Kicker hideaway issues

I had a Kicker Hideaway installed today and I'm not impressed. I've had some folks offer advice to try to tune , and it seems I may have a defective unit.

Basically when trying to tune, I get bad distortion (sounds like a blown sub, or clipping) with the gain turned past the first setting (roughly 10%).

I have it adjusted now to where it sounds ok, but there's BARELY any bass output over the factory non-jbl setting.

I noticed the remote bass control seems to make no difference when turned the knob from end to end, so I unplugged it (with the amp off) and I get no sound whatsoever through the sub, which according to the instructions, you should be able to run it without the remote, soni think there is definitely something up with my unit.

 

I found this in the instructions, I wonder if the install is the issue, since the + and - wires are spliced together into one speaker wire, not sure if that would effect the output.

2018-09-01_09-20-12 by mattnewman98, on Flickr


2018-09-01_09-20-31 by mattnewman98, on Flickr

 

I saw that in your other post & thought it was odd. Seems like it'd make it sound odd & miss half the bass.

 

I wonder if that's it then, since I get distortion unless bass boost and gain have to be turned way down, and then i have very low output volume

 

I saw that in the other thread also. Who did the install. I'd take it back and have them look at it. Thats why you paid for the install .

 

If anything, the way it is wired as long as the white and grey wire are tied together and the two with the stripe are tied together that would be the equal to bridging I believe.

Is that a DVC or SVC subwoofer btw?

 

I'm assuming SVC, not positive. I will for sure take it back, I'm not happy with it at all, it's frustrating since my work schedule makes it so I can only get to their shop on Saturdays

 

The issue is I see two powers and two grounds which leads me to believe it is DVC. That may be an issue in itself. Either way you should take it back and you are in the right for doing so. Let us know how it turns out.

 

It's a powered sub & those wires are used instead of a LOC. I don't believe you'd want to bridge anything BEFORE the amp input.

 

You know what issue I also see in that setup? T-taps.. those are big no no's as they cause intermittent connections which could be perceived as clipping or bad audio due to an intermittent connection they are creating.

 

Personally, I wouldn't use them to supply the Hideaway. I'm sure BB does all the time but I wouldn't trust them for this application.

 

I tried those same T-Taps in my own but in the end I just ended up clipping the stock harness to my JBL stock setup and wired in a full new aftermarket amp. That was fun. (Not really)

 

Curious, where's the sub mounted?

 

Just to post some clarified info from a GeekSquad AutoTech

The white and grey wires are the signal inputs to the Hideaway’s internal amp. They aren’t “bridged” or anything like that. They are simply using one speaker signal to get audio to both the left and right inputs. However, this is a mononlock (1 channel) amplifier so it doesn’t really matter anyway. Could’ve just hooked up the white, or grey, or both as shown here. Same signal is playing through the sub either way.

While T-taps are generally frowned upon (I personally hate them) they ARE usable, per MECP guidelines.

As someone who has installed 2-3 dozen hideaways, the install looks plenty acceptable. I am pretty darn sure we have a case of a defective unit.

 

Under the driver's seat

 

Just realized ********* is 10 minutes away from my house, if I can't get this sorted out I guess I'll try a 10" behind the seat in their box.

 

Just read two things in the Kicker instructions,

1: a remote wire is not needed, I noticed it looks like there is one wired, would this cause any issues?

2: it mentions have no/low output due to reversed polarity. To test, adjust output from one side to the other. As I shift sound to the right side, all sound from the sub goes away.

 

1. A remote wire “shouldn’t” be needed because the sub is “supposed to” sense an audio signal and turn on automatically. However, many people have reported having issues with this functionality and had to run a remote wire anyway. I run one 100% of the time whether I “should” need it or not.

2. Your issue isn’t caused by reverse polarity. It’s a tricky thing to explain but it’s not the case here. And you lose sound when you fade right because the signal wires are spliced into the left rear speaker wire.

 

What setting is the input sensitivity switch set to? Hi or low?

 

Set to hi. I’ve crossed all the troubleshoot bases. Very confident it’s a defective unit.