Kicker 47KEY5001 500-Watt Mono Channel Amp with Start/Stop Capability

2018 F250 with Sony system. Replaced front doors 6x9s with Sound Ordnance P-69B, high sensitivity coaxial 6x9s to clean up highs. Under rear seat single 8" VD-8 (dual 4) in properly sized/tuned ported box using this amp. Kicker pure cooper wiring amp kit. Pure copper speaker wires. Gain match easy to setup. I did have to run sweep setup twice to get it right. Sounds awesome 👏

I was immediately let down the by original 4" sub that came with the "premium" Bose audio system, but I didn't want to start cutting wires on my brand new car. I wanted to use the original subwoofer signal, but I also knew that Bose was pulling a few tricks to roll off the bass output in order to protect their tiny little subwoofer from blowing itself to shreds. The amp is small enough that I was able to just carve a recess for it out of the foam piece in the trunk, so it's completely hidden and protected. I was actually able to make a little harness that plugs directly to the original signal wire and take it to the Kicker amp rather than the Bose subwoofer. With this, I can actually unplug the amp, remove the sub from the trunk and plug the original Bose sub straight back in without any further fuss. It also works out well because the 4th gen Mazda 3 doesn't have a single fuse that is switched with the ignition, so running a remote turn-on wire wasn't an option. However, with the high-level subwoofer signal going into the amp and DC offset mode activated, it turns on and off perfectly, no remote wire necessary. The signal processing done by this amp is perfect for being attached to the Bose system, again, because I didn't want to go tearing the car apart or cutting wires to reach an unprocessed, full-range signal in my brand new car. The setup process for that took me a few tries to get right because THERE ARE NO INSTRUCTIONS IN THE BOX. I was trying to follow along with youtube videos from memory. And then I also kept forgetting to get the car's stereo set up correctly before I started, which that one's on me... Once I looked up and printed off the instruction PDF on my own though, it was pretty straight forward. However, there are multiple sets of test tracks and they don't really specify which to use. I originally started with the -0dB set, and that ended up feeling pretty weak. But after reading the instruction for how to do a factory reset on the amp, I redid the setup process one last time with the -5dB test tracks and it's absolutely perfect now. I did have an issue with the Kicker CXARC remote volume knob though. The cord that it came with wouldn't click in deep enough to the hole on the amp, so I had to buy a different cord that was narrower near the jack itself. So it's already disappointing that the amp just doesn't already come with the remote volume knob, and even more annoying that I also had to replace the cord for it, meaning that to get a working remote knob for this amp, it's basically an extra $55. Also note that the power terminals on this amp aren't particularly big. I thought I'd play it super safe by using a 4AWG wiring kit, but the terminals only fit 8AWG wire, so that was basically just wasted money.

Excellent equipment

Easy to set up. Sounds great! And takes up very little space. Powering a Kicker shallow mount 10" sub and it sounds super clean.

Works amazing for a stock radio RAM 2019. Wired to the speaker wires located between the front and back seat door trim. Turns on automatically like it says. Adds all of the bass back. I am running 1 - 12 in sub. I also installed the bass knob which I feel is a must. This allows you to listen to all music types and control to much bass. It seems small compared to the amps from the past, but match the OHMs up and it is a 500 watt amp. This works great for adding the missing bass. The sound is quality and loud. You will not win any sub competitions, but you can jam out. I don't turn the knob up much past half due to sound levels about all most people could handle. I was worried was it big enough, I only wanted to spend the money once. You could not use a bigger setup without Amping the rest of your speakers. I can turn the radio up to 34 and it is a front row concert. If you are a teenager in a parking lot and sound quality doesn't matter, buy a 1500 watt cheap amp. Lol

I received this amplifier today, I am using it to add a subwoofer to my 2018 Camaro SS with a factory non bose system. I connected it using the high level input option and dc offset turned on. The KEY gain match worked excellent. Very fast and accurate. The KEY autotune to correct the cars signal was a little bit interesting. The first time I set it up, it did not correctly work or something went wrong. So I tried again. The second try went much better but there was something really off about the bass. So, I reset it and tried a third time. Not sure if I messed it up which seems impossible because it's super easy. But, the third try worked and holy crap does this thing move the sub I paired with it (Skar SDR 8 D2 Preloaded enclosure). Overall I am pretty impressed with the outcome, the ease of installation in my otherwise difficult to install vehicle. It makes plenty of power and I will be bumping up to a higher rms woofer to take the heat. I do suggest this amp if you are in a situation where you have limited options for a clean signal, not enough money for a full DSP set up. Etc. I will most likely be getting the key 47 200.4 to power the front stage which I have swapped over to focal components and audiofrog widebands in the dash.

Swapped out the factory sub in my 2020 Ford F-150, along with adding this new Kicker Key 500.1 amp. Works fantastic and is a substantial upgrade from the OEM subwoofer / audio system. The key program is very easy to set up and the output is fantastic for such a small amp. Was able to carve out a small amount of space behind my rear seats to hide it away.

This little amp is great, bought to power an 8" sub in my bronco and this thing has more than enough power to make the thing bump. Small, compact, and sounds great!

Excellent product.