Contemplated System Upgrade

[wetsounds1]

Mike/Tim - For those of us with the factory set ups and the free air woofer, is there a sub that would work better in a sealed enclosure with similar space requirements as what is in place in our boats from the factory? I have a couple buddies that own a custom home/car audio shop and one of the installers builds killer boxes, kick panels, custom fiberglass mounts..... I would be interested to purchase a different sub that would work in that space and have a new box built. Let us know your thoughts/suggestions.

Thanks

One option is to take a hole saw about 2 inches and drill some holes in the back panel behind the woofer. You can drill as many as you can in a pattern so it looks good and factory like. This will trick the woofer into thinking it is in a large free air set up. It is night and day. There is not a woofer that will work any better in the current set up. Next option would be to cut the back panel out behind the woofer and build an enclosure for the Xs-10. This will give a huge improvement. You can also mode the electronics up a bit. And have them put in a XS-12 in an enclosure in the same location if your going to go through the trouble of building a box. The SYN-6 can do 600x1 at 4 ohms on ch5-6 so perfect power for the XS-12.

Tim
Wet Sounds

[chpthril]

Dandy,

That cavity behind the OEM xs-10fa is far from a calculated sealed enclosure, so swapping out the xs-10fa for a sub designed for an acoustic suspension enclosure, would not improve the situation. Its more of an accidental space. It would take cutting out the wall behind the magnet as Tim described so to gain that volume in the mid-ship locker to improve the performance of the current XS-10fa, or going to another woofer in an actual sealed enclosure thats designed for that woofer.

[Duncan]

I upgraded our OEM xs-10fa to an enclosed XS-12 and re-powered it --lost a little space in front of helm but well worth it.

Instead of adding more 650s, consider swapping in some XS-808. These are AMAZING speakers (but will need more power obviously). I squeezed a pair in the bow of our 2009 RZ2. In a season or two I will replace 650s in the cabin with 808s.

[What she said]

I added 2 xs650, and relocated the one at the drivers feet before i upgraded to 4 rev10's powered by one SD2. I dont think there is anything to gain by adding 2 more xs650. The rev10's sound so good, and loud! I would go for the xxx12 sub, with the rev10's.

[Tulsah]

I upgraded our OEM xs-10fa to an enclosed XS-12 and re-powered it --lost a little space in front of helm but well worth it.

Instead of adding more 650s, consider swapping in some XS-808. These are AMAZING speakers (but will need more power obviously). I squeezed a pair in the bow of our 2009 RZ2. In a season or two I will replace 650s in the cabin with 808s.

Do you have a picture of the 808's in your bow? I'm warming to this idea, provided I don't need to butcher the speakers grilles to make them fit or do anything more than enlarge the openings in the bow. Also, what design did you use for your XS-12 enclosure? Thanks.

-tulsah

[Duncan]

Do you have a picture of the 808's in your bow? I'm warming to this idea, provided I don't need to butcher the speakers grilles to make them fit or do anything more than enlarge the openings in the bow. Also, what design did you use for your XS-12 enclosure? Thanks.-tulsah

This thread details my stereo upgrades last season. The Sub enclosure was intended to be ported but wound up sealed (which was probably for the better).

I will look for 808 bow pics. There was a lot of cutting and squeezing involved. They look great and sound great though!

[Tulsah]

So ... this may be a stupid question, but where does everyone typically order their Wet Sounds gear from? Mike? Thanks.

[chpthril]

For those of you in the great white north, you have an authorized Wet Sounds distributor that can probably get you in contact with the closest retailer/installer.

[Tulsah]

Another question for the experts ...

How do those of you with the WS420 tend to control overall system volume? It occurs to me that there are a number of possibilities related to this:

1) Set head unit volume at max level (point below clipping) and use WS420 master volume for all adjustment

2) Set WS420 master volume at (or near) max and use head unit / Tige Touch / remote for all adjustment

3) Any and all combinations of 1 & 2, depending on circumstance and which volume control is most convenient

Or, am I missing something? Thanks.

-tulsah

[chpthril]

Here is how i like to use the WS-420SQ:

When in the boat - Head-unit at 75% and use the WS-420SQ's volume controls at the helm/

When behind the boat swimming/lounging - head-unit volume down, set the WS-420SQ's master volume all the way up and the tower/in-boat/sub dials to your liking, then use the head-unit's volume control through the transom remote.

[jrj701]

Here is how i like to use the WS-420SQ:

When in the boat - Head-unit at 75% and use the WS-420SQ's volume controls at the helm/

When behind the boat swimming/lounging - head-unit volume down, set the WS-420SQ's master volume all the way up and the tower/in-boat/sub dials to your liking, then use the head-unit's volume control through the transom remote.

X2 on how to use the ws420. I also added a 4th set of 650's and relocated the one from the drivers kick panel to the panel where the throttle is, added one on the seat base and one below the observers seat. I then went with 2 10" subs on the kick panel and added a second set of Rev 10's. I have 2 Syn 4's driving the 2 sets of Rev 10's, another Syn 4 driving the 8 in boats and a Syn 2 for the subs. Sounds amazing.

[Tulsah]

Thanks chp and jrj. You've both confirmed what made the most sense to me. Thanks also jrj for the pictures of your setup - looks really good! I think I'm starting to lean more toward a pair of 808's for the bow and then sticking with the remaining four 650's. My debate now is whether or not to relocate the helm speaker similar to what jrj did, leave it, or find another suitable location that will work aesthetically and sonically.

My amp plans remain the same in that I still want to use an SD6 for all of the in boat speakers and a 12" sub. As I get down to the final details of this, I can't help but wonder if I shouldn't just go whole hog and get the XXX sub as opposed to the XS-12. My one concern would be whether the 585W from 5/6 of the SD6 would be enough to do the beast any justice. Thoughts?

Thanks again.

-tulsah

[Duncan]

Thanks chp and jrj. You've both confirmed what made the most sense to me. Thanks also jrj for the pictures of your setup - looks really good! I think I'm starting to lean more toward a pair of 808's for the bow and then sticking with the remaining four 650's. My debate now is whether or not to relocate the helm speaker similar to what jrj did, leave it, or find another suitable location that will work aesthetically and sonically.

My amp plans remain the same in that I still want to use an SD6 for all of the in boat speakers and a 12" sub. As I get down to the final details of this, I can't help but wonder if I shouldn't just go whole hog and get the XXX sub as opposed to the XS-12. My one concern would be whether the 585W from 5/6 of the SD6 would be enough to do the beast any justice. Thoughts?

Thanks again.

-tulsah

I really love my upgraded system and the XS-12 is plenty for us. We like it relatively loud and thumping but realistically, we do not need the firepower of a XXX and the added power requirements are substantial.

I will put in more 808s in the rea cabin eventually. The difference between these and the 650s are night and day.

The one hole in my system is the driver's seat! The bow 808s helped alot because I always drive from the bolster. But I need more. I am thinking about two mini speakers on the dash mounted like L/R ears on the side of the instrument cluster hump. Maybe next season.

[chpthril]

Thanks chp and jrj. You've both confirmed what made the most sense to me. Thanks also jrj for the pictures of your setup - looks really good! I think I'm starting to lean more toward a pair of 808's for the bow and then sticking with the remaining four 650's. My debate now is whether or not to relocate the helm speaker similar to what jrj did, leave it, or find another suitable location that will work aesthetically and sonically.

My amp plans remain the same in that I still want to use an SD6 for all of the in boat speakers and a 12" sub. As I get down to the final details of this, I can't help but wonder if I shouldn't just go whole hog and get the XXX sub as opposed to the XS-12. My one concern would be whether the 585W from 5/6 of the SD6 would be enough to do the beast any justice. Thoughts?

Thanks again.

-tulsah

The gain will not offset the cost difference in going from the XS-12 to the XXX-12 with the amp power remaining the same. The XS-12 is the better match. If you wanted to step up to the XXX, then take advantage of its power handling and drive it with the SD-2. Going with a ported enclosure for the XS-12 will also yield a 3dB increase. Thats like doubling the amp power

[Tulsah]

Thanks again for the valuable insight.

My next brain wracking challenge is in power cable sizing ... I understand that from a distribution block located close to the amps that 4awg power and ground wire is appropriate. However, it's the size of the power and ground wire from the batteries and the appropriate B+ fusing that has me confused. If, for instance, I installed 1xSD-6 and 2xSD-2, then the total potential power output of the system is 3600 RMS Watts. I know that this output condition would never be reached - good thing because I can't even find a chart that lists cable for that power capacity in a 12V system.

I see that many/most go with 1/0 power and ground wire from the batteries to the amp distribution block(s), which seems easy enough to do. How do I best determine if this is enough? Is there a formula/rule of thumb to go by when sizing such things in variable output systems such as mobile audio?

Thanks for helping and putting up with all of the questions.

-tulsah