Kicker km6500.2 Tower Speakers

Anyone who has these or have heard them, how do they sound? I know they probably arnt any wet sounds but they also dont cost as much. How do they compare to some of the other hlcd speakers? Are they easy to ear while boardering 75ft back? Also what is a good amp to run these speakers with?

oh boy..... anyone want to take bets on how fast this becomes and Exile Vs Wetsound thread???

Here are a couple recent threads

http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showt...icker+km6500.2

http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showt...icker+km6500.2

http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showt...icker+km6500.2

They sound awsome! Go with two KM6500.2 two way and two KM6500 Miderange range!

Diggs?! What about Bullet?

Kramer - Do you have the cans to go with them as well? I don't think that they come with enclosures which make them lower in price.

I found some that do come with the cans at the same price.
Brett- Do they sound good sitll without the two extra miderange speakers?

Be careful you choose the right amps. If I recall correctly the impedence is not exactly what you would expect and it can cause problems in some amplifier configurations. I would suggest you PM Phil from Kicker and get his input on whatever configuration you are working on. Most things I have read over the past year on these speakers say that they are a very good bang for the buck tower solution.

NOTE: I have not introduced any additional products to this discussion and hope that everybody else keeps it that way (

DUDE! Get some Wetsounds! They are the best! My friend has them and they are the loudest thing u ever heard! I have a Wetsounds coozie and it is the coldest one I have.

I found some that do come with the cans at the same price. Brett- Do they sound good sitll without the two extra miderange speakers?

I would just caution if they are an authorized retailer as they do not come from Kicker with enclosures.

They do sound great and the extra KM6500 driver adds to the amount of near-field mid-bass.

These are dead-on a 4 Ohm load, so they can be bridged on a 4 chnl amp if that's what one has, providing it will provide good power. When adding the extra pair of mids in parallel, you will have a 2 ohm, so that setup is ideal for a 2 chnl amp.

Power wise, 150W's a side form something like the ZXM450.2, but dont be afraid to put some power them. If I remember correctly, they have a 150/300 watts rating and 200/400 watts with the extra mids. Dont hold me to it, as I cant get into their site right now for some reason.

Had to do it. Someones gonna, figured I'd beat em' to the punch.

I have a Wetsounds Koozie too, and you are right Bawshogg, it is a REAL nice one. Thanks Tim! Mine is red...

Mikeski-

The KM6500.2 is a rock solid 4-ohm system, impedance-wise. They don't have the weird amp issue that the KMT6 does. There have been some discussions about the KMT6 being a 3-ohm speaker, and that is true, but the KM6500.2 is a completely different animal. Not calling ya out, just taking the opportunity to clarify and point out where the weirdness comes from.


Kramer-

Power-wise, we rate the KM6500.2 at 200W RMS per side just with the base system. When you add the extra mids, (KM65000) to make it a 6-can "6-pack" system, the power handling goes up to 300+ watts a side. That's 600+ watts total RMS power handling for the full 6-can system... Chpthril is a little low on his power handling specs quote ... Sorry Mike, again, not calling anyone out, just clarifying!


The ZXM450.2 is a good amp choice from the Kicker Marine amp lineup, but the speakers will handle even more power than that. I am running 250 watts a side on the set I have on my boat and they don't complain. Chpthri is right, with a solid 4-ohm load, you can use th KM6500.2's on a bridged 4-channel amp if that is what you already have. If you had a stereo amp that delivered 200- 250 watts a side into a 4-ohm load, it would be pretty rocking, and you could add the extra KM6500 mids to go down to a stable 2-ohm load without changing amps.

We designed the system to be that impedance-stable from the beginning, so that someone could buy the base system at 4-ohms and then add the mids later to get to a 2-ohm system without swapping amps. This is that exception to "Phil's Maxum Rule" of not bridging and not parallel wiring, (I normally do not recommend bridging or paralle wiring of full range speakers, due to the fact that most dip below 4-ohms at crossover). We do that by providing a crossover system that is semi-symmetrical and acts fully on both the midrange and the horn. Put simply, the "load" of the midrange and the horn do not overlap at the crossover frequency, becasue we apply high-pass filtering to the horn, AND low pas sfiltering to the mid. This way the amp never "sees" the midrange and the horn in parallel, despite being wired that way. The mid only plays the music it is supposed to , and the horn does the same.

If you are only considering the KM6500.2 and do not intend to add the KM6500 mids later, I will strongly recommend the Kicker IX500.4. It is a fully digital amplifier and it runs really cool and is very effieicnt. That is what I am running on my boat. I am using that 4-channel amp in bridge mode, and that is how I am running 250 watts to each side.

If you think you might add the extra KM6500 mids for the 6-pack later, consider a stereo amp that will deliver 200 - 250 RMS as I shared above. Kicker does not have an amp of that size at the moment, but there are several good ones out there from other brands. If by chance you want to go with the 6-pack from the get-go, the hot setup is to use a pair of our ZX300.1 monoblocks, (they are sold as a sub amp, but they are full range) with an amp on the left side and an amp on the right side. this will give you 300 watts RMS per side into a 2-ohm load. the one thing you need to do if you go this route is add the Kicker KX2 2-way crossover on the front-end of the amps, since they do not have a high-pass crossover setting.

Holler if you have any more question, anyone, I will be glad to help!

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Phil
Kicker

Sorry about the spelling above. I meant to type EFFICIENT!

Hah hah hah

Phil
Kicker

[QUOTEChpthril is a little low on his power handling specs quote ... Sorry Mike, again, not calling anyone out, just clarifying][/QUOTE]

Maybe if you would work on keeping the website up and stop playing on the internet, I could have double checked it

Like a said, I wasnt 100% sure, but I was thinking those where your very early numbers, even before they were ready for production.

Originally Posted by chpthril

[QUOTEChpthril is a little low on his power handling specs quote ... Sorry Mike, again, not calling anyone out, just clarifying]

Maybe if you would work on keeping the website up and stop playing on the internet, I could have double checked it

Like a said, I wasnt 100% sure, but I was thinking those where your very early numbers, even before they were ready for production.

Hah hah hah...

I'll let them know the site is down. Sorry, I have been on e-bay creating an auction for surplus Wetsounds Koozies I swiped from their booth at the last show....

Phil
Kicker

Let me know what you get out of them . I have a grip of them too. May have to post em up if you do well with yours. People just don't understand how great they are untill you use one.

Originally Posted by philwsailz

Hah hah hah...

I'll let them know the site is down. Sorry, I have been on e-bay creating an auction for surplus Wetsounds Koozies I swiped from their booth at the last show....

Phil
Kicker

No worries, it's probably my IP and not your site

Originally Posted by bawshogg

Let me know what you get out of them . I have a grip of them too. May have to post em up if you do well with yours. People just don't understand how great they are untill you use one.

Hey Baws I heard about those koosies too. I heard that the lettering on them is loud enough to make your eyes bleed?? I have a wetsounds t-shirt and I swear I can yell at least 6dB louder when I wear it.

my bad about the weird amp loading, I was confused with the KMT6 (another good bang for the buck solution).

What am I goin tto be able to hear better while wakeboarding, the kicker km6500.2 or two krypt 8 inch hlcds? Is there going to be a big sound difference between the two?

Kramer, that's like asking which is prettier blondes or brunettes. It's going to be pretty subjective between those.

Good one Mikeski!

Kramer-

It is uaually hard to answer subjective questions, you don't get facts usually, but rather just opinion.

Let me make some objective points on the KM6500.2 that might help you.

* The KM6500.2 is based on a 6.5" (165mm) tower can mounting pattern. This gives you a smaller can, and therefore more head room walking around on the boat.

*A bigger cone is usually better. That is true until you cut a hole in the middle of the cone to push a horn through. When looking at cone size you need to actually consider the moving area of the cone, and the KM6500 is not a coaxial design. It has a sealed design that lets ALL of the area inside the surround roll contribute to the sound output.

* The KM6500 has a fully defined, fully developed TRACTRIX horn. The geometry is constantly changing, flaring outward. There are no sections of constant area that would contribute to peakiness. The result is a flat, sonically accurate frequency response from the horn.

* The KM6500.2 has a true passive 2-way crossover. Both the mid and the horn have their own electronic circuit to route the audio signal to the proper driver. This prevents the drivers from both playing the same material at or near the crossover frequency. The result is a more accurate reproduction of the audio signal. Additionally it prevents the impedance dips below the nominal 4-ohm impedance. This becomes important when looking at amplifiers, wihen either bridging or parallel loading.


* Stillwater Designs / Kicker has been around since 1973. We got our start building concert PA systems. We have been around HLCD stuff longer than most everybody involved in this business. We have a full staff devoted just to acoustics products, (loudspeakers) and a separate staff devoted to electronics, (amps). Kicker R&D is way more than a couple of guys who used to be mullet-wearing IASCA competitors from the 80's... (had to throw that in).


That last paragraph is fact, but I am not sure if it really affects your decision... My point in sharing is that we have degreed engineers design this stuff from the ground up, we have been around a long time, and we will be able to take care of you for the long term.


Opinions are like, uh, well you know.... I hope that my information above is helpful, but know, it does not talk to the sound of either speaker. I would recommend you try to find an opportunity to listen to each and every system under consideration.

Phil
Kicker

Thanks phil for all the information. I am from Kansas City MO and I have not found any places to go and listen to any tower speakers, so I am trying to get as much information as I can before I purchase my tower speakers.

I work with a company in Kansas City. Let me holler at them and see if they have a recommendation. PM me your details and I will see about helping you with a hook up.

Phil
Kicker

Phil,

Would a JL MHD 750/1 be too much to run the full set. I'm trying to keep the strain on the electrical system down as much as possible, and I want to use a marine amp. Unfortunately seems like the boat gets stuck out in a rain storm a few times a year while we are on a trip.

Nevermind, the 1ohm load wouldn't work.

I have a set of them and can hear them while riding but not loud enough I will be getting another set next year. I dont remember what amp im running off the top of my head.

tx_,
Not sure why the JL MHD750/1 wouldn't work. The 750/1 delivers full power at 2 or 4-ohms.
If running one pair of midbass you would parallel both sides for a final load of 2-ohms. If running two pair of midbass you would series the collective sides for a final load of 4-ohms.

David
Earmark Marine

Originally Posted by mikeski

Kramer, that's like asking which is prettier blondes or brunettes.

... and which ones have nice tweeters and woofers.

Thanks David, I'll be calling again soon.