Stereo - To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade

[Homeskillet]

"Did you chat /w Creative before you ordered? I have a feeling if you tell them you are ordering three pairs of speakers and an amp they will cut you a better deal than 10% off. I will tell you we paid less than that for six of the same speakers, and it's enough of a difference that I would at least try to talk to them. Maybe I just caught them in a good mood?"

I never even thought about calling them. I did send them an email yesterday asking if they had any specials, deals, refurbished, clearance deals for Wetsounds or JL Audio. I gave them the basic idea of what I had in mind, but I haven't heard back from them yet. I think I will give them a call next week and see if there are any deals to be had.

[NautiGirl]

"Did you chat /w Creative before you ordered? I have a feeling if you tell them you are ordering three pairs of speakers and an amp they will cut you a better deal than 10% off. I will tell you we paid less than that for six of the same speakers, and it's enough of a difference that I would at least try to talk to them. Maybe I just caught them in a good mood?"

I never even thought about calling them. I did send them an email yesterday asking if they had any specials, deals, refurbished, clearance deals for Wetsounds or JL Audio. I gave them the basic idea of what I had in mind, but I haven't heard back from them yet. I think I will give them a call next week and see if there are any deals to be had.

20% off MSRP is pretty typical for JL stuff. I would call or online chat with creative ask them to put together a package for you with what you want and see how close to 20% you can get.

They most likely wont do anything off the refurbished amp but they should off the speakers. Also 20% off the new amp makes it a much more difficult choice to go refurbished imho.

[NautiGirl]

Gonna get the JL Audio amp that jhnmdahl suggested to drive some JL Audio MX650-CCX-SG's. I know I talked about stepping up to the 770's, but I don't think I want to enlarge the speaker holes - call me names if you have too but I just can't do it at this point lol. I am planning to go with this set up for this upcoming season and see how I like it. If a sub is in order, I'll look into that for the next season.

The speakers with the discount come to $567 (after the 10% discount code provided by my friends here - thanks!!) and free shipping
The JL Audio "refurbished" amp is $409 (didn't find any sort of discount for that).

I found a roll of 14ga speaker wire on Amazon for $25. I am going to use 6ga battery cable for the amp. And I'll put a good quality fuse in as well.

How's everyone feel about my decision???

Like Nauti said, step up to 4ga on your power and ground.

I think you'll be happy with this set up and if you feel you need more bass you can add a sub down the road.

Another thought Homeskillet. If you add a sub down the road that will mean another amp. Depending on how sure you are on adding the sub it wouldn't be a horrible idea to just pull 1/0 Gague wire now. It's overkill for the M600/6, but it will making adding an amp for the sub much easier. When the time comes to add the second amp you would just have to connect a distribution block to the 1/0 you already ran then run two short 4GA wires to each amp.

I haven't run prices to see if its cheaper to run multiple 4GA runs or a single 1/0 run and then buy distribution blocks, but something to think about.

[Big Block Power]

Gonna get the JL Audio amp that jhnmdahl suggested to drive some JL Audio MX650-CCX-SG's. I know I talked about stepping up to the 770's, but I don't think I want to enlarge the speaker holes - call me names if you have too but I just can't do it at this point lol. I am planning to go with this set up for this upcoming season and see how I like it. If a sub is in order, I'll look into that for the next season.

The speakers with the discount come to $567 (after the 10% discount code provided by my friends here - thanks!!) and free shipping
The JL Audio "refurbished" amp is $409 (didn't find any sort of discount for that).

I found a roll of 14ga speaker wire on Amazon for $25. I am going to use 6ga battery cable for the amp. And I'll put a good quality fuse in as well.

How's everyone feel about my decision???

Like Nauti said, step up to 4ga on your power and ground.

I think you'll be happy with this set up and if you feel you need more bass you can add a sub down the road.

Another thought Homeskillet. If you add a sub down the road that will mean another amp. Depending on how sure you are on adding the sub it wouldn't be a horrible idea to just pull 1/0 Gague wire now. It's overkill for the M600/6, but it will making adding an amp for the sub much easier. When the time comes to add the second amp you would just have to connect a distribution block to the 1/0 you already ran then run two short 4GA wires to each amp.

I haven't run prices to see if its cheaper to run multiple 4GA runs or a single 1/0 run and then buy distribution blocks, but something to think about.

Jeff I'm glad your dating that now. Lol
I really think we should have done that to ours vs running everything twice.

[NautiGirl]

Like Nauti said, step up to 4ga on your power and ground.

I think you'll be happy with this set up and if you feel you need more bass you can add a sub down the road.

Another thought Homeskillet. If you add a sub down the road that will mean another amp. Depending on how sure you are on adding the sub it wouldn't be a horrible idea to just pull 1/0 Gague wire now. It's overkill for the M600/6, but it will making adding an amp for the sub much easier. When the time comes to add the second amp you would just have to connect a distribution block to the 1/0 you already ran then run two short 4GA wires to each amp.

I haven't run prices to see if its cheaper to run multiple 4GA runs or a single 1/0 run and then buy distribution blocks, but something to think about.

Jeff I'm glad your dating that now. Lol
I really think we should have done that to ours vs running everything twice.

Forget I mentioned it. 1/0 wire is really expensive. It's way cheaper to run two 4GA runs.

[Homeskillet]

Got it! Very cool of you to check for me

[Homeskillet]

https://creativeaudio.net/syn6-kb/ $399

https://creativeaudio.net/m600-6-k/ $409

Can't decide between the two (obviously the diff in price is nothing - but they both seem like good deals). I'd say I'm probably 80-20 NOT going to add a sub to the package.

[Big Block Power]

https://creativeaudio.net/syn6-kb/ $399

https://creativeaudio.net/m600-6-k/ $409

Can't decide between the two (obviously the diff in price is nothing - but they both seem like good deals). I'd say I'm probably 80-20 NOT going to add a sub to the package.

The syn 6 has different ratings on channel 5 and 6 that's why I went with the htx.
https://creativeaudio.net/htx6-kb/

[Homeskillet]

So that 1000w Wet sounds one wouldn't work for me. But the one in the link you attached would right? $400 for the amp is about my max. I actually prefer "refurbished" over new with a quality company (My installer guy says that the Kicker 800.5 (5 channel) would be a good quality amp too. Reburbished one's sell for a little less than $400 but they're harder to find... the one I DID find appeared to be a "return" not a refurb.

Thanks for your patience with me. When I get to this point (when I'm about to pull the trigger) I have a terrible tendency to over think things. Sometimes to a fault!!!!

[Big Block Power]

The htx will give you the same wattage across all 6 speakers. Plus the htx is a class D amp the syn is not. Yes you can make the syn 6 work but it get more difficult in wiring but it would be ready for a sub. There is a htx on ebay used even cheaper.

[NautiGirl]

BBP is the king of random Ebay Finds.

The WS HTX6 and the JL M600\6 are very similar. Without starting a fight, I like that JL is a bit more transparent /w their ratings. For example they provide output wattage at both 14.4v and 12.6 where WS just says the amp makes 125x6. Really I am nitpicking though and I wouldn't hesitate to run either amp if it worked better in my system setup.

If you were going to go refurbished anyway that Ebay find by BBP would be a solid choice.

[Homeskillet]

Thanks BBP. I have not been a very satisfied ebay customer (more than likely my fault for not doing more investigative work). But I think I'd prefer buying from Creative Audio.

[Big Block Power]

Thanks BBP. I have not been a very satisfied ebay customer (more than likely my fault for not doing more investigative work). But I think I'd prefer buying from Creative Audio.

All good. Its my easy button. That's how I found creative. They are big on ebay. I spend the other half of my life on eBay.

[Homeskillet]

Ordering my stuff this week.

I'm getting that HTX6 listed above and the JL MX650's (classic grill) bundled and delivered for $877. The guy I talked to was superb!!

I am going to attempt to pull the 14ga speaker wire and power wires myself. And then I'll have my guy take it from there.

[Homeskillet]

I should clarify that I am getting the refurb from Creative Audio. Not the one from Ebay