Before permanently mounting the KQ9, power the system up and set the illu-
mination switch on the rear of the chassis for green or amber lighting to match
your vehicle’s dashboard or to fit your personal taste. The EQ slider lights are
always red, regardless of the illumination switch setting.
After you’ve mounted the Kicker KQ9 and put your vehicle’s interior back
together, it’s time to get familiar with all the controls and functions. Spend time
getting to know your EQ so you won’t get distracted if you want to adjust some-
thing while driving. It is dangerous to take your eyes off the road for any reason.
6
Adjusting And Using Your KQ9
1. FADER:
This control gives you the ability to fade between the front and rear
RCA outputs. If you are using only one of these outputs simply turn the control
all the way to the front or rear, whichever is appropriate.
2. EQ BYPASS:
This button will turn the equalizer portion off for comparison
between an equalized signal and the natural sound of your stereo. When the EQ
is switched off (IN position) the lights on the EQ sliders turn off.
3. XOVER on/off button:
When this button is pushed in, the sub output RCAs
have a lowpass signal available for your subwoofer amplifier. Also, the front and
rear outputs are highpassed when the XOVER is engaged. This helps the power
handling of your midranges and tweeters. When the XOVER is off (OUT position)
the subwoofer RCAs have no signal and the front and rear RCAs are full range.
4. PEQ slider controls:
These two sliders control the frequency and level of the
lowest bass portion of the music. The first slider, marked FREQ, lets you choose
the frequency between 40 Hz and 60 Hz at which the bass boost or cut will
occur. The LEVEL slider allows you to boost +12 dB or cut -12 dB at the chosen
frequency. Please note - as you attempt to apply more boost at really low fre-
quencies more power is required from your sub amplifier and the subs will move
a lot more.
5. Graphic EQ slider controls: This is the conventional equalizer portion of your
KQ9. You have the ability to boost or cut eight different frequencies from 125 Hz
to 16 kHz. Starting with all the sliders in the center position, listen to a variety of
musical passages. As you become familiar with the way your system sounds,
there will probably be portions of the music you would like to boost up or cut
back. By moving each of the sliders up and down, it will become apparent which
one affects which part of music. Setting an equalizer is very subjective and you
can set it any way you like to get the performance you desire.