Testing
Testing of any audio equipment is subjective. There will always be preferences in bass, treble, and loudness of music. My testing process attempts to take a look at this from all aspects, and throughout the process, I will listen to many different genres of music, and adjust the settings to the best of the Kicker iK501’s ability.
 Front of Unit |
 Volume knob and control screen |
As with many of Kicker’s user base, the first genre of music that I listened to was Hip Hop. The iK501 was more than able to hit all the highs and lows of Little Wayne, and provided little to no distortion, even with bass turned up and volume near max. This could be majorly in part to the 6” square integrated subwoofer that delivers astonishingly clear bass.
Next I decided to venture across the spectrum. Beethoven and Bach played clear at any level on the iK501. The tone levels did have to be adjusted to get optimal sound from the iK501, but that is hardly a fault of the iK501. Any unit would.
Lastly I played a bit of rock, a little country, some reggae, and even a little techno. No matter what I played, the iK501 took the music in and played it beautifully. This unit could handle much of anything that you could throw at it.
 Power plug and aux input jack |
 Input jacks |
Depending on your particular needs, this docking station may be used indoors for its entire life, or possibly on a back porch. For those of us that like to go to the beach, camp out for the newest iPad, or Playstation, worry not, Kicker has thought about us. They have an optional device that allows you to draw power from your cigarette lighter in your car. This means that you don’t have to leave the music at home when you go out to party. Simply take it with you. If you are worried about this device drawing too much power from your carm don’t worry, we let it run for 8 hours while we waited for the iPad 2 to be launched, and had no problem starting the car up. Of course, this will depend on the battery in your car.
Conclusion
When compared to many other well established home audio names such as Bose, Altec Lansing, etc…, Kicker can absolutely hold its own. With the price of $199.99, this unit isn’t geared toward the economical crowd, but it is certainly a value. Although it seems to have lower wattage’s than many of the competitors, it is just as clear, and just as loud as anything else you could buy in this range. While many think of Bose for ultimate sound quality, beware, Kicker is making a name for itself, and kicking the competition to the floor. Because of this, we really have no choice, other than to award the Kicker iK501 with our Awesome Hardware Award.
I just wanted to say this review is biased. I own one and while i definaately would say its awesome, it doesnt have as crisp a bass as you would expect. The bass at high volumes frequently needs to be adusted in techno and hip-hop, though the high range is quite clear.
Another problem i noticed wth it is the five inch speakers in front seem to be affected by the sub at high levels, making a crackle when the bass hits. No surprise really with the amount of bass this thing makes, but something that should of been mentioned in the review. And yes i followed the instructions and my ipod was set up the way it was meant to be. All in all 9/10, wicked little stereo but not quite ALL that