Kicker KeyLOC DSP installed....

4500 Views 16 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Vegashybrid, Jun 22, 2021

Vegashybrid

Discussion Starter · May 11, 2021 (Edited)

4

Got my Kicker Keyloc DSP Sunday and installed it yesterday. Got a lot of feedback from forum members on what DSP to run and ultimately went with this one because I have a PSU300acd already installed. Because of that (you will see from the pictures) The wiring to add this to my system was very very simple. The PSU has several connection options that comes included. One is an RCA out connection option for aftermarket amps. So all I really had to do was connect the Kicker wires to some female RCA and clip in the included male attachment from Alpine. Ran a 1.5ft cable from dsp to the sub, which was perfect. I wanted it under the seat but there is not enough room so I put it in the center console. Ran an add a fuse to #45 spot for power (its only a 2amp fuse) I did not have time to set it up yesterday just got it installed. I also forgot until writing this, that I need to switch the breaker to RCA on the PSU as well, but thats ok because as you can see from the pics, the RCA is very close to the frame rail of the seat. If i put the plastic cover on, the clip is actually right above the L (white) RCA and pushes it down a little. I ordered some 90deg RCA connectors from Amazon that will be here today to fix that. It will also give me a little more slack in that RCA cable ( it fits perfect but there is basically no slack. I will update with the dsp setup later today.

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pg1202

· #2 · May 16, 2021

How does it sound - in particular the low low bass notes? I also have the Alpine PSU300acd installed in my Sport 2.0 and have been thinking about adding a DSP to my system. While I think the PSU was a major improvement to the car's audio system, my one complaint is that the low bass frequencies are lacking. I understand that the Alpine subwoofer is small so there are some physical limitations there, but my understanding is the factory Headunit rolls off the low frequencies by default. I have "turned off" the factory DSP using the hidden menu options, which was definitely an improvement but I feel like more can be done.

Vegashybrid

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 17, 2021 (Edited)

3

After trying to tweak the settings for three days something still sounded off. Going online I confirmed the written instructions for the auto dsp setup are not only poorly written, but incomplete. It actually skips an entire two steps that are needed. I watched the video online from Kicker shows you the proper way to set it up. Make sure to grab a set of earplugs for setup.
Its sounds amazing now, especially considering I only have 5 speakers including the sub. The soundstage actually sounds like its coming from the center of the car. The difference in bass is significant. Not just in how hard/deep it hits, but in the modulations and better response. By the time I was able to get the dsp portion setup and tuned properly it was Friday evening(and my ears were fatigued from tuning this thing all week) . My gf was with me past two days so made it little more difficult to really test the system fully, but its extremely impressive now. Very clear and more than enough clean bass (think im actually going to turn the sub gain down a notch or two). There was only one song that gave me some issues, but i think it has more to do with the two way speaker setup in the base hybrid not having a separate tweeter. Even with my upgraded speakers, it got distorted at an unexpected volume level in one section compared to other songs i was listening to, testing the system. I listen to (especially testing the system) a wide variety of music, (trance, rock, rap, jazz, just about everything). The one song that distorted was a vocal dubstep song with a lot going on in that section. Everything else i listened to is clear at high volumes.
I also wound up making a tiny notch in the seat rail cover because it was putting pressure on the L rca connector. I also mad a hole in the gap and ran the cable through it to help minimize it as well. WIll give one more update tonight.

EDIT: Forgot to mention if you are using this with a PSU300 your going to want to make sure to switch the last two jumpers to the up position I believe. #5 is to switch from 2ch to 4ch which made a massive difference in sound. #6 is to switch the source to RCA.

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pg1202

· #4 · May 17, 2021

Vegashybrid said:
After trying to tweak the settings for three days something still sounded off. Going online I confirmed the written instructions for the auto dsp setup are not only poorly written, but incomplete. It actually skips an entire two steps that are needed. I watched the video online from Kicker shows you the proper way to set it up. Make sure to grab a set of earplugs for setup.
Its sounds amazing now, especially considering I only have 5 speakers including the sub. The soundstage actually sounds like its coming from the center of the car. The difference in bass is significant. Not just in how hard/deep it hits, but in the modulations and better response. By the time I was able to get the dsp portion setup and tuned properly it was Friday evening(and my ears were fatigued from tuning this thing all week) . My gf was with me past two days so made it little more difficult to really test the system fully, but its extremely impressive now. Very clear and more than enough clean bass (think im actually going to turn the sub gain down a notch or two). There was only one song that gave me some issues, but i think it has more to do with the two way speaker setup in the base hybrid not having a separate tweeter. Even with my upgraded speakers, it got distorted at an unexpected volume level in one section compared to other songs i was listening to, testing the system. I listen to (especially testing the system) a wide variety of music, (trance, rock, rap, jazz, just about everything). The one song that distorted was a vocal dubstep song with a lot going on in that section. Everything else i listened to is clear at high volumes.
I also wound up making a tiny notch in the seat rail cover because it was putting pressure on the L rca connector. I also mad a hole in the gap and ran the cable through it to help minimize it as well. WIll give one more update tonight.

EDIT: Forgot to mention if you are using this with a PSU300 your going to want to make sure to switch the last two jumpers to the up position I believe. #5 is to switch from 2ch to 4ch which made a massive difference in sound. #6 is to switch the source to RCA.

View attachment 6234 View attachment 6235 View attachment 6236

Wow! Sounds like adding the DSP is worth the effort! Thank you for providing all this detail. I will definitely consider adding this to my system.

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pg1202

· #5 · May 18, 2021

One question for you - where exactly on the Alpine harness did you make the connection to the DSP? Is it at the end near the Alpine amp or near the headunit in the dashboard? Just trying to figure out if I'll need to disassemble the dashboard again.

Vegashybrid

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 18, 2021

pg1202 said:
One question for you - where exactly on the Alpine harness did you make the connection to the DSP? Is it at the end near the Alpine amp or near the headunit in the dashboard? Just trying to figure out if I'll need to disassemble the dashboard again.

If you look at the first picture in first post you, see the male RCA connectors labeled sub with the red clip at the end. If you look at the third picture you can see the red clip under the subwoofer connector. You unclip that from the harness and the rca connectors clip in there. I only needed to lift the shifter console/cup holder area up to install this that's it. If you look at the wiring diagrams differences between the ones on pages 9 and 10 (just the part that goes into the sub) you can get a better idea. It's really just unclipping the red clip and clipping in the rca line that came with the PSU300.

https://pdf.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20181105173000/Manuals/500/500PSU3ACD.PDF

pg1202

· #7 · May 18, 2021

Vegashybrid said:
If you look at the first picture in first post you, see the male RCA connectors labeled sub with the red clip at the end. If you look at the third picture you can see the red clip under the subwoofer connector. You unclip that from the harness and the rca connectors clip in there. I only needed to lift the shifter console/cup holder area up to install this that's it. If you look at the wiring diagrams differences between the ones on pages 9 and 10 (just the part that goes into the sub) you can get a better idea. It's really just unclipping the red clip and clipping in the rca line that came with the PSU300.

https://pdf.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20181105173000/Manuals/500/500PSU3ACD.PDF

Ok thanks. I think I follow. Do I have it drawn correctly in this sketch?

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Vegashybrid

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 18, 2021

Yes the RCA you x out is where I connected the keyloc with the female connector. Instead of going to speaker it's going to the dsp

pg1202

· #9 · May 18, 2021

Vegashybrid said:
Yes the RCA you x out is where I connected the keyloc with the female connector. Instead of going to speaker it's going to the dsp

Great - thanks!

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Vegashybrid

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 21, 2021

So after listening to it for a few days now its def a massive improvement. The bass hits now and sound is much clearer/louder. I have the eq in the head unit turned down a notch on bass, mid and treble. Bass control knob on my psu doesnt go above halfway now. Only got distortion on the one song, but again I attribute that to two way setup in the stock hybrid. Its amazing how the sound seems to be coming from the center of the car now, even with no center speaker there. It hits very hard for an 8in sub with only 120w. Modulations and bass tones that were missing are now present. There are still some rap songs with very deep bass where you can tell its a smaller sub, but overall very impressive.

pg1202

· #11 · May 22, 2021

Vegashybrid said:
So after listening to it for a few days now its def a massive improvement. The bass hits now and sound is much clearer/louder. I have the eq in the head unit turned down a notch on bass, mid and treble. Bass control knob on my psu doesnt go above halfway now. Only got distortion on the one song, but again I attribute that to two way setup in the stock hybrid. Its amazing how the sound seems to be coming from the center of the car now, even with no center speaker there. It hits very hard for an 8in sub with only 120w. Modulations and bass tones that were missing are now present. There are still some rap songs with very deep bass where you can tell its a smaller sub, but overall very impressive.

Nice! After reading this update I am sold. I will definitely add this to my system sometime in the next few weeks.

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Vegashybrid

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 29, 2021

I am having some issues with the sub seems to not be getting enough signal at lower volumes, and the sub cuts in and out a little. Sent Kicker an email for help. Seems to happen volumes lower than 15. I may have to change a setting or something. Think I may need to up the output and lower my gain alittle but there are some hidden options as well like time delay (which I thought was off). Will update when I hear back from them.

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Vegashybrid

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jun 10, 2021

Ok so I tore everything apart a few times past couple weeks. Kicker has determined it's a lack of DC offset in the signal now causing the problem. I wired the remote wire on the sub and I helped a little but still cuts in and out a lvl 10-11 and below( some song 12-14). I was going to live with it and then I contacted Alpine. They were rude and arrogant. From the get go even in email they blamed everything else but their product. They responded once through email, Kicker at 62 messages back and forth and counting. Alpine told me the dsp can possibly be wired in th way it is when I physically did it with my own two hands. They said, in a roundabout way without knowing the other companies I was talking to, that both Kicker and Crutchfield have no idea what they are talking about. I'm considering pulling out the Alpine sub and leaving the power pack for the main speakers and putting in a Kicker hs8. I can sell the sub( PWE-S8) by itself and will be almost a wash in terms of price. Talking to Kicker to see if the harness will just plig right in.

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EngTech1

· #14 · Jun 11, 2021

Vegashybrid said:
Ok so I tore everything apart a few times past couple weeks. Kicker has determined it's a lack of DC offset in the signal now causing the problem. I wired the remote wire on the sub and I helped a little but still cuts in and out a lvl 10-11 and below( some song 12-14). I was going to live with it and then I contacted Alpine. They were rude and arrogant. From the get go even in email they blamed everything else but their product. They responded once through email, Kicker at 62 messages back and forth and counting. Alpine told me the dsp can possibly be wired in th way it is when I physically did it with my own two hands. They said, in a roundabout way without knowing the other companies I was talking to, that both Kicker and Crutchfield have no idea what they are talking about. I'm considering pulling out the Alpine sub and leaving the power pack for the main speakers and putting in a Kicker hs8. I can sell the sub( PWE-S8) by itself and will be almost a wash in terms of price. Talking to Kicker to see if the harness will just plig right in.

Sweet Work & a Lot of It , WOW so
How much effort to just Install a Audio DVD Player/CD Music in Glove Box or Trunk ?

Vegashybrid

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jun 11, 2021

EngTech1 said:
Sweet Work & a Lot of It , WOW so
How much effort to just Install a Audio DVD Player/CD Music in Glove Box or Trunk ?

Independent of the stock system? Not really sure but I know someone on here did that. At the least you would have to bring the speakers to the amp and power for it. The dsp isn't really necessary, but I used to play instruments and can hear the difference.

pg1202

· #16 · Jun 22, 2021

Vegashybrid said:
Ok so I tore everything apart a few times past couple weeks. Kicker has determined it's a lack of DC offset in the signal now causing the problem. I wired the remote wire on the sub and I helped a little but still cuts in and out a lvl 10-11 and below( some song 12-14). I was going to live with it and then I contacted Alpine. They were rude and arrogant. From the get go even in email they blamed everything else but their product. They responded once through email, Kicker at 62 messages back and forth and counting. Alpine told me the dsp can possibly be wired in th way it is when I physically did it with my own two hands. They said, in a roundabout way without knowing the other companies I was talking to, that both Kicker and Crutchfield have no idea what they are talking about. I'm considering pulling out the Alpine sub and leaving the power pack for the main speakers and putting in a Kicker hs8. I can sell the sub( PWE-S8) by itself and will be almost a wash in terms of price. Talking to Kicker to see if the harness will just plig right in.

Sounds like quite the headache! I think swapping the Alpine sub for a similar Kicker is a good move.

Vegashybrid

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jun 22, 2021

pg1202 said:
Sounds like quite the headache! I think swapping the Alpine sub for a similar Kicker is a good move.

I'm going to in a couple months, Alpine really pissed me off. It's also shameful that their competition worked harder to solve the problem than they did. I know their hs8 will fit I need to remove the passenger seat again and measure to see if the 10" hs10 will fit (it will be tight if it does). The 8" has about 20% more power than the Alpine (150w vs 120w) so either way should be an improvement.

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