A visit to KICKER’s headquarters including an interview with founder Steve Irby revealed the secret behind KICKER’s new M-Series and Sound of Luxury!
The Sound of Luxury
Rugged testing, advanced materials and decades of experience fuel Kicker’s marine-audio innovation.
The road through Stillwater, Oklahoma, was residentially quiet. Homes and trees framed the path toward my ultimate destination: Kicker. This is a 50-years-and-still-going-strong audio company with automotive roots that has become a high-end marine-audio juggernaut too.
Emerging from the quaint residential space a building appeared, a big one. Think campus-like square-footage. I passed through the doors to Kicker’s company headquarters, and the quiet was broken by the Wall of Boom, a concert-level monolith of speakers that not only showcases the company’s ability to drive sound at shake-the-roof volume, but with chic, crystal clarity. In fact, when the Kicker crew cranked up the dial on the squadron of speakers, my shirt bounced around like it was being hit with an air gun. And while loud-and-clear is all well-and-good, getting the tech to this point requires experience, a scientific approach and a bit of artistry to bring it to life.
The science part of the equation is accomplished via a meticulous research-and-development process with more than 30 Kicker staff dedicated to the R&D team.
The Kicker “lab” is the research part of research and development, says Aaron Malin, Kicker’s global training manager. “And this is where the technologies are being developed for the next five and 10 years,” he adds. “The forward-thinking approach ensures that Kicker remains at the cutting edge of marine audio technology, anticipating and exceeding customer expectations.”
Walking through the facility, Kicker’s rigorous testing protocols appear in multiple rooms and spaces. Setups include specialized environments for product validation, including a semi-anechoic chamber described as a place “for torturing speakers.”
The chamber’s endurance test includes taking a prospective speaker, placing it in the room and running it beyond its limits for 100 hours nonstop. If the speaker blows, it goes back to the team to sort out the issue and get it right. If it survives, it moves on to the next phase of potentially becoming a Kicker product. The builder’s new M-Class premium marine speakers have passed this test.
I spent some quality time in the semi-anechoic chamber. With the door closed, the silence is almost too quiet to describe. It’s like an audio black hole. Sound goes in, but it can’t escape. With the chamber’s lights out, the only sound heard is the heartbeat in your ear. Malin tells me that some people who enter the chamber can’t stay inside, and they can even begin to feel ill due to the extreme quietude.
But there are other extreme tests. One example is Kicker’s underwater-amplifier test. When they were designing tech specifically for underwater use, the staff placed the waterproof amplifier completely submerged in a fish tank, playing and running 24/7 for one year. It made the grade.
During product development, Malin explains that market deadlines do not dictate the product development timeline. Kicker won’t be rushed. “If it’s not right, we don’t ship it, because our reputation is on the line,” he says.
There’s also a salt-and-fog tank where Kicker can simulate months and years in a saltwater environment to ensure its marine-audio products are ready for the rigors for life on the water.
Technical challenges are one thing, designing products for a global market is another.
“In Europe, they have [the] DAB audio standard, which is basically a digital audio broadcast, but it’s not the same one we use here in America,” says Malin. “So, we have to design products specifically for the European market. But if that boat comes into US waters, you want it to work here too. It has to be dual-purpose.”
The final evaluation comes from a human, not technology. Kicker founder Steve Irby will sit in a specially designed room and listen to the near-final product. And listen. If Irby’s golden ears give it the thumbs up, the speaker is ready for the masses.
Taking all of the above into consideration leads to Kicker’s latest M-Class lineup, including a full suite of marine-audio products such as full-range speakers, subwoofers and loaded subwoofer enclosures, all designed and built for the marine environment. They are weatherproof, IP66-rated and UV-resistant.
Some of the speakers’ other notable features include carbon-fiber-infused midrange cones, and they also have a glass-filled nylon basket, which offers much higher heat resistance when compared to other injection-molded materials, ensuring users can crank it up anytime. Or all the time.
When it comes to boats and the boating lifestyle, there is luxury you can see and luxury you can feel, and with Kicker Marine Audio and its M-Class series, there is now luxury you can hear.
A Sound Foundation
Steve Irby, Kicker founder, has a passion for sound that dates back to high school. “My history was playing music and I got started building products for the band,” Irby recalls. “The drummer was too loud and I couldn’t hear myself. I told my dad I needed a bigger speaker. He found some plans for a big bass reflex cabinet with a 15-inch speaker and I bought a used amp, and he helped me build that. That was kind of the start of my craziness in making speakers.”
The transition to marine audio came naturally in the early 2000s. “Car audio is obviously a 12-volt industry,” Irby explains. “As time goes on, you’re looking for growth areas and marine is 12-volt. We realized we have the ability to do this and we learned as we went. That’s kind of my life story. You learn as you go.”
Even after 52 years in the business, Irby’s enthusiasm for audio remains undiminished. When asked if he still feels passion for audio every morning, he responds with characteristic humor and sincerity: “I usually feel pain first thing in the morning. Once I get past that, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love what I do.”
See the digital 2026 NextMarine print issue here.
