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Best Tower Speakers?


Dale974

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Got a new boat to me and looking to customize it this winter. My old boat i had double barrel speakers from monster tower on it, bout' 6 year old models. Looking to do this one up the best i can. What are your opinions on the best speakers to get. I've been looking at some Roswells, and also there are some 770 Bullets. Kicker has some nice ones too... Guess just looking for suggestions, experience....

Thanks

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If you want the best, Wetsounds or exile are the only way to go & quality amplifiers. Be prepared to spend 2-3k or more depending on how bid you wanna go unless you get lucky & find used stuff.

Edited by racer808
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Got a new boat to me and looking to customize it this winter. My old boat i had double barrel speakers from monster tower on it, bout' 6 year old models. Looking to do this one up the best i can. What are your opinions on the best speakers to get. I've been looking at some Roswells, and also there are some 770 Bullets. Kicker has some nice ones too... Guess just looking for suggestions, experience....

Thanks

If you are truly looking to do this one up the best i can, then go with the largest HLCD on the market, which is a 10" HLCD. 2 pair of these or a pair of pods with dual 10" mid-bass drivers flanking a large horn will get the job done. But, that may not be what you are actually looking for. What are your goals and do you have a budget? Are you looking for a dedicated surf/party cove system, a setup that is for reaching your rider in tow, or a system that does both well?

A couple pair of 6.5" coaxials in tower pods makes a decent surf/party cove setup These can be plenty loud, but lack the mid-bass of a larger 8" coaxial or HLCD

A 6.5" HLCD will be plenty loud for your wake-boarder in tow, but they tend to be rough on the ears for near field listening like surfing and party cove. Larger HLCDs can deliver a better balance due to the extra mid-bass. It takes a larger speaker to compete with the powerful horns.

If you want the best of both worlds and your budget will permit, the a pair of the largest HLCDs, like a 10" is going to offer the most output at 80ft and still be plenty warm for surfing and hanging out behind the boat.

Dont overlook amplification. Solid power is a must.

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Got a new boat to me and looking to customize it this winter. My old boat i had double barrel speakers from monster tower on it, bout' 6 year old models. Looking to do this one up the best i can. What are your opinions on the best speakers to get. I've been looking at some Roswells, and also there are some 770 Bullets. Kicker has some nice ones too... Guess just looking for suggestions, experience....

Thanks

'best' can mean so many different things to so many different people. Best projection at wake range when pulling? Best sound quality when up close and at rest? Best construction? Lowest profile and lowest hang height? Best for the money or best at any price?

I'll offer these suggestions.

Do your homework and invest the most you can justify. Doing it right the first time saves. Doing it twice is costly. And the classifieds are filled with those doing it over.

There are often priorities and compromises with products within the same brand based on a boater's objectives. So take the time to decide what priorities are right for you, and even family if that applies.

If there is a way, try to personally audition the products that you are considering. Sound quality is a hugely subjective area and owners of products will almost always be avid supporters of the brand they currently own, right up to the time they make a change.

Go with a dedicated tower speaker, rather than a speaker that uses automotive or in-boat speakers in tower pods.

Go with a larger tower speaker. 7.7" or larger. The larger speakers are usually warmer and smoother with better midbass extension. Larger speakers with more surface area have more output. You can't make up for larger with more quantity.

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I'm thinking if you'd posted your budget you'd get more exact results - this type of question with this group is like asking a room of pre-schoolers..."who wants candy?"

With that said - I love my Wetsounds Rev 8's.

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This is all helpful so far. I guess i'm looking at spending maybe in the 1000-1500 range, and then matching my amp rms to the rms rating on the speakers, so i realize the amp will cost more on top of that. Basically we do a little surfing, but mostly wakeboarding and such, so i want to reach the rider, but it would be nice to not totally blow the passengers in the back of the boat away! Would a pair of 7.7" hlcd speakers do the job, or would i want 4 even with the hlcd. I'm assuming that the HLCD's are worth the money if I want this done right?

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This is all helpful so far. I guess i'm looking at spending maybe in the 1000-1500 range, and then matching my amp rms to the rms rating on the speakers, so i realize the amp will cost more on top of that. Basically we do a little surfing, but mostly wakeboarding and such, so i want to reach the rider, but it would be nice to not totally blow the passengers in the back of the boat away! Would a pair of 7.7" hlcd speakers do the job, or would i want 4 even with the hlcd. I'm assuming that the HLCD's are worth the money if I want this done right?

If it were one pair and the budget you are in...I would go with the biggest speaker you can find. You should be able to get into a pair with an good amp in the middle of that range!

Check out the Rev 10!

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So would a pair of exile xm9's or a pair of wet sounds rev8's be as good or better than my 4 6.5" jbl double barrels from monster tower? Or am i going to be looking into 4 speakers again? Sorry for all the questions Really kinda like the looks of the Exile xm9's or the Rev 10s from wetsounds. Is that pair going to be enough?

Edited by Dale974
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This is all helpful so far. I guess i'm looking at spending maybe in the 1000-1500 range, and then matching my amp rms to the rms rating on the speakers, so i realize the amp will cost more on top of that. Basically we do a little surfing, but mostly wakeboarding and such, so i want to reach the rider, but it would be nice to not totally blow the passengers in the back of the boat away! Would a pair of 7.7" hlcd speakers do the job, or would i want 4 even with the hlcd. I'm assuming that the HLCD's are worth the money if I want this done right?

Okay, if you do mostly wakeboarding then you should go with an HLCD. An HLCD (horn loaded compression driver) typically uses a very large 1.5" to 2" tweeter mated to a horn flare and is infinitely more powerful in cutting through the noise and distance for long range projection as compared to a conventional speaker.

A single pair of 7.7" HLCDs can be heard at wake range while pulling but I wouldn't be happy with how hard I am having to work them. It really takes two pair. You want to have enough speaker and amplifier power to operate everything within its capacity. Over-driving product is much harder on the rear occupants than louder but cleaner.

You could accomplish the same with a single pair of 10" HLCDs as you can with two pair of 7.7" HLCDs. You just have to reconcile the extra hang height.

There is no way to avoid the extra tower speaker radiation for the rear occupants when driving the speakers hard enough to reach the rider. You can pan the speakers out a bit, tilt them up a bit, plus a few other tricks that will help but by no means will these adjustments resolve the issue. As mentioned above, having the extra capacity so that you aren't over-driving the product is the best break you can give the rear occupants. Certainly a warmer, smoother speaker will help. An FAE exhaust is a big improvement.

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so why does malibu use rockford fosgate and alpine since no one wants them...

Well, those are both VERY well known brands that represent value to the mass consumer (35+ years). Plus, there are factory upgrade options. To the common Malibu consumer, he/she wouldn't differentiate at the time of purchase. In fact, a majority hasn't heard of many of the brands discussed here. The information you get on a forum is a reflection of only a very small portion of this market.

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so why does malibu use rockford fosgate and alpine since no one wants them...

Remember the first time you heard a rockford amp bumping a bazooka tube in the back of your buddy's slammed mini-truck in 1987? Chances are a lot of non-audio-enthusiast boat buyers do too. Rockford has tons of brand recognition. Alpine too.

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to the OP... first prioritize whether you want great sound in and around the boat or sound to the rider. Which is more important?

If sound to the rider, get the biggest baddest set of HLCDs you can afford and power them well.

If sound in and around the boat is paramount, check out the new JL tower speakers or the new exile 9" tower speakers with the direct radiating tweeter. They will sound better in and around the boat but won't have quite as much projection to the rider (fine for surf, marginal for wakeboarding if you only have a single pair).

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Well, those are both VERY well known brands that represent value to the mass consumer (35+ years). Plus, there are factory upgrade options. To the common Malibu consumer, he/she wouldn't differentiate at the time of purchase. In fact, a majority hasn't heard of many of the brands discussed here. The information you get on a forum is a reflection of only a very small portion of this market.

Is Malibu using Alpine components in their boats now? I guess I am not keeping up on Malibu's latest and greatest

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