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

[murphtron]

It's possible. Checking to see if the amp is powering on is a good first step.

I personally have the old harness that pulls power from the ACM line and have zero issues with the Kicker Key 200.4 on my install. I do have the adapter harness to switch the power to the battery, and I will install that at some point. But I'm in no particular rush.

I also run the power from ACM. No issues. Might’ve started clipping once when playing music very loud. But day to day no issues with pulling power only from ACM. If it were a constant problem I’d get the new plugnplay harness to pull direct from battery.

I spent several hours on the dsp setup. Best sound for me was putting the mic on the center armrest. Purely subjective of course.

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[dangerfoot]

That'll do it. Ugh. Pretty sure no lights ever went on ... so now I need to figure out if I need a new harness or new amp.

Ha, had the same issue. Had a bad kicker amp, they swapped it out under warranty. Had no light on the amp. There's very little that can go wrong with the harness, it is fantastic and a great value (for what it is - I love not having to pull the entire interior apart to run all the wires like we used to!).

 

[Tymy]

Question: My DSP turns off every time I turn the Bronco off. I have to click the remote button to turn DSP on every time I turn the bronco on. Is this normal? Do I have a setting wrong? I do leave the remote connected. I tried disconnecting the remote but still had the same problem. Thanks for the help. I'm going to call kicker tomorrow but thought I would ask.

 

[dangerfoot]

WHat did they say about your DSP setting @Tymy

 

[Tymy]

Apparently it is defaulting to the "On" but it sounded so bad that I thought the DSP was off. I'm going to trouble shoot this weekend to see if I can get the DSP to sound better. I didn't disconnect sub when I programmed so maybe that is why it is high pitched. The kicker guy told me that some people just don't like the dsp on and it is personal taste.

 

[dangerfoot]

Apparently it is defaulting to the "On" but it sounded so bad that I thought the DSP was off. I'm going to trouble shoot this weekend to see if I can get the DSP to sound better. I didn't disconnect sub when I programmed so maybe that is why it is high pitched. The kicker guy told me that some people just don't like the dsp on and it is personal taste.

absolutely personal taste. def unhook the sub though! give it a few runs and see where it lands. I even changed the recommended cross over setting (and perhaps one or two more, I'd have to check) and I'm happy with the sound between this and the HS10...

 

[71to21-2DR]

Try disabling CarPlay on your head unit. Turn off Bluetooth on your phone. Actually plug your phone in go to audio source on the head unit. It will have your phone there with wired connection.

That’s what I did!
Set volume about 15 worked
Great!

 

[Tucker417]

Ive got a kit posted for sale if anyone is looking for a kit at a discounted price. Im in MO. Free shipping.

 

[mattymik]

On one side of the Kicker Key 200.4 there is a power LED—should light up when the amp has power.

I finally had some time to do this again so I bought a new amp. No power.

Could it be a bad harness?

Sorry to be such a noob.

 

[isaacfinnegan]

For anyone adding custom sub to their setup that didn't factory, I've made a 3d model of a grill for the hole once you remove the cubby.

(3) subwoofer install, custom 3d printed grill (non-BO) | Bronco6G - 2021+ Ford Bronco & Bronco Raptor Forum, News, Blog & Owners Community

 

[2022 base]

if you increased the gain on the key, and/or made eq changes in forscan, than the chimes will be obnoxiously loud.

to fix this, I changed the chimes to only play through the instrument cluster (using forscan)

What did you change in forscan to change the chimes?

 

[Bubbbba]

This

 

[swamp2]

Pretty sure I read this entire thread. Apologies for any duplication as it has been a bit since I read it all. I know I have at least some valuable tips here.

1. I decided to Forscan the system to no equalization/correction before installing the amp (row 60 in first linked spread sheet here). Just doesn't seem logical to have the new amp effectively double equalized (i.e. in head unit and in Kicker).
2. You really have to pull hard on the HVAC control panel to release the clips. I was definitely concerned I might be breaking clips (really hate doing that...). Just pull straight back and use both hands on multiple edge points. I think I used both hands on one side to just get 1-2 clips to pop and then easy going from there.
3. I don't like the "slice the firewall seal with a box knife" approach to running wires and insuring a water tight seal. I drilled the seal, which barely does anything, but went up in sizes to about 50% or so larger then the power cable, then used the blunt end of the drill to guide the cable through the seal. I'm confident it will be fully watertight.
4. Mounting of amp: Did not use sheet metal screws and no custom plate/bracket nor zip ties needed! Instead 2 socket pan head machine screws with nylock nuts. Just 2 (of the 4) on a diagonal cinched the amp down to the removable steel panel just under the steering wheel. Many reported sacrificing some vertical steering wheel adjustability. I was able to avoid this entirely with careful placement of the amp as shown below. It's just slightly off parallel to the edges and stiffener channels in the plate. I ran the dip switch side of the amp facing the passenger side. Pics below should help.
   
   
   
5. The subwoofer must be disconnected to run the auto setup using the microphone. If not, after the auto setup process you will get the "sad tones" with 4 beeps after repeating indicating "Auto EQ failed" (manual not helpful...). The quickest way to effectively disconnect the sub is to pull fuse 146.
6. It is not in the Kicker manual but managed to dig up the gain set procedure somewhere, which is: Play a familiar song louder and louder (via head unit volume) until you hear distortion then back off just enough to eliminate the distortion. Next while head unit is still at this max "clean" volume, turn up the amp gain (you should have zeroed both gains on amp prior to auto setup with mic) until distortion comes again, back off gain slightly until it goes away. There are yellow LED lights that come on and seem to coincide with the onset of distortion. These are called the "LIMITER LED". Do the same for each of the 2 gain adjusters. Procedure in manual is similar but not identical.
7. Profit. Like most others, I do not see the need to replace any of the factory speakers, sub or sub amp after this upgrade.

 

[SkyKing]

You don’t need forscan if you get the kicker key you can turn the rears up loud as you want with the rear gain on the amp. I thought the factory sound was better then the kickers DSP tune so I flipped that dip switch to off. It has more of a full sound with it turned off. I recommend driving some in real life conditions when your making your setting changes on the amp. You can just loosely mount it under the steering wheel and pull over somewhere to make changes on it. You’ll want to turn the gains all the way down on the front and just barely turn up the rear or your warning chimes and seatbelt chimes will be super loud. If you turn the rear gain up too high they will be louder than the fronts. I have mine set to the letter A in amp. You’ll also get a static sound even when the radio is off if your gains are too high so you’ll want to turn them down till it’s gone or acceptable to you. I had this in another car and it did the same thing with the static noise. I researched it more last night and it seems like it’s pretty common if gains are too high while using a factor radio but no big deal it still sounds great and added much more power to the speakers. I have jl audio 4” in my dash and the vibrate like crazy on certain songs now after the amp install I will probably try some base blockers before I switch them out to something else. I did try the crossover but it took little too much bass out so I ended up leaving it off. Over all I’m pretty happy with the kicker key my last car I soldered all the wires behind the radio and it was no fun but with this plug and play harness it was a joy to install.

This tip just totally change my sound. I have updgraded the rear pods to 6.5" coaxials and done forescan, EQ, Kicker key setup steps etc. but was still disappointed at how little sound came out of them. And, when I faded rear, it has the effect of reducing the output to my hidden sub on the Kicker 500.1. But by boosting gain on "amp 2 (the rear pods), the sound stage is sooooo much more full. I have the gains at almost zero on the 200.4 and the 500.1 sub is at about 50% gain.

 

[Neglektor]

Can someone please share their kicker key switch settings? Does the radio button need to be out or in? Struggling after upgrading all speakers and using plug and play kicker key 200.4 from package A. Results worse than factory using pink noise on USB device to run DSP as recommended. I feel like I’m doing something wrong.
Speed compensated volume off. Set to all occupants.
All switches down except kicker EQ. High pass set to 60hz

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