Interesting take. I think it really comes down to what you’re going to be doing out on the lake. None of our local reservoirs really have sand bars/tie up locations so we spend 90% of our time on the water surfing or foiling, and for that reason a stern drive/IO isn’t all that appealing. But if that’s your type of boating then that’s great, however I feel it’s unfair to say wake boats are going to be disappearing. You were spot on about the clumsiness of the wake view bench though, which is precisely why we didn’t option our M220 out with it. The fit and finish on the rest of the boat is absolutely amazing, but not being able to access the back 1/3 of the boat is such a pain. Save the money and put it towards a new board or gas. There are plenty of little comfort items that we never new we needed until we tried them, likethe flip down swim step, but the bench seat isn’t one of them.

Thanks for that review. Currently I'm trying to decide between an M220 and a Mastercraft X22. Would love to hear thoughts on both models if you have some experience with it.

I'm enjoying your boat opinion videos. I think I might disagree on the Penta fwd drive (and I think there's now a MerCruiser equivalent, so there must be profit there) really challenging the v-drive wake boat market. Sure, most of them are well below the price tag of an M220, but the Axis, Moomba, and Supremes of the world have stepped up their creature comfort games and are priced competitively. As far as sub-floor ballast goes, it might mean a smaller bags in the lockers. You could install nets above them for storage. Lead bags are an option as well, but you're lugging those with you everywhere you go. Many of these boats are approaching the towing limits of the family Expedition on Suburban, so bags in the lockers are the lesser of two evils. You said you have two kids? I have three girls close in age. It's a less stressful tow to the lake if I'm at 80% towing capacity but they're seated too far apart too slap one another! It's seems as though you're focused on the imperfections of $200k boats. That gives you content for your channel. That will get viewers. I can't fault that. I bet the cover over the transmission of the Axis T220 sags when you step on it too. Does it make it more acceptable if you paid half the price for it? I'm not you, but if I were, I'd look at the "price point" brands with dealers in my area. Spend a year in an Axis, Moomba or equivalent. I can't predict the future, but I doubt you'll lose a dime if you decide to sell it after a season.