Exile Reviews?

[jaceaser]

I need to replace speakers and amps in my boat so I've searching trying to find the best value(not cheapest route). I live in Austin so WetSounds is king, but Exile keeps popping up here and there and I hadn't heard of them. It seems they have a quality product and is less than WetSounds. Does anyone have any experience with Exile amps/speakers? I currently have kicker 5 channel that seems to be busted, 6 kicker 6.5's that have seen better days, a sub seems good, 2 icon 8's one of them doesn't seem to be working and a 2 channel wet sounds probably an older(<3 years) sd amp. My priority is cabin and then tower.

[25cents]

I have their XM9 tower speakers and I had to say that I have been really happy with them. I have JL's as my in boats and they work well together. Also I have been really impressed with how easy they are to work with when I have needed to connect with them. I think the guys name was Brian.

[duffymahoney]

I have heard the exile stuff, it's definitely nice. They are priced very similar. They have a 9" tower speaker, but the wetsounds 10" tower speaker sound better imho. The only tower speaker that has similar full sound is the old NVS setups. Maybe look for used 9-10" tower speakers?

What are your goals? Party cove? Wakeboard and rocking out? Surf and rock out?

I would send the 5 channel kicker amp in for repairs or maybe trouble shoot what is going on with it? A lot of people replace amps that would be more cost effective to send in for repairs.

Replace interior 6.5"

Keep subwoofer

Find out what is wrong with the icon 8s? I am sure wetsounds would stand behind them. If they work, sell them and get something bigger.

[chpthril]

Yes, ive had experience with exile, 2 short seasons was all i could stand. I'll get the easy stuff out of the way first. Exile does not have a 9" speaker. Do not get fooled by their deceptive nomenclature. Both the exile tower speaker offerings are an 8" speaker just like the Wet Sounds Icon-8 that you have and the Rev-8 HLCD, and Kicker KM-8, JL 880, Rockford PM282 and even the Bazoka tube 8" tower speaker.

There is nothing in the exile offering that is innovative or original, or even R&D'd by them. They source existing parts and components and label them with maybe doing a minor one-off tweak. This is how they keep their prices down. Further, they do not have a distribution network and sell direct to the consumer. For the most part, their products are listed at a cheaper price than Wet Sounds, and they should be. They are no where near the level of build quality and marine design that Wet Sounds is.

You want the best value, stay with Kicker and you can trust me on that! Far better built and WAY more in-house design.

First, I would diagnose that inoperative Icon-8. We can help you with that. Also, can you provide the amp model or maybe even a picture of it? Polished stainless shroud, light gray/silver or charcoal almost black. This is also helpful in working on an upgrade plan.

What seems to be the issue with the Kicker amp? What model is it? Is a huge amp thats silver or charcoal in color with the cable connections on the ends and dials on the front or is it smaller and more light gray with a little door that opens to the settings and the connections are on the other side from that door?

So lets get the rest of the system evaluated and anything not working, figured out as to why.

Next, what are your tower speaker goals? Party cove/surfing, wake range projection or a setup that does both great with little compromise.

[BCRider]

That's a great reply Mike and I'm glad someone finally said it. I've heard it right out of Tim's mouth but of course he may be a bit biased considering he his wetsounds. It's good to hear someone such as yourself acknowledge it as well.

[chpthril]

Just to reinforce my comments regarding the size of the exile xm9 and sxt9, here are a couple pics i have. You can see that the xm9 is only 5/16" wider. This = no audible difference shows that the xm9 is comparable the Rev-8, placing both in the 8" speaker class. I dont have a pic, but the Rev-10 comes in @ 8-3/8"

[jaceaser]

Mike thank's for the response. I never got the update you responded. So I did some triaging 2 weeks ago on the tower speakers. I think they are pro 60's not icon 8's. I took the connection from the working speaker and swapped it with the bad one and the bad one still didn't work, however the good one worked the whole time. It seems to be a bad speaker. Below are the answers to your questions.

1. The wetsounds amp is a 2 channel chrome silver looking amp. I wasn't able to find the model number on it.
2. The kicker amp is the black/charcoal 5 channel amp. Looks like this http://www.crutchfield.com/S-OevXMRT...r-ZX250-2.html, but 5 channel. The sub seems to work fine, but the cabin speakers sound terrible and half don't even work. If I press(not turn) the gain for the 1-2 channel, I can hear static and some speakers may or may not start working.
3. Tower speaker goals are mostly for tubing/surfing. My kids are young so no cover partying except for my fraternity brothers bachelor party this summer LOL.

Thanks for the help.

[chpthril]

1) Sounds like the Syn-2. great amp in the right application. Lets see where we can reuse this, providing we are sure its working proper. This amps is perfect for a pair of Icon-8, which sounds like what might fit your needs.

2) the Kicker ZX700.5 was a stout amp and a solid one in its day. Very capable of driving 2-3 pairs of in-boats and a 2 ohm sub. I would want to make sure the signal in to the amp's full range side is good and then wire up one at a time, a known good test speaker just to make sure of the condition of the 4 speakers chnls. Not impossible to have an issue with one or more. Sounds like this amp may be at the end of life span. Its not the marine version, so there could be some corrosion going on in side. Could be possible to clean the tuning POTs and solve some of that.

3) Icon-8 in that Syn-2.

[jaceaser]

kicker amp.jpg Its that amp(not my setup), but all the terminals look corroded. I'm not sure it's worth the time to fix it. You are right it is a Syn 2. I was quoted a SYN-DX 6 to replace the kicker amp, which is probably what I'll go with along with the icon-8 since it looks like I can run 2 pairs wiring them in parallel correct?

Thanks for your help!

[chpthril]

My one concern here is that your woofer could be a 4 ohm DVC, meaning it has final impedance of 2 ohm. The Syn-DX-6 will not allow for that load to be bridged on chnls 5/6, but you could run it just on chnl 5 for 300W rms. No audible difference in the woofer, but building a proper enclosure for it would make a huge difference in its performance and sound. The Syn-DX-6 will allow for a future woofer upgrade.

Yes, you can run 2 pair of Icon-8 on the Syn-2.

[jaceaser]

Sorry the plan is also to replace the woofer as well. Thanks!

[chpthril]

Sounds like a complete overhaul. In that case, I wouldnt focus on whats a good replacement for this ol part or that old part. Decide on all the drivers and the amp(2) selection will fall into place.

[jaceaser]

Yea basically I'm doing a complete overhaul, but it seems the only thing I can salvage is that Syn-2 amp. What do you recommend for cabin's and woofer? I want good value for my money since I'm only planning to keep the boat 2 - 3 years before trading up.