Wet sounds rev 8 v exile xm9

[mattl]

I have narrowed a tower speaker selection down to a pair of wet sounds rev 8 v a pair of exile xm9.

What are the pros and cons of each? It seems exile is very popular on the forum for customer service and the fender balls.

I really like the wet sound ws 420 with ability to talk over the tower speaker, but exile doesn't seem to have that or did I over look that?
Also how well does the gear as mix of brands. I assume that could be a problem if there is warranty work needed.

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

[jstenger]

Let the battling begin!!!

[KG's Supra24]

Rev10 and WS 420 unless the PM's you get offer a price break too good to turn down

For $150 extra, I don't see a reason not to jump to the 10 (especially with one pair) other than to give Exile a chance to compete.

[viking]

Rev10 and WS 420 unless the PM's you get offer a price break too good to turn down

For $150 extra, I don't see a reason not to jump to the 10 (especially with one pair) other than to give Exile a chance to compete.

DONE. End of Story. THREAD OVER................NOT!!
I agree with KG but this is just getting started. Soon to be blown up.

[MLA]

I have narrowed a tower speaker selection down to a pair of wet sounds rev 8 v a pair of exile xm9.

Both are 8" HLCD speakers. Unless there has been a revision, the xm9 only has a 1.5" voice coil compression driver compared to the Rev-8 2.0" voice coil. This equals more power handling deeper mid-bass extension. Although the xm9 pods looks large, the internal volume is pretty close to the Rev-8

The Rev-8 offers 3 clamping options, direct, fixed clamp and swivel. The TC3-S swivel allows for not only the speaker leads to be concealed in the collar, but also 4 smaller leads for the optional LEDs. They use a male and female terminal, so there is a positive connection between all the leads, even as the pod is swiveled. The exile method uses an old style head-phone jack. This has a plated male post contacting a thin spring tab inside the collar. These are prone to wear spots, resulting in poor contact.

It seems exile is very popular on the forum for customer service

No disputing there are plenty of exile issues that pop up here, and then get taken care of. What you dont see, are thousands of satisfied Wet Sounds customers that have purchased through their local dealers. This gives the consumer a number of advantages over having to deal through the internet. You get to demo the product prior to purchase. You get local on sight support such as system design, installation and tuning. If an issue arises later, they will also work with you to resolve it. You also get full factory support.

I really like the wet sound ws 420 with ability to talk over the tower speaker, but exile doesn't seem to have that or did I over look that?

Heres another huge difference between the WS-420SQ and the zld.

The 420 is a dual EQ in a single chassis, where as the zld is a single EQ. The WS-420 allows you to tune the tower speakers independently of the in-boat speakers and visa verse. With the zld, what ever EQ adjustments you make to one zone, you are also making to the other zone. Compare that alone considering the two units are the same retail price.

Also how well does the gear as mix of brands.

Electrically, there are no issues amps, speakers and subs can all live in harmony.

[David Analog]

You got to love these threads.
Matt,
You raised two product comparisons, one the EQs and the other the tower speakers.
So between the EQs...
Both have the same price and you can get a deal on both.
Yes, the Wetsounds has the PA/mic that you won't find on the Exile. That is very beneficial, especially when teaching.
But there are far more important differences.
The Wetsounds EQ has BT options, and several of them. Not in the develop stage but here and now.
The biggest issue is that the Wetsounds actually has two full zone equalizers in a single chassis. So you can make tonal adjustments to the tower zone without effecting the in-boat zone, with the inverse also being true. This feature I huge.
The Exile has front panel clutter, much of which is not necessary, such as a polarity inversion and an adjustable lowpass filter for the subwoofer. Both features are included within the input section of most every amplifier so there is no point in having redundancy. In fact both should be set once in tuning a system for optimum performance and should not be continuously variable. Also, I do not want the negative phase implications of cascaded lowpass filters. So those are a couple of marks against the Exile EQ. These are simply antiquated features from a shared EQ platform dating back to the '80s and '90s. Common on EQs in the $50 to $80 price point but not on higher end EQs, unless fully defeatable.

[David Analog]

Wetsounds Rev8 versus Exile XM9...
They are both 8-inch speakers by every industry standard. Not sure where the '9' model designation comes from. The Exile has 5/16" more effective diameter (peak of surround to peak of surround), about the same as the width of a #2 pencil, which by itself is too minimal in surface area to translate into a perceivable output difference.
Here is what I like about the Wetsounds Rev8 design,
* Polyglass composite midbass cone. Immediately you can tell how much more rigid this cone is as compared to basic poly cone. The Wetsounds Polyglass cone has far less cone break-up modes when driven hard.
*Larger voice coil on the Rev8 means more power handling.
*The Rev8 has a fully developed one-piece horn geometry. It's not interrupted like the Exile when it transitions with a seam from a tube to a grill used to finish off the horn flare. The horn geometry on the Rev8 is designed for a smooth response, as smooth as you can get from a high output HLCD. The Exile is a long straight pipe followed by an abrupt flare, which emulates more of a trumpet. And so the Exile has a distinct sonic signature.
*The Rev8 is voiced for the best linearity you can get from an HLCD. To me the Exile highs sound like someone has serious hearing loss. The Exile high frequency accentuation certainly helps the peak output but grates on me quickly.
*There is more bracing inside the Rev8 pod to support the heavy driver and add to the pod structural integrity.
*All wires are concealed on both, but the Rev8 has a quick disconnect collar system that provides far better grip and contact area and is exceptionally reliable. The Wetsounds contacts are like a high power SpeakOn or Neutrik connector used in prosound heavy, higher current, speaker connections, where the Exile uses a 1/4" phone jack, like a low level guitar cord.
*The Wetsounds has a swivel/disconnect collar as an option. It costs a bit more but you get quality.
The collar has a nylon thread retainer plus a stainless steel fork to make absolutely certain that the pod stays on the tower until you want it off. It's extra insurance. Very smart engineering. Well worth the extra cost.
*The Exile has an attenuation switch for the tweeter in the nose cone. But here's the issue with a passive attenuation circuit. By the time it is enough to make an audible attenuation difference it is beginning to mess up the crossover....since crossover elements are dependent on the resistive value to determine the frequency. With a 2nd or 3rd order crossover with both series and parallel elements, this gets messy. So this is best left up to active equalization like you have with the Wetounds EQ with the independent zones.

[newty]

Wow, MLA and David have an opinion on the matter? Wait so you pro Wetsounds?
This is ridiculous, you copy and paste this stuff? They are great both fantastic products, but you two have a have an obvious beef with Exile. This gets so old. Don't you guys have anything better to do with your Sunday than jump on every VS thread and spew?
"Honey I'll be right there, someone on the internet is about to by Exile!"
24 karat stupid.

[sandm]

and interesting in that neither one sells them online so really no horse in the race.

really wish there were more dealers that sold both so you could demo them both.

I bought wetsounds speakers and am happy with the product, but I believe that I would be equally as happy with exile as well. lots of people give them rave reviews and both tim and brian offer top notch customer service showing their level of commitment to both brands....

[David Analog]

Newty,
Or maybe we could just freely expound on the merits of the products and differences as we view or understand them.
Instead of trying to create motives and reasons for why statements are made or why preferences exist.
I guess that is an effective way to dismiss a contrary opinion.
Is there any part of the post that you know to be untrue?