IF YOU HAVE A FEW MINUTES CHECK THIS OUT B/C I FEEL ITS SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS THAT ARE HARD TO ANSWER B/C OF LIMITED INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US.

1- I find it a little odd that it's so easy and accessible to find the specs (ohms, rms power, signal to noise ratio and frequency response) for the kicker upgrade, amp and speakers etc; However, when it comes to the Boston Acoustic system it's a mystery expect for the watts. If you eliminate the sub from the equation the kicker and the boston units are identical - 276 watts. The kicker package is recorded as a 368 watt amp, however, channels 7 and Channel 8 are not even used. So technically the system is only generating 276 watts (46 watts for channels 1-6)

What exactly are the difference b/t the 2 systems? Again, do not include the powered subwoofer.


2- The 8 channel kicker amp (why 8 channels I have no clue - and this phantom center channel is completely over my head) powers the 6 speakers as displayed below... channel 7 appears to be an internal signal feed to the powered sub.... That being said I would think there should be a feed from the amp to the sub BUT every write up I read it does not state anywhere about the powered sub being connected to the amp.... Only thing the powered sub has to be connected to is the driver side door speaker and a power feed into the engine bay...

what in the heck is channel 7 for than? anyone understand this?

Channel 1: Left i/p speaker
Channel 2: Right i/p speaker
Channel 3: Left front door speaker
Channel 4: Right front door speaker
Channel 5: Left rear door speaker
Channel 6: Right rear door speaker
Channel 7: Internal signal feed to subwoofer amplifier
Channel 8: Phantom center channel

To me its just strange that they call it a 368 watt amp when in fact it really is only powering 6 speakers for a grand total of 276 watts, exactly what the boston acoustic system produces

anyone upgrade to the kicker package themselves? if so did you connect a feed from the sub to the amp? just curious

thanks fellas and sorry for the long thread but this entire upgrade and being that its difficult to even compare them yourself spec wise leaves me with some uncertainty

I believe the rear door speakers are 2 way speakers, a tweeter and mid in one, so each speaker is counted as 2...

I believe the rear door speakers are 2 way speakers, a tweeter and mid in one, so each speaker is counted as 2...

guy.. did you read the fckin thing i just posted/?? channel 5 and 6 are for the rears.... so no... you are wrong... dont waste my time if.......

hahahahahhhahh....lol... can you imagine? just messin bro... ha... thats what i thought also but what i posted in the thread is what the channels are for... the rear speakers only use 2 channels... 7 and 8 are displayed as well...

to me something isnt right here.... i seriously spent an hour searching the entire web for any info on the specs of our standard BA system... only thing ive come up with is the 276 watt amp which powers 6 speakers... at 46 watts each... but i dont even know if the BA system is a 2 ohm or 4 ohm...

when comparing these 2 systems its actually unfair when one has a sub and the other doesnt... if you eliminate the kicker sub.. or add a sub to the BA system i would bet they would be very comparable...

To me, if chrysler really wanted to show you the improvement of the kicker they would make the BA specs accessible to everyone so you can compare the 2... but since the BA system is a mystery it leads me to believe these 2 audio systems are more identical than believed

I think there is a separate amp in the enclosure that has the amp for the sub. Which would make sense with what you posted...Signal to turn on the amp (kinda like a remote turn-on) from drivers side door, power from under the hood and channel 7 to send the signal. Just a guess, but at midnight it makes sense to me. Also, the missing 92 watts, while low in my opinion, sounds about right for an OEM sub.

Also, the missing 92 watts, while low in my opinion, sounds about right for an OEM sub.

OEM sub? the kicker sub is powered by its own amp... not the kicker amp... channel 7 and 8 do not power anything with this setup.... i just thought you need to use channel 7 on the kicker amp as a signal feed to the powered subwoofer...

I did the switch from BA to Kicker, and have not added a sub yet. The difference so far has been night and day. Where the BA system was distorted at high volume, the Kicker set-up has flat rocked! I am not going to add the Kicker sub as I think it's too expensive for what you get. I have sub and amp and will build my box myself.

I did the switch from BA to Kicker, and have not added a sub yet. The difference so far has been night and day. Where the BA system was distorted at high volume, the Kicker set-up has flat rocked! I am not going to add the Kicker sub as I think it's too expensive for what you get. I have sub and amp and will build my box myself.

sweet... thats exactly what i wanted to know... b/c comparing the 2 isnt fair when the kicker has the sub...

This makes me believe our BA audio system is 4 ohms... i do know the kicker is a 2ohm application which is sweet...

thanks for info... thats good to know... b/c at first i was must going to keep the BA system and just add a powered sub.... that will surely improve it but from what you are saying the sub with the kicker will kick more azz.... sweet

Is there a way to install a center speaker using the kicker sound?

Is there a way to install a center speaker using the kicker sound?

you mean the PHANTOM center channel? lol....

i have no clue... i personally dont even think its active... it was just a way to have them advertise the kicker as a 368 watt amp.... b/c technically the KICKER amp is the same power as the Boston Acoustic amp..... both are 276 watts..... but when kicker includes channel 7 and 8 that adds another 92 watts bringing it to a total of 368.... PHANTOM? never in my life have i heard an amp have a PHANTOM channel.. lol

Did you tried to connect a speaker on the phantom channel to see if you get sound?

I did the switch from BA to Kicker, and have not added a sub yet. The difference so far has been night and day. Where the BA system was distorted at high volume, the Kicker set-up has flat rocked! I am not going to add the Kicker sub as I think it's too expensive for what you get. I have sub and amp and will build my box myself.

I'll second that opinion. I got the kicker system straight from the factory. I've had my sub disconnected for a week (needed the cargo space). So I was driving with the kicker amp, no sub. Then my amp blew, the dealer replaced it (mistakenly) with the standard BS amp. Unbelievable difference. I detected the problem within a few miles. It sounded horrible at high volumes, compared to the kicker amp.

They've ordered the correct Kicker amp, so I should be back to normal soon.

Although I don't claim to be technical enough to explain why, all I can say is the difference is very noticeable.

I'll second that opinion. I got the kicker system straight from the factory. I've had my sub disconnected for a week (needed the cargo space). So I was driving with the kicker amp, no sub. Then my amp blew, the dealer replaced it (mistakenly) with the standard BS amp. Unbelievable difference. I detected the problem within a few miles. It sounded horrible at high volumes, compared to the kicker amp.

They've ordered the correct Kicker amp, so I should be back to normal soon.

Although I don't claim to be technical enough to explain why, all I can say is the difference is very noticeable.

omg... does anyone do anything right nowadays? he puts in the BA amp after he takes out the kicker? god that would have pissed me off bro...

anyway... id assume you would realize b/c i dont think people understand how important it is for an amp and its speakers to match accordingly spec wise... if the BA AMP is 4 ohms (B/C I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE SPECS ARE FOR THE BA IN ANYTHING EXCPT WATTS) ofcourse it would sound brutal with the 2 ohm kicker speakers...

btw.... thats good to know bro

Is there a way to install a center speaker using the kicker sound?
A center speaker can be hooked up, but finding a suitable mounting location might be challenging, unless a surface-mounted type speaker is used.

The Kicker amp is the same exact amp as is used in the LX vehicles (which have a center front speaker). For the WK, you can hook up a speaker to Ch 8 and you WILL get sound, the outputs from the amp are live. On the 20-pin amplifier connector C2, pin 3 is Center Ch (+) and pin 12 is Center Ch (-).

A center speaker can be hooked up, but finding a suitable mounting location might be challenging, unless a surface-mounted type speaker is used.

The Kicker amp is the same exact amp as is used in the LX vehicles (which have a center front speaker). For the WK, you can hook up a speaker to Ch 8 and you WILL get sound, the outputs from the amp are live. On the 20-pin amplifier connector C2, pin 3 is Center Ch (+) and pin 12 is Center Ch (-).

you're the master with this audio sht.... sweet bro...

So im assuming channel 7 is live also? or is that a signal feed to the amp? im trying to find that out b/c if i get the kicker amp Im not sure if my aftermarket powered sub hooks up to channel 7 or the sub has nothing to do with the amp... cant seem to figure that out...

So im assuming channel 7 is live also? or is that a signal feed to the amp? im trying to find that out b/c if i get the kicker amp Im not sure if my aftermarket powered sub hooks up to channel 7 or the sub has nothing to do with the amp... cant seem to figure that out...
Channel 7 is the signal feed to the subwoofer amp. This would be on the Kicker amp connector C1, pin #5 (+) and pin #13 (-).