JL Audio M3-650x 6 Speakers + Subwoofer Stereo Package
Our JL Audio 6.5 inch, 4 speaker and subwoofer stereo package delivers full range sound, from the best brand in marine audio, while taking the guess work out of component selection. This kit includes
the 4 6.5" M3 speakers in your choice of grille style and color, with or without LEDs. It also includes a matching, 10" JL Audio M3 infinite baffle subwoofer, a JL Audio M-series amplifier, and an amp wiring kit.
(6) JL Audio M3 6.5" Speakers
The 6.5" JL Audio M3 speakers are one of our favorites for those that want the best sound quality possible, but aren't willing to spend the big bucks for the M6. These are the best overall 6.5" speakers in our opinion as they
handle similar power as the M6, they have a similar sized tweeter, and they just sound great. The 6.5" M3 speakers are available in with sport grilles in either white or titanium or with classic style grilles in white. Both the white and the titanium sport grille
models are available with or without RGB LEDs.
(1) M3 10" Subwoofer Included + Option to Add a Second
Out on the water, you are in an open air environment and bass can be difficult to hear. The JL Audio 10" M3 subwoofer will help fill out the bottom end of your music so that you have true, full-range sound. The JL Audio M3-10IB subwoofers are designed
for infinite baffle, or free-air installations. This means, you don't need to put the subwoofer in a box, instead you can mount it directly in the hull of your boat. The M3 10 inch subwoofers can handle 175 watts RMS and come with a single 4 ohm voice coil. A single subwoofer
is perfect for the M700/5, 5-channel amplifier. As for the second subwoofer, there is no such thing as too much bass in an open air environment like a boat. This is a matter of preference and/or budget.
JL Audio M-Series Amplifiers
With this kit, you have the option of choosing between several different options using the JL Audio M-Series amplifiers.
The best way to power this package with 1 subwoofer is with the 800 watt 8-channel amplifier. The speakers are powered by channels 1-6. Then, channels 7 & 8 are bridged to deliver 200 watts to the subwoofer.
If you opt for two subwoofers, we recommend going with two amplifiers, using the M600/6 and the M600/1.
If you want to save some money, you can run a 5 channel amplifier with M700/5 for a single subwoofer system or the M1000/5 for a dual subwoofer system. However, we recommend the first two options over the 5 channel amplifiers.
The JL Audio M-Series amplifiers use class D circuitry for maximum efficiency, deliver plenty of clean power, and will never shut down due to overheating. These amps use JL's Advance Thermal Rollback technology. When the amp starts getting warm, the amplifier will slightly decrease the
output without it being noticeable to your ear until the amplifier "cools off." Then, when it is back within the proper temperature, it goes back to full output. This means, on the hottest days of the year, no matter how loud you are playing your stereo, or how long you have been playing it, you don't have to worry about your amplifier
overheating and cutting out. It will not happen.
Stinger Marine Amp Wiring Kit
The Stinger marine amp wiring kit delivers power from your battery to the amplifier.
The difference between the Stinger marine amp kits and a car amp kit is the length of the ground wire and the copper conductors are tinned to resist corrosion. The length of the ground wire is important becuase you typically
do not have a place to connect to ground. In a car, the battery is grounded to the chassis or body of the vehicle and as long as you can find a mounting point, you can get to ground. Your boat does not typically have that luxury so instead of grounding to the body, we have to take the negative amp wire and run it to the negative terminal on the battery. The Stinger marine amp kit comes with 7 meters of red/yellow, 4 AWG, "Siamese", power wire.
The wires are molded together much like speaker wire so that you only need to pull one cable instead of two. Of course, like speaker wire, you can pull them apart, but the Siamese wire is easier to run. The amp wiring kit includes a fuse holder, ring terminals, and remote wire.
Other Items You Might Need that Are Not Included
We include the core essentials to any marine stereo system with this package, but there are also items that vary significantly from person-to-person and from boat-to-boat and it makes it nearly impossible to come up with a "good" solution to make everyone happy.
So becuase of this, there are items that you will likely need to purchase in addition to the package items to complete your stereo system, assuming you don't have them already.
RCA Cables
You need to get the signal from your radio to your amplifier. The most common way of doing this is with RCA cables. The JL Audio M-Series amplifiers do not accept high level inputs so you will need to use the pre-amp outputs from
your head unit to connect the radio to the amplifier(s).
You need to know how many channels you have coming out of your head unit and how long the cables need to be. With this package, you only NEED 2 channels. The JL M700/5 and the M1000/5 both have input selector switches and can operate
with as few as 2 channels of input. However, if your head unit has front, rear, and subwoofer outputs you can have up to 6 channels of output from your head unit assuming you want to fade between front and rear as well as have separate subwoofer control.
If you don't care about fading front and rear, you only need two RCA cables, one for the speakers and one for the subwoofer.
In terms of length, you want to make sure that you have enough room to reach from your head unit to the amplifiers without pulling or straining the cables. At the same time, you don't want a 23 foot cable for a 6 foot run. The best way to measure is with rope, string, or any other wire you may have laying around.
Route the rope or string from your head unit to the amplifier location while making sure that you keep the wire close to a surface where you may actually secure it. It is best to keep your signal wires separate from your power wires to limit EFI noise. One you route the rope or string where the RCAs will go, mark the string and measure the length. Once you have the length, you now know the minimum length of cable you will need.
Speaker Wire
Simlar to the RCA situation, we do not include speaker wire with this package as there are too many variables from boat-to-boat.
If you are not using speakers with RGB LEDs, you can use standard marine speaker wire. We recommend using marine speaker wire because it is tinned to resist corrosion. Use rope, string, or a measuring tape to measure the runs from each speaker to the amplifier. Repeat the process for the subwoofer.
Add up all of the runs from the amplifier to each speaker and subwoofer location and remember that you would rather be too long than too short as you can alwayus cut down the wire later.
If you choose speakers WITH RGB LEDs, we recommend 6 conductor, RGB LED speaker wire. This is marine grade cable that has 6 wires in it. 2 wires to deliver sound for the speakers and 4 smaller wires to deliver power to the RGB LEDs. The two wires for the speakers connect to the respective positive and negative terminals on the speaker.
Then, there are wire leads on the back of the speakers for the RGB LEDs. The yellow wire is 12V+ while the red, blue, and green wires illuminate the red, blue, and green on the LED.
Circuit Breaker for the Amplifier
For marine applications, we recommend using a marine circuit breaker instead of a fuse to protect your amplifier. The circuit breaker is usually installed within a couple of feet of the battery and the biggest advantage over a fuse is that it can be reset. If you are out on the water and for whatever reason, you blow a fuse, you can't easily fix your problem. You have to have extra fuses on your boat,
remember where you put them, and you need the tools to disconnect the fuse from the fuse holder. With a circuit breaker, it trips, and you simply reset it and you are back in business. We know it all seems to add up, but we definitely recommend using a circuit breaker over a fuse to protect your amplifier.
RGB LED Controller (If You Selected LED Models)
If you select the M3 speakers with RGB LEDs, we recommend adding an RGB LED controller. This RGB LED controller will allow you to change the illumination color and/or select from various color-changing modes. Some even have Bluetooth and can connect to your Bluetooth source to light up and color change with the beat of the music. The RGB LED controllers vary by brand, price, and features.
The most important aspect is knowing the current draw of each speaker and subwoofer within your LED system to ensure that your RGB LED controller can handle the amount of current that the speakers and other lights connected to it will draw. Most RGB LED controllers can handle much more than the 4 speakers and subwoofer included with this kit.
Bass Knob for the Subwoofer
We recommend the mHD-RLC bass knob to control the subwoofer output of your system. The amount of bass varies from song to song. Sometimes you want more bass, other times the track is recorded with too much bass and you need to turn it down because you hear distortion. The fastest and easiest way to do this is with the JL Audio MHD-RLC. It connects to the amplifier
and is a rotary knob that allows you to adjust the bass easier and faster than messing with the subwoofer level on your head unit. You may be listening to some Guns n Roses and then someone decides that they need to hear Dr. Dre and they change the song. Those two songs are not going to have the same amount of bass output and the MHD-RLC allows you to quickly adjust the subwoofer
output accordingly.
The Bottom Line
The JL Audio M3-650X-S-61 package delivers great sound quality while still filling out the bottom end with the 10" subwoofer.
JL Audio is by far the most popular brand of premium marine speakers and the M3 6.5" speakers deliver the sound quality you expect
from JL with the silk dome tweeter. The M700/5 or the M1000/5 are both perfect amplifiers to power this system. The M series amps use efficient, class-d circuitry, they outperform their rated power specs, and they have the best thermal management of any marine amplifier out there.
You can run these amps as loud as you want, all day long, without worrying about them cutting out due to overheating. If you are looking for a 4 speaker marine stereo system with a subwoofer, this package is a no brainer.
