KICKER KEY 200.4 VS OTHER AMPS . WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

[mdk77]

I want to explain the kicker key 200.4 amp in detail VS the musway amps to help members pick the right kit for their bronco . The kicker key is a 50 watt x 4 amp . on a bronco non b & o system . Your front 4 inch dash and 6 1/2 kick panel speakers are daisy chain together . So that means when using a key 200.4 the 50 watts running the front speakers gets split in half between the 4 inch and the 6 1/2 giving each speaker 25 watts each . the rear pods will get 50 watts each . this is a improvement over the stock acm output .and leaving the stock speakers in will sound better with the auto mic tune setup . This is what this amp and others like it we call (piggyback amps in the biz ) are made for adding a amp to factory or low power speakers . For this scenario a small budget the kicker key is a great choice Now if you upgraded your speakers we will use (kicker speakers for example ) the 4 inch require 60-70 watts continuous and the 6 1/2 require 100 watts . If you are using a kicker key 200.4 you are only giving the 4 inch 33% of the power it should have and 25% power to the 6 1/2 . so you spent the money on good speakers and your way under powering them . Your going backwards and the amp is your weak point .

For those that upgraded their 6 speakers the kit 34 musway four100 amp and harness is a way better option . $200 price difference from the kicker key . This amp has a continuous power of 120 watts a channel . So now when you divide 120 in half for the front speakers your still getting 60 watts to each speaker vs 25 from the kicker key 200.4 . This is most important to pepole who have upgraded to 6 1/2 pods in the rear as this will give them the required 100 watts to each rear speaker. For a noisy vehicle and convertible to sound good with the top off on the highway this amp has the power you should be using .

The right way to properly do a bronco for best possible sound is to use a 6 channel amp and separate the 4 inch speakers from the kick panel speakers so each speakers is on their own channel . by doing this you can set power and tuneability to each speaker . when speakers are still daisy chained together you can not properly adjust one without effecting the other . Separating the wiring is easy . when using the metra 6 1/2 speaker plugs the outer wires connect to the 6 1/2 speakers and also feed the inner pins that goes to the 4 inch dash speakers. so by cutting the loop going to the inner pins you will have your 4 inch speakers wires already at the kick panel. Now just add some speaker wire from each kick panel to connect your dash speakers to channels 1-2 on the amp . I can also do it for your when buying a kit from me .

Using kit 35 musway 6 channel amp you will have 110 watts continuous power x 6 . You will have the power you need and will sound amazing with or without the top on

i hope this helps to understand what you get with each kit . i am a car guy as well as the owner and i want pepole to pick the right kit the first time and not buy the wrong option and regret it a month later .and have to buy new equipment and rip there car apart again because they picked the wrong kit

Any questions its always preferred to call in 203-889-1843 . M-F 10-6 EST

This is a great write-up thank you.

I am one of those using the Kicker Key 200. I have a non B&O with kicker speakers throughout as well as a hideaway 10" sub. Honestly all speakers are quite loud, although the rear pods aren't as clear / loud for some reason. My question really is how loud do I really need them? At 12 my ears start to hurt in my current setup even at 75MPH on highway with top down. The hideaway thumps pretty good as well. I was considering either adding the kicker key 500 or just buying a whole new amp which can really deliver the power ... but as a I stated not sure how much louder I need it.

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[mdk77]

I have an amp under both driver and passenger seats (for now). Integration with the factory head unit is the same, but installing a Key under the steering column compared to what's involved in installing an amplifier under a seat is apples and oranges.

I think I'm being misunderstood. The point I'm trying to make is the Key amplifier and the wattage it delivers is not the problem. How he configures the harness that he sells is the problem, and this is the same guy, with his 30 years of experience, that was originally selling the harness without a power source because he thought it could be powered by the factory head unit.

If he actually advertised and sold a bi-amp harness, this thread probably wouldn't exist because customers would probably be stoked with a full, rich and dynamic front stage.

If you're selling a harness than you know for a fact does not a single thing for the rear channels, and splits the wattage to the front channels, why not offer a bi-amp configuration? Boggles my mind...

I am novice at this so educate me on your comment about the rear channels. My current setup is a non-B&O with kicker key 200, kicker speakers throughout and 10" hideaway sub. All in all its got great sound, especially relative to the stock speakers. But my rear speakers aren't all that loud or clear. If I put the fader completely to the rear they are very underpowered. I am using a Hoel wiring harness and I have the amp and sub directly powered from battery. So my question is - is the rear speakers not being powered due a misconfig in my setup? Thanks

 

[mdk77]

I have the 4.100 Musway mounted under the driver seat. It's 6x9 and fits with room to spare. It's a damn good amp too. It's running Kicker KS series in the dash, kick panel and SVS pods in the rear+a 10" kicker powered sub. I had no issues installing with the PNP harness--was literally the same process as installing the Key.

I was thinking of this in place of my kicker key. I have the same setup as you - all kicker speakers. My rear pods are not loud though - not sure if I setup the kicker key wrong or what. I have 10" hideaway sub as well. What plug and play harness did you use for the Musway?

 

[frdfan]

I was thinking of this in place of my kicker key. I have the same setup as you - all kicker speakers. My rear pods are not loud though - not sure if I setup the kicker key wrong or what. I have 10" hideaway sub as well. What plug and play harness did you use for the Musway?

i couldn't tell you for sure which one I used. I called and chatted with Joe directly instead of ordering off his site. I already had the dash, kick panel, rear pods and speakers..so just told him I wanted a higher powered and powered sub. Told him i wanted to mount the amp under the seat and sub would be in cargo area of my 4dr. He basically put the custom kit together for me.

With the Musway, you can either run the back 2 speakers as they are set up now (i tend to think of them more as surround speakers--they do add a lot more fill than volume. Or you can use the Musway amp to tie the front and rear together (basically a 2 channel stereo) where you have left/right channels but using 4 speakers all being driven at the same volume. Hope this helps.

 

[Biff]

I am novice at this so educate me on your comment about the rear channels. My current setup is a non-B&O with kicker key 200, kicker speakers throughout and 10" hideaway sub. All in all its got great sound, especially relative to the stock speakers. But my rear speakers aren't all that loud or clear. If I put the fader completely to the rear they are very underpowered. I am using a Hoel wiring harness and I have the amp and sub directly powered from battery. So my question is - is the rear speakers not being powered due a misconfig in my setup? Thanks

I have the Kicker Key installed using the PNP harness that included the sub wiring along with the 8” Hideaway in the cargo area. I also replaced all 4” speakers with Infinity Reference, but left the stock kick panel speakers in place. Ran the key’s pink noise setup without the sub connected and it sounded fantastic, but bumping the gain on channel 2 made my rear speakers come alive - load and clear. Have you tried increasing the gain on channel 2? It only required a small amount, but wow did it make a difference.

 

[k5beason]

I purchased the M6 with wire harness from Joe and then the B&O version the the kicker sub box from GearShade. Musway M6 and Kicker Key 500.1 are all mounted in the factory sub location. Ran the stinger bronco 4 gauge amp kit to a fused distribution block I mounted on the sub box.

Sounds great. Used a calibrated mic to do a tune using REW. No prior experience but have it sounding pretty darn good. Plenty of bass at higher volumes. Would love more BASS at lower volumes.

if budget allows I’d probably go straight conversion to moBridge. Requires a new ACM module for non b&o tho. Or a Helix DSP. Not sure how a Helix with High level input would compare to a mobridge a2b w/ Dsp.

 

[MidTnBronco]

I purchased the M6 with wire harness from Joe and then the B&O version the the kicker sub box from GearShade. Musway M6 and Kicker Key 500.1 are all mounted in the factory sub location. Ran the stinger bronco 4 gauge amp kit to a fused distribution block I mounted on the sub box.

Sounds great. Used a calibrated mic to do a tune using REW. No prior experience but have it sounding pretty darn good. Plenty of bass at higher volumes. Would love more BASS at lower volumes.

if budget allows I’d probably go straight conversion to moBridge. Requires a new ACM module for non b&o tho. Or a Helix DSP. Not sure how a Helix with High level input would compare to a mobridge a2b w/ Dsp.

Can that amp take a remote bass control knob? I use mine all the time to tune in the bass, really helps with all the different types of music I listen to.

 

[k5beason]

Can that amp take a remote bass control knob? I use mine all the time to tune in the bass, really helps with all the different types of music I listen to.

Can that amp take a remote bass control knob? I use mine all the time to tune in the bass, really helps with all the different types of music I listen to.

You can purchase a remote. Or Bluetooth dongle to comptroller from your phone.

 

[soupcansam]

I want to explain the kicker key 200.4 amp in detail VS the musway amps to help members pick the right kit for their bronco . The kicker key is a 50 watt x 4 amp . on a bronco non b & o system . Your front 4 inch dash and 6 1/2 kick panel speakers are daisy chain together . So that means when using a key 200.4 the 50 watts running the front speakers gets split in half between the 4 inch and the 6 1/2 giving each speaker 25 watts each . the rear pods will get 50 watts each . this is a improvement over the stock acm output .and leaving the stock speakers in will sound better with the auto mic tune setup . This is what this amp and others like it we call (piggyback amps in the biz ) are made for adding a amp to factory or low power speakers . For this scenario a small budget the kicker key is a great choice Now if you upgraded your speakers we will use (kicker speakers for example ) the 4 inch require 60-70 watts continuous and the 6 1/2 require 100 watts . If you are using a kicker key 200.4 you are only giving the 4 inch 33% of the power it should have and 25% power to the 6 1/2 . so you spent the money on good speakers and your way under powering them . Your going backwards and the amp is your weak point .

For those that upgraded their 6 speakers the kit 34 musway four100 amp and harness is a way better option . $200 price difference from the kicker key . This amp has a continuous power of 120 watts a channel . So now when you divide 120 in half for the front speakers your still getting 60 watts to each speaker vs 25 from the kicker key 200.4 . This is most important to pepole who have upgraded to 6 1/2 pods in the rear as this will give them the required 100 watts to each rear speaker. For a noisy vehicle and convertible to sound good with the top off on the highway this amp has the power you should be using .

The right way to properly do a bronco for best possible sound is to use a 6 channel amp and separate the 4 inch speakers from the kick panel speakers so each speakers is on their own channel . by doing this you can set power and tuneability to each speaker . when speakers are still daisy chained together you can not properly adjust one without effecting the other . Separating the wiring is easy . when using the metra 6 1/2 speaker plugs the outer wires connect to the 6 1/2 speakers and also feed the inner pins that goes to the 4 inch dash speakers. so by cutting the loop going to the inner pins you will have your 4 inch speakers wires already at the kick panel. Now just add some speaker wire from each kick panel to connect your dash speakers to channels 1-2 on the amp . I can also do it for your when buying a kit from me .

Using kit 35 musway 6 channel amp you will have 110 watts continuous power x 6 . You will have the power you need and will sound amazing with or without the top on

i hope this helps to understand what you get with each kit . i am a car guy as well as the owner and i want pepole to pick the right kit the first time and not buy the wrong option and regret it a month later .and have to buy new equipment and rip there car apart again because they picked the wrong kit

Any questions its always preferred to call in 203-889-1843 . M-F 10-6 EST

Thank you for all the info! I'm currently planning my audio upgrade - I can't buy everything all at once so I'm just looking to plan it all out and buy things as I can so that I don't have to think later on. I'm first thinking of upgrading my speakers, then later this year I'll buy an amp to power them, and next year I'll finish out with a sub later on.

For speakers, I was either going to do:

1. Kicker KS 4" in the dash+roll bars and Kicker KS 6.75" in the kick panels or
2. Hertz DCX 100.3 in the dash+roll bars and Hertz DCX 165.3 in the kick panels

I'm leaning towards the Hertz because I was able to listen to them on the Crutchfield "Listen and Compare" tool (Kicker KS weren't available to listen to on there yet). But I did see some reviews where they said the Hertz were "brighter" than the Kickers, which I'm not sure if I want tbh.

It seems you're recommending to use Musway four100 if I go the Kicker speaker route, which makes sense based on your information.

But, my question is what amp should I get for the hertz? Would Musway still make sense? The Hertz 100.3 (4") have a max RMS Wattage of 30, which is more than half what the Kicker KS 4" has. The Hertz 165.3 (6.5") have a max RMS of 60.

• If I get an amp, like the Musway four100, would that mean rear 4" speakers would get blown out since 120 watts is going to them?
• Similarly, in the front, will the dash be overpowered by the 60 watts it gets after splitting power with the kick panels?
• If so, would that mean, the AudioControl ACM 4.300 would be better here?
• Do these questions even make sense, like is it even possible to have an amp that is too powerful for a set of speakers?

Thanks!

 

[plugnplaykits]

Could I use a 4 channel amp on the front speakers and use the rear head unit power on the stock rear pods and as inputs 3 and 4 to the amp? Or would it be better to eliminate the rear pods?

You can use the MusWay 4 channel or even the kicker key to just drive the front speakers and leave the rears off of the stock radio, but you would need to separate the 4 inch from the 6 1/2 and one speaker wires to the amp to do this . This is a custom harness and if you like this option, you just need to let me know

 

[plugnplaykits]

Thank you for all the info! I'm currently planning my audio upgrade - I can't buy everything all at once so I'm just looking to plan it all out and buy things as I can so that I don't have to think later on. I'm first thinking of upgrading my speakers, then later this year I'll buy an amp to power them, and next year I'll finish out with a sub later on.

For speakers, I was either going to do:

1. Kicker KS 4" in the dash+roll bars and Kicker KS 6.75" in the kick panels or
2. Hertz DCX 100.3 in the dash+roll bars and Hertz DCX 165.3 in the kick panels

I'm leaning towards the Hertz because I was able to listen to them on the Crutchfield "Listen and Compare" tool (Kicker KS weren't available to listen to on there yet). But I did see some reviews where they said the Hertz were "brighter" than the Kickers, which I'm not sure if I want tbh.

It seems you're recommending to use Musway four100 if I go the Kicker speaker route, which makes sense based on your information.

But, my question is what amp should I get for the hertz? Would Musway still make sense? The Hertz 100.3 (4") have a max RMS Wattage of 30, which is more than half what the Kicker KS 4" has. The Hertz 165.3 (6.5") have a max RMS of 60.

• If I get an amp, like the Musway four100, would that mean rear 4" speakers would get blown out since 120 watts is going to them?
• Similarly, in the front, will the dash be overpowered by the 60 watts it gets after splitting power with the kick panels?
• If so, would that mean, the AudioControl ACM 4.300 would be better here?
• Do these questions even make sense, like is it even possible to have an amp that is too powerful for a set of speakers?

Thanks!

Give me a call and I can go over the options with you

 

[indio22]

I'm going to guess that the most attractive thing about the Key amplifiers is where they mount, so instead of trying to peddle Musway amps, why don't you offer these guys a harness that allows the Key to be run in bi-amp mode, which is where the Key absolutely shines.

How big is the Musway, about 12x6? Half the folks purchasing Keys are new to car audio, so unless they have a subwoofer mounted on the tailgate, where do you propose they hide something that large?

Some of the loudest, most dynamic systems I have heard had speakers that were rated to handle anywhere from 30-80 watts RMS, but I suppose 110 watts sounds amazing to a noob.

Can someone explain what this "bi-amp" setup is in relation to the Bronco?

 

[plugnplaykits]

It means instead of using the kicker key to run all the speakers. It uses the entire amp just to run the front 4 speakers . but you have to run separate wires from the 4 inch speakers to the amplifier to connect your dash speakers to the amp. The rear speakers still run off the radio power.

 

[FreddieLee]

Can someone explain what this "bi-amp" setup is in relation to the Bronco?

As the current harness is configured and sold by PnP, you get an estimated 25 watts to each of the four front speakers, and absolutely nothing to the rear.

In bi-amp mode, you get 50 watts to each of the four front speakers. In short, your front four speakers are driven by the entire 200 watts that the amplifier offers.

Run the auto-tune feature, set your gains, and you have a system that can be turned up into the 20's without distortion, sounds dynamic / nothing short of amazing.

 

[plugnplaykits]

I purchased the M6 with wire harness from Joe and then the B&O version the the kicker sub box from GearShade. Musway M6 and Kicker Key 500.1 are all mounted in the factory sub location. Ran the stinger bronco 4 gauge amp kit to a fused distribution block I mounted on the sub box.

Sounds great. Used a calibrated mic to do a tune using REW. No prior experience but have it sounding pretty darn good. Plenty of bass at higher volumes. Would love more BASS at lower volumes.

if budget allows I’d probably go straight conversion to moBridge. Requires a new ACM module for non b&o tho. Or a Helix DSP. Not sure how a Helix with High level input would compare to a mobridge a2b w/ Dsp.

What speakers did you use in the front? If you’re looking for a killer set up you can do the Muse Way active two-way or three-way. That sound amazing.

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