Exile vs Wetsounds

[morgan040]

Ok my amps got destroyed and im getting new ones. My car audio guy wants me to go with Wetsounds amps, but I have told him I want exile, (harpoon) and xi800.4) He obviosly sells Wetsounds and says hes just not sold on exile yet??????

Can someone give me a good argument as to why I should get exile vs Wetsounds amps. He keeps telling me how cool the Wetssound amps stay and they wont overheat down there.



fyi: My towers are 2 sets of focals in samson cans (Double 7s) wired at 2 ohms. cabins are the Polks. Sub Is the Memphis Mojo D4 (wired at 2 ohms so Exile is out of the question for the sub amp probably gonna run 2 alpine PDX M12s)

[mmandley]

Why would Exile be out of the question for sub amp? The 1500 and 2500 will power yur sub or subs and both amps are stable at 1 ohm as I have and do run both amps.

As for the tower and cabin I can't argue the Wetsounds amps as I don't know them to well, I can tell you I've never herd of the 800 overheating and I pounded on mine all summer with a more powerful speaker setup then the Polks.

As for the Harpoon I ran mine all summer with no issues and I have herd a few guys overheat the Harpoon but they were running 6 HLCDs on the tower and it took them 4 continous hours of blasting.

I would take the specs on each amp, compare them, compare price, and lastly compare the warrenty coverage of both products.

[Razzman]

I mirror what Mike said. Many dealers are biased towards brands they don't carry. Exile has been in audio a long time and is quality product. I too run Exile amps, sub and tower speakers and they are awesome product.

Check them out, talk to an Exile dealer or Exile themselves.

[rdlangston13]

the guy i take my boat too sells exile and thinks wetsounds is crap haha

[morgan040]

I just assumed the exile 2500.1 sub amp wont work because it is 2500 watts at 1 ohm, I cant wire it that low, I need it at 2 ohms and that would only allow it to put out 1200 watts or so, I thought.

I think my main concern is the overheating issue. I have overheated 2 Kicker amps zx2500.1 and the zx450 and an old MTX 1000d.

Wetsounds have an internal fan so my car stereo guy says that is the way to to.

$$$ doesnt matter because I dont have to pay for it.......(insurance does)

I just want as loud as possible but with as little heat as possible

[mmandley]

I see you point on the nternal fans, that is a nice feature. I too wouldnt mind my amps having an internal fan.

As for the Sub amps i would PM Brianinpdx as that is the President of Exile. He can give you all the specs and what the amps truly can do.

I know for a fact last summer i was running the 1500.1 at 1 ohm and tested at a steady 1800 watts with peaks hitting 3500+ and never an issue.

The 2500 i have i expect to be steady at 3000 watts with peaks in the 4k range. Only thing i have to worry about is whether my sub will have a melt down or not lol.

[EarmarkMarine]

Morgan040,
We carry Exile, Alpine, JL Audio and Wetsounds amplifiers to name a few. If any or all of these amplifiers are put to task correctly you will not have any reliability issues.
Don't assume that these different brands rate their products on the identical basis because they absolutely do not. However, its takes a 33 percent increase in power to constitute a 1 dB difference which is the smallest increment that you can discern. So for example, you are not going to detect a volume difference between an Alpine 4x150 or a JL Audio 4x150 or a JL Audio 6x100 or an Exile 4x200 or a Wetsounds 4x200 running six cabin speakers. And each of these amplifiers are going to react differently to lower voltages than the 14.4 volts they are rated at.
Nothing says that you have to run the amplifier down to its lowest rated impedance. Yes, it may deliver more continuous power but you will lose dynamic headroom, damping, efficiency and bandwidth plus increase distortion when doing so. We only load the amplifier down to its minimum when we know that we are not going to be running anywhere close to full potential power in the application.
There is going to be a considerable difference in amplifier efficiency between Class D, High speed Class D, Class G/H and Class AB. Of the supply current that these amplifier's consume, one may convert 400 percent more of the current to heat versus another...again, four times the heat generation when pulling from your alternator the identical power.
Also, don't forget about the new JL Audio HD1200/1 that is fully regulated (full power at any impedance from 1.5 to 4-ohms and any supply voltage from 11 to 14.4 volts), highly efficient and is full range with a low or highpass filter so that you can have 1200 watts to the tower under any circumstances. This is a fantastic subwoofer amplifier AND tower amplifier!

David
Earmark Marine

[philwsailz]

I just assumed the exile 2500.1 sub amp wont work because it is 2500 watts at 1 ohm, I cant wire it that low, I need it at 2 ohms and that would only allow it to put out 1200 watts or so, I thought.

I think my main concern is the overheating issue. I have overheated 2 Kicker amps zx2500.1 and the zx450 and an old MTX 1000d.

Wetsounds have an internal fan so my car stereo guy says that is the way to to.

$$$ doesnt matter because I dont have to pay for it.......(insurance does)

I just want as loud as possible but with as little heat as possible

Morgan-

How are your current amps wired? We have documented thermal issues where wire of too small a wire gage was used. When wired properly, with the recommended power wiring, thermal issues go away, when all else is wired correctly. This seems to be the most common problem we deal with day-in and day-out during the summer; when an amp is already hot due to power wiring issues, it is easy to push it over the top running it hard for a while.

I wil point out we have a new line of Full-Range Digital amps in the Kicker lineup. The Kicker IX series amplifiers use a Boost-converter power supply resulting in better than 90% power supply efficiency; there is no power transformer needed. The output section of the output section is around 80% efficient.

Cool and loud are the operating goals of the IX amplifiers, and so far my experience in my own boat says they do it very well.

Phil
Kicker

[Brianinpdx]

Morgan - all of these amplifiers discussed are good ones. I don't really think your going to go wrong with any of them. The harpoon amplifier is the only one mentioned that utilizes triple darling tons in it's design and also sakens output devices in it's outputs which put it right at the top of the food chain for sound quality. Compared to the standard mosfet designs your prior gear utilized, you should expect a warmer overall sound output from a harpoon. Combined it with the Focal towers you have and it should make for an impressive setup.

You mentioned heat problems with your prior setup. If you like I can send you a wiring chart for your new system as it will be very important. The devil is in the details, no matter what brand is selected. If you go the exile route, you have our system design experience at your disposal. Execution of the install is critical. We can guide you on that or get you to a retailer that will help.

To be blunt, if you install it how I ask, and tune it how i show you... I doubt you will not have problems. That's the bottom-line.

Brian
Exile Audio

[philwsailz]

As just a side note, be careful following just any-old wiring diagrams posted out there guys, you never knew who made them and how accurate they really are.

I recall one that had a ground wire going to a Perko switch... Not a good thing to try to do; it can start a fire.

Phil
Kicker

[morgan040]

I had 1/0 gauge power and ground wire directly to the amps, no distribution blocks. Each amp had its own Power, inline circuit breaker, and ground to the batteries. The Speaker wire was pretty dang thick, I dont remember off the top of my head what guage it was. The Sub was wired in parrallel and is a D4 so. 2, 4 ohm voice coils wired with + to + and - to - should be at 2 Ohms.

I just assumed the inside of that cubbie with no air flow is just way to hot, especially pounding music for hours at a time.