2002 X Star Speakers

[StrangeLuv]

The Clarion speakers are worn out on my 2002 X Star. Does anyone have any replacement recommendations? I believe they are 6.5 inch speakers, maybe 5.25.

Thanks

[DemolitionMan]

....................

[l8kebum]

definately rock the JL's

[dpolen]

I saw a post on Wakeworld that Amazon has Polk DB651's for like $35 right now, I'm not a stereo expert, but I have these speakers in my boat and have been very happy with them.

I'm smart enough to know that these are in a different league than the JL's referenced above.

[MasterCraftByDesign]

http://www.mastercraftbydesign.com/index_278.htm

[corey]

You should be able to do an exact fit replacement with either Clarion or JL Audio 6.5's Historically the Clarions were less expensive but I think they are pretty close in price these days. http://marine.jlaudio.com/

Not to promotes my buddies LED rings again but 6.5" rings are in the works so pre-JL Audio boats can roll the LED's too.

[Smoothie]

Should we replace with the component style speaker or just leave the clarion tweeter in and not hooked up and go with the coax JL? Mine are toast too as well as the woofer maybe but MC during that time set up a 6 channel system with a 4 channel amp. Poor design and cheeped out on an amp considering that was the flagship wake boat of its day. The sub is muddy. Curious does anyone know if that sub is in some sort of box like a sub should be or is it just a hollow cavity behind it?

[nmcjr]

The sub is a free-air, i.e. no box. Also, yours may be blown, mine was. I replaced it with a new 12" sub with a custom box, and man what a difference.

The JL's are great for the cabin area, however for the tower speakers you should consider a horn loaded compression driver (HLCD) speaker such as Bullet or Wet Sounds. This type of speaker is designed to project rather than present sound near to the speaker--think of a stadium speaker. My preference is Bullet, but many also like Wet Sounds. Bullet makes a 6.5 that will fit in your existing cans, but I went with new 7.7's in new cans so I could get more mid out of the speakers. My Bullets are so loud and clear that I have the cabin speakers turned way down so I didn't even feel that I needed to upgrade them, but mine weren't blown.

Another consideration is that HLCD speakers require a lot more power, so if you go that route plan on an amp upgrade, and I would consider the same for the sub. You could probably use the factory 4 channel amp for the cabin speakers and get a new JL HD 4 channel amp for the towers and the sub (bridge two channels for the sub)

[brucemac]

check out the Polk mm6501 components, they drop in and the tweeters fit in the old clarion tweeter cups. really happy with mine, the new jl 7.7 will not fit in the bow without a spacer and you will have to cut larger holes

[nmcjr]

Good to know Bruce, and I would agree that the Polk's are another good choice. Do you have a pic of your install? Did you leave the white cups and covers for the white Clarion tweeters? Did you also use the old 6.5" Clarion grills or how did you make it all fit together?