jbl v's kicker

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

after talking to 2 different audio installers in my area both are trying to push me towards jbl's instead of kicker saying they are better with warranty and better quality. your opinions please on this! i know the guys with kicker amps have been pushing me that way but anyone with jbl or anyone who had em and don't like them?

[jmvotto]

I have polks, but i would listen to them side by side. Idid that with the kickers vs the polks as well as looks and cost.

Good luck, they are both good brands.

[jjolson]

I have kicker and I think that they do a good job. I am sure JBL are better but is it worth the extra money.

[sandm]

I'm sold on the polk db651's. at $60 from crutchfield, that's a great price for a good speaker..
trying to convince the wifey that we need to do it this season :)

[Razzman]

Kicker makes a good product, but Polk is better. I run the MoMo 6.5" in the cabins. BUT i also run the JBL 6x9's on the tower and they're good as well, i've never had the Polk 6x9 to compare with so i can't speak for that. For the money i'd get Polk over JBL though.

[Hydrofoiljunky]

I know it was not asked but, you might as well throw Wetsounds into the mix as well. I think they have both beat. Just throwing that out there in case you want the absolute best speakers. Do they cost more, you better believe it. Guess it kinda goes back to how much do you wanna spend? :-) For my money, I love the sound of the Kicker Products. Would love to have a listen to the Polks VS the Kickers VS JBLS VS Wetsounds all at the same time, but I know that's never gonna happen. Take it easy Guys



C

[mmandley]

after talking to 2 different audio installers in my area both are trying to push me towards jbl's instead of kicker saying they are better with warranty and better quality. your opinions please on this! i know the guys with kicker amps have been pushing me that way but anyone with jbl or anyone who had em and don't like them?

Ultimatly its your choice. I love my kickers and they realy crank it up. I am also a big fan of Polk as thats what i have in my house and love them dearly.

For the boat i went with Kicker to get my stereo cranking right out of the box for a lower cost system as this is my first boat and i had to buy wake boards, surf board, and tons of gear.

My final goal is actually Wetsounds all the way around inside and outside the boat. I love my music crystal clear and loud. People say they can hear my boat half way across the lake, i tell them Great my goal is to hear me all the way across the lake LOL.

Kicker is best bang for your buck
Polk is Best affordable speaker with high quality sound
Wet Sounds is the best marine speaker for sound quality and loudness. Worst for your budget.

Id go with Kicker to get the system started upgrade to Polks if you want a little better sound quality and go Wet Sounds for big time noise.

[sandm]

I have the factory kicker in the supra and they are junk. not sure of the model, but they haven't sounded good nor lasted long. I am sure they are the entry level models, as I have had kicker products before and have been much better than this. I think the polks will be a good replacement..

on to wetsounds. they make a good, no great tower speaker, and I am betting it's due to the horn loaded drivers. they are very efficient and can send a sound wave a long ways. for those old-school audiophiles, remember the original klipsch horns. one of the best speakers ever built. wetsounds has taken that technology to tower speakers and it works. for in-boat speakers, I would not agree that they are the cats meow. theirs seem to be similar to all other 6.5" coax speakers. for the money, I think there are better choices.

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

great points made by all! i would love to hear all those different companies side by side too. well here is my plans i want to upgrade my system right now with a sub amps and tower and i think i have my set up picked out and see how i like it if i'm happy with the overall sound i'll keep the cabins in. if i don't at some point i'll upgrade the cabins and at some point i think i'll put on wetsounds but i don't wanna buy these amps and subs just for a temporary use. whatever i put in now i wanna be able to use if i go wet sounds or different cabin speakers. are u guys keepin in your factory head unit or replacing it to ? what about the factory wire to the cabin speakers going better wire or keeping it?

[sandm]

I plan on upgrading the wiring when I replace the speakers later this summer. there is a small difference in wiring, although you don't have to spend the cash on monster. it's overrated and WAY overpriced.
I have the kenwood 400 marine unit and there's really nothing wrong with it since, in our case, we are using xm, so the signal coming out really isn't that much different than other higher end heads. if I was using cd or radio, I'd probably consider using a different head. if you need more pre-outs, spend the money on a good eq, such as the wetsounds unit. it will provide easier speaker balance and more flexibility than a good head unit. if you do plan on upgrading the head, several on here have gone to adjustable volumes for each rca out. good idea to balance the cabin/tower speakers on the fly..

[lancesaville]

I know it was not asked but, you might as well throw Wetsounds into the mix as well. I think they have both beat. Just throwing that out there in case you want the absolute best speakers. Do they cost more, you better believe it. Guess it kinda goes back to how much do you wanna spend? :-) For my money, I love the sound of the Kicker Products. Would love to have a listen to the Polks VS the Kickers VS JBLS VS Wetsounds all at the same time, but I know that's never gonna happen. Take it easy Guys



C

I have the polks in my truck and wetsounds in the boat, To me the polks sounds JUST AS CLEAR AND CRISP as the wetsounds, just the wetsounds can be cranked all the way up without distorting and the polks can't. WS have a ton more volume when powered right. But I think your original question was JBL vs KICKER in boats, in which case I'd go with the kicker 620.1's like factory. They are fine for standard in-boat speakers, only get the ws-650's if you want more VOLUME - like piss off your neighbors and hurt your own ears at the same time kinda volume - The clarity will be relatively the same, the WS-650's offer a little more mid-bass as well.