speakers for my X-22

[bsacks77]

so there are too many speakers to chose from and i have been doin some research.  i found that the Polk Audio MMC650 is a pretty popular speaker.  is that too big for my '99 X-22? (i don't want to cut if i don't have to).  any suggestions on steroes and amps that are a good bang for the buck.  i'm not planning on putting in a sub but i think i'm going to buy a pair of Wet Sounds Pro 60 tower speakers... i already have a factory kenwood 350w amp.  Any feedback would be great!!

[phenom_1819]

I have the new Infinity Kappa Marine's in my boat and they sound great, though Polks are awesome too.  60 watts per speaker.  Wetsounds tower speakers are awesome.  I have the Pro 80's and they look very nice on the Toyota tower.  The Pro60's aren't pro audio so I'd imagine they would sound much different, but my Pro80's are very bright... you need at least one sub.  I have a high-end JL sub with 500 watts to it -- it's not enough to balance the brightness of the Pro 80s.  The Kenwood amp would power the Pro80s or Pro60's just fine -- just be sure those 350 watts are RMS (Kenwood likes to write the max. output across the top of their amps, which is far from accurate). 

[cyclone]

The factory amp in my boat is a good one, it is a Kenwood KAC-648 I have one in my truck as well. The factory setup (I think, mine came with tower speakers) was two channels with two speakers in parallel and two channels to the tower speakers. This runs the amp at 2 ohm on two channels which it is not supposed to do, but it does. I do the same with a 2 ohm JL sub in my truck configured the same way. It will get hot and cut out if you run it wide open, but it is a surprisingly powerful and durable amp.

I LOVE my polk momo 6.5's, I highly recommend them. They have held up perfectly for three years, they sound great, I love their tweeters. They fit right in the factory holes, though I did use a sanding drum on my drill to open the back ones up a bit. Holes lined up, for the most part. I had to redrill one or two upfront, but no cutting. You have to mount the crossovers, I usually cut squares of MDF, paint them black, and staple a short velcro strap on there. Then, I glue (liquid  nails) it to the hull in an inconspicuous place. It's better than wire ties. I'll post a pic of one soon. I use them to hold all the wiring that I put in, which I keep totally separate from factory wiring.

[bsacks77]

thanks for the input--  the crossovers were the only thing i was concerned about with the polk's, i didn't know about mounting them, but your way sounds pretty legit--- after all the reviews and such, the infinity kappa marine's match up pretty well to the polks.  i have always been satisfied with infinity so i think i'm gonna go with them and the wetsounds pro 80's (white)--- as far as a sub goes, that might have to wait til the next paycheck, those wetsounds aren't cheap! where would the sub go anyways, i've only seen them mounted under the steering column in front of the drivers seat?  i have heaters under there so i don't know if that spot will work.-----so considering all of this, the next thing is a stereo, the addition of a second battery, and i'm not really sure if it's necessary but thicker gaged wiring, to get the most out of the system!?  any suggestions for those few items?     

[bsacks77]

also, i've read that it takes a lot of power to really get what you want out of the pro 80's.  so, would it be wise to replace and/or add an amp with more power or is it just a waste of money??

[cyclone]

With two amps you are probably ok on the stock battery, if you add a third amp and a sub you probably will want to add a third battery. If so, you'll want to move the power to the amps and head unit to the new battery to prevent ground loop noise problems. Put an isolation relay or solid state isolator between the two batteries in the positive lead, so the new batt will charge when the boat is running.

[phenom_1819]

If you're going with the Pro80's, I'd make that sub a priority -- they really need low-end to balance them out.  Yes, Pro80's need a lot of power.  I have the JL 300/2 and love it.  I have a 500/1 powering the JL W7 sub and a cheap Sony 60w x 4 channel running 6 in-boat speakers.  My set-up is plenty loud, though if I were starting from scratch, I would put one 10" or 12" sub in the driver's kick-panel and a second in the walkway storage compartment.  My sub is in the walkway compartment.  See this thread:
http://www.epicmarine.com/forum4/index.php?topic=1117.0

[cyclone]

Cal, you rock like a hurricane. Like a tsunami and sheot.