Kicker ZX850.4 4/2-Channel good or bad?

[Big Wave]

Hate to start another thread on sound systems but I am ready to pull the trigger on some upgrades. I am looking to replace the Kicker ZX350 that came with my so "called tower of power" with a ZX850.4. I am also going to put the 4 B stock XS-650s I picked up from Wet Sounds. Step 2 will be to ad 2 Pro 80s. I also plan to run additional wire up the tower if needed.
We spend our time on Lake Mead, 100+ degrees most of the time, so heat is an issue. I am hoping to eliminate: 1) the tower amp over heating and shuting off the tower speakers 2) The clipping at volume. We would also like to Hear the tunes better when we are boarding.
Do you guys think this is a good Amp choice or do you have other recomendations
Thanks
Dave

[chpthril]

Do you have 2 or 4 tower speakers now? 2 Pro 60's powered off the zx350.4 will be louder then 4 of the Factory kickers (or xs650's). This option, you would not have to rewire the tower or replace the amp.

If you wanted to keep the factory speakers and change amp, I'd say go with the zx650.4, but you will need to rewire the tower so you have one speaker pair per chnl.

If you wanted to go with a pair of Pro 80's the zx650 would be more then enough also at 325w & 4ohms bridged and again, you will not need to rewire the tower. The zx850.2 would also be a good choice here to.

[dcsnowwake]

mine was cutting off alot last year, im not not bridging themthis year, also building a custom rack with fans under the passenger seat.
the key is to run more amp power than needed for RMS to each speaker. do not bridge them and put some fans or something down there to cool them off!


I will lose the space, but oh well, im going to fab up some 3 inch racks so i have space for 12 racks on the tower, so space isnt an issue, ill just use the underseat storage for clothes.

[Big Wave]

Do you have 2 or 4 tower speakers now? 2 Pro 60's powered off the zx350.4 will be louder then 4 of the Factory kickers (or xs650's). This option, you would not have to rewire the tower or replace the amp.

If you wanted to keep the factory speakers and change amp, I'd say go with the zx650.4, but you will need to rewire the tower so you have one speaker pair per chnl.

If you wanted to go with a pair of Pro 80's the zx650 would be more then enough also at 325w & 4ohms bridged and again, you will not need to rewire the tower. The zx850.2 would also be a good choice here to.

I have 4 Kickers on the tower now and was hoping to get a little better sound with the xs 650s for now. Then going to 2 Pro 80s mid summer.
The main reason I was thinking the zx 850 over the zx650 was so the amp would not have to work as hard and would hopefully run cooler. Is my thinking flawed?

[wetsounds1]

Running more power than needed is always a good idea and will result in a cooler running and cleaner set up. So you are right on. The 850.4 may be a bit overkill though. It is rated at 175x4. I think you could get away with the 650.4. That one is rated at 120 x4. Which is perfect for the 2 pairs of XS650's as those are rated at 100 watts rms. Then if you upgrade to a pair of PRO 80's, you can bridge the amp and will have 325x2 at 4 ohms. Which is a lot of power!! Only reason to go for the 850.4, is if you maybe plan on doing 2 pairs of PRO 80's! If that is the case, then for sure do the 850.4. Just watch the power on the smaller speakers until you upgrade later. Distortion is the number one killer of speakers but too much power is second. Although, You are more likely to blow a speaker with an under powered amp than more power.

Hope this helps.

Tim
Wet Sounds

[Tanner]

Something you all might want to take note of is the fact that Tige can not wire a stereo system to save their souls. Ask your dealer how many times they had to rewire systems. Two of the dealers I've talked to said they rewire EVERY boat that comes through. I talked w/ some of my friends who work for Kicker (not that far from where I live), and they said they went over and over w/ Tige how to do it, and for some reason they don't listen.

I know my factory interior speakers were wired at 1 Ohm. I found this out after they would start clipping at any sort of volume. I went in and rewired everything w/ the factory amp (B4 it got stolen) and never had a problem again.

The fans are definately a good idea though. Kicker for some reason eliminated the fans on the ZX series from the KX. When you talk w/ their engineers, they said it was b/c they felt they weren't needed due to the massive heat sinks. Well I'm here to tell you they are needed, and very badly! I was running 4 of my Kicker Interior speakers off of a ZX650.4, obviously at 4 Ohms, which was wayyyy more power than those speakers needed. My gain was barely even half way, and I could overheat that amp after 20-30 mins. I put fans on it, and problem solved. Now to be fair... I could run my 6 fusions (2 singles and a pair of 3-ways) off my other 650.4 and it would play all day w/o problems.

Hopefully Tim can set them straight.

[chpthril]

I have 4 Kickers on the tower now and was hoping to get a little better sound with the xs 650s for now. Then going to 2 Pro 80s mid summer.
The main reason I was thinking the zx 850 over the zx650 was so the amp would not have to work as hard and would hopefully run cooler. Is my thinking flawed?

Your over heating and clipping are due to how Tige wires the 4 speaker to the tower amp - in 2 pairs, paralleled, and then bridged. The free fix is to rewire the tower so you have 1 speaker per chnl. You will need to do this if you plan on keeping 4 speakers, whether you go with the sx650's, keep the Kickers, or just change an amp.

Something you all might want to take note of is the fact that Tige can not wire a stereo system to save their souls. Ask your dealer how many times they had to rewire systems. Two of the dealers I've talked to said they rewire EVERY boat that comes through. I talked w/ some of my friends who work for Kicker (not that far from where I live), and they said they went over and over w/ Tige how to do it, and for some reason they don't listen.

I know my factory interior speakers were wired at 1 Ohm. I found this out after they would start clipping at any sort of volume. I went in and rewired everything w/ the factory amp (B4 it got stolen) and never had a problem again.

The fans are definately a good idea though. Kicker for some reason eliminated the fans on the ZX series from the KX. When you talk w/ their engineers, they said it was b/c they felt they weren't needed due to the massive heat sinks. Well I'm here to tell you they are needed, and very badly! I was running 4 of my Kicker Interior speakers off of a ZX650.4, obviously at 4 Ohms, which was wayyyy more power than those speakers needed. My gain was barely even half way, and I could overheat that amp after 20-30 mins. I put fans on it, and problem solved. Now to be fair... I could run my 6 fusions (2 singles and a pair of 3-ways) off my other 650.4 and it would play all day w/o problems.

Hopefully Tim can set them straight.

I rewired my tower last Spring per (Tigeowners.com user) Philwsailz from Kicker. My tower setup is now trouble free and much louder due to the fact that I can now crank it to near wide open before I get any clip/distortion. Before, I couldn't go much past .5 volume.

[evil0ne]

Something you all might want to take note of is the fact that Tige can not wire a stereo system to save their souls. Ask your dealer how many times they had to rewire systems.

Same is true of the dealers usually. They're in a tough spot, it is a huge margin maker for them but they aren't really experts on how to do it right and don't have the time to educate their techs.

[dcsnowwake]

i wouldnt say all dealers.
my dealer has spent god knows how many hours working on my setup, and working with someone who used to design systems for drag.

now thats dedication, and also what we wish all dealers would be like!

[dogbert]

i wouldnt say all dealers.
my dealer has spent god knows how many hours working on my setup, and working with someone who used to design systems for drag.

now thats dedication, and also what we wish all dealers would be like!

I would agree there.

[Big Wave]

Thanks for all the input. I now have a much higher level of confidence in getting my sound problems fixed.

[chpthril]

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