Wet Sounds Pro 60's (blown again)

[twinturbostroker]

So apparently these are supposed to be the best loudspeakers for a marine tower.

In less than 5 years, I'm looking at rebuilding them for a second time. 😠

They we purchased with my original rig which just turned 200 hours.
Factory clarion w/ kicker amps and wet sounds speakers.
No electrical issues other than replacing the original batteries and changing the belts on the alternator.
First set blew the drivers after rubber surround failure at about year 2. Purchased new drivers, new grills and a set of suits to protect them when not in use.
This time there are no signs of visible wear, just a crackling hiss coming from the right side.

Anyone else having a problem with these things failing prematurely?

I've run through my share of high end stereo equip in cars, homes, and boats, and this is the first experience I've ever had with a set of speakers blowing twice, especially with such little run time.

I reached out to Wet Sounds and they're more than willing to sell me the components to repair them for the second time. (30 day warranty on replacement parts) but given the track record with these speakers I think It's time to look at purchasing another brand of tower speakers.

Any recommendations?

[BCRider]

I have a pair of Pro 60's myself and I will be the first to admit they aren't the best speaker anymore. Now, I have them on my boat and so if I was to blow them I don't think I would blame the speaker considering they are OEM to 2009. Maybe you don't have them powered correctly or are just listening to "buy me a boat" too loud. Besides, you do also realize the Pro60's were like the first speakers that Wetsounds ever came out with. I'm also sure there's a reason they don't make a 6" tower speaker anymore. Like anything products evolve and get better as time goes on. Wetsounds has the best Marine audio in the industry...especially when it comes to tower speakers. You could go and buy yourself some of the "amazing" exile tower speakers that pretty much have an 80% fail rate. Considering the amount of boat manufacturers WS is OEM too, and not just the wake industry I don't think I would necessarily put the sole blame on the speakers. You don't hear that many people complaining about their gear either.

I don't think you could even consider putting the new Rev 8's or 10's in the same league as the old Pro 60. Happy hunting.

[chpthril]

I can assure you this i not a brand issue, nor is it an issue with the Pro-60 model.

Anytime a speaker fails, I like to find out what the root cause of the failure is, just in case its external of the speaker. This way, we can address that and prevent a future premature failure.

Can you give me more details on the original failure? Deteriorating surrounds is not unheard of with outdoor speakers, but its very rare with a Wet sounds. Any chance this was a torn or separated surround? Was it both speakers at or around the same time? Was the actual mid-bass driver also blow? What did it ohm out at? Did it feel rough or scratchy as you moved the cone in and let it back out?

As to the current set. Does the left side sound normal? HAve you tried swapping the left and right RCA to see if the issue stays or moves? next swap the actual speaker wires and see again if the issue moves or stays. If those determine that the issue is indeed after the amp, then ohm the speaker wire circuit with the pod plugged in. Lastly, pull the drivers and ohm them individually. With crackling and hiss, its either external of the pod or possibly the cross over. It would be odd for both the compression driver and mid-bass to both be blown.

Can you list the current tower amp and its setting?

Filter setting?
Gain %?
cross over frequency?
Bass Boost setting?

Head unit treble and bass?
Loudness on or off?

If there is an EQ in the system, what are the settings?

[twinturbostroker]

Thanks for the replies, I'll need to get under the dash to secure the info you had requested.

I did not ohm the speakers.

Yes I swapped the left right RCA's and left right connections at tower speaker is done.

After I disassembled observed that the voice on the compression horn driver had separated from the diaphragm. Re-epoxied the coil but this didn't help.

As for the amplifiers settings they were always very tame as I have never had the need to exceed volume levels on my system. Rig has FAE.

This is a factory clarion system with remote on transom and at driver's seat and kicker amps.
No EQ.

Not sure what the models are, as I hadn't had any need to do anything to the system since I've owned it except deal with these blown tower speakers twice.

First set both surrounds were torn/ deteriorated, attempted to resolve under factory warranty, as it was month 14 (when I noticed the problem) of my ownership (purchased new) wet sounds wasn't having it, even though it was evident these were far gone before I noticed the problem.

Instead they sold me two new drivers for ~$500, which lasted about twice as long as the first set.

Albeit they are factory equipment, they're still an expensive option/add on.
I will agree they've likely gotten a little better with their design and tech over time.

That's one of the reasons I'm posting.

To learn if I'm just one of the lucky ones: :0)

[chpthril]

Albeit they are factory equipment, they're still an expensive option/add on

Inconsequential at this point, but they would have been covered under the boat's 3 year warranty when the failure occurred at month 14.

Sounds like this single speaker failure is not the same as the previous issues. Thats a good thing, but could still be a result of external influence. I would really like to know the amp and head-unit setting still.