Kicker km8 help

Hey everyone long time member coming out of hibernation lol. Had to take a break from everything since college and work didn’t leave very much time for anything else. But now that college is over i went ahead and got myself a new toy, couldn’t bring myself to get rid of the Tacoma though so now I’ve got two. Anyways, the new toy is a 2018 Polaris General 1000 two seater with ride command. I’m about to start building my new cage for it and am wanting to build the speakers into it. I know what I’m wanting to use for speakers because of cost/quality I’m leaning towards kicker km8’s but have no clue about amp choices and was hoping a guru on here would be able to help me out. The plan right now is two kicker km6.5 mounted under the dash, four kicker km8’s mounted in the roof, and another four kicker km8’s in cans mounted in the bed. Anyone have any input on which way to go for an amp. The amp also needs to be a marine amp because of open cab/conditions

 

The speakers I’m planning on using
https://www.kicker.com/km-8-inch-4-ohm-led-coaxial
https://www.kicker.com/km-6-5-inch-4-ohm-led-coaxial

 

So 8 of the 8” and 2 of the 6.5”

the 8’s are rated for 150w RMS each (x8 = 1200w RMS)

the 6.5’s are rated for 65w RMS each (x2 = 130w RMS)

so 1330w RMS total. That’s 97A of power being pulled at 13.6V

step one will be a BIG ASS alternator (and an extra battery or two wouldn’t hurt)

I’d look into the KXM line from Kicker. The KXMA800.8 would get you 100w each for your big speakers. Then run the two 6.5’s off whatever your source unit it.

I’ve used that amp on a few ski boats and been very impressed with it.

make sure for your 8’s to get the 2ohm version so they can make the most of the amp’s available power.

 

I was thinking two extra batteries mounted in the bed. Is there a formula to calculate run time from amp draw? (Or would that depend on volume?) I’ll check that amp out for sure. Is there a 2ohm version of the km8? All I’ve found is 4ohm versions.

 

Also, any quality alternatives for zone control other than the wet sounds unit linked? https://www.wetsounds.com/product/WS-220-BT
Not really wanting to drop 500 on zone control but not wanting to be the jerk blasting music constantly because everything is linked to one volume knob

 

For cheap zone control, RCA volume knobs

 

Yeah i never claimed to be the brightest. Completely forgot those exist

 

For calculating power, you need to know the capacity of your batteries, typically measured in amp hours (AH)

Deep cycle lead-acid batteries can only be discharged about 50% before damage starts to occur.

so if you have a 100AH deep cycle battery, we can only use 50% of that, and that Kicker amp is pulling 67A of power at “full blast” (800w/12V) Then we have .75 hours of play time. (50AH/68A)

 

And that’s odd. They used to make them in 2ohm versions but I don’t see them now.

 

Okay. So I’ve been doing a little math (scary stuff ) and I’ve hit a block. The batteries i was planning on using was a group 24 marine with a 75 ah rating. Using two of them would give me 150 ah rating if I’m thinking about this correctly. Following the 50% rule you mentioned means i have 75 ah of true reserve before battery damage occurs. When i figure in the charging system of my Polaris (560 watts @ 3000 rpm) is where i get confused. The 560 watts would translate to 46 ah charging (My research showed that 70-75% is used by the stock electrical system.) This would mean I’m actually charging my reserve batteries at a rate of 11.5ah. So this is where i get lost. I’m losing 97 amps an hour at full volume, with a 75 amp reserve and a 11.5a charge, i have a theoretical run time of 53 minutes before my batteries are dead, right? Sorry for the confusion. Hopefully you can decipher it

 

And I’m not ignoring your comment about upgrading to a big ass alternator. It’s not that simple on a side by side as it uses a stator in place of a alternator

 

Yes, you are correct.
800w is a LOT of power. Even in a full-size vehicle. My entire stereo system in my truck is running on a Kicker 800.5

My biggest question is WHY do you want all those speakers? What’s the end goal?
I do lots of boats decked out with lake-party systems, and I had cans on the roll bar in my Jeep so I’m all down for loudness, but we might can get the same result with less power once I know what we’re aiming for

 

I’m looking for my sxs to be the life of the party. My crew that i run with is all on 16” of lift and 40” bkt with pretty good sound systems. I can’t do all of that. But a bad add sound system is something i think i can manage

 

The four 8s in the bed i really want. I could step the four 8s in the can down to four 6s and get rid of two 6s if it would help a ton. That would bring it down to 860 watts or 63 amps compared to 97. Or would i have to lower it even more to make it feasible? The part that confuses me is my friend is pushing 6 revo 8s and two 10” subs on the stock system with no problem and all he has is two spare batteries

 

Then he’s either
1) not pushing near the amount of power we’re discussing
2) is drawing more power from the alternator than you mentioned, either by having a larger one or shutting off unneeded electrical devices
3) he is DESTROYING those batteries and will be replacing them every 1-2 years

While I normally deal with boats and less with off road toys, the scenarios are the same and typically it’s some combination of all 3 things above.

I would get models of the amps he’s running, see what they’re outputting, and go from there. You might be surprised at what 300w of power can do on good speakers.
I was putting 75w to each of the two cans I had on my Jeep. I could swivel them both backwards and be the stereo for any tailgate or bonfire.

 

Knowing him I’m gonna go with option three lol. When you mention 300w of power with good speakers would surprise me, do you have anything in mind?

 

As I get to thinking about it, here’s what I would do

2 of the Kicker KMTC8 or 4 of the KMTC65 mounted where they can swivel forward and back
Power them with the PXA300.4, 4 channels for the 6.5’s or bridged to 150W x 2 for the 8’s
Then if I’m feeling spicy, throw in the Kicker 10” TB enclosure (2ohm) powered by the PXA500.1. I might not do this if I picked the 8’s because they can produce decent bass as they are pretty big, but 150w each isn’t anything crazy compared to a dedicated sub.

the speakers alone would put out a TON of volume (again, I’ve done them on wakeboard towers and they scream with real power) and those PXA amps are super efficient so you’re only drawing about 25A when you’re at full volume. Then crank up the sub when you want to rock out. That extra amp will pull another 40A, but you don’t have to use it all the time.

 

I’ve seen many many systems with wet-sounds speakers (to look cool) powered off Pyle and BOSS amps barely putting out 30w per channel, and draining the battery super fast.

 

First off i want to say thank you for your input. It’s clarified a lot that was fuzzy to me beforehand. Now that i know my power limitations i like you idea of just four 6s or two 8s ran by the 300.4. Does the km8 produce enough quality sound compete with two 6s. I feel that the 6s would be louder but I’m not sure how quality of the sound would be affected by the difference. It doesn’t matter how loud a system is to me if it sounds like crap that is all that people will remember.

 

the 8's will for sure get more bass. but the 6's may give you more versatility, such as all 4 backwards, all 4 into the cab, all 4 out in 4 directions 360 degrees, etc.

for me personally, if they will stay pointed the same direction 100% of the time, I'm taking the 8's.
but if you will swivel them around, I'm taking the 6's.

If I had to pick a scenario, I'd do the 8's in swivel cans mounted on the back roll bar.

or you can make a hell'a clean install and go here
https://www.kicker.com/45PGN5