As an amplifier, our tests reveal that this is a good one. All measured parameters are as good or better than Kicker claims. It has good power, high damping factor and reasonable efficiency for a class AB amp. The fun part, though, was watching the crossover and EQ charts appear on the screen as though someone in the art department had drawn them for an ad. Welcome to the wonderful world of digital signal processing, folks!
Let's begin with the parametric equalizer. With a selectable Q range of 0.5 (really wide) to 10 (a sharp point), we chose the center frequency to be 2kHz. We first measured the curve at +18dB with the Q at 10. A spike appeared on our screen with the point exactly at 2kHz and up exactly 18dB. We added a -18dB curve, and it was a precise mirror image of the first. This is exactly what you would expect, but seldom see with analog circuitry. We changed the Q to 0.5 and ran the sweeps again, resulting in exactly symmetrical arcs that intersected the first two spikes at 2kHz, at both + and -18dB. Ever see a Spirograph? We ran a third pair of sweeps at + and - 9dB with a Q of 10, creating a smaller pair of spikes inside the first set, centered at exactly 2kHz and + and - 9dB. Most impressive!
As for the crossovers, this selection took a long time to test, mostly due to the fact that you can choose from six crossover slopes: 6dB, 12dB, 18dB, 24dB, 30dB and 36dB. The crossover points measured exactly where we set them and correspond with the range Kicker gives in the specs. We graphed the crossover curves at 100Hz and 2.5kHz in order to display them without any interaction with the roll-off curves at the extremes of the frequency response. As you can see, the crossovers are very clean and symmetrical. We found a discrepancy here-the actual measured slopes are a little shy of the specs, actually by about 1dB/octave. For example, the 12dB/octave slope measured closer to 11dB/ octave. Interestingly enough, this is not a cumulative error, but seems to be a constant 1dB difference throughout the range of slopes. For the record, we wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Even with 1dB error, this is still the most precise signal processing we've ever seen in a mobile amplifier.
The remote level control (BLAST(tm)) is an attenuator with 22dB of range, controlling the overall level of the amplifier. There was no measurable turn-on or turn-off noise.
ManualThe owner's manual resembles the instructions for a head unit with all of the digital menus and readouts. It does a pretty good job of telling you how to install the amplifier, with wire gauge charts and system diagrams and good end panel pictures. Everything is pretty clear, but you really have to get your head into the digital interface instructions. Not that it's presented badly, because it isn't. It's just that there's a lot of information. We found it easier to read a couple of pages and then fire the amp up and explore the menus, occasionally looking back at the manual.