How long do wetsounds last?

I haven't heard any complaints but, I was wondering how long wetsounds products tend to last. By this I mean working to their full potential.

I've personally seen pro 80's take a beating (not overpowered but played loud) for 5 years and just this last week one busted. The owner isn't sure what to do. But their product is AMAZING. Worth every penny.

Also, these were working to full potential until the bust. I have a pair of wetsounds on my boat. This boat has two pair. The other owner and myself are believers. If you haven't heard them get yourself a listen. It's worth it.

I love mine but for how much I paid for them vs how much they have been used I'm not too happy with them. I have owned them for approx five years, they have been used approx twenty times with minimal usage and I have had to ship one back for being blown and the mounts they came with have already bent to the point of having to buy new.. Plus their customer service sucks to be honest. Called three times in the past month and finally talked to someone three days ago...

I have Pro 485 production pair #3, have been running them since 2006. The boat has over 500 hours on it and the speakers have at least that as well. I am currently pushing them with a SYN 2 to each (700 watts each). Every component still works and all components are the original parts.

I don't baby em, I play em like I stole em. The boat has been in 2 sound off competitions, and on numerous tie-ups where it lead the fleet. I am able to hear distortion and I turn them down when I do. I grabbed a couple boxes for them 2 years ago assuming I would need to send them in for reconditioning but have not needed to send them in yet.

Originally Posted by tazman7

I love mine but for how much I paid for them vs how much they have been used I'm not too happy with them. I have owned them for approx five years, they have been used approx twenty times with minimal usage and I have had to ship one back for being blown and the mounts they came with have already bent to the point of having to buy new.. Plus their customer service sucks to be honest. Called three times in the past month and finally talked to someone three days ago...

That's got to be the first negative comment I've EVER seen on them. Not doubting you, but I honestly call them almost twice a week and never have a problem with phone answering. They're there until 5:30 CST, so make sure you call during normal business hours.

As for the clamps, how have they bent? They're solid, and for them to bend, there may be more to the story.

cam,

I will tell you that we build our products like no others. We go way above and beyond when it comes to engineering and design to provide a rock solid product designed to last. Plus we have been doing this for going on 10 years since I started the company. We have been building HLCD tower speakers for a long time as well as other marine specific products. So we have done more real world testing to know what works and doesn't work. Tower speakers for example. We use larger gauge wire, internal support structures, larger crossovers with higher power handling parts, larger high temp voice coils, Kevlar reinforced composite cones with a UV stable surround...the list goes on. Stainless steel clamps and stainless steel grille overlays. Not chrome plated pot metal and chrome plated plastic grilles. Chrome will fail and pit over time. In boats and subs, we use a santoprene rubber spider and thermoformed surround. These are two of the most common failure points in marine speakers. Most others are cloth spiders that are treated. They will dry rot over time. Other surrounds are glued and will un glue over time. We melt the surround to the cone so they are bonded as one and will not come apart. Our coaxial are a true component style coaxial with a grille mounted tweeter. So there is no pole piece for water to get into the voice coil. We use a special nylas frame that is a composite mix of nylon and fiberglass with a geloy composite grille with a covered magnetic system. All these are built to last and will not rust and fail over time. I have seen speakers touted as marine that are stamped steel frame, exposed magnets, pole piece tweeters. I would suggest when It comes time, take a look and listen. Open a tower speaker up and compare. Look at all the parts. Compare in boats. Trust me, build quality is something I feel we go beyond.

Taz, Sorry to hear your comments. But this is not something I ever hear about. Our customer service is also like out build quality. Second to none. So if you have had issues. Please let me know. I would like to know if you left messages and who’s extension you left it on so I can find out what’s going on. As for the speakers. As stated above, we build them to another level. But a speaker is a mechanical device and how it is played and what power, and what distortion. Will determine when a speaker is blown. We have seen guys blow speakers in a week who did not know how to set them up or play them without distortion. Heck, there is a you tube video of a guy playing a bass mechanic spl competition song on his rev 10 at full range like they are sub woofers. The REV 10 are not sub woofers, just because they are 10 inch drivers. So you see things like that and there is no build you can do to a speaker when someone abuses it like that. Then you have Mikeski who is telling the truth. He literally has the 3rd set of Pro 485 ever built. The first pair we sold to anyone was to him and the 1 and 2 production pairs were our demo’s. Mike is very knowledgeable in audio. Not saying anything about your situation as I don’t know what the story is.

But feel free to email me at twhite@wetsounds.com so I can find out why it took 3 times for you to call to get a call back.

Tim
Wet Sounds

Tim I am having the same problem. I call and no matter what option I chose I keep getting the message Liz Minks is not available. Sent you a PM

Harold,

I just called our number 877-938-7757 and hit option 3 for tech support and Rob in tech support picked up on the first ring. So not sure whats going on.

Tim
Wet Sounds

Tim,
I am guessing that tuning the system is an important aspect of the longevity of the speaker. Also proper installation, wire gauge, and matching the speaker to the correct amp. Do you still get the warranty if you do the install yourself? Also for tuning the system, do you have any manuals or instructions? My main concern is tuning the components so I don't abuse them.

Thanks I will give it a try. Never had a problem before

cam,

you got it. Tuning and the entire system set up is key. Yes you still have a warranty. All of our guys can help with system design, set up and install and tuning. Many of our sales guys are former installers so will be very helpful getting you set up right.

Tim
Wet Sounds

4 Pro 80's + 2 485's with over 1,100 hours on them, bought new in April 2007.
I've blown 1 Pro 80 and 1 speaker on the 485. Each cost ~$200 in new parts from WetSounds and ~10 minutes to fix with a screwdriver.

WetSounds tech support has been great to me, never had an issue with them answering.

I can't recommend WetSounds enough.

Cheers,

Dusty

The only complaint I have is when I call Wetsounds and press 7 to hear a duck quack... I don't hear a duck quack
Tim, can you get that fixed?

in all seriousness, Wetsounds has been a great company to me and always taken care of me if I had questions, issues, wanted to upgrade, or questions on powering my speakers. I have all Wetsounds components (except head unit, but that's a given) and they are great. I went from Pro80's to Rev10's and power them with a Syn2 and Syn4 powers interior XS-650's and Xs-12 is powered by another syn2. System is slamming and just sounds great. They take a hammering from me and my interiors are from around 2008 without issues. They were even moved from my old boat.
I sold my Pro80's when I upgraded to Rev10's and they were still working and going great. I sold my xs-10fa with Syn Micro and it was still going strong too.

greg, i know i know. we changed phone providers and it messed some extensions up.

i keep forgetting to get that dam duck fixed!

Tim
Wet Sounds

One of my friend got WetSounds for SeaDoo since 2009...still going strong...