What to upgrade first? Stock amp, or speakers?

[bzubke1]

I'm going to eventually upgrade both my stock kicker cabin speakers and the zx200.4 that powers them. I'm wondering which will yield me better results since it will likely be a couple months between when I can get each. I'm leaning towards amp because they seems to be so underpowered according to their specs.

[brain_rinse]

Definitely the amp. There are some great choices in class D amps right now from Kicker, Alpine , JL.. all great quality and reasonbly priced. The stock speakers are actually quite nice and will sound much better with some extra juice.

[KG's Supra24]

Is a class D going to work for cabins?

I agree. Upgrade the amp first and make sure you buy one big enough to push whatever you upgrade to. I'd find something that is pushing 70 to 100 watts rms.

I know you have the 770s up top. FWIW, I love my Bullet coaxials in boat. I am pushing them with a JL G4500 because I couldn't justify springing for the JL G6600. Not sure if those are current models, though.

[brain_rinse]

Is a class D going to work for cabins?

Yep, the new full range class D's are awesome, and perfect for the marine environment. Better efficiency, longer play times, less heat, smaller footprint, etc.

[philwsailz]

Ask around for the guys who are starting to use the new IX500.4 on their KM6500.2 tower speakers. Absolutely ther is some Killer Class D amps out there now, not only from Kicker but from a few others as well.

The new Kicker IX amps feature Boost Converter technology for their power supplies. Efficiency is better than 90% in the power supplpy for these amps.


As for the OP question, why is it that everyone thinks "stock" needs to be replaced? You wouldn't go buy a boat and then change out the stock motor would ya? the guys at Skiers Choice do a good job of building a top-notch boat, including the audio system.

That being said, the obvious place to "play" with your stereo is more power. A bigger amp will allow you to drive your speakers fully to their rated power and beyond, without the amp clipping. You have more headroom to drive the speakers cleanly and loudly. Most of the bad sounding stereos you hear in party cove sound bad becuae the amps are clipping; they are trying to make more power than they can and the crunchy sound the speakers are making are actually the amps fault. Put in a bigger amp, and those same speakers at the same apparent volume will get a clean un-clipped signal from the amps and the crappy crunchy sound goes away.

So, if I were to answer your question, I wold tell you that for the current stock system, with Kicker speakes and Kicker amp, change out the amp first. Consider a bigger amp, maybe with a built in sub channel, like the Kicker ZXM700.5 or look at one of the digital offerings in the Kicker IX line for greater efficiency Brain Rinse is right, the stock speakers can handle much more power than they are currently being run on.

Phil
Kicker

[bzubke1]

The bullet coaxials were what I had planned. This is the amp I was thinking of going with. I've had really good luck with hi fonics in the past but only with subwoofers. Any one know the kind of sound quality you can get from one? My main goal for the cabins is to get the best sound quality possible at a reasonable price.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...s-ZXi80.4.html

[bzubke1]

If I like the way the kickers sound when I replace the amp I will definitley keep them. This is what I am hoping will happen. They have just been clipping at high volume which I assume is because they are underpowered. This is why I am trying to upgrade. What do you think the sweet spot for the km613 is as far as rms watts?

[you da man]

Is a class D going to work for cabins?

I agree. Upgrade the amp first and make sure you buy one big enough to push whatever you upgrade to. I'd find something that is pushing 70 to 100 watts rms.

I know you have the 770s up top. FWIW, I love my Bullet coaxials in boat. I am pushing them with a JL G4500 because I couldn't justify springing for the JL G6600. Not sure if those are current models, though.

I agree..The Bullet cabin speakers are the cat's pajamas. Almost sounds like you have a woofer even if you don't.

[EarmarkMarine]

Adding to the power handling specifications discussion...there is no governing body in mobile electronics to keep specifications honest relating to speaker power handling or amplifier power output. The authenticity of the specs are pretty much up to the integrity of the brand. The better brands are typically more conservative.
Many speaker companies use power handling rated for thermal capacity or the maximum amount of continuous power that can be maintained for a prolonged period where the speaker can still effectively dissipate the heat without suffering damage.
You can have two different brands of coaxials side by side with a 100 percent difference in rated power handling. Both have 1-inch voice coils with the same plastic former and the same gauge of voice coil winding. Neither has any method of special cooling other than a porous spider to exchange air as the speaker moves. Both copper windings and both enamel coil coatings melt and burn at the same temperature so there is no justification for the huge disparity in ratings. Its just a brand thing.
For a coaxial you can usually exceed an honest rating by a 15 to 20 percent margin based on the fact that you are usually running the speaker highpass and at least are reducing a good amount of the mechanical stress. You just have to stay away from hard clipping for the tweeter's sake. Certainly system set-up and tuning has as much to do with the power handling as the specs.
Like Phil mentioned, power handling is only a fraction of the story relating to the actual quality of any speaker. And, its often misunderstood. I'll take a speaker with 3 dB more sensitivity and half the power handling every time, particularly in an open boat.

David
Earmark Marine