Rockford Fosgate System

[jrdriller]

I just bought a 09 Z1 with a full Fosgate system on it and love the way it sounds. i was curious if anyone else here is running a Fosgate system and if there are any issues or things you wish you had done different..

[chpthril]

Fosgate is decent equipment, but certainly a step down from the OEM Wet Sounds that would have come stock.

[jrdriller]

im no stereo expert and dont claim to be one. but i do know there was some major money spent on this equipment and installation. i know its not all about how much it costs but how well it performs.

I dont have all the model numbers or specifics. there are 4 -1200 watt amps all interior speakers replaced with fosgate punch. 2 - 12" subs. and on the tower i have 2 - 6.5" and 2 - 8". all heavy gauge wiring and very professionally installed and hidden wiring. That is all i can remember off the top of my head and for what it is i am very impressed with it.

[kx250frider617]

If you got the power amps, those are a huge upgrade. Way step above wetsounds or exile. I have the t1000-4 powering my tower speakers. I have them wired in parallel and bridged. That amp at 1 ohm is 81% efficient.

[wetsounds1]

If you got the power amps, those are a huge upgrade. Way step above wetsounds or exile. I have the t1000-4 powering my tower speakers. I have them wired in parallel and bridged. That amp at 1 ohm is 81% efficient.

I guess you haven't seen or heard the Sinister Series Wet Sounds amps. The Sinister series are IMHO the highest performing 12 volt amplifiers on the market. The SD-6 is 185 watts x 6 at 4 ohms near 90% efficiency at full rated power. Most others are rated at half power. Not sure what the RF is rated at.

We have a Power supply called MAXED that is a patent pending design for the highest power and efficiency and lowest heat. We work with Robert Zeff on our amplfier designs and he is one of the best 12 volt amplifier engineers in the world and holds parents on some of the first 12 volt amps.

The RF does 250x4 at 4 ohms and at 2 ohms or 1 ohm. It does 500x2 bridged.
The SD-4 does 185x4 at 4 ohms and 320x4 at 2 ohms. It does 685x2 bridged.

So the sd has more power at 2 ohms and bridged. It will also increase it's power at 2 ohm unlike the Rockford that maintains the same power at 2. So when running for instance 4 pairs of coaxials, you would net 160 per speaker versus 125 on the RF, although the rf has slightly more at 4 ohm stereo.

The SD is also a marine amplifier and not a car audio amplifier.

So blanket statements over what is truly an upgrade is just un true. If you get a chance to listen to and look at the build of an SD amp. I think you will be blown away.

Tim
Wet Sounds

[chpthril]

@ kx,

Considering the exile amps are resurrected phoenix gold chassis that have been supposedly conformal coated, I would agree.

If we stick strictly to comparing the R/F Power amps to the Wet Sounds Syn series, as they are what would come standard in the OP's boat, can you elaborate on how the Power car amps are a huge upgrade way step above the marine built Wet Sounds Syn series?

Since the comparison implied that the power series amps are better then anything Wet Sounds produces, lets talk SD series, specifically the SD-2, since its designed for driving 2 pair of tower speakers. For $50 more, the SD-2 is a marine class-D 2 chnl that would drive your 4 tower speakers with net increase of 60W rms to each pod, or 240W rms total. It would be done a more conservative pace of 2 ohm per chnl as opposed to all 4 chnl running @ 1 ohm. The SD-2 can also be set to run summed mono, which can make a huge difference on a tower setup. The SD series also includes stand-offs and once the cover is put on, all connections are concealed. The selectable color LED logo can also be indexed depending on how the amp is mounted. Full on-board diagnostics and thermal roll-back.

I want to be clear, im not in any way, coming down on the Rockford gear. As stated, they make solid marine equipment, but its not on the level of Wet Sounds in terms of both build quality and sound quality.

Clear difference in output and sound quality between the XS-650 and M262. Doesnt mean the M262 sounds bad, but stating there is a clear difference.

Rockfords 8" tower coaxial is the M282 in-boats in a pod, where as the Wet Sounds Icon-8 is an 8" driver built and tuned for a tower pod. An in-boat is designed and tuned to be an IB and not for a small pod. This impacts mid-bass, thus sound quality.

The new rockford 8" HLCD has a compression driver voice coil thats WAY smaller then the Wet Sounds Rev-8 voice coil. The Rev series has huge cross-over mounted to the back of the pod. From what I hear, the rockford has a basic CAP cross-over mounted to the basket like a coaxial would. Almost as if they took the dust cap off the M282 and put in a bullet tweeter and horn flare. This equals a huge advantage in power handling and sound quality, period.

The Wet Sounds subs are higher power handling then the rockford marine subs.

[JLG]

X2 on what CHP and Tim just said on the durability, ability to not heat, and the crazy efficient output of a WS speaker or amp

Recently back from brostock, I along with many other boat owners there that have insanely loud systems, and are running WS equipment can verify that they run extremely efficient and will play full volume ALL DAY LONG, and I mean ALL DAY LONG!, While remaining cool to the touch. Trust me as I've seen the boats with the rockford and other X brand stereo equipment in a boat, and a boat with WS will overpower it and produce better sound all day any day!!

Along with my WS equipment running efficiently, it allows my sub amp which is a treo brand, and another excellent quality amp to run all day long at full power and remain cool to the touch also. I've ran all amps from the cheap X brand to now WS and TREO, and I couldn't be happier with my current setup and will outplay any other brand while still maintaining a bose like quality sound!!!! (My boat is producing around 5K watts BTW)

Keep up the good work TIM love your product

[Z1Fan]

Wish wetsounds had better dealers up here in BC...... Cause most times you go in asking to wetsounds the dealer turns you to something else, or Jacks the price so much, that you haffta got with something else

[Greeko]

Wish wetsounds had better dealers up here in BC...... Cause most times you go in asking to wetsounds the dealer turns you to something else, or Jacks the price so much, that you haffta got with something else

Reason why most dealers in BC do this is because their cost is already so high on Wetsounds that in order to keep the sale, they end up having to lower margin or you will get it elsewhere. There are a couple good audio shops in the fraser Valley that push Quality components and minimize markup. They make money on the install not on the margin of products... Products like Exile and Rockford have a much better margin here in Canada...

[wetsounds1]

Wish wetsounds had better dealers up here in BC...... Cause most times you go in asking to wetsounds the dealer turns you to something else, or Jacks the price so much, that you haffta got with something else

The best thing to do is contact our distributor in Canada, Trends https://www.trendsinc.com/Store/contact-us

Tell them what's uo and they can find a dealer for you. We have a lot of great dealers there. Maybe just not in your area but they can surely help.

Tim
Wet Sounds

[Z1Fan]

Thanks Tim, but isn't trends the distributor for exile as well?

Just saw their website, now it makes sense why they push exile, because they have tonnes of exile stock.... Like I mean a lot, no wonder I couldn't get a sd6 amp at the time, with a single VC Sub

[wetsounds1]

Yes, they are. Since it is international. Distributors place orders on brands. So sometimes they have more stock of one versus the other. So sometimes you will see more or something and later more of something else. It's not like the us where a dealer can get it from the manufacturer right away. International dist will wait to make a consolidated order. It's too expensive on them to ship a one or two most of the times however they can special order if need be. But the dealer will want to make a sale on what they have in stock.

Tim
Wet Sounds

[Z1Fan]

That I understand, once again a huge disadvantage for us poor Canadians

[chpthril]

I dont see how any brick and mortar could make any profit on the exile brand. Brian will gladly poach a sale right out from under them, by selling right from the website at an automatic discount. Those automatic online discounts already cost the retailer about 10%. By time they factor in freight, there is little margin. Real poor business model when your dealers are forced to compete price wise. Its also a bit of smoke and mirrors when the manufacturer "discounts" their own MSRP that they set. It creates perceived value.

[Z1Fan]

You see chp what we have to deal with up here now?? It's not always what we want, but what we can get or what's available...