You bought some great audio equipment for your car, but you're only halfway there. Now you have to tune your system in order to get the performance you crave. Kicker packs a ton of useful sound-shaping features into the compact KQ9 preamplifier: 9 bands of equalization, high- and low-pass crossovers, fader control, speaker- and preamp level inputs, and subwoofer level control — all in a 1/2 DIN-sized box that installs in (or under) your dash!

The KQ9 features one set of RCA inputs; speaker-level inputs are also available if your receiver doesn't have preamp outputs. Three sets of outputs are available for connection to your outboard amplifiers. You can adjust 8 bands of equalization for your main speakers: cut or boost up to 12 dB at 125, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000, and 16,000 Hz. The subwoofer output features a separate sub-bass EQ (cut/boost up to 12 dB, variable from 40-60Hz) and a level control (0 to +6 dB).

If you're using a subwoofer, the high-pass crossover (100 Hz at 18 dB per octave) removes low frequencies from your full-range speakers for greater efficiency, while the low-pass crossover (variable 60-120 Hz, at 18 dB per octave) controls the quality of the bass being sent to your sub. The EQ Defeat switch allows you to compare equalized and non-equalized sound instantly.

Important Note: This unit has no built-in amplifier — must be used in conjunction with one or more external amplifiers.

Top of page