Opinions on replacement speaker. Wet Sounds versus Skar

[W3bexec]

I am planning a budget stereo upgrade that is probably going to come in 2 phases so it will take some time. Originally I planned on using Wet Sounds XS-65i's to replace the stock speakers and add 2 more in the cockpit area. However as I have been looking the Skar SK65M's keep looking better and better and seem to be a real deal for the buck. Now I having trouble deciding between the two. The more I research the Skar's they seem to sound just as good if not better and are more capable.

From what I understand (please correct me if any of you know better) the WS's would be more of a drop in install (outside of new wiring) and the existing holes would be fine but the Skar's will be larger, almost true 6.5", and I'll need to make the holes bigger. So 2 things are making me wary of going with the Skar's.

- I might run into a diameter constraint with the bow speakers. In the 18 AR240 those speakers are in a raised area of the fiberglass that look perfectly sized for the 5" inch or so holes. After install it looks like the Skar's would be right at touching the upholstery as they are like 7.5 at the grill. Worried about them looking weird even if the cuts I make are perfect.

- Permanently changing the size of the holes to accommodate the Skar's. Seems I am fully committed to not going back to a common 6.5 after that.

Thoughts?

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Keep it simple. The WS are true 6.5, the Skars are oversized. Unless you went to a 8" speaker or something, I wouldn't both cutting.

 

[W3bexec]

Good advice, thanks! In the end I went with the Wet Sounds and speaker holes we're fine.

Pretty amazing how crappy these "Marine Audio" speakers are, and the install job. All 4 of them had what I could best describe as half the screw the through the outer cone. Looks like the 2018 AR240 has black plastic inserts in the bow area with predrilled screw holes but the stock speakers don't fit the predrilled hole locations. One of them had 3 sets of holes where someone must have have had to re-drill the stock speaker. The WS fit the unused predrilled holes in the bow which was nice.