Help with upgrading 2015 stereo

[sfjakey]

I read about 20 pages of stereo threads. I don’t find what I need, so please advise. I have a 2015 230 team with the Polk audio system. I don’t have the issues many report, but is is overall an under powered system, particularly the tower speakers. I want to upgrade those, primarily for surfing, and after speaking with Wetsounds, they say the Icon series is what I want. Every person I talk to says no, the Rev8, or preferably the 10 is the way to go. I only want one set of speakers. Interior speakers sound fine, not sure If I need to do anything there now or not. Going to add a ws420 as well.
So my question, what is the easiest solution to improve the system without breaking the bank. Icon or Rev speakers? What is a good amp to power them? What about the sub? Add an enclosure or keep the factory one mounted by the driver seat?

[bturner]

There's the rule of three that applies to just about everything in life with a little modification. In sound system gear I believe we used Cheap, Loud and Good. The catch to the rule of threes is that you only get to pick 2 of the items. An example would be you can have cheap and loud but it won't be good. Another would be you can have good and loud but it won't be cheap.

The primary issue when building out any system is picking where that balance is for you and that starts with expectations. It sounds like you may be there but when you throw in that breaking the bank statement things get dicey quick. When I hear people start with this as a requirement the tendency is to cut costs comes quickly when sticker shock hits and I guarantee you anyone using that as part of the requirement will have it. It's not to say you can't have a nice system on a budget but you need to define what that price point or budget is before asking for recommendations or everyone gets to play a guessing game as to what it is you want based on the the price you're willing to pay.

It's easy to play what if and load the virtual cart with 1000 watt amps, speakers, enclosures and such but at the end of the day someone has to pay for it before it goes from virtual to reality. So for example the Rev 10's alone are going to set you back $1700, the WS420 another $500 and an amp like a SDX4 another $1500 if you really are looking to rock the boat. Then there's the infrastructure that goes behind it like batteries, battery chargers, cable, breakers and possibly an upgrade to the charging system if you go bigger. So I'm basically seeing you in the $4K to $5K range if we throw in a $600 - $800 sub enclosure like the AS-6 or AS-10 , installation materials and you doing the work. Have someone that knows what they're doing do the installation and you're talking a nice chunk of change for professional installation.

Is that in your budget? If not what is?

MLA does a lot of these higher end systems and will probably come along with some ideas but if you plan to make significant changes expect to spend significant dollars.

[MLA]

For a surf setup, I would go with the 8" coaxial over an 8" HLCD. I prefer the better sound quality. If you louder, then the smaller HLCD will do the job. Now, if you want loud and good sound quality, then go with a larger HLCD like the Kicker KMTC9 or 11 or the Wet Sounds Rev-10.

IIRC, a 2015 has the polk 4 chnl amp for the tower. Perfect amp to run a pair of larger HLCD bridged into 2 chnl mode. Way more power then a pair of coaxials would need, so tuning would have to be spot on. So, step one, see exactly what amp wattage you have available.

Next, what are the current tower speakers? Are they the 6x9 Focal coaxials are the 6.5 HLCD Roswell 7 Airborne? Ill be honest. Swapping a pair of these for a pair of round 8" coaxials may sound different, but wont be an increase in volume. The surface area of the 6x9 and round 8" are very close and the HLCD's tweeter always has an output advantage over traditional dome tweeter. You will need to make a significant wattage jump to over come the "under powered" perception.

Woofer = move away from the 4 ohm woofer thats intended for a small enclosure to a 2 ohm woofer thats intended for the infinite-baffle application. The polk 5 chnl is capable of 400W rms to a woofer, but only delivering 200W to the current 4 ohm woofer that mis-applied.

[sfjakey]

So it sounds like I can use the existing 4000.4 bridged for a single pair of Rev10? With these fixed mounted in the outboard position on the tower can I still use my swivel board racks?
My current speakers are the 6x9, so it sounds like going to a single rev 8 or Icon 8 won’t do much. Can the amp be bridged to improve these existing speakers, or are they not able to handle it?
Please explain further how to properly utilize the 5000.5 amp to power a better IB sub in the stock location.
I’m not trying to go cheap, but I’m 51 and don’t need to blow everyone out of the boat. Upgrade is mostly for teenage daughters.
WS420 is an automatic upgrade. Tried the dual zone volume knob, and it really reduces sound quality at lower volume levels when adjusted using the knob vs main volume control.
thank you for the assistance

[MLA]

Yes, the 4 chnl can be repurposed to drive a pair of Rev-10 bridged. The larger HLCD is going to yield the best sound quality and best volume.

You could safely bridge a pair of rev-8. You could safely bridge the 6x9 and round 8" coaxial, but the tuning would have to be dead nuts on and there would need to be some user discipline to prevent speaker damage.

The existing polk woofer has a 4 ohm nominal impedance. At that impedance, the woofer chnl of the amp is going to deliver up to its rated 4 ohm wattage, of like 200W rms. Swapping to a 2 ohm woofer, and now the amp can deliver up to its 2 ohm rated wattage, of like 400W rms. This is noticable increase in woofer output. This also allows you to go with a woofer thats built for the application of NOT having a small enclosure behind it. A true IB woofer will perform better.

[sfjakey]

Thank you very much! I’ll get the 420 and the rev10 for my existing amp setup. Is any 10” wetsounds 2 ohm IB sub sufficient, or do you recommend something else.

[distinguishedmotorsports]

Thank you very much! I’ll get the 420 and the rev10 for my existing amp setup. Is any 10” wetsounds 2 ohm IB sub sufficient, or do you recommend something else.

yes, so long as you boat has the 5 channel amp that has a 2 ohm stable sub woofer load. MLA is correct, it will be louder.