Started on my stereo installation.

[bzubke1]

When all is said and done this will be the setup:
cabins:
-6 Polk Audio MM651
-JL Audio jx 360/4
Sub:
-Wetsounds XS-12
-Alpine mrp-m500
Tower:
1 Pair Wetsounds Rev 10's
Wetsounds syn4

Today I finished up getting all the amps mounted and wires run to the distribution blocks. I only connected the cabin amp because I still have to run wires through the tower and build the sub box but I wanted to get everything laid out so I'm ahead of the game once I get that stuff done. The cabins sound great I was worried they may not be loud enough because they aren't getting their full 100w rms but they are more than loud enough and very clear. I have the cabin amp set to high pass and the filter frequency set to about 125hz. Does that sound about right?

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k58/bzubke1/amps.jpg

[New Guy]

Looking good bud.

[KG's Supra24]

Gonna sound good.

125hz sounds about right to me. Could probably go a little lower? Not much I wouldn't think though.

[bzubke1]

I started at around 110hz but there was quite a bit of bass so I bumped it up to 125hz. My understanding is that having it on high pass and the filter frequency set at 125hz it would be filtering out everything below 125hz, is that how it works?

Kg. How are you liking the rev10s now that you've had a chance to ride behind them a bit?

[KG's Supra24]

Don't get me lying, that's an audio guy question.

I'm really starting to like them. IMO, they look better on the tower out in the water than they do when I was looking at them on the trailer. The sound is insanely clear, IMO. The bass is also pretty solid. It doesn't sound like they are working at all, though. I have some dialing in to do still with some of the gains. I'm hoping to do that this weekend and get a little more volume out of them.

[sandm]

looks like a very nice system. lots of different manufacturers. looks like you did a lot of research into what should turn out to be a solid system.

enjoy..

[bzubke1]

Hopefully I'll have the tower speakers up and running next week sometime. @KG, have you and dusty had a stereo sound off yet?

[KG's Supra24]

lol, been waiting for that to get brought up. Nope, sure haven't.

The first time our boats will be together is Memorial at Ouachita. Feel free to come down and add your two wetsounds so its 6 speakers vs 6 speakers :)

[bzubke1]

Got the tower speakers up and running today. They sound and look great!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k58/bzubke1/rev10s.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k58/bzubke1/rev10ss.jpg

[Clamcakes]

You're going to love the sound of those Polk MM mids. Swapped out the stock Kickers for 3 pairs of the Polks and they sound great.

[bzubke1]

You're going to love the sound of those Polk MM mids. Swapped out the stock Kickers for 3 pairs of the Polks and they sound great.
I do! They sounded pretty bad from the factory but that was because the bow speakers were powered by a POS marine audio amp and the four cabin speakers were run straight from the head unit. It wasnt even loud enough to overcome the wind and engine noise at wakeboarding speed before they would start to distort. I picked up the JL audio amp from a friend and now they are loud and crisp.

[bergermaister]

How do you have those Polk MMs wired with your amp? I used to run the Polk MM's in mine but they were rated at 2.7ohms (the straight MM ones, not the MM650UM). Couldn't wire them to go parallel on the amp because I wasn't stable below 2ohms and that supposedly would have landed me at 1.35. I never tried it but that was the advice/warnings I got.

[bzubke1]

I have the two bow speakers on channels 1 and 2, the four cabin speakers in parallel on channels 3 and 4. Honestly I just assumed they were 4 ohm. I pulled one of the speakers and it says it is 3 ohm. The thing I don't understand is as you can see it says "mm651um" which is a 4 ohm speaker. I'm kinda confused, but they do sound really good. I have noticed however that the amp gets hot but I kind of expeted that from a class a/b amp. It has never shut off on me yet, even after playing all day.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k58/bzubke1/polkspeakers.jpg

[bergermaister]

Hmmmm - I was running mine with a Kicker 350.4 so putting out roughly the same power as your JL 360 but I was still underpowering them a fair amount even at the 2.7ohm load. Debated on upgrading the amp or downgrading the speakers, decided on the latter as it was less $$ and fitting a bigger amp in wasn't looking good. Now of course I'm second guessing that....

I hear you on the heat and I guess that is to be expected. My cabins run at 4ohm and the amp stays fairly cool. My towers run at 2ohm and that amp is definitely hotter all the time.

The black grills with silver lining look sharp with your color scheme!

[bzubke1]

I might try to eventaully upgrade to the JL xd600/6. That or swap the speakers out for the JL audio MX series. I really like the look of them with the sport grilles and i've heard the soound quality is great on them.

http://www.jlaudio.com/xd600-6-car-audio-xd-amplifiers-98262
http://www.jlaudio.com/mx650-ccx-sg-tb-marine-audio-mx-series-speaker-systems-91939

[bergermaister]

Yeah - in hindsight I would have built my stereo differently (both times) by matching speakers to amp brands accordingly. Meaning Kicker Amps & Kicker Speakers. Polk Amps & Polk Speakers. Or perhaps Exile/Exile, WS/WS...

I did all Kenwood in my truck- HU, amps, speakers, sub, and it works/sounds great. Everything matches up powerwise as well without any question.

I like the design of the Kicker amps though by having the power, ground, rem and fuse on one end, and then the inputs, speaker wire, etc on the other end. Makes wiring without any crossing over each other so much easier/cleaner.

[bzubke1]

What speakers are you using now that you got rid of the polks? Of the three amps I have (JL,wetsounds,Alpine) they are all like that, but I have an MTX in my car and everything is on one side, I much prefer keeping the the power wire away from everything else too.

[New Guy]

Last year I was running those in parallel to my kicker 750.5 and I could overheat the amp. This year I put each one on its own channel and I am running the db651 in the bow off the head unit. I'm hoping not to have the amp overheat.

[bergermaister]

Stayed with Polks - just downgraded to the DB's. Better match powerwise with the 350.4 amp. I only have 4 cabin speakers (2 front, 2 back) so running them all on their own channel at 4ohm and overpowering by roughly 15-20% now instead of underpowering the MM's. The Kicker birth sheet says 418watts on the 350.4. :)

I guess I'm "sort of" consistent with brands. Running Polk MM650UM's in my tower, 2 pair in parallel powered by a Kicker 450.2. And a Polk 12" sub powered by a Kicker 750.1. Based on the birth sheet ratings on the amps, all the speakers are overpowered by 20-25%. Overall it's pretty good, but I know it could be better.

I wonder when Polk is going to come out with some HLCDs...

[KG's Supra24]

Of the three amps I have (JL,wetsounds,Alpine) they are all like that

Same here. We have the same brands amp wise.