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I am starting a new thread that will deal with only the Kicker subwoofer installs. Seems that a lot of people are using that subwoofer. Having a dedicated thread for Kicker might make info easier to find. I will move all of my previous Kicker posts to this thread.
The Kicker HS-10 subwoofer is very heavy. The die cast aluminum box is very thick - that is good for heat removal. I am a retired RF electronics engineer, so I always like to see what is inside boxes. I removed the lid to the unit. The physical design and construction is impressive. There are 7 each 5/32" allen bolts that need to be removed. I did not see any warranty labels across the two halves of the box. I noticed a label on the outside that said the box was made in China. The top half of the box (with the speaker) separates from the bottom half. There is a thick rubber gasket all away around between the two halves. Not much in the box - the speaker, the control board and I assume the power amp board. The heads of the screws on the control board are sealed with some black hard sealant. The speaker has a large magnet - about 5" OD and 1" thick.
See attached pictures of Kicker enclosure opened up.
LED status light on HS10
I just installed a Kicker Hideaway HS10 subwoofer in my new Hyundai Santa Cruz truck. The unit appears to work good. I used the DC Offset Turnon setting.
I want to insure that the subwoofer is not going to drain down my battery if the vehicle sits for several days without being driven.
I my lab, I measured about 1.5 ma of current draw when the amp is setting idle, in the DC Offset mode. In the Remote-Turn On mode, I measure about 100 ma of current draw.
Are those two readings normal?
When my truck is sitting, the LED on the Kicker is out. If I open the rear door, after about 10 seconds, the LED will turn red for about 1 second, then it will go blue. I am not sure what is triggering that LED action. The LED will stay blue for about 15 minutes, then it will go out again. Is this normal operation.
Response from Kicker Tech Support:
This will be normal operation. When DC offset is used, the amplifier will turn on as soon as the Can bus system is activated. That happens when the key fob is used, door handle is pulled, basically as soon as you wake the vehicle up. Sometimes it will take anywhere from 15-60 minutes for a vehicle to finish all of its checks, diagnostics before the vehicle goes to sleep. I haven’t had any issues with this putting extra drain on the battery, and most of our amps have had this feature for quite a while now. The only issues I’ve seen is if the source unit shuts down before the amp, that will cause a signal pop but I do not foresee this being an issue here.
Mount Kicker Behind Rear Seat.
Remove both rear seats - bottom seat and vertical seat. Takes about 60 minutes. You will need a standard 14MM socket and a 14MM deep socket.
6 bolts for rear seat plus 2 bolts for seat belt anchors
2 bolts for vertical rear seat plus two nuts for top of seat. Remove two plastic covers to get to the two nuts.
Some bolts are very snug - took about 40 ft pounds of torque to break them loose.
You will probably need some 6MM nuts and large fender washers for mounting the Kicker to the back wall of the cab. O'Reilly Auto Parts has the units.
Speakers:
In the non-Bose system, there is a grill on the dash top for a center speaker, but there is no speaker.
In the non-Bose system, there is a tweeter in both front doors and a mid range speaker in both front doors. There is a mid range speaker in both rear doors.
There are two non-used studs on the rear of the cab. These studs are used for mounting the Bose subwoofer. In the non-Bose vehicles, the studs are not used. they can be used for mounting the Kicker.
Wiring:
The color codes for the wiring is the same as the non-Bose and Bose systems, except the non Bose system will not have the subwoofer wiring and the center speaker wiring.
It is easiest to tap into the rear door speaker wires, in the pillar, for connecting to the input of the Kicker. The Kicker left and right inputs should be kept separate and should go to the left and right speaker wiring. See attached color code chart and wiring install.
Kicker Mounting
Kicker mounted to rear wall of cab. Two different options. Mount Kicker with a couple of metal straps and attach to the two Bose subwoofer studs or mount Kicker to 0.2" thick aluminum plate and attached plate to rear wall of cab. See attached pictures.
Remote Bass Mounting
Mounted control to bottom on steering wheel trim enclosure with Velcro. See attached picture.
03.08.2023
