Kicker 2003 KX3 Owner's Manual

After all the wiring connections are made and before the system is turned on

for the first time you must make some basic adjustments. Start by turning the

Front, Rear, and Sub Output Level controls most of the way down, counter-

clockwise. Now turn the HI-Pass frequency controls all the way to the right and

the LO-Pass frequency control all the way to the right. Also turn the gain con-

trols on your amplifiers all the way down.

It is now time to power up the system. The green power LED should be lit. If

not, refer to the troubleshooting section in this manual. Turn the head unit on

and raise the volume until distortion is heard, then back the volume down slight-

ly. This is the setting where the head unit puts out the maximum output without

sounding bad. Due to the wide range on the level controls of the KX3 you may

not be able to hear the music loud enough to tell distortion yet. If this is the

case, raise all three Output Level controls to the halfway point (12 o’clock posi-

tion) and try it again. Do not increase the gain settings on the amplifiers yet. 

The music will sound incomplete right now because of the preliminary fre-

quency settings. This is normal. If your head unit has no more than 2 volts of

output, the KX3 Output Level controls will need to be turned all the way up to

get enough signal to the amplifiers. 

With the amplifier gains still at minimum and the head unit as high as it will go

without distortion, raise the Front and Rear Output Level controls on the KX3

until distortion is heard and immediately turn it down slightly. This is the maxi-

mum setting that this gain control should ever be set to.

It is very important that the HI-Pass frequency control settings are set correct-

ly before turning on the system for the first time. Setting the HI-Pass frequency

and the gain on your high frequency amplifier will depend on the size of the

amplifier and the power handling capability of your mid/high speakers.

Remember that the power handling of a midrange speaker is directly related to

the high pass frequency. It will handle more power at a higher high pass fre-

quency and less power at a lower high pass frequency. If the midrange speaker

ever pops or sounds bad it is a good indication that there is too much power

going to it or that the HI-Pass frequency is set too low. Most 6 1/2” midranges

will operate down to 80 or 100 Hz. A 5 1/4” or a 4” will usually work  down to 100

to 150 Hz. Most 3 1/2 mids do not like to be operated below 300 Hz.

Continue on the LO-Pass frequency control and the low frequency amplifier

gain. Normally the LO-Pass frequency will be the same as the HI-Pass Frequency.

An exception will be when the midrange is too small to play down to a real low

frequency and the subwoofer sounds bad trying to play up to meet the

midrange. This may require a gap or difference between the high and low set-

tings. Although not ideal, sometimes it is necessary to make the system work as

good as possible.