Wet Sounds vs. Kicker

Wet Sounds and Kicker are two of the largest names in marine audio and they both make fantastic products. Wet Sounds only focuses on marine grade audio components while Kicker offers products for the entire 12-volt industry. We will break down Wet Sounds and Kicker products so that you can easily compare and determine the best products for your boat or UTV.

The Wet Sounds REVO speakers come in 6.5", 8" and 10" diameters. The REVO speakers come with titanium dome tweeters. The 6.5" and the 8" come with a 1" tweeter and the 10" come with a 1.25" tweeter. The power handling on the REVO speakers is on the higher end of the market for each speaker size. 100W RMS for a 6.5" and 150W RMS for the 8" is higher than most other marine speakers. The RECON speakers from Wet Sounds are designed for lower power applications when compared to REVO. The RECON speakers will work off of deck power while the REVO will not. The RECON speakers have aluminum dome tweeters instead of the titanium that come on the REVO. However, the price point for the RECON is lower than REVO and more comparable to the price point of the Kicker KM. In my opinion, the Kicker KM fall in between the Wet Sounds REVO and RECON on the marine speaker food chain. The Kicker KM coaxial speakers might be the best value among all of the marine speakers we offer. The Kicker KM speakers come with titanium dome tweeters just like the Wet Sounds REVO and the power handling is right in line with the output of most amplifiers. If comparing the 6.5" Kicker to the 6.5" REVO, the REVO does handle more power and have a larger tweeter, but it is quite a bit more expensive. The Kicker KM65 speakers are available with or without RGB LEDs and the 8" Kicker KM speakers are only available with the LEDs. The Kicker KM604 speakers are offered as a low-cost, economy marine speaker. These speakers still have the Kicker name on them so you can be confident that they will still perform, but the KM speakers have a larger tweeter and the tweeter on the KM is titanium while the tweeter on the KM604 is PEI. The KM604 speaker grille is integrated into the speaker itself and these are available with or without blue LEDs. The KM604 does not handle as much power as the KM65 and these are sold in bulk packaging instead of a beauty box. If you are looking for Kicker performance at an economic price point, the KM604 speakers were designed just for that.


Wet Sounds created the tower speaker and has the largest selection of tower speaker options. The REV series tower speakers come with horn tweeters for maximum volume and distance. The ICON tower speakers have titanium dome tweeters to match the REVO speakers, and the RECON tower speakers are the same coaxial speakers that are available individually, just installed in bar-mounted pods. The REV are the most popular option and they come in both black and white and there are several different mounting options including X mount, fixed clamps, swivel clamps, and swivel X mount. Wet Sounds also has a wide selection of direct-fit, tower adapters that allow you to mount the REV or ICON pods directly on your boat's wake tower.




Comparing Kicker and Wet Sounds amplifiers by product series is not a good apples to apples comparison in our opinion. For the most part, the Wet Sounds amplifiers put out significantly more power than Kicker amplifiers. However, the price point on the Kicker amplifiers is significantly more affordable than the Wet Sounds amplifiers. Instead of comparing series to series, let's break it down by the number of channels. The power output and price points within each category vary drastically. It is more about finding the right amount of power for your speakers, then comparing features and price points to see which amp is better. The Sinister amplifiers from Wet Sounds are their top of the line amplifiers and feature their MAXED Class-D power supply which is super-efficient. You get tons of power output with very low power consumption, relative to the output. The Wet Sounds SYN-DX or Syndicate-DX amplifiers have more power output than most other marine amplifiers, but they don't have the MAXED power supply to equal the output of the Sinister amplifiers. The HTX amplifiers also have Class-D power supplies, but the HTX does not put out as much power as the SYN-DX. The HTX amplifiers are more affordable than the SYN-DX and are perfect if you want the performance of Wet Sounds, but you don't need the raw output of SYN-DX or Sinister. The Wet Sounds STX MICRO amplifiers are application-specific amplifiers for situations where space is an issue. These amplifiers were originally designed for the UTV and powersports market, but they are true, marine-grade amplifiers and work in boats too. The Kicker KXMA amplifiers are their top of the line marine amps and they come with Class-D circuitry, LED clipping indicators, DSP pre-amp, and they are ABYC and NMMA compliant. These amplifiers use 316L stainless steel hardware and are just all-around solid amplifiers. The power output on the KXMA amplifiers is really under-rated in our opinion. The signal processing in these amplifiers is better than most other marine amplifiers and the mono-block and 5 channel amplifiers come with a wireless, Bluetooth bass knob. The Kicker KMA amplifiers deliver Kicker performance at an affordable price point. These amplifiers are perfect if you need an amplifier on your boat, but you don't want to pay for a bunch of features that you may never use. The KMA amplifiers will sound night and day better than simply powering your speakers off of your radio and with ABYC/NMMA Compliance, you get a true marine-grade product, Kicker power, and great value. The Kicker PXA amplifiers were one of the original, weatherproof, mini amplifier lines. These amps put out good clean power and the footprint is really small. In all honesty, if you are looking for a mini amplifier, there are much better options available for the money so we won't even consider these in our comparison. If you are debating between Wet Sounds and Kicker for a mini amplifier, go Wet Sounds.






Wet Sounds offers free air or infinite baffle subwoofers in both the REVO and RECON series. Like the speakers, the REVO handle more power and have better or more overall output. The REVO subwoofers are available in either white or gray cones and they are also offered in both single 2 and 4-ohm voice coils. The REVO subwoofers do not come with subwoofer grilles. They must be purchases separately to match your speakers. The RECON subwoofers come with speaker grilles and are available in the white SW, silver XS, and black XS grilles to match the RECON speakers. The RECON subwoofers can handle less power, but they are more affordable. With the Wet Sounds free air subwoofers, you get what you pay for. In addition to the REVO and RECON free-air subwoofers, Wet Sounds also makes the REVO XXX subwoofers. These are massive SPL subwoofers that are designed for bass heads that want serious output that will withstand the elements. Bass is tough in a boat because you don't get the cabin boost that you get in a car. However, if you really want bass on your boat, the REVO XXX subwoofers are the way to go. The REVO XXX comes in both 12" and 15" sizes. The 12" REVO XXX handles 1200 Watts RMS and the 15" handles an absurd 2000 watts RMS. Wet Sounds offers two different styles of marine-grade, loaded enclosures. The Stealth-AS subwoofers have a built-in amplifier and come in a 6", 8" and 10" model. These subwoofers were originally designed for the powersports market but also work well in boats. The other loaded enclosure Wet Sounds makes is the REVO 12 PSE which features a 12" REVO subwoofer and a passive radiator. The REVO 12 PSE comes with your choice of subwoofer grilles (1 for the subwoofer, 1 for the passive radiator) and gives you the bass you expect from a subwoofer without having to cut a hole in the hull. The REVO 12 PSE has quick-release mounts so that you can clamp it down, and then take it out if you want. The passive radiator is essentially a subwoofer without any driver powering it. It gives you the performance of a ported enclosure without the port and without the port noise. Everything is sealed and waterproof with the REVO 12 PSE and it is a quick, minimally invasive, "Give me some bass" solution for your boat. Kicker offers free-air marine-grade subwoofers in both 10" and 12" diameters and both sizes come in a single 2 ohm and single 4-ohm voice coil. The Kicker free-air subwoofers handle 175 watts of RMS power making them more comparable to the Wet Sounds RECON than REVO. Like the Wet Sounds subwoofers, the grilles are not included in the Kicker marine subwoofers and they only come with silver cones. You do not have the option for white. In addition to the free-air models, Kicker also offers marine grade subwoofers designed for enclosures. These subwoofers have the same power handling as the free air models and also do not come with the grille. Just like the free-air version, these subwoofers are more comparable to the Wet Sounds RECON than the REVO. The Kicker marine loaded subwoofer enclosures are tube style enclosures that have a CompR woofer on one end and a passive radiator on the other. The tube can be mounted vertically or horizontally to fit virtually wherever you would like it. Both ends of the tube come with grilles pre-installed and these enclosures are perfect for installing under a seat, by the driver's feet, or wherever else you may choose. These enclosures are designed to withstand the elements and will give you the performance you expect from a Kicker product. They are available in 8" and 10" diameters and come in both 2 and 4-ohm configurations.