wetsounds xs-650's vs. DB651

[bradcraig78]

I'm going to replace my stock speakers and was looking for some advice. Please compare the two speakers. I know that the wetsounds should be better but is the price difference worth it.

Also how much modification is needed to put in the xs-650's.

I am currently running an Alpine MRP-250 on the kenwoods and know that this is not enough power, What would you suggest for the 650's.

[Aquaholic]

I have the Polk DB 675's and I would think you'd have to hear them both to decide a winner. I can tell that I LOVE the polks, they are bright and bright in an outdoor setting is perfect. I had to use my roto-zip to make the holes just a little larger but it was no big deal. I power them with a JL 6450 and they are bridge over 2 channels for max 4 ohm power.

Go find the two and hear for yourself....all that will happen here is you will get opinions. It will be the person who can best convince you if you don't do the homework.

Before:

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/zcannaday/DSC00397.jpg


After:

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/zcannaday/LakePic2005ofHouseandBoatandBeam-4.jpg

[Sled491]

Say Aqua, I bought the Polks to upgrade with as well, exactly how much cutting was involved? Also do you think they need an amp? I was also going to add a sub and amp for that, but as long as I'm doing all this I could as well add a second amp.

Opinions welcome 8)

[tazz3069]

I just purchased the Polk Audio DB651 for the boat speakers and the Polk Momo for the tower. The boat speakers are being pushed by a Kicker MX 700.5 (5channel amp) and a Kicker MX350.4 for the Tower. The 5th channel will be pushing a Boston Acustic 10" sub. I am in the process of installing the system. The DB651 fit perfecly in the stock holes. No modification needed.
Tazz

[AaronWhitt82]

I've heard nothing but good things about the DB651's. Espically for the price you can't go wrong. If you check E-Bay you can pick up a brand new pair for around $70 or so. Crutchfield.com is also running a special for buy one pair get the 2nd half price so that might be something to consider.
Wetsounds is a great company with excellent products, but a bit on the pricey side. I guess it all depends on how much you want to spend.

Also a few other brands you might want to check out:
Kicker KM620 MSRP $150
Infinity Kappa 602M MSRP $150
Sony XS-MP1602 MSRP $130
Polk MOMO MMC650 MSRP $150 w/ 3 year warranty
Clarion CM1625 MSRP $120

Hope this helps

[Aquaholic]

Sled, I had to do a little cutting. All in all the roto-zip really did all the work......very easy. Yes you need to amplify the speakers. I used a JL 6450. But it is bridge so I can give my tower speakers alot of power. The interior is pushing 70 watts to each speaker(6). VERY loud and very nice.

[Buttafewcoe]

IMHO, for speakers to sound good and to get the most out of the money you put into them, they really need to be driven by an amp. Geez, that's the whole purpose of upgrading, right?
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If yer not gonna throw the juice to them, why bother?
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my buck fifty
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[tazz3069]

Buttafewcoe--
I couldn't agree with you more. It takes a good amp and good speakers to have great sound. I can't see spending a grip of money on a name brand system.. Yes I have a good name speaker (Polk Audio). The best thing about my system, is that for everything that I have and paid for, still does not equal to cost of some tower speakers alone. Go with your feelings. My $0.02
Tazz

[Buttafewcoe]

I haven't changed out the factory speakers, yet. Mebe next year. I 've got that Sony Xplod 500w driving them tho and it makes all the difference in the world.
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[bradcraig78]

Couldn't help myself, after purchasing 2 Pro 80's for the tower I just couldn't stop. Ended up getting 6 xs-650's and the new ws-420 EQ not to mention 2 new amps to push this stuff. My old Alpine Amp (1 year old) wasn't strong enough to push the xs-650's which are rated at 100 RMS @ 4 ohms.

The worst thing about all the cash i dropped is having to hear my wife hold it over my head every time she wants to go buy something :x

[byronkoz]

Like previously mentioned, without an amp its really not gonna make a big differance most the time. I just put 6 pioneer 4 ways in place of the stock kenwoods (no amp) and changed them out one side at a time so I could here the differance. The kenwoods actually sounded better but there also only rated at 35 rms and the pioneers are 65 rms. I put the pioneers in because ive got an amp to go along with them.

[Digger]

I would have to agree with buying the Wetsounds. I heard them here at the boat show and they were insane!! The local dealers are selling them for an unreal amount of $$, I went home and checked out the web site and found I could get them through monster tower for less than half price. What they are selling for on the internet is nothing compared to what they retail here in Calgary. I have an '07 Mobius LS that by soft water time will have all Wetsounds speakers. I have bought the double up and an extra set of pro 60's so far. If you look on Wetsounds web site they give amp recommendations for all there equipment. I am no expert by any means on stereos but every one is quite right in saying your speakers are only as good as your amp. I took their experience to heart and bought amps that match their specifications. Spend the money and do it right the first time, it is always cheaper in the end. Good luck.

[Sled491]

OK it's been a while since I played the stereo game, heck just started updating my home system after 10yrs,(gotta love the new stuff). Anyway the question is can I buy one amp to run my six cabin speakers and give decent power to a sub. I see Butta is running 500w, so by this reasoning if I got one of those new Alpine amps could I run both? Is 500 too much for the cabin so maybe 200 - 300 for the cabine and another the same for the sub? How important is the sub placement in my outback? Can I buy the amp/amp and sub and pretty much do a plug and play? Understanding that mounting boards and a box may be inorder.

[tazz3069]

Sled--
I have the Kicker MX700.5 in my boat. It is a 5 channel amp that runs the cabin speakers and the sub. It has a seperate RCA input for the sub. Check out the web site. www.kicker.com. I am running 6 polk audio DB651 and 1 10" Boston Acustic sub. I am not finished with the install yet. I temporaraly hooked everything up and it sounds great. My tower speaker system in not even hear yet.

[Buttafewcoe]

On a 4 channel amp, and the way mine is wired, I've the 6 cabin speakers on the front channel, left speakers on front left, right on front right. Then I got me tower speakers on the rear, left and right respectively. The amp is a full function one, meaning it has high / low / neutral passes and gains to control yer input to the speakers.
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Fade still works, left, right, balance still works, I can isolate the tower or the cabin. Actually it works pretty neat. Going on me 4th year with this set up.
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Hope this helps.
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[Buttafewcoe]

Fergot to mention.....If I add a sub, I'll either get one that has an onboard amp, or I'll halfta add one for it. Haven't decided yet.
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[byronkoz]

Sled, If your planning on running the stock kenwoods im pretty sure they're only rated at 35 watts (rms)? If so the kicker 700.5 might be a bit much but a great amp. You can get it on ebay for a good price
http://cgi.ebay.com/KICKER-ZX700-5-5-CH-CLASS-D-AMPLIFIER-AMP-06-ZX-700-5_W0QQitemZ170122878486QQihZ007QQcategoryZ39739QQr dZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcm dZViewItem

Another option is this amp witch looks like its pretty close.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-HIFONICS-ZXI8006-800w-5-CHANNEL-CAR-AMPLIFIER-AMP_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38638QQihZ020QQitem Z300203359594QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Either way you'll need to run 2 of the 4 channels at 2 ohms (powering 4 speakers) for the cabin and the other 2 speakers off the remaining 2 channels at 4 ohms. Then get a dual 4 ohm sub so you can run the sub channel at 2 ohms for the most power. I personally prefer to run multiple amps but a good 5 channel isnt a bad way to go either. Hope this helps.

[byronkoz]

Butta you sure your running all 6 cabin speakers off 2 channels? Or are you running 4 and 4?

[Buttafewcoe]

Yes, 3 on one channel, 3 on the other

[JesseC]

Here is how I am wired up.
If I had though about putting in a sub, I would have bout two 4 channel amps....oh well. I plan on using a bazooka tube or three anyway.

Hull Speakers:
In this wiring configuration the front bow speakers are not as loud as the rear four speakers. The ladies in the front of the boat were complaining that they could not hear each other over the front speakers. They are still plenty loud when the radio is cranked!!!

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/BoatSpeakerSetup.jpg



Tower Speakers: (When I add the other two)

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/TowerSpeakerSetup.jpg

[Buttafewcoe]

Similar........my speakers are wired parallel. Each has it's own wire to the amp. Means on the front channel @ the amp there are 3 wires on each post for a total of 12 for the front channel. Rear channel has 1 per post coming from the tower (only got 2 tower speakers).
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So my question is.....is that the same as wiring parallel, or am I still 4 ohms for each speaker?
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edited due to someone smarter than me at wiring stereos explained it (kudos to JesseC!)
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[Sled491]

I had ordered the Polks last year and am just now getting to working on the boat for summer

[Buttafewcoe]

Believe I'm still 4 ohms
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[byronkoz]

Yeah your tower speaker channel is seing a 4 ohm load but I really dought your other channell is?? I originally thought you may have the other speakers wired in series allowing the amp to run at 8 ohms but now im not sure. Id think regardless if your amp is able to run at 2 ohms youd be better off splitting the speakers evanly between the 2 channels, 4 front and 4 back.

[Buttafewcoe]

It's been working good for over 3 years. No burnt channels or fried speakers. Oh yeah, and did I say it cranks?
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[JesseC]

Similar........my speakers are not wired parallel. Each has it's own wire to the amp. Means on the front channel @ the amp there are 3 wires on each post for a total of 12 for the front channel. Rear channel has 1 per post coming from the tower (only got 2 tower speakers).
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So my question is.....is that the same as wiring parallel, or am I still 4 ohms for each speaker?
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That would be parallel wiring. I think it puts you at either 1 ohm or a half ohm load. A lot of the nicer amps are half ohm stable. My Clarions are only 2 ohm stable.

[Buttafewcoe]

Ah, I c....Thanks Jess. I've always thought of myself as knowing just enough to get me in trouble, but when I wired me system up, I really didn't think twice hooking it up that way.
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So either I'm damn lucky or I got a pretty nice amp. One or the other, cos I'm not good enough to be that smart!
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:roll:
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[JesseC]

What kind of amp are you running? I never claimed to be smart eigher, I just have smart friends!!! :D

[Buttafewcoe]

Sony Explod 500w. Model # XM-504Z
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http://sp.sony-europe.com/media/4/1832
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[byronkoz]

So your tower speakers are getting 50 watts each. Your amp is 60 watts at 2 ohms so your other speakers are getting about 20 watts each if ther wired parallel.

[Buttafewcoe]

If that is official...I'm ok wid it!
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