Kicker Key Amp 200.4 Install DIY Video - Do this first!

[Teewsda]

Not really sure but with the front 4 speakers being on the same channel and different sizes it makes sense. It sounds great, so good it needs a sub to finish it off.

I installed kit 19 key 200.4 with a 10" hideaway sub.( before price hike and sold out)
Wow. Huge difference with just the key and stock speakers. The sub pulls it together nicely.
Might upgrade the speakers and might not. Sound stage is hugely improved with auto setup on the key.
Not sure where to mount the sub so I have a long pig tale in plastic loom so I can move it around for now.
Will have to wait for highway and top off to decide if I need to tweek more but very happy with the results and ease of install.
Shout out to plug and play for the phone time and help sorting out an install question.

Sponsored

 

[mikey_photo]

I installed my "kit 14" today and it makes a huge difference. I am so pleased with the outcome and totally worth it. This kit includes the harness, Kicker Key 200.4 and the LC2i.

The install was relatively painless and took me about an hour.

In the next couple weeks, I'll finish it off by adding the Key 500.1 to the LC2i, and a down-firing 12" sub in the rear.

I previously switched out all of the factory speakers (which made a difference) but the amplification and DSP made them come alive. I hate saying "night and day difference" but it really is.

I'm currently running:

Kicker KS 4" in the dash (with 300 hz bass blockers) and rear pods (no bass blockers), and Sony XS-GS1621's in the kick panels.

 

[TripleB]

I installed kit 19 key 200.4 with a 10" hideaway sub.( before price hike and sold out)
Wow. Huge difference with just the key and stock speakers. The sub pulls it together nicely.
Might upgrade the speakers and might not. Sound stage is hugely improved with auto setup on the key.
Not sure where to mount the sub so I have a long pig tale in plastic loom so I can move it around for now.
Will have to wait for highway and top off to decide if I need to tweek more but very happy with the results and ease of install.
Shout out to plug and play for the phone time and help sorting out an install question.

The plan is to wait for a JL stealth box but I’m not sure I can wait that long.

 

[mcinfantry]

I don't see anyone installing waterproof speakers, does everyone think that's unnecessary?

Im considering it

 

[Teewsda]

The plan is to wait for a JL stealth box but I’m not sure I can wait that long.

I couldn't wait any longer.

 

[jh3113]

If you are using the Kicker KEY, you dont necessarily need the bass blockers as the amp will set the crossover points for you. You just need to ensure the DIP switches are in the correct positions for your particular setup.

Good to know! I installed the bass blockers before i installed the AMP, so when I go to calibrate the Key, I will see how removing them sounds.

 

[Scotteasymoney]

Good to know! I installed the bass blockers before i installed the AMP, so when I go to calibrate the Key, I will see how removing them sounds.

Installing the blockers on the dash will be a big help on keeping the 4" from sounding muffled. The lower 120htz setting will work better on the larger kick panel speakers. Just my opinion. When I installed my Rockford Fosgate 4" in the dash they sure did move alot with just the factory base power. Have the 300htz blockers to install and hopefully order the double key set-up Monday when they start taking orders again.

 

[pfbz]

I don't see anyone installing waterproof speakers, does everyone think that's unnecessary?

The Polk DB402's are 'marine certified' IP55, which implies at least some water resistance. I used them in my rears, not because they were marine certified, but I've been happy with Polk's in the past. I personally don't see ever getting a level of water on the speakers that would cause an issue.

Well priced as well at $55/pr on Amazon, plus a high 90 dB efficiency which is perhaps a bit less important when running the kicker amp, but very important if you're going to try and run replacement speakers off the stock head unit alone.

As for bass blockers, you are not likely to "hear" that much of a difference with them installed... 4" speakers just aren't very good at reproducing low frequency sounds, and while they might be rated to perhaps 60 hz, the db drop-off by that frequency is going to be huge. As for preventing damage, filters are really important on high frequency drivers (tweeters) to block out mid and low range frequencies to protect them from damage, but a 4" coax already has a filter for the tweeter driver, and the 4" driver portion is pretty robust. If it wasn't, the manufacturer would be installing their own inexpensive capacitor to avoid warranty claims. Knocking off the really low sub 60/80/120 hz stuff with the kicker amp function should be more than sufficient, and even that isn't really needed. My opinion of course, but it's an informed opinion.

 

[BadK22]

Installing the blockers on the dash will be a big help on keeping the 4" from sounding muffled. The lower 120htz setting will work better on the larger kick panel speakers. Just my opinion. When I installed my Rockford Fosgate 4" in the dash they sure did move alot with just the factory base power. Have the 300htz blockers to install and hopefully order the double key set-up Monday when they start taking orders again.

If you run the amp in bi-amp mode it applies a 320Hz high-pass to the dash/amp 1 speakers and a 640Hz low pass to the kick speakers. Below is from the KEY white page.

"If the DSP circuit detects a speaker other than a tweeter only connected to amp 1, it will apply a 24 dB/octave high-pass crossover at 320 Hz to amp 1 and a 24 dB/octave low-pass crossover at 640 Hz to amp 2."

 

[Scotteasymoney]

If you run the amp in bi-amp mode it applies a 320Hz high-pass to the dash/amp 1 speakers and a 640Hz low pass to the kick speakers. Below is from the KEY white page.

"If the DSP circuit detects a speaker other than a tweeter only connected to amp 1, it will apply a 24 dB/octave high-pass crossover at 320 Hz to amp 1 and a 24 dB/octave low-pass crossover at 640 Hz to amp 2."

I'm running it on the back as well. Getting a custom cross bar made to run 6.5 tower speaker pods in the rear to match the kick panel.
Do you have a sub installed yet?

 

[BlueGhost]

The plan is to wait for a JL stealth box but I’m not sure I can wait that long.

My only concern with a JL stealth box, is that I don't think there is room for anything bigger than an 8. So the stealth box will likely come with a 8w3v3, which is only alliable in 4 ohms.

An 8w3 is going to sound best with 250-300 watts. You will need a fairly big amp, something that does 500-600 watts at 2 ohms, to get that much power at 4 ohm. You might be able to find a 2 channel amp that does that bridged.

 

[Bronc OH]

Just got my 6 speakers and Key200.4 installed tonight into my 2dr Basequatch. Similar experience as everyone else.. the stock system was worse than almost every Ford I've owned for the last 25+ years. All I could hear were the front 4" speakers and it sounded like an AM radio when i turned it up.

Here's what i went with:

• Kicker 47KSC6704 KS Speakers 6-3/4 (fit nicely by using the clocking ring that comes with these)
• Kicker 47KSC404 KS Speakers 4" (fit nicely in both front & rear by cutting off 2 tabs each)
• Kicker Key200.4
• Sound Ordinance BTP8 powered sub
• PNP Kit #31 w/ line-level sub harness

For starters, Joe @plugnplaykits makes an outstanding product, well worth the $$. Literally plug & play, right down to the harness in/out of the factory head unit, the kicker amp, etc. Wrapping it in Tesa tape makes it look just like something Ford would produce.

Now I can actually hear vocal from the rear speakers and can 'feel' the sound coming from the kick panels. I don't have my sub hooked up yet, nor have I performed DSP yet, will report back tomorrow.

I'm still pretty sure that Joe's harness is pulling the rear pod inputs from the factory head unit.. because I can still use the fader/balance once hooked up. Right now, I'm getting very little low frequencies from my rear pods. I can hear the vocals clearly, they are loud, but you can tell simply based on the movement of the front vs. rear speakers, they're not being driven as low. I'll report back more tomorrow once I run the DSP.. but I'm pretty sure I'll be delving into the Forscan rabbit hole tomorrow.

Should not have to touch anything with forscan

No the PnP harness is pulling the signal from the front channel. You don't need to change anything. Just hook it up and secure the amp. No need for Forscan but you will need to properly adjust your gain. Adjusting gain only changes the signal coming into the amp. You turn it up until you hear distortion and then back it off. This ensures you are fully utilizing the amp's power.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-oAM551b84uH/learn/video-setting-your-amps-gain-control.html

I’ve read some of this thread. Honestly not the entire thing. Has anyone been able to confirm if the harness takes front signal to power rears, or if it sums the channels, or if it just amplified the crappy signal from the head unit?

Now that i've got mine installed, I'm pretty sure my #31 PNP harness is using the rear factory line-level outputs to the Key200, then to rears. How else would I be able to use the factory fader/balance to direct the sound to the rears distinctly? I'm also pretty sure this is why i'm not getting lower frequencies to the rears (yet). I've messed with the gains, which made it 'louder', but not 'lower'. Stay tuned..

 

[cmcbronco]

Just got my 6 speakers and Key200.4 installed tonight into my 2dr Basequatch. Similar experience as everyone else.. the stock system was worse than almost every Ford I've owned for the last 25+ years. All I could hear were the front 4" speakers and it sounded like an AM radio when i turned it up.

Here's what i went with:

• Kicker 47KSC6704 KS Speakers 6-3/4 (fit nicely by using the clocking ring that comes with these)
• Kicker 47KSC404 KS Speakers 4" (fit nicely in both front & rear by cutting off 2 tabs each)
• Kicker Key200.4
• Sound Ordinance BTP8 powered sub
• PNP Kit #31 w/ line-level sub harness

For starters, Joe @plugnplaykits makes an outstanding product, well worth the $$. Literally plug & play, right down to the harness in/out of the factory head unit, the kicker amp, etc. Wrapping it in Tesa tape makes it look just like something Ford would produce.

Now I can actually hear vocal from the rear speakers and can 'feel' the sound coming from the kick panels. I don't have my sub hooked up yet, nor have I performed DSP yet, will report back tomorrow.

I'm still pretty sure that Joe's harness is pulling the rear pod inputs from the factory head unit.. because I can still use the fader/balance once hooked up. Right now, I'm getting very little low frequencies from my rear pods. I can hear the vocals clearly, they are loud, but you can tell simply based on the movement of the front vs. rear speakers, they're not being driven as low. I'll report back more tomorrow once I run the DSP.. but I'm pretty sure I'll be delving into the Forscan rabbit hole tomorrow.






Now that i've got mine installed, I'm pretty sure my #31 PNP harness is using the rear factory line-level outputs to the Key200, then to rears. How else would I be able to use the factory fader/balance to direct the sound to the rears distinctly? I'm also pretty sure this is why i'm not getting lower frequencies to the rears (yet). I've messed with the gains, which made it 'louder', but not 'lower'. Stay tuned..

Run the dsp. It is night and day. I thought it sounded awesome just hooking up the amp. After running the pink noise wow. Night and day. But you’re right. The rear pods still aren’t crazy. Which is ok. I turned the gain up on them slightly more than the fronts and the balance sounds great with my sub. Very happy with it.

 

[Bearcat1]

Installed the kicker key amp and harness (kit 11) and replaced all 4 speakers with Infinity REF-4032CFX speakers.
Everything sounds great except for popping noises when the car is turned off. It just randomly makes a popping noise for the first few minutes after shutting off. I didn't think much of it over the last week, but would like to figure out what is up. Makes the pop sound about every 45 seconds for a few minutes then stops. I didn't turn on "Radio Detect" button, may need to try that? Anybody else have this issue?

 

[Bearcat1]

Thx, Radio Detect worked, no more popping

Sponsored