Stillwater, Okla. – The latest version of Kicker’s iPod speaker system adds Works with iPhone certification and a video output, which streams videos from a docked iPod or iPhone to a connected TV screen.
The revised Kicker iK501 from Stillwater Designs ships in mid-July to dealers at a suggested $249. It will also be available at
. The original shipped in 2008.
Like before, the system features two-way front speakers with 5-inch woofer and 0.75-inch tweeter. On back, a 6- by -6-inch square subwoofer adds kick. A minijack input allows hookup of other other-brand portable audio players, including transportable satellite-radio tuners. RCA stereo outputs enable connections to other stereo systems.
The include IR remote adjusts bass and treble, selects aux-in options, and controls forward and back track selection, fast-forward and back, play and pause, volume, mute, and power on/off. A front-panel rotary knob controls on/off, bass, treble, auxiliary-input options and standby mode. Standby mode enables iPod/iPhone charging even when the system is powered down.
With the previous version, cellular-radio interference was not a problem, so iPhone users could leave their phone’s cellular radio on to receive calls after docking their iPhone, a spokesman said. With the earlier dock, however, the iPhone first prompted iPhone users to choose to put the docked phone in airplane mode to turn off the cellular radio. Users could choose to leave the cellular radio on, however, because cellular interference “was never an issue anyway with the iKick,” the spokesman said.
Both the old and new iKick automatically mute the iPhone’s music when a call comes in, he noted.
Stillwater markets Kicker-brand car audio speakers, amplifiers, signal processors and accessories as well as SoundGate-brand OEM-aftermarket integration devices. In 2008m it launched its first iPod and Zune speaker systems to expand its small home audio presence.
