Speaker/Amp Recommendations

[oramac]

I have a full Kicker system in my 2012 Camaro convertible (4 speakers, 10" Comp sub, and two amplifiers), and a full Infinity system (four speakers and four channel amp) with a powered 12" Rockville sub in my 2021 SX210 boat ...Infintiy; hands down. And, Infinity came in at a fraction of the cost of the Kicker amps and speakers

 

[HangOutdoors]

I have a full Kicker system in my 2012 Camaro convertible (4 speakers, 10" Comp sub, and two amplifiers), and a full Infinity system (four speakers and four channel amp) with a powered 12" Rockville sub in my 2021 SX210 boat ...Infintiy; hands down. And, Infinity came in at a fraction of the cost of the Kicker amps and speakers

Can you link the items ?

 

[oramac]

Can you link the items ?

Speakers, amplifier, and subwoofer. Though, I also considered this subwoofer option because of the aluminum enclosure.

 

[Crob83]

Speakers, amplifier, and subwoofer. Though, I also considered this subwoofer option because of the aluminum enclosure.

That infinty amp and speakers seem like a great deal

 

[jacoviii]

@jacoviii was the one who found out about the WS amps being an accessory and may be able to share his experience.

He is right you can't even touch a WS amp used @ Creative Audio for the price in my post. I have a SBT-DX400-00-17 (SYN-DX4) sitting in my cart right now for $547 for our new build.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I too have a cart ful on of audio stuff just trying to figure it a out

 

[jacoviii]

Yeah I want to add the mid cabin speakers again it made a big difference in our 242x. A 2nd sub in the mid cabin area. And either two 10"s in the bow or four 8"s. I'm just not sure on how the WS 8" sub is. It looks a bit more of a mid driver like towers vs a sub.

 

[212s]

The Skar stuff (Skar SK65M speakers and Skar Audio RP-75.4ABM 500 Watt amp) has good reviews... but seems too good to be true for the price?

That's correct, Skar is cheap stuff and doesn't sound that great. The SK65M speakers are actually $5 paper cone drivers that will likely fall apart in a damp environment - you get what you pay for. Same goes for the other cheap brands like Boss, Pyle, etc. that brag about power and performance but they're poor quality and their performance is poor.

Having said that, you don't have to spend a lot to get some decent sound as the performance curve levels off as you go up in price. As mentioned, there's lots of options in the mid-range price that sound decent and made well - Alpine, JBL, Infinity, Kicker, Polk, etc. My boat came with Polk speakers and they sound decent, so I just added an amp. The JL MX series amp I bought was on sale for a great price and I knew it performs well so I bought it. If I couldn't get that price, I probably would have bought a Kicker amp. For good sound quality, spend more on the speakers than the amp as the speakers do 90% of the work to make good sound. You can buy 4 speakers for $400 and an amp for $250 and get good sound and output. But you spend $250 on 4 speakers and $400 on an amp, you'll get output, but it'll sound like crap. Kinda like photography where the lense does most of the work, and the camera sensor just captures the image through the lense.

Something to watch out for in amplifier wattage ratings - most units are based on max output into 2 ohms rather than the standard 4 ohms. So a 600w amp is really a 300w amp when driving a typical 4 ohm speaker system.

 

[adrianp89]

I have a full Kicker system in my 2012 Camaro convertible (4 speakers, 10" Comp sub, and two amplifiers), and a full Infinity system (four speakers and four channel amp) with a powered 12" Rockville sub in my 2021 SX210 boat ...Infintiy; hands down. And, Infinity came in at a fraction of the cost of the Kicker amps and speakers

Lol - this isn't even close to a fair comparison.

 

[platinum00]

The Rockville amps get a bad rap on here. There new DB marine series is nice and outperforms there rated RMS wattage. I run the DBM65 for the wetsounds 6.5 cabins. Its extremely clear and loud. Also have the DBM12 for a single JL Audio W3 12".

You can get used/refurbished wetsounds and JL which make them pretty cost effective. I got all (6) 6.5s for a few hundred. For something I use a few times a month, perfectly fine. If I was on my boat all day, every day maybe a different story.

NOTE: there is some kicker gear in the classifieds section right now.

 

[ripler]

The Rockville amps get a bad rap on here. There new DB marine series is nice and outperforms there rated RMS wattage. I run the DBM65 for the wetsounds 6.5 cabins. Its extremely clear and loud. Also have the DBM12 for a single JL Audio W3 12".

You can get used/refurbished wetsounds and JL which make them pretty cost effective. I got all (6) 6.5s for a few hundred. For something I use a few times a month, perfectly fine. If I was on my boat all day, every day maybe a different story.

NOTE: there is some kicker gear in the classifieds section right now.

The problem with these amps and many others is they use class AB circuitry as opposed to a more efficient class D. With Yamaha's limited charging system I would recommend class C amps.

Edit, I meant class D.

 

[platinum00]

Thats a fair point. However, AB arguably offers better sound than D. I don't think anyone uses C. Very high distortion on those. JL, Westounds, the other big boys use Class D. The Sub amp (DBM12) is Class D which is the one that drains the battery more. I am OK with AB on the mains which doesn't pull current like the subs do.

If that is a concern, Rockville has marine class D for the mains too. example RXM88TB.

 

[lazergeek]

Class D is the most efficient power wise but has higher distortion which is why they are commonly used for Subs and not Main Speakers.

 

[adrianp89]

So much misconception in here……

Using anything other than Class D in boats and other than very high end SQ builds) is just foolish.

 

[84rzv500r]

my boat had 4 x 6.5" coax kickers in it when I got it and they have been fine... I added two more, and a 10" free air sub, and went to a 8 channel pyle amp not to much money and it sounds great... also creative sells the new style grilles so my old kickers match the new 6.5's and 10. When I want/need sound outside the boat, I have 10.5Kw peak audio of Behringer Eurolives 2x 15" subs and 3x 15" mains with horns that I run off a Yamaha EF3000i SEB inverter genset through an unpowered Peavey sound board

I dont actually use the sound system that much every day, we usually tune the radios in all the boats to the same station if we want that kind of sound, for holiday weekends we will have Live music, and Practice/jam sessions are usually Saturday or Sunday. Blond Beach Barbie does like music when she's sunbathing and we're out someplace private in the back country

 

[84rzv500r]

My advice is dont jump to the components first... its a recipe for disaster... figure out your requirements and constraints first... then pick the components and locations based on that... and its possible to go in stages as well... In my business Requirements drive Applications drive Infrastructure, and it almost always comes down to Power, Space and Cooling, the last computer i put in had a 1Mw power draw for compute, storage and networking didn't include power conversion or cooling (2Mw power budget)

 

[212s]

Thats a fair point. However, AB arguably offers better sound than D.

While technically correct that D inherently produces more noise, in a properly designed amp the very high frequency and level is filtered out and is effectively inaudible.

Class D is the most efficient power wise but has higher distortion which is why they are commonly used for Subs and not Main Speakers.

Years ago yes that used to be true, till engineers started adding better filter circuits to the outputs for full range use. Today class D sounds great and is more efficient which is good for 12v audio which relies on charging systems and batteries. I wouldn't buy an amp for the boat or car unless it's D.

 

[212s]

The Rockville amps get a bad rap on here.

I try not to give any brand a bad rap, just honest opinions based on fact and/or first-hand knowledge. The Rockville amps are fine and work well as do Pyle and Boss, but Rockville and the others over-rate their amps by about 50%. So if you need a 600w amp, don't buy Rockville because you'll get about 400w output. Keep those numbers in mind and you'll be ok.

In contrast, Kicker rates their amps about even while WS and JL under-rate by 10% or more. This is partly why they cost more...you get what you pay for.

When it comes to speakers, they do 90% of the work to make good sound, so don't skimp on them if you want good sound. I wouldn't buy any speakers from Pyle, Boss, Skar, or Rockville - they're low end and sound that way. And Rockville rates their speakers the same way with ridiculous power capabilities like a small 6.5" at 400w...works fine if you buy matching Rockville amps with wild 400w/ch claims, so there's that.

 

[ripler]

Thats a fair point. However, AB arguably offers better sound than D. I don't think anyone uses C. Very high distortion on those. JL, Westounds, the other big boys use Class D. The Sub amp (DBM12) is Class D which is the one that drains the battery more. I am OK with AB on the mains which doesn't pull current like the subs do.

If that is a concern, Rockville has marine class D for the mains too. example RXM88TB.

I had a typo, I meant class D.

 

[KCAR250]

Here’s a good deal on Wet Sounds Revo 6s for $350 a pair

Wet Sounds REVO 6 XS-S 6.5-inch Marine Coaxial Speakers - Silver XS

Make a statement with one of the best performing marine coaxial speakers on the market, the REVO Series features a high power design to deliver incredible sound! Not only that, like with all REVO series speakers, you can go even further with the included RGB backlighting. Sold as a pair.

www.atlanticrt.com

as far as amps you cant beat NVX amps from sonic electronics for the price.
Make sure to get OFC wiring for your system and not some cheap CCA from Amazon.