This subwoofer sounds amazing but it was a b**** to install. It comes with the necessary wiring but depending on where you're putting it, the wires are not nearly long enough.
Here's a rough summary of what I went through to install it on my factory stereo for a 2015 Honda Accord:
The kicker fit perfectly beneath the passenger seat. It came with a whole mounting kit involving screws and straps, but I didn't want to do any permanent fixtures if I could avoid it. The seat had a retaining bar underneath that worked perfect for me to strap the sub in place and still allow full range of the seat adjustments. I then had to pull a lot of the trim and detach the rear seats in order to run the speaker wires to the trunk. The wires were about three feet too short to reach the driver side speaker so I tried with it attached to just one speaker.
I ran the power wire through the front side trim, beneath the center dash column, and through column and dash above the pedals and behind the interior fuse box. There was a small plug to run a wire through the firewall of the cabin which then ran through a large space above the driver side wheel and into the engine bay. Here I crimped together the provided battery fuse and connector and attached it to the positive lead on the battery. I then searched high and low for a nearby grounding point for the ground wire which is only about two feet long, but couldn't find one, so I stripped down an old extension chord I had lying around and used that as a negative lead to a grounding point I already knew of in the trunk.
Upon powering on the car I saw the sub was turning on through the high input mode but was not audible and was giving me a red light indicating either overloaded signal or not enough power. At this point I tried some various configuration of connections, before deciding to order some 16 gauge wire, line output converter, and some rca to wire adapters for the line output converter. I then tapped both rear speakers and connected them to the converter which then connected to the wires to the sub.
Now the sub wouldn't power on in both high and low modes, which meant I now had to connect the only wire left that I previously was trying to avoid connecting, which is the remote turn on wire. This wire was also only two feet, so I went out and bought some 12 gauge wire along with a fuse tap and crimped together the wires and ran it the same as the power wire through the dash to the fuse box. I tapped the fuse for the windshield wiper slot as this is a low amp circuit and would prevent the sub from turning on unless the car was also powered on. Note that fuse configurations may be completely different depending on your model of vehicle.
At this point the sub was now working and sounded great, but I started to get weird feedback. I already knew that this was likely caused by the active noise cancellation that comes with all modern Honda vehicles. I had to pull out the storage compartment in the dash in order to reach the ANC controller and disconnect it. After doing this, the sub works flawlessly. But if my music is turned down I definitely notice the engine a little more than before. At some point in the future I plan to figure out a way to easily switch the ANC on and off depending on if I want the extra bass or not.
The conclusion to my story is that installing this speaker is not for the feint of heart, and I suggest you do a research on the speaker and electrical configurations of your vehicle before doing any modifications to your stereo system. If you're willing to put in the work, this sub is amazing for the price and delivers amazingly deep and clear sound for how small it is.
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Kicker 11HS8 Hideaway Compact 8in Powered HS8 Sub Box (Renewed) $169.95 & FREE Shipping
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This Item  Kicker 11HS8 8 150 Watt Hideaway Compact Car Audio Powered Subwoofer Sub HS8 |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $299.99 | $298.00 | $279.00 | $179.99 | $999.99 | $139.95 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Monday, Mar 25 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Mar 26 | Get it as soon as Monday, Mar 25 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Mar 26 | Get it as soon as Friday, Mar 22 | — |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sound quality | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Bass quality | ||||||
| Sold By | Audiosavings | Creative Audio | Alphasonik | SonicElectronix-com | webtron-x | Audiosavings |
| speaker size | 8 inches | 8 inches | 8 inches | 12 inches | 9.7 inches | 10 inches |
| power source | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric |
| connectivity tech | — | Wired | — | wired | — | RCA |
| speaker type | Subwoofer | Subwoofer | Subwoofer | Subwoofer | Subwoofer | Subwoofer |
| mounting type | Car Mount,Plug Mount | Car Mount,Under Seat Mount | Car Mount | Floor Standing | Car Mount,Top Mount | Car Mount, Truck, Under Seat Mount |
| weight | 14.1 pounds | 10.71 pounds | 2.6 kilograms | 25.75 pounds | 93.7 pounds | 12.06 pounds |
| control method | — | remote | remote | remote | — | — |
| model name | HS8 | XS-AW8 | KSC-PSW7EQ | High Power Series | T2 Series | SS10P |
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Customer Review: Love it! Worth every penny
Stacey Hudson
Reviews with images
Completes the frequency response, quality product.
I bought this for a 2018 Nissan Leaf S hatchback. I use the base model factory stereo with upgraded Polk Audio 5.25" 2-way door speakers. Those speakers have a crossover point at around 90 Hz I believe, so while the top end sounds great, the bottom end was absent. Enter the Kicker HS8 compact sub...My car was filled with deep, tight, consistent bass from all my favorite artists: Disturbed, Tool, Tom Petty, Samantha James, Metallica, Killswitch Engage, Zero 7, Massive Attack....The package came with everything I needed except basic electrical connectors. I recommend getting the 3m red wire taps for 22-18 Ga, because the Kicker comes with 20 gauge speaker/signal wire. You may need some butt splices too if you need to lengthen you signal wire. If you want it pretty like I did, get yourself some black flex conduit to hide all the brightly colored wires. I did, and I only ran the speaker wire from the hatchback cargo area behind the rear right passenger seat, to the pillar behind the front seats on each side. I spliced into to the speaker wires running to the head unit inside that pillar. Quite easy. The mounting straps, screws, and washers screwed nicely down into my rear carpet, and the unit feels solidly in place.I am so happy with this purchase. This sub is heavy! Very solid. I think the package said 15 lbs or something. It is not puny at all, and don't sell short the 8" sub. This puppy delivers the bass! No worries there at all.Only disadvantage: My five year old is probably going to go deaf. :-)
Top reviews from other countries
jp
Kicker subwoofer kicks like a mule
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2019
Robert
I installed it in my sxs hopefully it will work out
Reviewed in Canada on March 18, 2022