Wet Sounds XXX V2 or JL 12W6V3
 

I've held off on finalizing the subwoofer in my boat but I'm itching to make a decision and get started on the enclosure which will take some time with just a few hours here and there.

I know both of these subs are not available yet but both are slated to be available next month. Let's just assume that both new models will have roughly be improved at the same rate (humor me please without SA comments about how you can't assume...).

Based on the current (or recently disco models), in a ported enclosure, powered by a JL MHD750/1 for various types of music but normally some light, good sounding dubstep, rap & hip hop and country music I'd like to hear some thoughts. All of my in boat speakers amps are JL but I love my 4 Rev10's so I'm not necessarily stuck on either brand.

I thought the JL 7.7" components were best for me in the boat and the ability to easily stack the 6 JL MHD amps made the install much simpler. I think the Rev10's are much better suited for the tower and listening at 70-80' while riding. I want to make the same decision between these 2 subs as far as which will perform best and have the most output while still sounding clean. I'm not a big fan of upper sub bass (65-80hz) so keep that in mind too.

All i can say is that i want to hear this stero man. Sounds like it will JAMMMM

TJ - just get a 12W7 and be done with it man! You know you won't be disappointed with a W7. 1.75 cu ft ported for the 12W7 sounds great! Maybe you don't want to run that much power though, I don't know but you need it to keep up with those 7.7's and the power you are running to them.

I second this, i'm also running 6 JL HD amps, and a 12W7... everyone tells me is the loudest single sub they have ever heard in a boat. the JL 750/1 pushes it nicely but if i did it over again i would go with the 1200/1

Listen to Ryan about the power on a 12W7 (if that is a consideration) as an HD750/1 is lite in an open field. The Slash 1000 would be my first choice or the HD1200/1. However, the HD750/1 is a perfect match for the 12W6 which is easier to drive.

David
Earmark Marine

I'm sticking with the 750/1 so for me the 12W7 is out. I want a little headroom but certainly don't want to under power the sub. I've had a few W6V2's and always thought they were a great sounding sub but really could never get that 'mean' bass out of them.

I'm leaning a little towards the XXX V2 because I think it will have a little more output than the W6. After a few hours and a few beers out on the water, IMO SQ gets trumped by clean output. That's not to say that the XXX V2 won't sound as good or better than the W6; I just don't know. I do tend to think it will have more output.

I had the original XXX in my last boat and it was really nice. That is all I have to offer.

Tim, you are welcome to step in here and offer your opinion or rather your insight as to why the XXX was a great sub, what you improved with the V2 and how that translates to performance.

I'd also like your input on tuning frequency and enclosure size for my boat given that you have a little experience with Tige boats.

Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on things, I'm definitley not as knowledgeable as David or some of the others but i have been around marine audio for a while... and my opinion is that the XXX has more output but sacrafices a little on the SQ side, while the W6 is a little better on the SQ side of things...

if those were my two choices i would go with the XXX becasue it seems like it might be more durable in a marine enviroment. i have no conclusive evidence to back that statement up, it's just my opinion

TJ - Here's the box they recommend, make it fit! :D I love the dual vents!
http://www.wetsounds.com/media/produ..._Enclosure.pdf

Thanks Ryan. Re: Durability in the marine environment. I don't think I would ever do a sub with a foam surround in my boat. I know plenty of people have the W6V2 and W7 in their boat but if my subwoofer is going to fail I want it to fail due to something I've done to it, not because the surround became brittle and tore.

I've seen 2 12W6V2's that are a few years old (not in a boat) that the surrounds tore. One of them tore when I squeezed a crease in the surround where something was sitting on it. I installed another one in a prefab box and played it in my boat for about 4-5 minutes at a medium volume while adjusting the amp gain before the surround separated. A friend let me borrow an older 12W3 (not sure what series) to throw in the boat to test. I used it for 2.5 days, again, not at a real high volume and definitely not abusing it (other than putting it into a $18 prefab box I picked up cause I was lazy). A couple hours into the 3rd day the surround tore around about half of the sub.

That being said, the new 12W6V3 has a rubber surround.

Great info, the XXX just feels like it is made of a mroe durable material, like if it got kicked, bumped into with an ice chest, cell phone dropped on, ETC... all of which can easily happen in a small boat, it would stand up to that abuse a little better

Man, that's a lot of fiberglass cutting to make that thing fit! Actually it will be no matter what sub but it will be worth it.

Did a little cutting and planning for the enclosure yesterday and I actually have the space for 2 10W6's in a ported enclosure. So, my question now is what would have more output and sound better in a boat: XXX V2 or 2 10W6 both in ported enclosures.

Going strictly by the numbers...one 12 would average 81 sq.in. and two 10s would average 107 sq.in. which would suggest about another 1 to 1.25 dB of output. That is a relatively small difference and there are many more elements to consider that will have an impact such as the orientation of the dual woofers and if they load symmetrically or not, the enclosure tuning of both options, the internal efficiency of the specific woofers (not necessarily the sensitivity) and much more. So let's just say it's close without having more information and since we don't have the new XXX driver yet to test.
Keep in mind that the characteristics of the JL Audio W6s and W7s have always been to produce very deep bass extension with a very linear output over a broad bandwidth. It's definitely an SQ woofer that will play as loud as anything in its size class with the right amount of power and at 30/35/40/45 Hz. However, there are other woofers that concentrate their output over a narrower bandwidth and create a more obvious perception of output. These would be considered SPL woofers. Usually an assertion that a woofer is both is a bit of a misrepresentation. There isn't much magic to the priorities as woofer designers are faced with making many of the same choices that you make in your enclosure design. To a degree you can compensate either way.
So you do have some control in both your choice of driver and your enclosure design.
Again, I don't make a big distinction here until I get to hear the new XXX. I expect both will do an awesome job.

David
Earmark Marine

That's an oxymoron.

Ha! I'd have to agree, actually for the most part but if you search hard enough I promise there are some great sounding songs that have some dubstep or dubstep influence in them. There's plenty that's hard to listen to, but every once in awhile, there's a gem.

Well, after a little more cutting and some relocating of the electronics on the helm wall I was able to squeeze enough space to comfortably fit a XXX V2.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/d014d316.jpg


I started on the enclosure late last night. It's 3/4" marine grade plywood, glued and screwed together. I still need to put the top on, router out the slots for the ports, cut out the hole for the woofer and coat the enclosure in resin.

I got a little board while watching Sportscenter and drinking beer in the garage and since I couldn't cut anything else for fear of waking the neighbors or my kids, I dynaglassed the screw holes and seams. Now I'm wishing I had done that to the port walls before installing them. Oh well, I prob wouldn't have noticed that extra .005% improvement anyway!

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/d1913153.jpg

looking good. can't wait to see it in the boat.

Looks awesome! So glad you were able to make that enclosure fit! Should you have radiused the vent pieces?

That's aMAZEing !

I'm gonna reach in and just knock the corners down with a sanding block. I'll round over the ports where they exit the face of the enclosure. With as long and as far back as the ports are I doubt very seriously you'd be able to hear any port noise. If anything is think all the corners in the maze would cause issues before the edges would. We'll see I guess.

Anyone or any dealers have any XXX's available? I'm needing one for a customer and Wet Sounds doesn't have any more. I could use something else, but the guy wants that particular sub.... I need it pretty quick.

David, you guys have anything?

John,
Sold out for awhile and just waiting on delivery of the revised model.

That's what they said. I was hoping to find another dealer that may have had a big stock of them.

PM'd you a number to call

Thank you sir!

I finally had some time to finish up and install the enclosure.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/49288753.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/a58965f6.jpg

I still have to build a cover panel to clean it all up but that may get put off for awhile since I'm picking up the first XXX V2 at the Wet Sounds office in the morning along with 4 white Rev10 LED rings and 4 clear Rev10 grills!

I can't wait to hear the sub! I'll post some pics of it once I install it Saturday morning as well as my feedback.

Looks sick, Can't wait to see the finished product!

Looks good. Be sure to elevate the enclosure at least a 1/2-inch up off the sole with a polymer product to provide for isolation, drainage and evaporation. Even a solvent-based ply will eventually delaminate if you don't. And you don't want to create a mold and mildew trap.

David
Earmark Marine

Holy crap! That box is amazing. Nice work. I wish I could do wood work like that. My boat needs a ported box bad for my XS-12, but seeing as how my box looks like something a 16yr old made for shop class, I'm SOL. :D

Let us know how the new XXX v2 sounds.

Yeah, thats some damn fine work and I'm sure will return in spades where sound is concerned.

Thanks David! It's hard to see but there are 3/4" rubber feet on the front and back of the enclosure. I didn't have enough clearance in the middle to do feet. Unfortunately, the middle section is so tight that it rests on the bottom section of the fiberglass wall I cut out. I didn't carpet that section so at least it's fiberglass on fiberglass.

I just picked up the sub and can't stand the wait so I'm running down to the river now to throw it in before I have to be back for my son's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese! I'll post some pics of the unboxing and of the sub in the enclosure.

I hope my MHD750/1 can give it all it needs. If not I may have to throw in one of the new amps I saw today that are coming down the pipe...

I was gonna say I hope that you like the results with the 750 but I have a feeling you are gonna want to do at leats 1k watts.

Well, here she is...this thing is a beast!

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/5b139d1d.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/721da761.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/e3fb639b.jpg

Here's a few pics of it loaded in the enclosure. The stainless screws on the gloss black frame don't really do it for me but they'll be covered eventually once I build the cover panel for it. Yes, I know the sub is crooked. I installed it level on purpose since the enclosure sits up higher on the right side. The cover panel will correct it so I wanted the sub mounted level.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/819176e6.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/88caaf3f.jpg

Everything went well installing it though I didn't really have much time to listen and tune it. There was a little problem I realized though once I turned it off...it's LOUD! Crazy Loud! It's gonna cause a few fights between me and my wife over the volume.

I'm thoroughly impressed with the sub even after just a few minutes. The 750/1 is at its limit I think. If I do eventually upgrade the amp it will be to clean it up a little cause I just don't see it needing to be any louder.

I'll post some more impressions after using it on the water this weekend. I can't wait!

If this hadn't happened yesterday, I would have been wondering about the real cause:
http://www.chron.com/news/article/4-...as-3565070.php

hahahahahahahaha!!!

Ok. I agree. That was dumb. Let's just act like that was never said! And please don't bring it back up when I start a new thread titled, 'Installing the New Wet Sounds Sinister2 on my XXX V2'.

So that's what the new line of amps are called...:D

What's the cost of the new XXX ?

Maybe...maybe not...

It seems like I remember the mention of a new entry level WS amps coming out. These aren't it. All I can say after what I saw today is, 'Game Changer'. Remember too that this is coming from someone with 6 JL HD amps in his boat.

I wanna see those clear grills with the LEDs!

I believe the new entry level amps are called Hyrdotec or something like that. Hydro or Hydra something or other..lol

The high end stuff will be the Sinister Series according to their Facebook page, which had the public pick the name.

The Sinister series better be matte black with shinier black writing on them.

Nice build, although I would have added round over edges.

HD1200/1 ordered this morning...should hold me over for a couple months.

Or better yet, with color changing, LED backlit logo.

We all knew this response was coming. LOL!:p

Well played.

TJ, did Tim give you a rough timeline of when the Sinister line would be out?

60-90 days but I'm sure as with any new product it is really hard to know for sure. I'm sure Tim will be testing and beating the crap out of them to make sure they are perfect before any of them ship.

I'm sure I have said more than I was supposed to but based on what I saw, the design, the functionality and the specs, these amps are gonna be killer!

I love my JL HD amps but after seeing and hearing about the Sinister series on Friday, then going out in the boat for the day on Saturday, I had a conversation via email with Tim about possibly pulling the JL amps for these once available.

We'll see, before that I need Tim to hurry up with the custom brackets for 2 Rev410's for the Alpha Z tower to replace my 4 Rev10's!

I still need a XXX V1 for a customers boat if anyone has one they want to part with. It arrives at the end of this week.

Both the sub and box look great! I wish these would come out in a dual 4 ohm configuration.

Sub and box look amazing TJ.

I routered the edges of the ports on the face of the enclosure and before I put the top on I ended up taking a thin strip of wood with 36 grit sandpaper glued to it and knocked all of the port edges down so that they were slightly round. There's no port noise that I've noticed so far!

Good call. I'd be concerned about port noise with all the port edges on that box. I honestly think a single slot port would have been better, and a precision port even better. What is that box tuned at? You might want to double check. The box design in the XS-12 manual was inaccurate.

I built it based off of these plans which is the enclosure Tim recommended and is what he uses in the RZ2 demo boat.

http://www.wetsounds.com/media/produ..._Enclosure.pdf

I finally decided to start building the trim panel for the subwoofer enclosure tonight. I'm actually really happy that I was lazy and waited to build it. After having just the enclosure there for some time I found that the top of it actually works really well as a foot rest!

I was originally just going to build it as a solid panel but I don't think I could live without my foot rest so I built it with a ledge. The small back panel will be easily removable for access to the electronics. I'm shipping it out tomorrow to a good friend of mine to finish up. My custom skills and shop/materials availability are pretty limited so he is going to finish it up with a combination of carpet, vinyl and some lighting and grill mesh.

I'm hoping to get it back next week. I'll post pics once it's done.

Here's the start:

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/29ab89f6.jpg


http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/780192ef.jpg

Awesome build! Can't wait to see what your buddy does with the trim piece! throw up some pics of your rev 10s with the leds while your at it!!:D

Here are the Rev10's with LED rings and grills. I still haven't decided what to do with the overlays for the grills. I'm either going to brush them or paint them white.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/eb8f1780.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/38811008.jpg

They make the factory LED lighting look yellow so I guess I'm going to have to replace all of those with some whiter lights.

I don't have any real good pics of them at night but I did just replace the integrated tower lights with LED bulbs. It made a pretty dramatic difference.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/1393bbc1.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/3ba718c1.jpg

Looks great man, how do u like the rev 10s? I'm hoping to get a pair here soon. Would one pair be enough to hear wake boarding?

great job

Well, the panel is on its way back to me. My good friend of almost 15 years, Lee Teeples of Concept180 in the Dallas area really knocked it out of the park. I told him to just be creative with it and do whatever he wanted or had time to do.

It's pretty abstract but still cool and will look good in the boat. Not bad for about 5 hours or so of work!

It's a mix of carpet, factory dark grey vinyl, light grey pearl vinyl that's the main interior color, white acrylic and grill mesh. I'll post some pics once I install it tomorrow.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/24d3ae7c.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/90d27a6f.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/1f026495.jpg

The center, white acrylic section will have a logo on it.

wow

Hi, my name is Craig and I am super Jelly.... That front cover is amaaaazing

beauty!

That is some amazing work!

And I thought the box looked good.

That looks like it is going to look really sick. Nice work. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Wow that looks really awesome. Is that too going to be back lit?

Probably. I'll just have to figure out what's going to look the best. I kinda wish I had painted the sub enclosure and countersunk the woofer now so that the lighting would have something nicer looking to illuminate.

Great work Man - Let us know that upgraded XXX sounds.

Here's a couple of quick pics with the panel installed. I was in a rush to put it in before heading out to the SETX Mid Summer Classic and actually messed up a small piece of it where you can barely see the wood panel.

I think it came out great.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/4b9f6456.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/d92133f3.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/ec9eb6dc.jpg

Wow - that is by far the best looking facade that I have seen in a boat in a really long time.

The only downside is that it is covering up that beautiful WetSounds XXX!!

Great work on the system - it looks awesome