Hey guys,
Sorry for the long post, but I need some help.

First, some basics on my setup:
Stock Head Unit
Boston Pro 2way (5 1/4 I think) components for front speakers
Stock rear speakers-unused most of time (faded out)
ADS 10" sub (sealed box)
Kicker KX600 amp 4 channel, with remote bass boost control on AMP2 (rear channels).

I've been having a problem with my kicker amp, which was bought new. When I have the sub hooked up to one of the rear channels on the sub (what kicker calls AMP2), or if I have my sub bridged on AMP2, I get an audible hissing (white noise) sound coming through the sub. The hissing is not dependent on gain or crossover setting. The hissing is very audible even with the volume control all the way down. The noise is loud enough to be heard in the front seat if the volume is all the way down. Kicker reports a 95db/1 noise ratio for this units specs. This hissing is way beyond that.

If I put the same sub on AMP1, and put my front speakers on amp2, I dont get the hissing on the sub at all. But I do get a bit more noise from the front speakers (for some reason they dont hiss as much though). So I conclude that the sub is not the source of the problem

Also, when troubleshooting, I found out that the hissing on AMP2 happened even if I was using a completely independent signal-in this case from my buddies fiber optic signal output Alpine deck (conclusion: the problem cant be related to my stock HU signal).

The dealer I bought the Kicker from, confirmed the problem and sent it back to Kicker for a replacement. Unfortunately when I got my replacement, it did the same damn thing! Now I'm waiting to get my 2nd replacement.

I'm not holding high hopes for the next Kicker I get, I'm starting to wonder if this is a design problem. What makes this worse is that the audio store I bougth this from is now telling me that if the 3rd amp is bad, they will not refund my money because of a lame *** excuse that it was special ordered.

My questions to the audio guru's on the board, is Kicker a budget brand or something? I was under the impression that they were relatively respectable. Could people give me their thougths on this brand to see if it is something I should avoid in the future, or if Im just experiencing a fluke.

Second question, can anybody think of anything on my end that could be causing this hissing (other than the amp itself). I thought I did a pretty thourough job of troubleshooting, but we all can overlook things at time, you know. If anybody can give me any guidance it would be much appreciated.

Again, sorry for the long post

 

The only thing I think that it could be, other then the amp, is the remote bass ****.

Disconnect it and see if the problem continues.
Also here are some more things to check.

- The impedance of the sub, should be no lower then 4 ohms total if you are bridging amp 2 or amp 1.

- Is the Red power protect LED on at the end of the amp?

-What is amp 2's settings? Bass Boost, Gaind and crossover dial and switch.

- Since your using the speaker level inputs. Switch the front a rears around and see if the problems fallow the rear speaker wires from the radio. Even though you used your buddies preouts it doesn't rule out your amps speaker level inputs.

- If you still have issues call kicker customer service directly 1-405-624-8510

- after this if the problems with amp and dealer continue I may be able to find someone at kicker for you to deal with directly, so let me know how things go.

Questions:

- Who installed your amp?
- Did the dealer have to order the amp for you?
- Was the amp marked "B-Stock"?
- How long ago did you buy the amp?
- What did kicker report on the repair order?

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond guys, and for your suggestions 1st MP3...,

To address 1st MP3's... suggestions/questions point by point:

-I never even got around to even connecting the remote bass ****.

-As far as the impedence of the sub, I'll have to check that out more closely (I bought the sub from my buddy). It is a dual voice coil design. It is being run in series I think, gotta double check. In either case, on amp1 it runs clean, on amp2 I get the white noise. The noise is also there if I run it unbridged. Also, on my buddies cheap ***, left over, wheel chock of an amplifier, it did run clean as well.

-The red LED has not turned on. It has been running green the whole time.

-AMP2 settings are Bass boost=0; Gain=pretty low, bottom quarter of the range; crossover was set at around 60hz; crossover switch is on low pass. I experimented with different settings on all of them. I think, the hissing was gone if I ran the sub in high pass, but it was harder to tell.

As a comprimise when I was running the sub for a few weeks, I ran the fronts on amp2, which did seem to have more noise than when I ran them on amp1, but nothing like the sub has on AMP2

-Speaker level inputs: Im only running the front signals into the amp. When I tested it with my buddies signal, I used RCAs and tried using front signals alone, and both front and rear signals. The noise remained in either case if I left the sub on amp2.

-My buddy and I did the entire install. He's been around the car audio scene for while, a few years back he placed something like 7th in the world finals in the consumer class I think (dont know if it was USAAC or IASCA though). He does all of his own installs.

-The dealer did order the amp, they did not carry it in stock. The nice fella even charged me 15 dollars for shipping *after* we agreed on a price. Oh well, he was a friend of my buddies, so I didnt say much. This is the same guy that told me I would not be able to return it if the next one had the same problem. I have a feeling this friend of a friend business is going to come back and bite me in the ***.

-I dont think it was marked B stock, that sure as hell isnt what I ordered.

-I ordered it back in November sometime, it figures I lost the receipt. The shop was servicing the complaint because I came back within 30 days of buying it. I waited 2 to 3 weeks first time I sent it in, and Im going on my 3rd week of waiting in this current round. I called the shop today and they told me because of the holidays it has not come back, and I should check at the end of this week

-As far as a kicker report on the repair order, I wasnt shown or given any such thing. The guys at the shop just told me they shipped a new one.

 

I am more trying to find out if everything is OK with the system before another amps nukes itself but if you friend has the cradentials he says he does then he should know how to match subs impedance to the amplifiers.

Sounds like you need to send in your friend to straighten this dick head out.

I am still curious how signal is even getting to amp 2 if your only using amp 1's speaker inputs. No sound at all should be going to amp 2, I wouldn't think.

Did this amp ever work or was it DOA?

I will try to find out Kickers SOP to see if the shop might be screwing with you. If you have to send the amp in again scratch the bottom of it to see if its a new one that comes back.

 

Well, as far as I expected, I thought any amplifier could be able to share one signal among four channels. For example, what would you do if you had a head unit with only one set of RCAs? The manual (which seemed pretty skimpy) made no mention of what you do with only one set of signals. Im sure the signal is being split internally...anyway the guy at the shop said it was fine to run it that way if I only had front inputs.

It's funny, cuz at first I was kind of pissed that the manual didnt mention using only one set of signals. It almost made me think that their terminology of AMP1 and AMP2 instead of Front and Rear meant that there were two completely independent amplifiers on one chassis, which would have been pretty cheap.
Apparently that's not the case because the signal is definately being shared between all the channels. Also, the noise was still there even if two sets of inputs were provided.

In your experience, do most 4 channel amps need two
independant signals? It seems doubtful, but do you think running only one set of inputs somehow damaged the amp? Like I said, the manual made no mention, good or bad, or running one set of signals.

BTW, the amp had the hissing on my sub since day one. The same thing with the second amp I got.

Thanks again

 

No amp I have ever seen sends the front input signal to the rear channels without atleast a switch being involved.

 

I found out more specifics on my sub. It has dual voice coils at 6 ohms each, and they are being run together in parallel for a total of about 3 ohms. The kicker amp says its 4 ohm stable.

Maybe this would be a problem and cause overheating if was it running it loud for long periods of time, but I dont think it can be the problem at this moment since one set of channels runs the sub clean, and the other doesnt (not to mention, I never really ran it loud and long in the short time I had it). Feel free to correct me if Im wrong, if your, or anyones experience says otherwise.

About the signal sharing between front and rear amps, that's interesting that this amp can use only one set of signals. My buddy just got a 6 channel Soundstream amp (it can handle dolby 5.1 or something like that, it has a center channel) and he's planning to run 2 sets of signals (4 channels of input-front, rear) into it. I dont think that one had any switches either, unless it has some sort of internal/automatic switch?

With the powers at your disposal 1st MP3 ... , is there any way you could find out from a Kicker rep or engineer how their amps are designed as far as how many signals they need to run both front and rears? If not I could also try that customer care line, maybe they could tell me as well.

 

Consider it done, I'll get back to you by Sunday.

 

Well, I finally got my kicker amp back today. The POS still has the same problem! I guess it didn't surprise me since the first 2 amps had the identical problem, but it disappoints me that kicker wouldn't even bother to check for the problem, or if they couldnt reproduce it, at least say as much. And also for my trouble, they were nice enough to scratch the hell out of my amp shroud, and take out a plastic mounting washer which forced me to go ghetto and use an aluminum washer I had around (maybe they just gave me a used beat up amp they had laying around). Now if I feel like pursuing this further and continue to demand a properly operating amp for my 400 dollars, I'll have to wait another damn month.

Something still is bugging me that it could be something on my end, but I've tried so many combinations troubleshooting this, that the amp seems like the only culprit. Well, even the installers I bought it from said the same thing.

Does anyone else here have, or know of someone who has the KX600.4? Does it have the hiss or no? I'm trying to figure out if this could be a greater design flaw, or a bad batch of something during manufacturing.

 

I would call kicker and ask for the area Rep. They may be able to help you out. If kicker won't tell you, let me know and I'll find out, I just need to know where you live.

 

I'm going to the shop owner on Monday and telling him to just exchange it for an eclipse that has similar specs and price. If he is an *** with no business sense and says no, then I guess I will have to go through Kicker as a last resort. I'll let you guys know.