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Kicker sub and amp?

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jsur

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What happened to the wet sounds amp and sub? Also, the wet sounds speaker upgrade is listed for $347 now. This used to be $900+. How could this be unless they are substituting the 65i's for the 650's.
 
Right or wrong, I actually think it was a great business decision even if that is not the real reason for the change.

At the higher price point, you turn off the regular buyers from the spend to improve sound performance. Major audiophiles wouldn't choose the option either because they can't custom tune the sound to their tastes and end up like Derrick, investing $$$$s more to match their wants.

Many ski boat brands are now working directly with Wetsounds and other manufacturers to sound match stereos to the specific boat model. Things like speaker placement, appropriate amp wattages and my big pet peeve, high quality speaker wire.

I can't imagine that the demographic of a Bennington buyer and the percentage of annual buyers who spring for this upgrade (relative to other upgrades) could justify keeping this option as it was.
 
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jsur said:
What happened to the wet sounds amp and sub? Also, the wet sounds speaker upgrade is listed for $347 now. This used to be $900+. How could this be unless they are substituting the 65i's for the 650's.
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I think it depends on what model you are looking at. We were looking at the 2575 RCW in both outboard and I/O configurations and the Kicker sub/amp is the only one offered for the outboard but the Wetsounds sub/amp is offered for the I/O. And as with Jack M's post above, a different Wetsounds package/cost is offered for the Sport Arch version. Obviously, different speaker/amp options to accommodate the number of speakers on the various configurations (outboard, I/O, vs. sport arch) is understandable, but as far as just the sub/amp, I didn't get why we couldn't use the boat builder to specify Wetsounds for the outboard we had decided on.

Not that kicker is junk (likely perfectly fine for most folks) but since we're more along the lines of the Spinzone/Derrick end of the spectrum (when it comes to the stereo system, at least), we opted out of the sub/amp option altogether and will be installing our own custom system. I believe our build date is scheduled for today actually, so no turning back now for us  :)

They seem to have fairly reasonable pricing on the factory stereo options, if you can confirm exactly what you are going to get and are satisfied with those components. From what I've heard at the shows and showrooms and read on this site, plan to still set your gains and such yourself, regardless. Plus you would get the bow to stern warranty. There are several other threads regarding pros/cons of the various options so I won't go further down that path here...

Sorry I couldn't answer why the limitations on the sub/amp on specific models but I'm with you on the confusion. If anyone can shed some light on this, please do.
 
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Jack M. said:
Wet sounds are still offered .Go down to the Helm /Stereo section .No idea on the price difference, $3646 is listed

http://www.benningtonmarine.com/Boat-Builder.php?id=817
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Jack,

That's interesting. That option is not listed on the 2350 rbr. I wonder if it's an oversight on Bennington's side or if it is no longer offered on this particular boat. Additionally, it now appears that the Wet Sounds addition is a whole package, ie both speakers and sub/amp. On my 2014, I have the Wet Sounds sub/amp, but kicker speakers (which I am trying to change).
 
Definitely agree on the speaker wire! I absolutely love Wet Sounds Wet Wire products! Pricey for sure, but top quality. That 1/0 power and ground cable is phenomenal!! I still love my Wet Sounds gear, and if I had to do it all over again, I would still get them! I would have just bought MORE!! haha Still contemplating selling my amps and buying the Sinister series, those things have ridiculous power output!! Of course then I would have more power available, so I would probably want more speakers, so I may just have to leave well enough alone for a little while!!

One thing I dislike is, and I think most will agree to some extent, Bennington is a Premium brand, I don't believe Kicker ha, nor will have a Premium product. Now don't get me wrong, I think they probably make a decent product, but not in the same level as Wet Sounds. That being said, I'm sure Bennington sells a lot more S and G models than R and Q, so It may help drive some additional sales by offering a lower priced 'upgrade' for the stereo components, but I think they have to keep a Premium brand for those who truly want Premium sound.
 
Completely agree! The Kicker setup reminds me of the sound system of a car from the 70's and 80's, all tin can vocals without a full range of sound.

So I have a question for you Derrick. Did you order the Wetsounds package when you bought your newest boat? If so, was it wired with Wetwire or was it the same economy grade stuff that my kickers had?

When I redid my components and amps for the 2nd time, I rewired my entire sound system with Stinger wire. As you mentioned, it's an expensive investment but worth every penny!
 
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The tower models came with the WS pkg as they needed somewhere to mount the amp for the tower speakers, so they screw it into the sub box. I had ordered the Wet Wire kit, and actually Tim at Wet Sounds made me a custom kit because they only had power and ground cables of 20ft if I remember correctly,  I was concerned it wouldn't be enough, so he added I believe another 5ft to each for me. I had originally planned on having Bennington install it using that, but when they went to install it they realized that they couldn't because they are NMMA compliant using ABYC standards, and through many back and forth conversations with Tim and the plant and me, although Tim's wire was far superior to anything around, it was just newly released and he told me, "to be honest, I just haven't gotten around to getting it certified yet" or something of the sort. So I had to run it myself. I will be honest, still haven't done all the speakers. Some were just going to be such a pain to redo. But for my walkway subs and the speakers in there have been done. I wanted to replace the tower speaker wire, but that will be a huge endeavor. I remember the fun I had doing my cousin's MB Sport tower and running new led and speaker wire to all his speakers. Not fun. Not sure if Tim ever did get the approval for his wire.
 
Wow, I did not realize the speaker wire itself was so important. Is there a noticeable difference in the sound quality?
 
Having cheap wiring is like owning a Corvette with a 4 cylinder motor. Looks good on the outside with very little performance underneath.

In all actuality, it takes higher grade wire to properly carry an amplified signal to components.
 
One of the more noticeable factors will be degradation over time. Better wire will use pure virgin copper(not recycled which may have impurities) and be tinned to help combat corrosion. Now in all likelihood will you hear an audible difference between a decent wire and premium wire, well not when you're doing 40mph on the water!! Haha.
 
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