2011 Cobalt 262 WSS upgrades

[mluters]

I decided to do a few spring upgrades to my 262 WSS...I've had the boat for almost 2 years and decided it was time to add the Corsa Capt's Call exhaust and upgrade the stereo. I ordered the Corsa exhaust kit for my 8.1L HO 496 back in January and decided to install it myself. Just took a little time and a lot of measuring...here are two clips




For the sound system:
1. I replaced the six Kicker 6.5 inch speakers with JL Audio M770-CCX-SG-TB speakers
2. Replaced the 10" Kicker sub with a JL Audio M10IB5-SG-TB sub
3. Replaced the MB Quart 6 channel amp with 2 JL Audio marine amps MHD900/5 and MHD600/4
4. Added Sirius XM radio to the factory Sony head unit
5. Left the 2 Samson tower speakers alone

I now a have 8 speakers and 1 sub being powered by 9 channels and 1500 watts

[jhnmdahl]

Yeah, that's definitely a different sound for a Cobalt - sure to turn some heads even idling at the dock.

How to the JL speakers compare to the stock Kicker speakers? I was all set to make the same switch to JL Audio M-series marine speakers when I took delivery of my boat, but found the stock stuff surprisingly usable. It may still be on the menu someday, but an objective description now that you've heard the difference between the two would be great. Thanks,

John

[mluters]

Yeah, that's definitely a different sound for a Cobalt - sure to turn some heads even idling at the dock.

How to the JL speakers compare to the stock Kicker speakers? I was all set to make the same switch to JL Audio M-series marine speakers when I took delivery of my boat, but found the stock stuff surprisingly usable. It may still be on the menu someday, but an objective description now that you've heard the difference between the two would be great. Thanks,

John

John,
I found the stock Kicker speakers and Mb Quart amp very acceptable...in fact I would call it a very good factory sound setup but not a great sound system. I found listening to the factory stuff at low levels was very acceptable but the minute you turned it up...the distortion creeps in. I'm quite picky when it comes to sound quality and really wanted a better setup.

I first replaced all six 6.5" Kicker speakers with the JL Audio 7.7" and I was quite surprised what a difference that made by itself. The larger speakers added depth and bass to the sound right away and just had a fuller sound even at low levels. I then replaced the single 6 channel amp with two JL Audio amps...now I had the power to drive these speakers at higher levels without distortion. After all the upgrades the new system is able to handle a variety of music at all different listening levels and do it with clean crisp highs and great mid range. I would say if you really wanted bone shaking bass the boat would definitely need one more sub...but I don't plan on doing that.

Hope this helps,
Maris

[Skiingstrongman]

I'm looking at doing something very similar to this. Did you use the existing wiring or did you rerun the wire? Did you have to pull any of the panels if you did? Also did you have any issues with the 7.7 fitting in the current speaker spots? A lot of the fiberglass is preshaped and I wasn't sure if it would be big enough for 7.7s. I don't mind cutting the hole bigger but I want to make sure the grill isn't hanging over the pre cut contour. Our boats are very similar design yours is bigger but has similar contours. Thanks!

[mluters]

Strongman,
I used the existing wiring but had to cut bigger holes in the fiberglass. The JL Audio 7.7 just barely fit...a little messy cutting the fiberglass but not to bad. I did run new wires for the 2 new amps and I did replace my tower speakers with new Samson Sports two-way speakers. Hope this helps.

[Skiingstrongman]

That's about what I figured. Yea I think the 7.7 would be just a bit snug in mine. My plan is

New Clarion head unit
6-650 wet sounds speakers
1- 10 wet sounds amp
2- rev 8 tower speakers

I really like the look of the JL but I feel the 650 have better output from wet sounds so it's a better bang for the size.

Thanks for the review. I have all winter to think it over.

[Tuscany]

Corsa exhaust.
Guys dream, woman's nightmare.