Kenwood KFC-1673MRWL Marine 6.5 Inch 2-way Speaker Review

After all of the quarantining from COVID, more and more people have been headed out of the house. It’s totally understandable. I’m one of those. And many have turned to outdoor activities. This could mean pulling out either the boat or the side by side. And if you’re wanting to enjoy your tunes while you are out on the boat or side by side, Kenwood has you covered. Up for review today is the Kenwood KFC-1673MRWL. It’s their 6.5 inch 2-way speakers designed to handle some of the elements.

 

Features and specs:

Peak Input Power            260W

Rated Input Power          75W

Impedance          4Ω

Woofer Features              6-1/2 inch Water Resistant PP Cone

Tweeter Features             1/2 inch Water Resistant PEI Balanced Dome

Sensitivity            86 dB/ W / m

Frequency Response       65Hz -21KHz

Cutout Diameter              144.8mm             5-11/16 inch

Mounting Depth               64.9mm               2-9/16 inch

Net Weight         1820g    4.0 lb

The Kenwood KFC-1673MRWL came in a nice looking, color printed box with photos of the speakers and their specs. Opening the box revealed a well-protected speaker held in place by custom molded Styrofoam. Pulling out the speakers, I could see that they were good quality speakers. Materials used in the construction was both metal and plastic. Quality of the materials as well as the fit and finish, were both good. Also included was the installation hardware, remote for the color LED’s, and manual.

 

The Kenwood KFC-1673MRWL employed a simple, yet functional and fun design. The basket was a simple thick white plastic, and covered the entire back of the speaker to help protect it from the elements. Given the amount of power they are designed to handle, these features would work great. And a white plastic was also used for the cone, with the color LED mounted on the back side of the cone, makes for a fun touch. And it also provides some elemental protection. The end look is pretty cool. And I really liked the design of the speakers.  The plastic grill on the front is a built-in white plastic grill.  The tweeter is built into the grill, held in place above the center of the speaker.  So, if you look at the speaker, it looks like a coaxial. But the design is more like a component speaker, with a separate tweeter. The wires for the tweeter run across the side of the grill underneath, as you can see in one of the photos below. And to further provide it's resistance to the elements, all of the speaker wire connections or LED wire connections are covered in a white rubber material, as is also shown in the photos below. 

 

Not only did the Kenwood KFC-1673MRWL prove to be a quality speaker, they also proved to be fairly efficient as well. It’s always better to drive speakers with a dedicated amplifier. Receivers have built-in amps to power the door speakers, but they are not nearly as powerful as a separate external amp. The more efficient a speaker is the better it performs with the amp built into the receiver. Let’s see how these speakers perform, powered by the Kenwood KMR-D772BT receiver.

 

Adele: Rolling in the Deep – The plucking of the strings of the acoustic guitar had nice definition. Vocals were pleasantly smooth with nice timbre of the texture. Kick drum had nice dynamics, tight powerful impact. High hat and cymbals were sufficiently crisp and clean.

Earth, Wind and Fire: September – Wood block had very good tone of the wood. Guitar sounded nice and raw, trumpet was smooth and not too brassy. Vocals were also very smooth with very good texture of the timbre along with very good harmonics. Drums were dynamic and cymbals were crisp and clean.

Lipps Inc: Funkytown – cowbell had very good tone and texture without being tinny. Cymbal was crisp and clean. Car horn was just as clean and very dynamic. Soundstage was surprisingly very deep. Vocals had nice texture of the timbre. Bass beats were deep, with very good dynamics and played with authority.

 

I truly enjoyed the Kenwood KFC-1673MRWL. With the use of the color LED behind the clear plastic cone, they do have a fun look. They are well made, and should provide years of use. They also give you room to grow. Being able to handle 75 watts RMS, you can power them with your receiver, and then later upgrade to a separate receiver to power them. With a $199 MSRP, they are fairly priced and provide a good value. Based on their design, features, quality and performance, the Kenwood KFC-1673MRWL has earned our Highly Recommended award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.kenwood.com.