Audio Speaker upgrade to base system?

[CartierChiro]

Plenty of folks don't use the Kicker Key, including myself, running a 5 channel Kenwood.

The Kicker is certainly not the only option, and at 50W/channel it's perfectly fine to drive plenty of aftermarket speakers, and a decent amp in it's own right, especially for the price.

do you have. a hideaway sub as well or where did you place the amp? wiring harness used? I guess the biggest future roadblock im trying to navigate is wiring it all in a lot of the popular options for us have solutions readily available, as much as I like to chart my own path I also don't want to be up a creek without a paddle or having to buy more components for it all to make sense

Sponsored

 

[Brian_B]

do you have. a hideaway sub as well or where did you place the amp? wiring harness used? I guess the biggest future roadblock im trying to navigate is wiring it all in a lot of the popular options for us have solutions readily available, as much as I like to chart my own path I also don't want to be up a creek without a paddle or having to buy more components for it all to make sense

My Kenwood is 5 channel, so it's 4x50W for the main speakers, then has a 5th 500W channel for the sub.

Crutchfield has the generic Bronco wiring harness bracket for the ACM, but I did have to splice the wires in myself to connect it to the amp. Not hard, but not "plug and play".

I mounted the amp in my glovebox - although doing it over again I would probably try to fit it in with the Mountains2Metal radio bracket.

I had to run new speaker wire back for the subwoofer, (using OEM enclosure in the rear cargo spot, upgraded to an 8" Kicker, although I think just about any 8" will fit) but only had to run 1 power line through the firewall. With the harness, the main speakers continued to use the OEM wiring, but the sub wiring was completely replaced.

 

[Sluggz]

Anyone not using the kicker key amp? Was told it’s only good for running stock speakers
I have:
4&6” Polk audio db series
6.5 Bl in meta pods
Looking to get an 8”sub that’s good with low bass (any recommendations other than the kickers we always see)

Lastly a good 6chanel amp with 100Hz to each Chanel I was thinking about going with the musway6.100 from plug and play

The kicker key is pretty good for aftermarket speakers. I have a plug n play one for sale, but I ended up going even bigger. Ended up adding a musway 6 channel DSP as well as a separate 600 watt amp for a sub.

 

[CartierChiro]

The kicker key is pretty good for aftermarket speakers. I have a plug n play one for sale, but I ended up going even bigger. Ended up adding a musway 6 channel DSP as well as a separate 600 watt amp for a sub.

Yea that was recommended since all my speakers need almost 100hz the stock amp won’t cut it plus trying to split the dash speakers from the kick panel so they aren’t all sharing a channel…. How do you like your musway? Was it worth it?

 

[Sluggz]

Yea that was recommended since all my speakers need almost 100hz the stock amp won’t cut it plus trying to split the dash speakers from the kick panel so they aren’t all sharing a channel…. How do you like your musway? Was it worth it?

It’s pretty damn good but it is a significantly more involved install. I have audio frog gs42 in dash, gb60 in the kicks, and gs60 in the rears. Im running them all active and bought the gearshade 8 inch sub enclosure to put in a musway mws822 sub. It sounds amazing but it took a ton of work to get it there

 

[Brian_B]

Yea that was recommended since all my speakers need almost 100hz the stock amp won’t cut it

A small thing but

100 Hertz (Hz) is a pretty low bass note

100 Watts (W) is a unit of power that drives your speakers and will be pretty loud

The factory amp is like 20Wx4 and the OEM sub amp 55Wx2

 

[Sluggz]

A small thing but

100 Hertz (Hz) is a pretty low bass note

100 Watts (W) is a unit of power that drives your speakers and will be pretty loud

The factory amp is like 20Wx4 and the OEM sub amp 55Wx2

Pretty sure he means watts but easy enough to tell what he meant

 

[CartierChiro]

A small thing but

100 Hertz (Hz) is a pretty low bass note

100 Watts (W) is a unit of power that drives your speakers and will be pretty loud

The factory amp is like 20Wx4 and the OEM sub amp 55Wx2

Thank you for that definitely meant 100 Watts
And yes because of that split from factory I want to give each speaker what they need rather than sharing.

 

[Area51BS]

I run a Helix V eight MKII DSP/amp. Has adaptive high level inputs as the OEM output changes with output level. DSP makes a world of difference. You can smooth out the response before amp stage. OEM system rolls off bass below 60hz.
Little pricey, but I just wanted to do it right from step 1. And not keep changing.

 

[Brian_B]

Pretty sure he means watts but easy enough to tell what he meant

Not making fun of him or anything and he’s asking smart questions - sometimes people just don’t know. Lord knows I learn enough stuff around here

 

[CartierChiro]

Not making fun of him or anything and he’s asking smart questions - sometimes people just don’t know. Lord knows I learn enough stuff around here

no offense taken and definitely learning a lot every day on this forum as well!!

Sponsored