Distortion, new speakers no amp

[CraigAR]

Ok, question. I installed 4 wet sounds xs650's just now and wanted to listen to them without an amp (will be installing an amp in a week). They are a little bit louder than the stock speakers but they get distorted at about 90% volume unless I turn down the treble and bass which makes the music flat. I do not think they are that loud and I'm wondering if the amp will double the volume. Also after adding the amp and to get the speakers loud, I do not want to put the bass and treble flat in the middle. Can you see where im going....i like really loud music

 

[CraigAR]

As you can see, Yamaha could not get it right the first time. Luckily, the new speaker holes were wider.

 

[David Analog]

Ok, question. I installed 4 wet sounds xs650's just now and wanted to listen to them without an amp (will be installing an amp in a week). They are a little bit louder than the stock speakers but they get distorted at about 90% volume unless I turn down the treble and bass which makes the music flat. I do not think they are that loud and I'm wondering if the amp will double the volume. Also after adding the amp and to get the speakers loud, I do not want to put the bass and treble flat in the middle. Can you see where im going....i like really loud music

If you are listening to HU power then understand that the HU power specifications are pure fantasy....not at all rated on the same basis as good external amplifiers. So the distortion you are hearing is when the HU runs out of power....and not from the speakers. Also, most but not all, HUs clip/distort at or just before 90%. The extra numeric ceiling affords you the added gain in case you have a very low gain source. Chances are that when adding an amplifier the HU preamp output will clip at about the same numeric level. As for bass and treble, the more tone boost you add the less volume you will achieve before the amplifier clips/distorts. So keeping tone controls flat or neutral will produce the most output.

 

[scokill]

It's not the speakers, it is your underpowered head unit. You want 100W/channel amp (or more) going to those speakers. With that being said if you really want bass you will need a sub. Doubling the volume takes a lot of power.

 

[CraigAR]

That's what i thought, thank you guys for the quick responses.

 

[jameskeller76]

I have the Polk DB651s currently and will be switching them out with the same Wet Sounds you have this week. When I added the Polks it did little to inprove the sound. So I added a 5 channel Polk amp and a 10inch JL sub and it was an amazing improvement! Then I added tower speakers and another amp and that was a game changer. Now while we are swimming off the back it sounds great.

 

[CraigAR]

I have the Polk DB651s currently and will be switching them out with the same Wet Sounds you have this week. When I added the Polks it did little to inprove the sound. So I added a 5 channel Polk amp and a 10inch JL sub and it was an amazing improvement! Then I added tower speakers and another amp and that was a game changer. Now while we are swimming off the back it sounds great.

Do you just have the 2 stock batteries? Does your system drain them? Also I'm looking to add in a duel bank charger.

 

[scokill]

Do you just have the 2 stock batteries? Does your system drain them? Also I'm looking to add in a duel bank charger.

I have a basic starting/deep cycle batter and a 31M 105 AH as a second battery. I have a 600w amp and 400w amp and pull from both batteries most of the time. I get hours of music at max volume. I've only ran down the one deep cycle one time to where the amp cut off due to low voltage....and even without enough voltage to turn the amp on it would still start the motors. I have a dual bank charger and manual swich.

 

[Jgorm]

An amp with cheap speakers will always sound better than great speakers without an amp. You need watts for bass. You can also quickly ruin great speakers by playing too loud without the appropriate watts.

 

[swatski]

I have the Polk DB651s currently and will be switching them out with the same Wet Sounds you have this week. When I added the Polks it did little to inprove the sound. So I added a 5 channel Polk amp and a 10inch JL sub and it was an amazing improvement! Then I added tower speakers and another amp and that was a game changer. Now while we are swimming off the back it sounds great.

I would be very interested in what you find with that swap!

I have 10 DB651s and really like those. To me they sound very soft and musical yet plenty loud without any distortion when properly powered.

My new (tower) Wet Sounds ICON8s are very good speakers, excellent quality etc. However, I would NOT describe the Icons as mellow sounding speakers by any stretch (or particularly musical for that matter). Perfectly good when under way. But when we are stationary I find myself turning the Icons down and cranking the in-boats (DBs).

My zoning works very well with the WS420.

Curious what you'll find.

--

 

[scokill]

I would be very interested in what you find with that swap!

I have 10 DB651s and really like those. To me they sound very soft and musical yet plenty loud without any distortion when properly powered.

My new (tower) Wet Sounds ICON8s are very good speakers, excellent quality etc. However, I would NOT describe the Icons as mellow sounding speakers by any stretch (or particularly musical for that matter). Perfectly good when under way. But when we are stationary I find myself turning the Icons down and cranking the in-boats (DBs).

My zoning works very well with the WS420.

Curious what you'll find.

--

I switched from the DBs to JL MX650s and amp. I don't have 10 speakers so not apples to apples, but you can drive the heck out of the JLs and the clarity of the music at high volume is awesome. Is it night and day better than the DBs? Not really, but easily better. I have HLCD towers too and understand that they aren't mellow and find myself balancing a little heavier on the boat speakers and sub when anchored and floating. Sometimes though I max out both just because I can!

 

[bigblank69]

An amp with cheap speakers will always sound better than great speakers without an amp. You need watts for bass. You can also quickly ruin great speakers by playing too loud without the appropriate watts.

You can't ruin speakers without enough Watts. You ruin the speakers by clipping (Distorting) the signal going to the speakers, this usually happens in an underpowering situation because people turn their HU up as loud as it gets and the distortion ruins the speakers, not the lack of wattage.

 

[swatski]

You can't ruin speakers without enough Watts. You ruin the speakers by clipping (Distorting) the signal going to the speakers, this usually happens in an underpowering situation because people turn their HU up as loud as it gets and the distortion ruins the speakers, not the lack of wattage.

I think that's exactly what @Jgorm is saying.

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[swatski]

I switched from the DBs to JL MX650s and amp. I don't have 10 speakers so not apples to apples, but you can drive the heck out of the JLs and the clarity of the music at high volume is awesome. Is it night and day better than the DBs? Not really, but easily better. I have HLCD towers too and understand that they aren't mellow and find myself balancing a little heavier on the boat speakers and sub when anchored and floating. Sometimes though I max out both just because I can!

The ICON8s are not HLCDs and that is why I got those. I really wanted JL 880s... (long story... wife liked the looks of icons better, whatever). Those new tower speakers are marketed as "surfing" distance/range, which kind of works.

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[scokill]

The ICON8s are not HLCDs and that is why I got those. I really wanted JL 880s... (long story... wife liked the looks of icons better, whatever). Those new tower speakers are marketed as "surfing" distance/range, which kind of works.

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That's right...I remember about the ICON 8s....they are still harsh sounding ? I've softened mine up a bit for lounging behind the boat with an EQ.

 

[swatski]

That's right...I remember about the ICON 8s....they are still harsh sounding ? I've softened mine up a bit for lounging behind the boat with an EQ.

I think it is that large titanium tweeter vs silk in JLs.
ICON8s are not bad at all, just not super soft. Nothing like the old style HLCDs shrill, punishing, and harsh, lol. More like just very bright.

--

 

[Jgorm]

You can't ruin speakers without enough Watts. You ruin the speakers by clipping (Distorting) the signal going to the speakers, this usually happens in an underpowering situation because people turn their HU up as loud as it gets and the distortion ruins the speakers, not the lack of wattage.

The distortion / clipping is caused by lack of wattage.

 

[bigblank69]

The distortion / clipping is caused by lack of wattage.

Distortion / Clipping is caused by people trying to drive their HU amplifier or external amplifier harder than it was designed to do. Usually by chasing Volume..

If you never distort the signal going to the speakers, the lack of watts will never ruin a speaker.

 

[jameskeller76]

I would be very interested in what you find with that swap!

I have 10 DB651s and really like those. To me they sound very soft and musical yet plenty loud without any distortion when properly powered.

My new (tower) Wet Sounds ICON8s are very good speakers, excellent quality etc. However, I would NOT describe the Icons as mellow sounding speakers by any stretch (or particularly musical for that matter). Perfectly good when under way. But when we are stationary I find myself turning the Icons down and cranking the in-boats (DBs).

My zoning works very well with the WS420.

Curious what you'll find.

--

I will let you know. The Polks just didn't seem to be able to handle mid/bass very well at higher levels. I'm also installing the WS420 this week.

 

[jameskeller76]

Do you just have the 2 stock batteries? Does your system drain them? Also I'm looking to add in a duel bank charger.

I have the 2 stock batteries and I can crank the tunes for 5 hours without issue. Plan is to run these until they can no longer keep up then I'll upgrade to Optimas or something similar.
I do however have a dual bank charger that I plug in every night. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F5EBR1C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1