it's fun to discuss. In my mind, the power handling would be very low in a ported enclosure and that's not how I want to do my current install. 

I'm more curious now as to how additional volume over recommended affects power handling. I see the disclaimer in the manual regarding the power handling of the s10c and how it changes with .06 additional cu ft, but I wonder about real world experiences since it seems like old school installs using them threw a ton of power at them.


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## humandrummachine (May 17, 2010)

A larger sealed enclosure will have more excursion at low frequencies so you will want to limit the power. The ported box will change the frequency where the excursion limit happens and then when you get below port turning the woofer can lose control. Depending on how low your music plays you may need a subsonic filter.

Here is a video from my old youtube channel when i was a kid, this 15" comp was probably around the same year as the S8C. This thing was ABUSED and never had a problem. This whole video is probably clipping the signal lol.


Be careful of the audio/volume spikes if you watch it. Pretty crazy excursion


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## Catbox (5 mo ago)

I had a pair of the Solo 8's in the recommended size boxes behind the seat of my S-15 in 1995 or so.
I was powering them with a PPI Art Series A600 amp stereo at 4 ohms, so 150 watts per sub.
They did very well and I still have the amp and subs in storage.
Soon they will be pressed back into service.

My son liked what I had to say about them when he got into car audio and started watching for a set.
He ended up with a pair of the Solo 12's and runs just one in his VW bug on a Kenwood Excelon XR-600-1 mono block amp.
It has been in the car for a year or so now and sounds great while producing all the bass he needs for now.
It is also in the spec'd sealed box size from Kicker.


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## Sounds_Insane (8 mo ago)

I had a pair of solo-baric 12's. they sounded better than the square cones do. If they came out with that style again I'd be incline to pick some up. I'm just not a fan of the 3D cones or ribbed surrounds they do now.


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## wsvc206 (May 22, 2017)

Single 12 small box deep clean bass 4ohm load @150watt on Audiocontrol ACX1.300


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## DVJ (5 mo ago)

Newbie here hoping to get a little help with a question. I have a pair of 12 inch kicker solo baric S12a 4 ohm I bought in either 1995 or 1996. I'm pretty sure it was the first year of the inverted cone. They're in the box, never been used, and never been stored outside of room temp. They've basically sat in my closet for 27 years or so. I've tried researching to see what they're worth but can only find A few used examples for sale. Any idea what they'd be worth? Thank you in advance


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## Sounds_Insane (8 mo ago)

DVJ said:


> Newbie here hoping to get a little help with a question. I have a pair of 12 inch kicker solo baric S12a 4 ohm I bought in either 1995 or 1996. I'm pretty sure it was the first year of the inverted cone. They're in the box, never been used, and never been stored outside of room temp. They've basically sat in my closet for 27 years or so. I've tried researching to see what they're worth but can only find A few used examples for sale. Any idea what they'd be worth? Thank you in advance


You're best bet is to put them on ebay for a buy it now of 2 or 3 times what a used one sold for an see if anyone bites, then start to lower the price every couple weeks. Or post them on the classified here and see if someone wants them. People are into old school car audio, especially people restoring 90's era cars. You'll find a buyer, you might just have to wait for the right one.


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