If you're on the fence about the sub, but plan on getting the key, then go ahead and get the built-in sub harness. Will be good for future use. That is where I went wrong and didn't get it, so I had to have PNP send me the subwoofer add on harness and I had to splice it in.
You won't end up using the blue cable for auto-power on, at least I didn't need it, but again I have the key with the PNP harness all tied in, so not sure if that is why I didn't need it.
The Key can sense speaker input from your head unit and turn itself on, there's no need for the traditional "blue" cable but it's there for reasons. This is a pretty standard feature among the majority of the amps that support high-level input and, as you can see, helps further simplify wiring which is always a good thing(tm).
Thanks, probably I misunderstood the PNP harness purpose for a sub. What does it do? Sound, so I don't need to tap speakers?
If the power comes directly from a battery, would the sub drain the battery?
Agree, but I am talking about the sub. It has auto on too.
I'm not sure what you are saying - any of the Key amp's being discussed for use here (nor did I make any reference to multi-ch vs mono anyway) have the same exact feature of being able to sense that they are being fed input and turn on. Perhaps I missed the point in which case I apologize for having muddied the waters here. Carry on!
The sub I want to use has an auto on/off feature. But to use it the additional cable should be connected to the head (not sure how). So I wonder how, and I wonder if powering the sub directly from a buttery would potentially drain it or not. Folks who installed it didn't use the cable and I wonder why.
The PNP harness for the sub only provides you with sound inputs from the head unit. If you don’t use this, then you will have to pull sound input from the kick panel speakers themselves.
No, because of the auto-turn on feature. If you feed the sub its sound inputs from the head unit, then the sub will auto detect and auto turn on/off only when the sound is detected. When the vehicle is off, the sub will be off. When the vehicle is on the sub will be on. If you pull your sound inputs directly from the kick panel speakers, then I believe you will need to use the blue cable.
Thank you, so to summarize. Get power from the battery, get sound from the harness, ground it. Enjoy the sound, I hope
100% correct. The only additional thing to remember is if you choose not to do the kicker key amp, then you'll have to get your sound for the sub from splicing/tapping into the kick panel speakers.Thank you, so to summarize. Get power from the battery, get sound from the harness, ground it. Enjoy the sound, I hope
I am in the middle of the installation process and I wonder where did you put the ground? I see a few bolts from seats, but I am not sure... This:I got my JBL BassPro Nano installed. I was actually able to fit it under the backseat (4-Door OBX High Package). It fits really good actually, with some caveats. I had to install it at an angle due to the hump in the carpeted floor, but works & sounds great and I guess at an angle like this actually provides some extra ventilation, lol. I used some heavy duty velcro strips from Home Depot to secure it to the floorboard carpet. I lined the underside of the long ends of the sub with the velcro strips, and although they are not getting full contact with the carpet due to the angle, since they are heavy duty velcro they are providing plenty of grip. It's not going anywhere. There is also just enough room to clear the metal braces under the seat, so there is no metal on metal vibration. And if I ever want to remove it to fold the seats down, I can just unplug it and pull it up. Removing mine to fold the seats down will rarely happen, as I have kids in car seats back there and it's already a PIA to remove the car seats to put the seats down anyway. See photos (sorry, didn't take any before I stuck the velcro down).
I ended up getting the add-on powered sub wiring kit from PNP for the high level input, and just added it into my PNP harness I already had installed. In hindsight, you're better off just buying the full amp + powered sub PNP kit from the get go. I ended up doing double work, and ran into some slight problems, but overall I was able to overcome them and happy I'm tied in properly up at the head-unit. All I have left to do is clean up my cabling at the sub (cable management).
I must say, this sub kicks ass! It really puts out some bass for how small it is. Very impressive and makes the system sound so good. I almost feel like adding a sub should be the first step, even ahead of the Kicker Key and new speakers. I've never had a sub in any of my cars before, and can't believe what I've been missing out on. It's great because inside the Bronco this thing thumps, but outside you can't even hear there's a subwoofer installed. It's quiet from the outside.....no boom boom stoplight rattling. I also installed the remote bass control that came with it on the side of my driver's seat (see photos). I just used some double-sided tape.
Overall, my install came out awesome and I'm very happy with it now.
P.S. My overall system includes Kicker Key 200.4, Kicker 4" KS dash speakers, Kicker 6-3/4" KS kick panel speakers, JBL BassPro Nano. The only thing I haven't touched yet is the rear 4" pods, and likely will just leave them stock as that seems to be the consensus on the forum. If anything, I might up the gain on them from the Kicker Key.
Let me know if anyone has any questions on my install. Thank you.
