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

[nwGTS]

I forgot I saw you had the bigger speakers in the rear. You're right you need more power for those. Did you do forscan or have the dealer flash to open up full range to those speakers? I decided to do bi amp because even with the upgraded speakers the rears still suck without the full range, so I decided it's just fill sound anyways I'll get the front sound stage dialed and leave the tiny not full range rears as is. I'm deciding if I want to upgrade the kicks or not. I know without a sub I won't get good bass, I'm waiting to see what the JL stealthbox offering is, before I decide. But pleasantly surprised with the stock kicks performance. If I add a sub the juice might not be worth the squeeze but if I don't go the sub route I'll probably replace them with a dedicated woofer either stand alone or from a component set and call it good

Yes, the forscan mod was the first thing I did. Totally transformed the rear speakers and flattened the EQ. I'll have to fade front when my son sits back there but that's only 10% of the time.

I was fortunate to score an OEM box on the classifieds here for a third of MSRP. Saves time and energy. The plug and play of this upgrade and harness availability has been a huge time saver and money saver since the DIY factor is a better time/value of money.

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[BBSas]

I have been following this thread but honestly I am totally lost and envious of all contributors on this thread and need some direction.

I have a 2 dr mid package. I bought the Mabett pods for the rear so I can put 6.5’s in the back. Do I just need the 200.4 amp with 4 - 6.5’s and a set of 4’s with the plug and play adapter ? I’ve talked with some local shops and they talk about tuning, is that needed? Some say a sub is needed as you lose bass. Do I need a sub? I’m looking for crisp, clear and louder.

Kicker or JL speakers, is one better than another?

Please help with what kit or pieces, I’ve looked at the site but I’m lost in the weeds.

 

[fallguy]

Direct link, in case anyone is hunting for it
https://plugnplaykits.com/products/kicker-key-200-4-power-adapter-plug

How exactly does this plug in, looks like all plugs are already used with the plug n play harness? I have the key 200 and harness, about to install but looks like I may wait and get the power adapter too. Just confused on how it hooks up.

 

[mintypickleman]

How exactly does this plug in, looks like all plugs are already used with the plug n play harness? I have the key 200 and harness, about to install but looks like I may wait and get the power adapter too. Just confused on how it hooks up.

The plug and play harness powers the key from the harness that powers the factory radio.

 

[fallguy]

The plug and play harness powers the key from the harness that powers the factory radio.

That is what I thought, but on page 64 several people are talking about a $10 power adapter for the kicker key 200.4. That they had clipping at volume 17, then installed that and it would go up to about 22 before it did.

 

[Ft. Worth Rob]

That is what I thought, but on page 64 several people are talking about a $10 power adapter for the kicker key 200.4. That they had clipping at volume 17, then installed that and it would go up to about 22 before it did.

The black end of the $10 harness plugs into the Kicker Key 200.4. The white end plugs into the plug & play harness that runs to the radio. This leaves you with the raw black ground wire to ground to a place on the body of the Bronco, the red power wire to run to the battery with a 20 Amp fuse inline within 18” of the battery and the blue remote turn on wire that isn’t needed because the speaker level audio inputs provide enough signal to turn on the amp. If you don’t use the $10 power adapter, the power and ground are fed to the Kicker from the radio. I can’t speak to the clipping issue as I used the power adapter, not radio power and ground, and didn’t have that issue.

 

[mintypickleman]

That is what I thought, but on page 64 several people are talking about a $10 power adapter for the kicker key 200.4. That they had clipping at volume 17, then installed that and it would go up to about 22 before it did.

Yea I read that too. I haven't had a clipping issue yet but with the key at 15 it's LOUD and I rarely turn it above 12. Although it is undoubtedly a better option for the amp to power it from the battery, at this point I probably won't unless I have those issues when the weather gets warmer and I pull the top off and the volume needs to be higher.

 

[mintypickleman]

I have been following this thread but honestly I am totally lost and envious of all contributors on this thread and need some direction.

I have a 2 dr mid package. I bought the Mabett pods for the rear so I can put 6.5’s in the back. Do I just need the 200.4 amp with 4 - 6.5’s and a set of 4’s with the plug and play adapter ? I’ve talked with some local shops and they talk about tuning, is that needed? Some say a sub is needed as you lose bass. Do I need a sub? I’m looking for crisp, clear and louder.

Kicker or JL speakers, is one better than another?

Please help with what kit or pieces, I’ve looked at the site but I’m lost in the weeds.

What you have proposed would work great. The amp has the microphone and playing the test tones and running the setup, the amp will tune itself. Most people are pretty happy with the results, some aren't. But the big reason the key amp is so popular (aside from it's small form factor) is because it has the built in dsp and the microphone for easy tuning, without having to really know what you're doing.
As far as bass goes it depends what you want. Even with the 6.5s your just not gonna get much bass no matter what you do, you need a sub to really fill out the low frequencies.
For my install I haven't yet added a sub I'm still deciding if I will in the future. I only upgraded the 4.5s in the dash and rear pods, kept the stock 6.5s in the kick panels, and it's leaps and bounds more crisp clear and loud.
I ran mine in the bi amp setup which I highly recommend, but it would be a waste to run in bi amp and run 6.5s in the rear pods. If you don't bi amp definitely use bass blockers for the dash speakers

 

[fallguy]

The black end of the $10 harness plugs into the Kicker Key 200.4. The white end plugs into the plug & play harness that runs to the radio. This leaves you with the raw black ground wire to ground to a place on the body of the Bronco, the red power wire to run to the battery with a 20 Amp fuse inline within 18” of the battery and the blue remote turn on wire that isn’t needed because the speaker level audio inputs provide enough signal to turn on the amp. If you don’t use the $10 power adapter, the power and ground are fed to the Kicker from the radio. I can’t speak to the clipping issue as I used the power adapter, not radio power and ground, and didn’t have that issue.

Awesome, thanks. I was confused at how two plugs, plugged into one plug. Didn't consider one plug went into the other plug, then into the amp. I'll probably try today to get everything in and see if I need to go above 17 or not. Really feel like it should have been included though.

 

[BBSas]

What you have proposed would work great. The amp has the microphone and playing the test tones and running the setup, the amp will tune itself. Most people are pretty happy with the results, some aren't. But the big reason the key amp is so popular (aside from it's small form factor) is because it has the built in dsp and the microphone for easy tuning, without having to really know what you're doing.
As far as bass goes it depends what you want. Even with the 6.5s your just not gonna get much bass no matter what you do, you need a sub to really fill out the low frequencies.
For my install I haven't yet added a sub I'm still deciding if I will in the future. I only upgraded the 4.5s in the dash and rear pods, kept the stock 6.5s in the kick panels, and it's leaps and bounds more crisp clear and loud.
I ran mine in the bi amp setup which I highly recommend, but it would be a waste to run in bi amp and run 6.5s in the rear pods. If you don't bi amp definitely use bass blockers for the dash speakers

Thank you for the help!!!

What you have proposed would work great. The amp has the microphone and playing the test tones and running the setup, the amp will tune itself. Most people are pretty happy with the results, some aren't. But the big reason the key amp is so popular (aside from it's small form factor) is because it has the built in dsp and the microphone for easy tuning, without having to really know what you're doing.
As far as bass goes it depends what you want. Even with the 6.5s your just not gonna get much bass no matter what you do, you need a sub to really fill out the low frequencies.
For my install I haven't yet added a sub I'm still deciding if I will in the future. I only upgraded the 4.5s in the dash and rear pods, kept the stock 6.5s in the kick panels, and it's leaps and bounds more crisp clear and loud.
I ran mine in the bi amp setup which I highly recommend, but it would be a waste to run in bi amp and run 6.5s in the rear pods. If you don't bi amp definitely use bass blockers for the dash speakers

Thank you for the help!

 

[OhhhhhhSnap]

Sorry if this has been asked but almost 70 pages is too much to read through.

How is the quality of the speakers/kickers of the Complete Package A? I'm not a big car audio guy so idk much about brands.

https://plugnplaykits.com/collectio...lified-radio-plug-n-play-audio-harnesses-kits

Hopefully they are better than the stock? I'm not looking for anything to blow my socks off but just some sort of improvement on the crappy stock system without breaking the bank.

 

[fallguy]

Finished up my install today with the amp. Copied most everyone else, and replaced front with kickers, kick panel with 6.5 kickers, got the Mabbet 6.5 rear pods and put kickers in there too.

After reading this and watching a few videos only took about an hour to get the kicker 200.4 installed. Only hiccup was after putting back together.... nothing worked. I tested it and calibrated the DSP before putting everything back together. Apparently when stuffing the plugs and wires back in, the plug from the head unit barely came unplugged. Plugged it back in and put it all back together.

MUCH better than the crappy stock setup. Thanks to all contributors for making things easy. Next up, I want the kicker tailgate sub. Doesn't look too hard but it'll be a first for me wiring that up.

 

[CrytpX]

Is it worth it to upgrade the rear to 6.5 using the Mabbet using the key 200.4? I feel like it's going to be underpowered.

 

[Ft. Worth Rob]

Is it worth it to upgrade the rear to 6.5 using the Mabbet using the key 200.4? I feel like it's going to be underpowered.

I’m my opinion, it depends on whether you prefer your music to surround you versus having a front center image that the key’s dsp features provide. If surround I could see doing the 6.5 in the rear.

 

[mattsmeesh]

So I'm planning on doing a key install immediately, and then *potentially* adding a powered sub amp in the future. Should I get the plugnplay kit #11 or #11-2 to future proof?

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