Installed kicker key, now the bass is gone

[Mav916]

That is a faulty harness . Make sure the amp doesn’t have any switches labeled 180. That is a phase switch that needs to be off

The kicker key 200.4 doesn't have a phase switch option. Could I troubleshoot the T harness by running it without the amp plugged in (t harness directly looped back to head unit?

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[Mav916]

So it didn't work leaving the t harness in with no amp. But unplugging the harness and amp again left me with both speakers with a green plus on the polarity app, and all my bass is back. Plugging in the amp and harness leaves my right side polarity good, but my left side is flipped.

 

[Sluggo48313]

I would run the tweeters off on their own channels, door speakers on their own channels and keep the rears powered by the factory amp. Only send the front input to the amplifier.

Check polarity first. If the 6.5's are out of phase, you will loose all of the low end.
You can check this by setting the fade to the front, then balance to one side. If you are getting more bass, then they are out of phase.

I would also suggest disabling the EQ in Forscan, then retune. There is a high pass filter around 125 Hz.

There is an iPhone app called "speaker pop". You download it and play a test tone on a USB stick. It will check polarity. From the factory, my '24 Lariat's passenger woofer was out of phase which was cancelling out all of my bass (and I didn't realize this until I spent hundreds on upgrades which weren't helping).

Also, as many here have said before, the best upgrade is a real subwoofer. Best you can afford. I went with one ten inch and a Kicker Key 500.1

 

[colinl]

So it didn't work leaving the t harness in with no amp. But unplugging the harness and amp again left me with both speakers with a green plus on the polarity app, and all my bass is back. Plugging in the amp and harness leaves my right side polarity good, but my left side is flipped.

from this I would conclude you have a bad harness. while I'd be pissed at Hoel, it's probably faster to fix by just splicing to fix the left input.

 

[Mav916]

from this I would conclude you have a bad harness. while I'd be pissed at Hoel, it's probably faster to fix by just splicing to fix the left input.

Contacted hoel. They're replacing the harness for free, and adding an additional bi-amp wiring also. Great customer service just sucks that I have to wait. Hopefully it ends up being the solution. Instead of splicing as a temporary fix, could I just unplug the speaker wiring from the woofer and flip it?

 

[colinl]

Instead of splicing as a temporary fix, could I just unplug the speaker wiring from the woofer and flip it?

you bet- except you have to pull the door panel off to do that, and then again to when you get the new harness.

there's several places to fix it, and if removing the door panel twice isn't appealing to you, you can splice the harness especially since you're either returning it or trashing it.

 

[Mav916]

you bet- except you have to pull the door panel off to do that, and then again to when you get the new harness.

there's several places to fix it, and if removing the door panel twice isn't appealing to you, you can splice the harness especially since you're either returning it or trashing it.

So after all this troubleshooting, turns out polarity of the harness was the issue. Thanks y'all! Would have never came to that conclusion by myself

 

[Mav916]

There is an iPhone app called "speaker pop". You download it and play a test tone on a USB stick. It will check polarity. From the factory, my '24 Lariat's passenger woofer was out of phase which was cancelling out all of my bass (and I didn't realize this until I spent hundreds on upgrades which weren't helping).

Also, as many here have said before, the best upgrade is a real subwoofer. Best you can afford. I went with one ten inch and a Kicker Key 500.1

Can I wire the kicker key to the battery terminal along with the kicker 200.4?

I have the 200.4 wired to the battery directly underneath the passenger seat. Would I be able to drop the 500.1 power cord right on top of the 200.4 power cord on the same battery terminal under the seat?

 

[colinl]

I have the 200.4 wired to the battery directly underneath the passenger seat. Would I be able to drop the 500.1 power cord right on top of the 200.4 power cord on the same battery terminal under the seat?

you could but I wouldn't.

I would get a distribution block and use a large gauge power wire and fuse holder with a fuse rated for the whole system size. then wire both amps to the distribution block. do the same thing for ground if you want, and you can keep the grounds short. if these 2 amps aren't close to each other, then they should each have their own ground.

I did this with my kicker 500.1 install 2.5 years ago because at that time I didn't know if I was going to be replacing my stock B&O amp or not. turns out I didn't need/want to, so I only have the one line coming out of each distribution block and it'll stay that way until my B&O amp dies, I guess.

 

[JBuss]

I would run the tweeters off on their own channels, door speakers on their own channels and keep the rears powered by the factory amp. Only send the front input to the amplifier.

Check polarity first. If the 6.5's are out of phase, you will loose all of the low end.
You can check this by setting the fade to the front, then balance to one side. If you are getting more bass, then they are out of phase.

I would also suggest disabling the EQ in Forscan, then retune. There is a high pass filter around 125 Hz.

FORScan will be a good bet. Will
allow the EQ to be disabled and also able to select type speaker used to replace factory models. Choices for speaker or speaker with tweeter or tweeter only. Another setting that helped out was the selection for how many speakers and type also.

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