Testing the Kicker Key, 7 Speaker XLT

[Porpoise Hork]

Pure crap. I don’t need a boom box on wheels but nice sound would be nice. Center speaker is too overpowering. Sounds like an old am radio car. I run fader to mostly rear still could not get hear rear speakers with stock.

After upgrading the Kicker DS 6X9's and CS 6.5's in mine along with sound mat in the doors I added door block off plates from Sounds Good Stereo. I was very skeptical that they would make any actual improvement to the sound since the door cavities are so large for the speakers and not sealed at all. The improvement to the mid-bass was simply incredible after installing the plates I was simply blown away by it and worth every penny. I hadn't realized just how good this combo really is on the factory HU and no inline amp until I took mine in for service and the dealer put me in a F150 with the B&O. My setup sounds just as good if not a little better. The highs are crisp, clear without clipping and lows are punchy but not overpowering. The only thing it's lacking is the sub 125Hz frequencies that you just cannot get without a dedicated sub. There's a definite drop-off there and is easily fixed with a small 8" sub and mono amp behind the rear seat if. Hell, it even sounds better with more intense bass than my wife's Sportage SX Prestige with the Harmon Kardon system in it and that has an 8" sub lol.

If anyone does decide to get the plates just be sure to run a bead of silicone sealant around them when installing. Otherwise you could have some minor water intrusion from inside the doors. Don't ask how I know that..

End of the day If you're looking for a nice improvement in sound and are on a budget or just don't want to spend a lot/mess with wiring in an amp this may be just right for you.

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[tsvisser]

I bought the Key 200.4 and 500.1 but haven't gotten around to installing it yet. I did put a high end set of Kicker convertible coax / separate 6-3/4" speakers in. It has a separate crossover box which I can utilize once I put it in the amps. As it's hard to get wires in/out of the doors, external crossover will make that easier. BUT... since I haven't put the amp in yet, still have the factory front tweeters in until I do. I'm with an XL 6 speaker system. The OEM tweeter and front mid-ranges both run without crossover or maybe pass filters are built into the speakers. I do notice that after installing the high end speakers, the quantity of bass output is extremely reduced. I think the OEMs are designed to be highly sensitive in the low frequencies to give the appearance of quality. Also putting in sound deadening material in all the doors is mandatory to control rattle and improve sound quality overall, so don't skip that. I won't be able to fully judge until I get around to installing the amps and crossovers, hopefully behind the glove box and under the center dash panel, at which point I can easily run the new wires to the tweeters and get rid of the OEMs for good. Subs will be a pair of Kicker 10" down firing boxes under the rear seats. since it's a work truck, wanted the option to keep the ability to fold up and fill the cab with cargo. Also put in the Sounds Good Stereo door block off panels mentioned.

 

[filmguy]

Just for the sake of sharing the other stuff I looked at while trying to figure this stuff out.

The treble settings look to be adjusting 3k+

The mid controls 250 to 3k

Bass 250 and lower.

I did look at a few other screens but I think most people will quickly understand magnitude. Coherence is also pretty nice to see how close you are but kind of a deeper level of paying attention there.

That huge trough around 1400kHz is pretty concerning. That'll suck the clarity out of most anything.

 

[dmac]

After upgrading the Kicker DS 6X9's and CS 6.5's in mine along with sound mat in the doors I added door block off plates from Sounds Good Stereo. I was very skeptical that they would make any actual improvement to the sound since the door cavities are so large for the speakers and not sealed at all. The improvement to the mid-bass was simply incredible after installing the plates I was simply blown away by it and worth every penny. I hadn't realized just how good this combo really is on the factory HU and no inline amp until I took mine in for service and the dealer put me in a F150 with the B&O. My setup sounds just as good if not a little better. The highs are crisp, clear without clipping and lows are punchy but not overpowering. The only thing it's lacking is the sub 125Hz frequencies that you just cannot get without a dedicated sub. There's a definite drop-off there and is easily fixed with a small 8" sub and mono amp behind the rear seat if. Hell, it even sounds better with more intense bass than my wife's Sportage SX Prestige with the Harmon Kardon system in it and that has an 8" sub lol.

If anyone does decide to get the plates just be sure to run a bead of silicone sealant around them when installing. Otherwise you could have some minor water intrusion from inside the doors. Don't ask how I know that..

End of the day If you're looking for a nice improvement in sound and are on a budget or just don't want to spend a lot/mess with wiring in an amp this may be just right for you.

I will second this man. I've spent lots of time in the F150 unleashed and Aviator with the Revel systems. My un-amped 7 Speaker system is superior in terms of clarity to both. And the bass is sooo much tighter with the plates + HS10 subwoofer.

I've only really done block off plates in front, dynamat in doors, Kicker DS speakers in front + Rear, forscan changes, and a Kicker HS10 sub.

I'm not after the rattle my eardrums power so it's awesome for me. Not ruling out that it could be better in some aspects with an amp though.

 

[Entropy710]

All I've done so far is to swap the stock door speakers (F+R) to the Infinity reference 6.5" and it's not a "wow" difference, but it has so much more clarity and the sound doesn't go to mush when you get above 1/2 volume. If the truck had come this way I might not have bothered to do anything, though it's still well shy of the Bose system my Colorado had or the HK systems in either of our Subarus.

I'll pull a graph before I do anything else, but I have on-hand or on the way:

Kicker KEY200.4, Kicker HS10, and SGS door plates

 

[Entropy710]

So, this is the 2024 base radio, no Forscan adjustments to the EQ, interface EQ set flat, but with the 4 door speakers replaced with Infinity Reference 6.5".

Clearly a lot more bass than Allted is seeing with the stock speakers. A little concerning about that trough from 120-200Hz though, as the sub won't really fill in that (120Hz crossover is the highest). Hope either an adjustment via Forscan or the KEY200.4's DSP can bring that up, along with the area between 1-2k. Above that, I really don't care, too many years of loud live music, working in construction and racing cars has trashed my hearing above 2k.

(If you're young, treat your ears like gold. Losing your hearing when you love music is the absolute worst part of aging. It is honestly the one thing in my life I regret the most).

 

[Allted]

That is already significantly better than stock, for sure. If you are bored, see if EQ#1 helps at all for you. I am still sort of back and forth on which sounds better.
Your post makes me very excited to get the new speakers.

 

[Entropy710]

That is already significantly better than stock, for sure. If you are bored, see if EQ#1 helps at all for you. I am still sort of back and forth on which sounds better.
Your post makes me very excited to get the new speakers.

So, with my 2024 truck, the Forscan spreadsheet Livinitup maintains doesn't list ACM settings (the ACM sention is labeled 21-23). I did try the change listed to set the EQ off (0) and all it did was cut some highs over 8k. The rest of the graph was basically identical. So either the setting isn't the same in the 24 or the basic EQ setting are different.

 

[Entropy710]

I did decide to switch up and bi-amp the fronts, so I ordered the Kicker CS tweeters to go in the A-pillars. Because I still want to amp the rear speakers, and I want to be able to tweak stuff myself, I switched to the Infinity/JBL 8-channel DSP amp (and the Kicker ISLOAD to keep the head unit happy). This way I can drive the A-pillar tweeters, the front doors, the rear doors and send signal to the sub all with different eq profiles. It even leaves me a channel to run the dash center speaker if I want.

Dunno when I'm going to find the chance to get the truck into a heated garage long enough to do anything, but I've got most of the parts for when I do.

 

[HammaMan]

Currently at the beginning stages of rehoming the JBL 8 channel DSP into the 24, going to drive the factory center as channel 7 and use channel 8 for the sub's feed. Still puts it on the DSP but will be driven with its own amp.

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