Stereo Assessment and Plan

[BrentP]

So as @BSReid said on his/her thread, it's slow so hopefully this is not repetitive and worth discussing. One good thing about getting a boat in the winter time is it gives you some time to ponder your plan. I've been slowly tracing over the stereo system in my '07 22ve, and I'm trying to figure out what I like, don't like, need to change, etc. Here we go:

1) The easy one - In boat speakers. Looks like they are Kicker KM620.2 component speakers. Everything I read shows them as discontinued, but Mike alluded in another post that they are solid. None of them look blown or decomposed. Any compelling reason to replace them? My gut says that tuned and well powered, they'll play loud and clear. We JUST put a set of brand new Kicker KM604s in our little '95 Classic and they sound great, so I dont have any issues with the brand. One of the repeat questions in this thread - What are the odds that these are original from the factory?

2) The tower speakers. Looks like factory cans (Chrome, Tige Branded), with the same KM620.2 - I'm thinking long term these probably just won't cut it. 8" Kicker 45KMTC8 Towers? Think it'll make a noticeable improvement without forcing me to smash my head every time I stand up? (This is totally a long-term item I think)

3) The Amps. 2 4 channel Amps in the boat, 1 is a Kicker ZX 350.1, Running the tower speakers ( 2 x 60) and Bridged to the Sub ( 1 x 120). Again, This smells factory to me due to its age. The second is a MBQuart NAU460, also 4 x 60, running the 6 In-Boat Speakers - probably replace a blown amp at some point. I'm thinking the Sub is underpowered - I happen to have an Alpine Class-D 350WRMS/700WMax MRPM350 laying around that would make a world of difference.. From there, I could get back to 1:1 speaker to Sub channel on the other two Amps. Having said that, I feel like the MBQuart is probably not a good amp and the Kicker is 10 years old, both Class AB AMPs, both wired by a 10 year old (Picture below). I'm wondering if moving to an amp option that kills these 2 off, and also has the capability of running a set of bigger towers in the future may not be a sound investment in the short term?

4) The Head Unit. Currently a Clarion CMD7 with a single remote at the driver side. All we'll use 90% of the time is Bluetooth. Thinking about moving to an M608 so that I can maintain my existing remote (MW1) - but not sure why I couldn't use the M508 for half the price?

5) Equalizer/Zone Control - I've read a lot here about the Wetsounds equalizers with Bluetooth in them (420BT). I guess my major personal drawbacks there are that you can't control the volume and Bluetooth device with them remotely (If I wanted to put a remote on the rear transom area for in-water control). I already have a remote level control at the Helm that I could use to control the tower volume independently of the in-boats, but I'd lose my subwoofer level control (I dont THINK I care). Am I missing something big with that thought process?

6) Branding. I've been toying with stereos for a long time. Wetsounds are expensive - why? Are the amps amazing? Do the speakers sound better? Is there a specific product set they do that are better than others? Looking at the Amps, they seem well constructed and seem to have a $ to Watt ration comparable to their competition, but the speakers and subs are spendy it seems.

I know this is long - It's awesome to have a sounding board in this community, and I appreciate it. Happy to spend some money with you, Mike, assuming you ship across state lines

For those interested, a picture of the frayed amp wiring that looks like 8 gauges (frayed) wiring to the Amps. Ugh. And the annihilated battery compartment which probably warrants a post in of itself to fix the EIDB setup and get back to a house/start battery configuration. *Sigh*

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[chpthril]

1) Yes, those Kicker marine speakers were great. So if no visual dry rot or cone/surround failures, and each sounds like its good i.e plays low mids up from the mid-bass cone and the highs from the tweeter, then I would put then way down on the list, freeing up budget for the "musts". Yes, id say they were the factory used for 07.

2) Here, we need to figure out what your overall goals are. Surf/party cove or wake-range, or best of both? Yes, moving up to an 8" coaxial will be a noticeable improvment. Also need more wattage. The factory speakers would have originally been both bridged on the zx350.4 and the woofer would have been on a zx700.5. Odd are the 5 chnl died, so instead of going back with another 5 chnl, then when with a 4, then moved the woofer to the tower amp, moving the towers pods to individual chnls. Surprised that bridged 2 ohm woofer is not putting that amp in protect mode. I bet they re-wired the woofers coils or just un-wired one.

3) Touched on some of the OEM system in #2. So I would first suggest making the final speaker choices, then move on to amp pairings. You are likely looking at 2 amps, to make the most out of the speakers.

4) I think your existing remote is the old 6-pin. If so, none of the new offerings will fully function with it. If the head and remote still work, id consider just adding a universal BT to the CMD7. Or, budget for a complete new head, remote and cabling.

5) Even with a zone controller, you can still adjust volume system wide vie the head, remote or phone. No playlist control unless you go with a new head with integrated BT If you want zone volume from helm and/or transom, plus playlist control, consider a Wet Sounds MC-1 and remote, or going with a Fusion head and remote. They offer zone control through the remotes.

6) "Branding. I've been toying with stereos for a long time. Wetsounds are expensive - why? Are the amps amazing? " They are a high performance marine product. Tons of in-house R&D and built from the ground up. Yes, their amps are awesome and yes, their speakers do sound amazing. Their SDX and some of the Syn-DX amp are unmatched power wise, in the marine arena. With that said, I also have every confidence in the Kicker products. So focus on the system design based on your goals. The we can choose models that fit the plan and the budget.

Yes I do. I can also help you with a complete re-wire, which that boat needs. Not just the stereo, but also upgrade the dual battery system.

[BrentP]

Yah, I actually think fixing the electrical should be priority number one. I can probably limp by on the Amps I have for the time being (Including adding the Mono Block I already own in the interim), until I can grab the Wetsounds Syn6. I'd think that would run the in-boats and the Sub, no issue - Although the 2 Ohm on the sub is an interesting issue to address.

I'm pretty sure the remote has been upgraded, unless the current Clarion MW1 looks EXACTLY like the 6 pin version before it. You would know best? If I did go with the WS head unit, is there an adapter to make it fit where the current helm remote goes? Or should I just replace that with a cover and mount the 5" square face plate somewhere else?

I'll PM you on the re-wire. I'm thinking a 1/0 Main from the batteries to the electronics, then a distribution to 4 gauge in the compartment. Same for ground. And while I'm pulling that, pull a transom remote cable with it for good measure, fix the EIDB, and mount my new charger. Also a third battery, if I'm greedy.

[chpthril]

I had to look, but yeah, the MW1 is the current remote offering. If it works at all, I bet the also installed one of the 8 to 6 pin adapters. Likely plugged it in right to the original 6-pin extension cable. So that would need to replaced along with the new head.

Power wise, the Syn-DX6 would be awesome power for 6 in-boats and the factory 10", but that 2 ohm is going to be the stickler. Now, if the woofer is up for retirement, then it really doesnt matter, LOL

And if there is not an enclosure behind the factory woofer and you plan to rock going forward, you need to build one, it will make a noticeable difference. If I would choosing wattage for, id shoot for an amp that 500-600 rms @ 2 ohm. 400W at a minimum.

[BrentP]

Thats probably why nothing on the remote works except volume and source. I'll get under there and dig into it.

Lets move forward with the assumption the Sub is bone stock. Which probably means free air I assume. I run 2 FA 10s in another boat that work fine - I'd rather try to get away with a single sub here. If putting it in a box makes it kick hard enough to get away with one, it's probably effort well spent.

My thought is you go Syn-DX6 First, then when you upgrade the tower speakers, get a mono block for the sub and run the towers off the 150W channels. Long term investment proctection. Then, your running the rear-in boats a 2 Ohm per channel well into their 60W per speaker rating, the front in boats at 4ohms.

[chpthril]

If the cone of the woofer is silver and its a Kicker woofer, its like the OEM woofer. its is the CRV10 4 ohm DVC. Tige chose to run it with no enclosure behind, but the woofer is not a true free-air woofer. Without a true small enclosure behind it, its performance and sound quality will suffer. Really hard to tune, even with a good mono amp and impossible to tune running bridged on that 350.4.

You could upgrade to a true IB woofer in the 12" range, build an enclosure for the current woofer, or build an enclosure for a traditional acoustic suspension woofer.

An amp like the Syn-DX6 would power the in-boats around 100W rms to each and a pair or two of 8" tower nicely at about 150W rms to each. You wire the existing woofer to 2 ohm and wire it to just chnl 5, for about 300W rms. A little on the light side, but much more then currently and add that with a proper enclosure and it will be like a whole new woofer.

[RzrbackAV]

JL Audio. Period.


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