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EXILE SXT9Q versus JL Audio M880-ETX


roonedoggie

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My past system stock Malibu Speakers in my 2014 23 LSV but had the XM9 tower and Exile sub... Exile amp & EQ.  I have a 2018 24 MXZ with basic interior speaker package and primarily a surfing family.  Love the sound the of Exile system but have always been a big fan of JL Audio.  Any feedback from folks on sound (EXILE SXT9Q versus JL Audio M880-ETX).  Also on the JL what are the options for mounting?  Really appreciate feedback. Also thoughts on one amp brand powering a different speaker?  I am not a Wet Sounds fan, FYI. Thanks

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26 minutes ago, roonedoggie said:

Also thoughts on one amp brand powering a different speaker?

Amps and speaker do not care. Anyone that tells you that their amps are built specifically to power their speakers or their speakers will only sound good when driven off their amps, is feeding you a cart full of bull droppings. Yes, there are difference in sound quality between brands, but there is absolutely no conflicts between mixing speaker and amp brands. Neither knows the other. The amp "sees" a speaker load, and the speaker reproduces the voltage signal it receives.  

Out of those two, I feel the larger 1.25" tweeter is a little to dominate for me. 

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@roonedoggie, like MLA said, don’t worry about matching brands of amps and speakers.  Only in very specialized OEM installs are amps provided with a DSP tune to a certain speaker.  So get what works.  I like a JL HD750/1 for a subwoofer. I like regulated power for the 12w6v3 ported sub.  For everything else get what you like.  I like the SD series Wetsounds and JL amps.  I’m running an SD6 for the six main cabin speakers.  An SD2 for the two pair of M880 tower speakers.  I’ve got a JL MX280/4 bridge to run the bow speakers.  The whole thing is driven by JL DSPs.  A TWK88 and a TWKD8.  My sources are usually a Wifi link from my Airport Express.  The reason I have this combination of speakers is so that I have a dedicated pre-amp for each speaker.  That gives me maximum control with the DSP to tune for each speaker and set time delays for the best staging in the boat.  

The two pair of M880 on the tower will make your ears bleed no problem while surfing.  One pair wouldn’t be enough for us though.  And one pair looks like mouse ears.  Two pairs just looks strong.  I find that near field I like to turn down the treble a bit on the JL speakers since we listen to pretty musical stuff (i.e. instruments higher than mere vocals).  They’re very good at musical reproduction.  BUT, in a boat with a lot of low end noise humans tend to turn up the volume until we can hear those drums and deep vocals.  Since tunes are generally flat because they were done in the driveway.  The highs end up being louder than necessary to hear clearly.  That’s been the case with the Rockford Fosgate Punch series speakers that were OEM (strongly the case) and the Wetsounds HLCDs I had before (that’s the horns fault).  

Regardless you’ll have an EQ on your boat one way or another so you can balance the sound exactly how you want easily and leave it.

For your tower speakers.  This isn’t for everyone, but please consider if you ride with a Bimini deployed often.  Putting tower speakers under the Bimini, especially tucked up high on the tower out of the way, will attenuate the sound to the surfer so it sounds under powered and muted.  And it’ll punish your cabin occupants.  Put the tower speakers above the Bimini and you can actually talk to the people around you while the volume’s up for the surfer.  The surfer gets to hear great music as well.  

For the sub.  Port it and radiate it to the cabin.  End of story!  Sealed didn’t sound nearly as strong, and I tried for a year to live with it firing to the side and in to the cabin.

For the 8” speakers, make sure you pull your OEM ones out and measure behind them.  The M880’s are DEEP.  Go pull the specs.  I had to put some rings on mine mostly to get them pointed in the right direction.  But the extra spacing helped fit them as well.  Malibu was stupid about pointing all 4 8” speakers directly at the rear bench.  Just dumb.  I believe that’s fixed in the new boats.

Walkway speakers aren’t worth their weight in salt.  I’m not familiar with where they are in a 24MXZ, but if you can move them down to your feet and put in 7” component speakers with the tweeters pointed right at your driver’s ears you’ll really appreciate the improvement.

I’m not going to get into what I think of the factory audio head unit and the humming and hissing and proprietary amp connectors.  Go aftermarket and allow yourself the option in your install to migrate to other EQs.  I obviously went with DSPs and dedicated volume controls.  A WS-420EQ or Exile’s stuff would work fine.  Whatever you like.

If you have any more questions, just ask.  I’m full of opinions. I can't directly compare them to Exiles because no one on this lake who's out often seems to have them.  It's a lot of JL and Wetsounds and then less well known stuff. 

My opinion though to sum it up is take a HARD look at your budget.  JL will be more expensive by a good bit.  You can get some back selling your OEM stuff, but not as much as you'd hope.  I think Exile or JL would suit your needs if you put enough quality power to them and tune them correctly. Go JL if you can.

Edited by Slurpee
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