jl w6v2 vs kicker solo baric

currently running a jl 1000/1v2 amp with a 12w6v2 in a ported enclosure. i feel i'm not getting the full potential out of my amp. i was told w6's aren't really meant to be ran in a ported box so i wouldn't get the full potential out of my sub anyhow, along with the fact that my amp is too much power for one single sub. i want to push my amp to its potential and go with a 15" kicker solo-baric. is this a smart decision? would appreciate anyones input

I love my L7 15s. They will handle the power that amp puts out very well. Im running 1280rms per on my subs daily.  4.5 cube per ported. Great sound and it plays very strong. Im doing 153s on TL with with a pair of them on 2 zx1000.1s in a big Navigator. They really love airspace and ported will really make them loud. Mine are tuned to FB 33 peaking at about 48Hz . It seems that you are wanting a good sound while still playing loud. The L7s will do you well. Sure you are not going to win a true SQ comp with it ported and if you tune for better sound it will not be as competitive for SPL but if you want a good daily pounder that still sounds good they are a great choice IMO.

in a single ported enclosure, how much cubic ft. are we looking at?

for a single L7 15 3 to 6 cubic foot. the bigger the louder. I went 4.5 for a street beat setup with a FB of 33Hz really loud and still sounds great.

w6 and L7 are far from similar subwoofers..you cannot compare the two\ W6's can be in whatever enclosure you want...but it must be custom designed if its not a sealed enclosure or the results will be far from satisfactory. L7's are designed for output....W6s designed for SQ...completely different. Personally I don't like the L7's...the low end sounds hollow and weak compared to other subwoofers. There are plenty of other drivers that will sound better and outperform the L7 though.Custom Enclosure Design

I've owned each a 12L7 and 15L7. For output yes they can do great. But personally I would never own them again. Here is some 15L7 porn if you want to see how much the sub can move...I wouldn't recommend playing 10Hz tones and trying to reach the limits of your subwoofers as that will reduce the life span of the driver. http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p67/aznboi3644/?action=view¤t=MOV02395.flvCustom Enclosure Design

if speaker porn is what you want just go to realmofexcursion.com. you can see videos of just about any sub ever made and the amp guts section is cool too. and just on a personal note ive never heard a setup with any square woofer that sounded decent to me, but that isn't necessarily the subwoofers fault