// MARINE AUDIO
Kicker Marine Audio lights up the night.
Wet Sounds strives to cater to OEMs, designing products that can be easily installed.
OEMs, dealers and aftermarket
“ We give lots of layout support, training and guidance so our partners feel confident along the way, from design to putting boats out on the field with the new owners,” Bale said.
Teeples addressed the role product testing plays in satisfying OEM partners.“ OEMs very much care about warranty,” he said.“ It goes back to all the testing that we then improve upon every year. So [ Wet Sounds is ] constantly building on our arsenal of testing equipment as well as relying on third party nonbiased labs.”
He also noted that the brand caters to OEM engineering teams, aware that their focus is on all aspects of the boat, not just audio performance.“ We’ re making sure that we’ re building audio systems and products that can be installed in the boats consistently with minimal effort on their part,” Teeples explained.“ It’ s like having to remove the expert from the installation process but still have consistent results.”
On the dealer level, Kicker conducts in-person training and offers KickerU, its online university.“ Every quarter, we bring a number of dealers to our headquarters and we have two days of meetings and training where we walk through the existing product line and new products that are coming,” Bale said.“ We’ re there to answer every question that they can come up with – on the needs they have in the field and the needs they see coming in the future.”
In the aftermarket segment, both companies are key players. As a company dedicated to the marine industry, Wet Sounds, Teeples said, got on the map by“ doing things in boats that were undeniably noticeable. We were the first to do the extreme audio on boats. There’ s value to that. The OEMs understand and if they don’ t put our products in the boats from the factory, their customers are going to seek our products and put them in the boats after the factory.”
While aftermarket remains the driver of extreme audio performance, OEMs are not far behind.“ At some point, it’ s our goal to do things on the OEM side that can’ t be done on the aftermarket side,” Teeples continued.“ So aftermarket becomes more of a retrofit kind of category as opposed to, if you buy a cutting-edge boat, you’ re going to get cutting edge everything.”
He shared that five years ago, about 70 percent of Wet Sounds’ business was aftermarket and 30 percent was OEM. Today, those percentages are about 60 percent and 40 percent respectively.
“ When we design new product, it’ s OEM first,” he explained.“ We do adapt it to the aftermarket, when possible, but first, does it meet all the OEMs’ needs?”
As a privately owned company, Bale could only share that Kicker has seen strong year-over-year growth in aftermarket sales. While there has been some decline in OEM sales in recent years, the brand has seen a significant uptick in interest and expects strong growth in that business over the next several years.
Audio is essential
For almost every boat segment, audio has become essential to the boating experience. Brands like Kicker and Wet Sounds invest in durability, integration, design, and dealer support to ensure that when boaters turn up the volume, their experience lives up to their rising expectations.
“ When [ audio is ] built with intention, that’ s what the consumers can build their experience around,” Bale said.“ The premium packages, the precisely tuned layouts, the helm integration – all that has real value and that’ s where we see audio creating experiences. And those great experiences are what keep bringing people back to the water.”
“ Every day we’ re trying to rewrite the roles and push the envelope of what we’ re able to do basically across all budgets,” Teeples added.
24 September / october 2025 www. boatingindustry. com