Agreed ive just setup 4 of the 6.5 components and a pair of the 6x9.....lots of pop and no budget issue's

Memphis audio

Im running mtx 7.7 coaxs and the sound good, price was nice too.

Alpine best bang for the buck. I use it in all my installs now. Great stuff and not super expensive.

I just can't bring myself to spend 400-500 dollars for a set of 6.5 coaxials or component speakers. In the home audio world, for 500 bucks, you can get a great sounding pair of speakers. For example, I recently bought a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 70 series tower speakers. They come with a 1'' silk tweeter, 2 mid woofers, two subwoofers, and weigh 47 lbs each. There is no comparison to the sound these speakers can reproduce, compared to a pair of 6.5'' car/boat drivers. The cockpit of a boat holds almost no acoustical qualities. I think what most guys look for in a boat stereo is its capability to play loud, and not distort.

Not at all suggesting going to walmart and buying some ''Dual" brand speakers, but not everyone needs to spend 1,000 bucks for two sets of cockpit speakers. Most boat speakers get installed in open air gunwales, and subs in open air enclosures. I feel the enclosure is just as important as the driver sitting in it. Some of the best sounding home audio subwoofers, like the Miller and Kreisel stuff, focused on the enclosure design, and amplifier design, not just the driver. A cheap sub in a great enclosure will sound better than a crazy expensive sub in a crap enclosure.

I purchased alpines M700 7'' cockpit speakers, and two of their marine 10'' subs a few years back. Price was right. Coaxials in the gunwales, subs under back seat. Initially I had the subs powered from a smaller Aurasound amp. Good amp, but a little undersized for the application. Switched that amp to a Fosgate 800.2, and the subs hit MUCH better, and sound much cleaner. This year I need to build an enclosure for them though, as they are simply mounted under the rear seat. I expect them to improve quite a bit in sound quality and bass output. Point is, a speaker is only as good as the amp driving it, the setup and tuning of the crossovers, and the enclosure its in. So keep that in mind when putting a system together. Sometimes big $$$ checks alone wont get you good sound. If you were to disect alot of these brands of speakers, I think you'll find minimal differences in the actual driver, as far as construction/material.

I am running 3 sets of the polk DB component, one set of Fusion marine 7", and one set of lanzar 4" metal tweets (along with 3 12 subs in a custom box) The polks are down low and have decent sound quality, have held up for 3 years, and take a good amount of power. I would rate the polks at a 7, they fall a little short in the mid bass dept. The 7" fusion are amazing speakers and really pound the mid bass. If you do a little cutting you can jump up to a 7, which I recommend. They come with 3 grills each (open grill not pictured.) The open grill is paintable to match if you wish http://www.amazon.com/Fusion-MS-FR70...usion+marine+7

Want the sound to really shine? Add a pair of the tweets up high, they fill the acoustic problems of a boat very well. I simply can not explain what a great addition these are to a boat stereo, they come in smaller sizes as well....get them up high http://www.amazon.com/LANZAR-OPTIBT4...lanzar+tweeter

Great info guys! Much appreciated. You all have some sweet setups, that's for sure!

Question about the sub. I plan on using the original location..mounted through the rear bench seat wall. Has anyone built an enclosure to enclose the back of the sub?

Take the time to build at least a sealed box to specs for the sub. You can also go ported, however it is a little more complicated. I always use a box, and for my listening I like sealed for better sound quality. The box will raise your SPL on the sub, making it sound louder and handle more power without worrying about over excursion.

Under seat I have used the floor in the boat for one wall, seat base and fire wall for the others. Build up sides with wood and add a top sealing all joints with 3M 4200. Relatively simple to do. Make sure you have at least the minimum box size.

A free air speaker doesn't mean no enclosure, or a crappy sealed enclosure. It simply means the enclosure can be any size. Air leaks from your seat rob you of sound. And waves from the back of the speaker cancel out the waves from the front, unless tuned at a specific hz (ported). Get her sealed up and enjoy the new sound.

I totally agree with this. My 6.5" components cost me 60 each set. Subs were $45 each. Total was less than 400. Setup is very important.

I decided to go with the Kicker 11km6lw. They have led lights and the 3 pairs were under $240 from amazon. Now with the speakers I realize how bad my head unit sounds. I am trying to find a good unit to replace the Clarion XMD1. Is this a single din? Also, any recommendations on units under $300?