Kicker Key 200.4 Done Correctly

[RagnarKon]

So I'm a little confused. I have the 200.4 and used a harness from plugnplaykits.com

This is the way I set mine up and worked well:
1.) Bi-Amp Mode OFF
2.) Fader ON
3.) Radio Detect Button -Verify Pushed In
4.) Speed Volume on Radio Disabled
5.) Level Out EQ on Radio
6.) Turn Gains All The Way Down
7.) Run KEY DSP Setup at Vol. Level 15

I used to only be able to hit Vol. 15 before clipping. It'll go to Vol. 22-23 now no problem. Also I used dedicated power straight to the battery for the 200.4. Apparently if I'm not on Bi-Amp mode I'm losing out. So my question is, do I need to run new wires to the kicks from the 200.4 or is my harness good to go? Can I just tuned Bi-Amp mode ON and redo the KEY DSP?

Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Bi-Amp mode basically enables the Kicker Key 200.4 to work as a component speaker amp. One larger speaker that plays the low-medium frequencies, and another smaller speaker than plays the medium-higher frequencies. It's a very common setup in audio.

In order to use Bi-Amp amp, you should re-wire the front speakers so they are all on separate channels. That way the kick panel speakers can act as the larger speaker, and the dash speakers can act as the smaller speaker.

That is exactly what @AZCoyote has done. The front four speakers in the Bronco are all wired to the 200.4 in bi-amp mode, while the rear two pod speakers are still attached and powered to the factory amplifier.

That is NOT how they are wired from the factory, and that is not how they are wired on the Plug-n-Play Kits harness. With the harness, all six speakers are powered from the 200.4, and the front speakers share a channel. So if you wanted to use Bi-amp mode, you should modify the Plug-n-Play harness and set it up similarly to @AZCoyote.

Personally, I did something completely different. From the factory the front speakers are wired in parallel. I rewired them in series so speaker loads were within the 200.4's specs. I should probably try bi-amp mode, but I (eventually) intend on upgrading the rear 4" pods to larger 6.5" mods. And for that reason alone, I opted to keep the rear pods attached to the 200.4. But frankly the rear pods do basically nothing right now for the driver, so it's kind of a waste.

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[AZCoyote]

So I'm a little confused. I have the 200.4 and used a harness from plugnplaykits.com

This is the way I set mine up and worked well:
1.) Bi-Amp Mode OFF
2.) Fader ON
3.) Radio Detect Button -Verify Pushed In
4.) Speed Volume on Radio Disabled
5.) Level Out EQ on Radio
6.) Turn Gains All The Way Down
7.) Run KEY DSP Setup at Vol. Level 15

I used to only be able to hit Vol. 15 before clipping. It'll go to Vol. 22-23 now no problem. Also I used dedicated power straight to the battery for the 200.4. Apparently if I'm not on Bi-Amp mode I'm losing out. So my question is, do I need to run new wires to the kicks from the 200.4 or is my harness good to go? Can I just turn Bi-Amp mode ON and redo the KEY DSP?

Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

You will need to change your harness. I detailed it a few posts back. You want the head unit power for the rears bypassing the Kicker entirely. They should remain stock power for just rear fill. You will rewire the amp 2 out puts to just the 6.5 kick panel speakers. The dash will just run on amp 1. Set the dips. Rerun dsp. Reset gains. It is an enormous difference.

 

[AZCoyote]

I am working on the modification right now and my harness does not follows exactly the color diagram in the manual. See the purple of right rear is paired with black. That is fine. But then I have a question about which line is the positive output? Upper ones (black in this pair) or lower (purple)? My guess is purple, but. I want to confirm. Thanks.

Post number 64 has an Image with The polarity of the wires. It shows where they plug into the amp so you can identify yours. Use that to figure out how your harness is wired and then just map it. Write it on a piece of paper so you know which one is positive and which pairs are left and right for the rear.

 

[P_Baff]

You will need to change your harness. I detailed it a few posts back. You want the head unit power for the rears bypassing the Kicker entirely. They should remain stock power for just rear fill. You will rewire the amp 2 out puts to just the 6.5 kick panel speakers. The dash will just run on amp 1. Set the dips. Rerun dsp. Reset gains. It is an enormous difference.

Gotcha! So I read that you just disconnected the connecter at the kicks and ran new wires to the 200.4 outputs from the kicks. If I'm getting this right, you cut up the plugnplay harness and didn't touch the stock wiring. Is that right?

 

[AZCoyote]

Bi-Amp mode basically enables the Kicker Key 200.4 to work as a component speaker amp. One larger speaker that plays the low-medium frequencies, and another smaller speaker than plays the medium-higher frequencies. It's a very common setup in audio.

In order to use Bi-Amp amp, you should re-wire the front speakers so they are all on separate channels. That way the kick panel speakers can act as the larger speaker, and the dash speakers can act as the smaller speaker.

That is exactly what @AZCoyote has done. The front four speakers in the Bronco are all wired to the 200.4 in bi-amp mode, while the rear two pod speakers are still attached and powered to the factory amplifier.

That is NOT how they are wired from the factory, and that is not how they are wired on the Plug-n-Play Kits harness. With the harness, all six speakers are powered from the 200.4, and the front speakers share a channel. So if you wanted to use Bi-amp mode, you should modify the Plug-n-Play harness and set it up similarly to @AZCoyote.

Personally, I did something completely different. From the factory the front speakers are wired in parallel. I rewired them in series so speaker loads were within the 200.4's specs. I should probably try bi-amp mode, but I (eventually) intend on upgrading the rear 4" pods to larger 6.5" mods. And for that reason alone, I opted to keep the rear pods attached to the 200.4. But frankly the rear pods do basically nothing right now for the driver, so it's kind of a waste.

I bet you money if you do the rewire to bi amp, you won’t bother with the 6 1/2 in the rear. There’s just no need.

 

[AZCoyote]

Gotcha! So I read that you just disconnected the connecter at the kicks and ran new wires to the 200.4 outputs from the kicks. If I'm getting this right, you cut up the plugnplay harness and didn't touch the stock wiring. Is that right?

Correct. I unplugged the kick panel speakers, put some foam wrap around the connector, then tucked it out of the way, so it doesn’t make noise. That leaves the dash speakers connected to amp one alone. Absolutely no changes to the stock wiring. The only thing getting altered is the wiring on the third-party harness. The wires run to the kicks are new and don’t affect stock wiring

 

[AZCoyote]

7.) Run KEY DSP Setup at Vol. Level 15

I used to only be able to hit Vol. 15 before clipping. It'll go to Vol. 22-23 now no problem.

I just reread these two things in your prior post. I did all of my DSP set up with my head unit volume at 24. That is about whenever it starts to clip. You shouldn’t be raising and lowering volume while you’re setting gain if that’s how you’ve been doing it. I set my gains using pink noise also at 24. Then I switched to actual Music that’s really dynamic and broad spectrum frequencies then I adjust it down if needed. Make sure to keep the gain on amp one and amp two at the same relative level. You don’t want one sitting at noon and the other sitting at 1 o’clock. Keep them at the same relative position and you’ll be amplifying the EQ profile the DSP created evenly. In other words, your dash speakers won’t be louder than your kicks. They’ll be very balanced.

Gains only get set after DSP is done too btw. In case anyone was doing that differently

 

[P_Baff]

"At this point you now have nothing going into channels three and four on the amp input and nothing connected to channels three and four on the amp output. You should have color matching sets of disconnected wires on both side sides of the harness.

Now, you have an option at this point. You probably note that you have long wires on the T harness. If you don’t like that, you can always make the loop shorter.

Connect those T harness wires to each other by color using a crimp connector, then a heat gun if you have one to shrink the surround wrap. Do not tape anything up at this point. "

In the bold lettering, are you completely bypassing the 200.4 here? Basically PnP harness to the output side of the 200.4. going to the pods. Right?

 

[DefNotBuddyLee]

I had a 80 model Trans-Am with a Pioneer cassette player and Pioneer speakers all around and a big 10 channel EQ/Amp.

1980-1981 or 1982+ ?

 

[AZCoyote]

"At this point you now have nothing going into channels three and four on the amp input and nothing connected to channels three and four on the amp output. You should have color matching sets of disconnected wires on both side sides of the harness.

Now, you have an option at this point. You probably note that you have long wires on the T harness. If you don’t like that, you can always make the loop shorter.

Connect those T harness wires to each other by color using a crimp connector, then a heat gun if you have one to shrink the surround wrap. Do not tape anything up at this point. "

In the bold lettering, are you completely bypassing the 200.4 here? Basically PnP harness to the output side of the 200.4. going to the pods. Right?

You got it. We are rewiring it so that it acts like the harness isn’t there for the two rear channels. We’re just passing head unit Power on channels three and four of the head unit back to the rear pods.

 

[P_Baff]

You got it. We are rewiring it so that it acts like the harness isn’t there for the two rear channels. We’re just passing head unit Power on channels three and four of the head unit back to the rear pods.

This makes perfect sense. It's really kinda simple. Just sounded more complicated than it really is.

Thank you for this. I've got my homework cut out for me now.

 

[drewski]

And one more question, hopefully, I am leaning now towards replacing my kicks. With this new set up would you recommend a component speaker (mid range?) or is a 2 way ok?

 

[AZCoyote]

And one more question, hopefully, I am leaning now towards replacing my kicks. With this new set up would you recommend a component speaker (mid range?) or is a 2 way ok?

In the kickpanel? You want a stand alone woofer. Not a coaxial or separates. If you use the bi-amp setting, you will be running the kicks in a limited frequency range. They are crossed over at 640hz so frequencies above that won’t play in the kick. If all you have is a coax speaker then it won’t hurt anything to use what you have. You just aren’t gonna be getting any output from the tweeter. And coaxes occasionally do make some compromises that a dedicated woofer may not.

 

[BoverW]

Just finished the install—took me about 4 hours. I already had the amp and harness in place, so this was all done in the cramped space. Not exactly fun.

The trickiest part was running the wire from the driver's side amp to the passenger side kicker panel. Thankfully, you only need to remove the lower plastic trim—not the entire center console. That said, pulling the whole console would make things easier and is actually necessary if you're installing the harness from scratch.

My lesson: if you're using a plug-and-play harness, better to modify it ahead of time so you can install everything in one go. Makes the process much smoother. If you're looking for a solid alternative, check out @RagnarKon’s serial speaker connection method.

 

[AZCoyote]

Just finished the install—took me about 4 hours. I already had the amp and harness in place, so this was all done in the cramped space. Not exactly fun.

The trickiest part was running the wire from the driver's side amp to the passenger side kicker panel. Thankfully, you only need to remove the lower plastic trim—not the entire center console. That said, pulling the whole console would make things easier and is actually necessary if you're installing the harness from scratch.

My lesson: if you're using a plug-and-play harness, better to modify it ahead of time so you can install everything in one go. Makes the process much smoother. If you're looking for a solid alternative, check out @RagnarKon’s serial speaker connection method.

Yep. It can be a little tedious, but it’s not that bad overall. Looking forward to hearing your results once you’re done DSP tuning, and setting gains. Remember to set your fader full front and remove the fuse for the subwoofer amplifier.

bTW when @RagnarKon finally changes his set up, he will see the most dramatic difference of everyone. Running his front stage at 8 Ohms means at most he’s getting 25 W split between the dash and the kick panel. In other words, he’s got 12.5 W per speaker location on the front stage. It’s basically back to stock power but with better EQ and some time correction (already had dsp stock before forscan EQ changes). Moving to a full 200 W on the front stage should pretty much blow his mind. Just saying Rag!!

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