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

[83XLT]

Just a thought. I assume you are using your phone to play the white noise and also the music. does your phone have some kind of audio effects automatically enabled? I'm an android guy and can tell you that some brands (Oneplus and Motorola for example) have some "enhanced" audio enabled by default that sounded great on my earbuds but introduced a lot of distortion on my head unit on a previous car. just a thought. good luck

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[Billnchristy]

As long as you're uniform it doesn't matter, if you have one side swapped you'll be running the speakers in opposite directions and basically cancelling them out.

The black line wire is always the negative.

 

[Jazer]

I could use some input. I installed my Key 200.4 tonight with PnP harness. Everything went mostly smoothly. I also have Kicker CS series 4" in the dash (w/ 300 hz bass blockers) and CS series 6.75" in the kick panels.

I'm running into some clipping from the dash speakers (possibly others but only noticed it with those). I ran the DSP with the treble/mids/bass all the way down. Pink noise was through the head unit using my phone's Bluetooth. Got happy chimes and improvement. I saw someone previously said to put those where you want them before running the DSP. I noticed the amp reset it to all in the middle once I plugged it in and tested it, initially. Should I have left it in the center? I'm wondering if maybe that was the issue, or maybe I didn't have Pink noise loud enough. My gains are all at 0, didn't touch those as I didn't want loud chimes. I can play with it more tomorrow.

Clipping is happening at volume 13-15ish depending on song, with the sound settings bumped to around midway. Not that loud.

 

[Bearcat1]

Try downloading the test tone file to a USB thumb drive annd plug in and play on head unit rather than over bluetooth.

 

[Portapot]

Quick question on this: The harness is described as totally plug and play. Do you have to run a 20A power line from the amp to the battery or does the harness address the power? If the harness handles the power, is it 20A? I don't know a ton about stereos but I was told the Kicker requires 20A of power and that typically factory radios are 10-15A. So if the harness does not support 20A is it underpowering the amp? I would love to do this install without having to do any wiring beyond connecting the harness. I hope my question makes sense. The video shows nothing about running a power line. Thanks all!

 

[Lurker B6G]

You make an excellent point. I will be running to the battery, but I am running a subwoofer, so this has to be done anyway. Here's what I know:

The guy who makes the PnP harnesses feels that the harness can supply enough power to run the Key 200.

Having said that, my guess (just like yours) is that based on the tapping point and the size of the wire, the harness is likey not going to provide the full 20 amps at 13+ volts.

Having said that, I would guess that if you were driving very sensitive speakers (90+ dB) such as the Infinity Reference (on sale at Crutchfield now), you will be able to get away with the harness power supply because very high volume levels can be acheived driven at nearly stock factory levels. However, if you are planning on driving lower sensitivity speakers (90- dB), I would not rely on the PnP harness power supply, and would head straight to a battery tap.

Other harness suppliers do not include the built-in power tap for the very reason that you state, and have said that the PnP guy is wrong.

Having said that, if I were attempting an "easy upgrade", I would most definently:
1) Replace the dash with Infinity's plus a bass blocker (around 300hz)
2)Keep the kick panel speakers (too much work for the reward)
3) Replace the rear pods with Infinity's (no bass blocker)
4) Use the PnP harness* and Key 200 (no seperate power run)

This is a HUGE upgrade for very minimal effort or cost (currently about $590 plus tax). Use the Key to balance out the set-up, and enjoy your genius.

*Having said that, I would STRONGLY encourage anyone doing this to consider spending the extra $45 on the harness with the subwoofer front channel high level "take-offs" (i.e. 11-4). You can use this harness with the above plan and just ensure that the four loose ends are insulated and tie it up under the dash. Then when you inevitabley decide that you want to take the next step, you just need to tap the battery with an 8ga wire, run it back, connect the sub harness to a mono amp of your choice or a powered sub and bingo, all done.

Having said all that - I sure like to say "having said that".

 

[Portapot]

You make an excellent point. I will be running to the battery, but I am running a subwoofer, so this has to be done anyway. Here's what I know:

The guy who makes the PnP harnesses feels that the harness can supply enough power to run the Key 200.

Having said that, my guess (just like yours) is that based on the tapping point and the size of the wire, the harness is likey not going to provide the full 20 amps at 13+ volts.

Having said that, I would guess that if you were driving very sensitive speakers (90+ dB) such as the Infinity Reference (on sale at Crutchfield now), you will be able to get away with the harness power supply because very high volume levels can be acheived driven at nearly stock factory levels. However, if you are planning on driving lower sensitivity speakers (90- dB), I would not rely on the PnP harness power supply, and would head straight to a battery tap.

Other harness suppliers do not include the built-in power tap for the very reason that you state, and have said that the PnP guy is wrong.

Having said that, if I were attempting an "easy upgrade", I would most definently:
1) Replace the dash with Infinity's plus a bass blocker (around 300hz)
2)Keep the kick panel speakers (too much work for the reward)
3) Replace the rear pods with Infinity's (no bass blocker)
4) Use the PnP harness* and Key 200 (no seperate power run)

This is a HUGE upgrade for very minimal effort or cost (currently about $590 plus tax). Use the Key to balance out the set-up, and enjoy your genius.

*Having said that, I would STRONGLY encourage anyone doing this to consider spending the extra $45 on the harness with the subwoofer front channel high level "take-offs" (i.e. 11-4). You can use this harness with the above plan and just ensure that the four loose ends are insulated and tie it up under the dash. Then when you inevitabley decide that you want to take the next step, you just need to tap the battery with an 8ga wire, run it back, connect the sub harness to a mono amp of your choice or a powered sub and bingo, all done.

Having said all that - I sure like to say "having said that".

Really helpful...thanks. I put JL Audio C1-400x front and back about 8 months ago, with 300MHZ bass blockers in the front. So My guess is I can just go the plug and play route and be good to go. I don't plan on adding a sub, and I don't need super large volume of sound like I desired in my 20's ;o). I think I will try the factory harness and see how it goes. Thanks Again

 

[Billnchristy]

You guys running the 4 speakers up front realize you're either running the amp at 2 or 8 ohms, neither of which is ideal, right?

I'm not sure how the factory wiring is set up (parallel or series) but either way presents some issues:

2 ohm- you're running under the amps rated ohm load, it *should* make more power (basically double) but since it's not designed for it, more heat, more distortion, potential failure
8 ohm- you're running double the amps rated load and probably getting half the output, this is generally "safe" but you're going to have to turn it up to get decent volume, at which, you will clip the output of the head unit and introduce distortion.

I've already ran separate wires to my dash so I can't ohm it out and tell you what it's set at from factory and the wiring diagram is a bit vague.

Adding a passive crossover would make the system 4 ohms again as the drivers will split the duty and not have much of a band where they're playing the same frequencies. Just adding a coil to the woofer would make this happen if you already have a cap on the mid in the dash.

An example crossed over at 450hz

 

[Jazer]

Having the Kicker Key and Kicker Hideaway both installed. I currently have the High pass filter on the Key set to off. Would it be beneficial to turn it to say 80 hz and put my Hideaway low pass filter also at 80 hz (as someone mentioned previously in the thread). I wasn't sure how this would work with the Hideaway running of the kick panel signal?

Install was easy (other than sore fingers from all the panels) but I'm struggling with selecting the ideal configuration... if anyone has some recommendations.

 

[Billnchristy]

If you put the highpass on then your sub is going to be limited, so don't do that.

You could go back into your harness and pull the input before the key and then do the 80hz highpass.

 

[Jazer]

If you put the highpass on then your sub is going to be limited, so don't do that.

You could go back into your harness and pull the input before the key and then do the 80hz highpass.

Ok that's what I thought, thank you for confirming. I saw someone mentioned that previously in the thread so I started second guessing myself.

 

[Ft. Worth Rob]

I’m going to be installing the plugnplay kit 19 with the kicker 200.4 and 500.1 amps. I bought the mountains2metal bracket for the 200.4. I’ve not started to tear everything apart yet. Is there also room behind the dash to mount the 500.1 so I’m only running speaker wires back to my sub going into the factory location?

 

[Lurker B6G]

You guys running the 4 speakers up front realize you're either running the amp at 2 or 8 ohms, neither of which is ideal, right?

I'm not sure how the factory wiring is set up (parallel or series) but either way presents some issues:

2 ohm- you're running under the amps rated ohm load, it *should* make more power (basically double) but since it's not designed for it, more heat, more distortion, potential failure
8 ohm- you're running double the amps rated load and probably getting half the output, this is generally "safe" but you're going to have to turn it up to get decent volume, at which, you will clip the output of the head unit and introduce distortion.

I've already ran separate wires to my dash so I can't ohm it out and tell you what it's set at from factory and the wiring diagram is a bit vague.

Adding a passive crossover would make the system 4 ohms again as the drivers will split the duty and not have much of a band where they're playing the same frequencies. Just adding a coil to the woofer would make this happen if you already have a cap on the mid in the dash.

An example crossed over at 450hz

Agreed, but what do you think the factory set up is?
No one seems to know, and you are correct to say that either approach (parallel or series) is questionable. But, we (as a like minded group) need to move forward.

I like the idea of engineering a 4 ohm solution by running your own leads. I just don't see most people taking this route.

Also, the Key 200 states 50 watts x 4 at 4 ohms, but I am not able to find a minimum impedance specified anywhere (which they should be embarrassed by). In truth, 2 ohms may be just fine on the Key, and seems better than 8.

To be honest, I have a 0.90mH coil for the kick panel speaker, and as you said, limiting the overlap will keep me in the 3 ohm range, which I am comfortable with.

 

[Billnchristy]

Agreed, but what do you think the factory set up is?
No one seems to know, and you are correct to say that either approach (parallel or series) is questionable. But, we (as a like minded group) need to move forward.

I like the idea of engineering a 4 ohm solution by running your own leads. I just don't see most people taking this route.

Also, the Key 200 states 50 watts x 4 at 4 ohms, but I am not able to find a minimum impedance specified anywhere (which they should be embarrassed by). In truth, 2 ohms may be just fine on the Key, and seems better than 8.

To be honest, I have a 0.90mH coil for the kick panel speaker, and as you said, limiting the overlap will keep me in the 3 ohm range, which I am comfortable with.

Ill try to figure it out by metering the wires.

if the key was 2ohm stable I would be surprised because they don’t advertise bridging. It would be the ultimate 2.1 alternative. Yes, there are other factors that go into bridging but stability is a big part.

 

[Lurker B6G]

Ill try to figure it out by metering the wires.

if the key was 2ohm stable I would be surprised because they don’t advertise bridging. It would be the ultimate 2.1 alternative. Yes, there are other factors that go into bridging but stability is a big part.

I totally agree that it is not designed for 2ohms or they would advertise that it puts out 75w x 4 @ 2ohms or some shuch over optimism. And I would guess that this fact is contributing to some of the issues people are having at higher volumes using 3-4 ohm replacement speakers.

Currently I assume that stock is two 4-6 ohm speakers in parallel, and that the capacitor on the 4 inch helps a little to keep the impedance from falling too much where they act together. I will look into it when I pull it all apart, but that won't be until the end of December.

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