Look at it this way, He will probably be replacing those L7's sooner than you will be replacing your subs, when they fail horribly. If that's the case you win, or atleast your wallet does.
I've seen a lot of SPL vehicles that are nothing but gutted interiors, raw MDF, and bare wires laying all over the inside of the car. They look awful, but yeah, hitting 150+ dB at least, so very loud.
I just smile, and know that my installs look cleaner, and more professional, and yield a far better experience for doing what car audio is meant to do. Play music.
IVery few SPL setups are eye candy, and very few pretty installs get very loud from my experience anyway. Often it's just too much time and money to do both.
I was pretty set on just getting louder, but I'm trying to round things out a bit more, including improved aesthetics.
that depends on what you consider very loud, Troy. I think anything that can hit 140dB is more than loud enough for daily use, when it hits that number playing music, and not just burping one note.