KICKER – AUDIO MADE TO BE PLAYED HARD

A fierce long time ago, I was a sales rep for an outfit called Electrosystems. They made under-dash car radio mountings and all sorts of integration and installation products. I had been working for a company bringing American car audio products into the UK but we were before our time and I had been made redundant. So I took the shoe-leather reps’ job, wishing like hell that I had been able to get a gig with Alpine, or Kenwood, who were on my doorstep.
But it was to be insulation tape, crimp connectors and the self same car radio aerial that Sir Alan Sugar made his first money with. Do you know that at peak, the damn things came with thirty different topper mouldings so that they could fit onto the wings of just about any car? Anyway, I had to take the job as I was serious about working in car audio. I hated it in some ways, loved it in others (the driving about bit, I liked!) and it was the best possible grounding I could ever have had in the industry.
One day, I was called to the office for our sales meeting and the most exciting thing EVER happened! We were told that we were to become the UK folks for Kicker by Stillwater Designs of Oklahoma. I was professionally erect, to put it mildly. Shortly after, the company was purchased by Armour Automotive and they in turn, a long time later have been purchased by Aamp of America, who are already owners of some car audio brands. I do recall with pleasure the fitting of a HUGE pair of 6×9’s in my parcel shelf at work one Christmas eve. I was wearing a tailcoat and the D20 tweeters were massive.
So, Kicker was on the move and it transpires that JL Audio and Kicker tend to share astute distribution companies in a lot of territories. They are a good fit and despite appearances, Kicker and JL Audio customers may well be different. Yes, you can raise Cain with JL Audio and Kicker go to seriously posh sound quality products but if you were to set the competitors loose, the boomers may have Kicker and the tweaks will tend to be JL lads.
And in a world where apathy has a tangible feel and retail is in general ferment at any given time, the people who run car audio installation bays were turning out in droves for the new Kicker training sessions that Celsus ran last week. They took a star trainer up and down the land, feeding the dealers and astonishing them with their new ex-gas van demo vehicle.
It’s a beast. Come meet it the new Kicker L7 demo WALL!


It’ll be available to be taken to dealers’ premises so if yours sell JL Audio, Caliber cables or Dynamat sound deadening, nag them to get this van in to let you feel its might.
This was a car at SEMA fully eight years ago. Link
The American website for product tech for the time being until the UK one is up
Kicker
And the UK distributors, Celsus who can be reached on 01202 664 390