Kicker Front Row

Kicker Front Row (Crutchfield)
I really really want this.. although I haven't tried anything really like it yet
A while back I had a pretty old Pioneer din equalizer that I used for adjusting time alignment but it was just wirey to use with my setup and i wanted a double din head unit so I sold it. Any thoughts on how this might be to get better time alignment and utilization from the back speakers and whatnot?

Hey man that looks sick, I just bought some kickers for my front speakers and they are amazing let me know if you get that setup and how it is!?

Look up the Rockford fosgate 3sixty.3 it's programmable by a laptop and Bluetooth! 8 channels! 31 bands! It's nasty! Blows this one away!

That Rockford is expensive as hell

I like Kicker Front Row's approach better than Rockford's 3sixty. In addition to costing less than half the price, Kicker avoids the need to plug in and tune with a laptop. This might seem like a benefit, but it's going to be a PITA to break out the laptop to make tweaks. I like how Kicker keeps all the control in the car. And 8 channels vs. 6 isn't a real advantage - most people don't have the means to properly install an 8 channel system. 6 is more than enough for a great sounding set-up. If you're shooting for the IASCA championships, the 3sixty makes sense. For a really good system, Front Row is going to be a huge improvement from what most of us are used to.

You makes some great points. The 3sixty.3 allows own integration. That's one of the benefits. You can stream music by Bluetooth using your phone directly to the 3sixty.3 Don't get me wrong the front row is a great value but the 3sixty is awesome and something I want to put in my car eventually.

Yeah, when I was into car audio years ago, Rockford's Symmetry EPX2 was how a lot of the best systems were controlled. I always saw it as something way too expensive, but nowadays I bet they can be found on eBay for a good price. It's old technology, but good technology for sure.

AA you just made me love my kickers even more!! Haha

I wasn't trying to push their speakers. Only the Front Row system!   

I love my front row I can turn them up so loud and they don't cancel out

Ohh yes......bambambam.....I love it.

I ended up getting the Kicker Front Row for christmas this year which is awesome 'cause it isn't quite justifiable to just go buy myself with other more pressing things on the table. I'm not sure when I'm gonna really go for the kill and put it in and play with it but I'm excited. I'm just going through the manual and whatnot trying to figure it all out. It's as simple as something like this could possibly be to set up I suppose. Connecting it to my system is mindlessly easy. Everything is in line just as it's labeled for me. Tuning everything might be a little more involved but the first thing I did pretty much was spent about an hour reading about cross-over fundamentals. Up until earlier today, I wasn't sure what the x-over slope (dB/OCT) was all about.


In this image, you see all the initial set up controls. Basically, this thing covers the signal gains in and out, managing your crossover ranges for each pair of channels with amazing flexibility, and then giving you some neat features like the clip limiter and variable phase control and subsonic cutoff for the sub. I kinda like the simple point that I can set the hi-pass filters of the front vs rear speakers independently which my head unit cannot do.

Once I get this thing installed, my plan is the following:
*disable all crossover or filtering settings that I currently have in the head unit
*disable all crossover or filtering settings that I currently have in the amps
*set the fade and balance to center in the head unit (at least initially)
*possibly flatten away EQ settings on the head unit (to be redone again after setting the rest all up)
*set the input and output gain/levels on the front row as suggested by the manual and then adjust amp gains maintaining front/rear equality
*set hi-pass xover for the front and rear speakers. (I'm anticipating the fronts are going to be set a fair bit higher than the rears as they are totally worthless for bass - maybe up in the 150hz range and then more like 100hz for the rear - should I just go with the 48dB/OCT slope?)
*set low pass xover for the subs to 150hz and subsonic cutout to about 20hz. Should I just play with phase until I think it sounds the cleanest? (I have no idea what my ported sub box is tuned at but I know my subs are rated at 18-150hz so I figured that'd be a good point to initially shoot for?)
*set EQ in the head unit for the full range channels
*finally play with the happy knobs to see if I can get the sound stage/time alignment sorted without favoring the front speakers too much

Do any of the audio smartasses have thoughts here? I haven't really messed with DSP's much.