Kicker hideaway issues

Yup I’ve ran into this same problem on a hideaway. I think the input was set to low, and Had a high signal coming smoking something in the input.

 

I had my wife take my truck to the shop while I'm at work, they checked it out and said the frequency was set too high and adjusted it. She said it sounds better at higher volumes, but at regular listening volume it sounds the same as it did before.

 

I took it to their other location and they're also saying the unit is fine, that my stock head unit isnt pushing out enough power at a lower volume to hit the right frequencies. I thought that was the purpose of the amp.

 

That doesn’t even make sense. The “hi” input is 250mv-10v

That equates to .6 watts up to 25 watts... the head unit doesn’t push out much, but it’s more than .6 watts, that’s for sure.

And also, frequencies don’t change based on volume level. If I play a low 40hz tone, it’s going to be there whether I’m powering with 1 watt or 1,000

My next thing would be cut the gain way down, switch the input level to low, and try listening to it again

 

So they installed the line out converter like they were supposed to from the beginning, and it didn't make a difference, so the installer is maintaining that this unit just isn't going to make good sound under volume level 25+.

Those with the hideaway, are you finding the same thing to be true?

 

Gain has always been down, that's the problem, I can't turn it up past the first setting without it sounding like trash

 

I think another part of the problem is that they went to the rear speakers instead of the front. When the front speaker is larger than the rear speaker, chances are, more volume is being sent to the front

 

I complained enough, they're ordering another unit. Will report back.

 

I would also get them to move the wiring to the front speaker instead of the rear. It’s very easy to access in the driver kick panel and will provide a much better audio signal. The shouldn’t need a LOC either.

 

And they can call me at store 1540 if they want evidence of this claim in our trucks

 

Mine sounds amazing at low volume. It’s when pushed 3/4 and above that the bass starts to drop off. At low volume it sounds like a clear, tight 10” sub.

 

If it won’t put bass out at all with the remote bass unplugged than that right there proves there’s an issue with it.

 

Exactly, I didn't think I was going to have to fight to get it replaced, there's obviously an issue with it

 

I went behind the radio in my 2017, non-jbl, entune premium (nav, xm, etc) and took some measurements just to post them up

I used 2 test tracks, 1000hz (mids/highs) and 40hz (lows)
I placed the radio at volume level 40 (could have went higher, I have tested and got distortion at volume 52 on my unit)
I played these via bluetooth, which is much quieter in our radios than CD, but I feel is the more popular listening method here in 2018

Here are the AC voltages, and using ohms law we can calculate the wattage output of our radio

SPOILER ALERT
It's garbage.
At a volume level of 40, playing a clean test tone over bluetooth, our radios do not even produce 1 watt per channel

Front channels, @1khz
1.17v, .34 watts

Front channels, @40hz
1.76v, .77 watts

Rear channels, @1khz
1.22v, .37 watts

Rear channels. @40hz
.35v, .03 watts (yes, point zero three watts... 3 percent of one watt)


TO SUMMARIZE
I recommend using the front speakers for any subwoofer installation (Hideaway or anything else)
The wires are easily accessible in the kick panels, and the rear speakers DO NOT RECEIVE ENOUGH POWER FOR BASS SIGNALS

 

@Mnewman03 If they ARE using the LOC, spliced into the rear audio signal, I think the LOC is what's causing the issue. That is taking an already extremely low voltage signal, and dropping it even lower.
I would have them connect to the front speaker, without using the LOC

 

@destin_meeks not currently, they installed the LOC and it didn't make a difference in sound quality so they took it back out. Which color wires should I tap into for front speakers?

 

Looking for a 13 pin white connector in the drivers kick panel.

Some wire colors may include
Pink
green
sky blue
yellow
red
purple
another green
beige
light green

may be more, those are just the ones i see

You want the green and light green in pins 1 and 8. they will be right on top of each other.

Green is +
Light Green is -

 

you should not need an LOC. The hideaway takes speaker level input.

My setup is as follows. Stock head unit, replaced all 4 door speakers with kickers, replaced dash tweeters with kicker/Subaru units, powering the fronts with alpine power pack. For the hideaway I spliced into my rear speakers ( technically you only need to tie into one speaker - left or right doesn't matter).

I have the remote bass knob and played around with it for a while, trying to reach a balance between it and the gain knob but I couldn't get to where I had enough bass and wasn't clipping the subwoofer. In the end i disconnected the remote knob and just set the gain to around 50-60 %.

Because it's connected to the rears I use the fader as a way to control the amount of bass.

Pretty happy overall - great for most music.

 

How are these low numbers possible? That doesn't seem like enough wattage to drive headphones let alone 6x9 speakers, yet the stock headunit gets plenty loud with my Kicker KS-series. Using the USB input, I never turn it up past 40.

 

Using those voltages and a 4 ohm load, that's what the math says. I'm not sure what the load actually is, might be 4 but I assumed it was 2. It seems like the input source was not set to full output volume though.

This isn't really true. If you view the Fletcher Munson (AKA equal loudness contour) curves you see the percieved effect of frequency at different volumes. It's the reason Loudness buttons and Magna-Bass ect. was invented.