Illusion X Tower Speaker Coaxial Size - 6.5", 7.7" or 8" for listening while surfing?

[Steveorino]

Hi All-

It's time to buy some tower speakers for my 07' VTX - Illusion X tower.  The primary goal is to hear the tunes while surfing (I'm not wanting to broadcast the tunes across the lake - HLCD).  My budget is very minimal, so I'm thinking of getting coaxial speakers to keep the cost down. 

My question is what size of speakers to get 6.5", 7.7" or 8"?  Any experience with these sizes?  Banging your heads into the cans? Ability to hear at while surfing?

I really like the idea of the 8" speakers but, I'm worried that might be too big for the Illusion X tower.  I've kind of been thinking about purchasing these: Infinity 822MLT Marine 8 Inch speakers, the Krypt Illusion X cans & an amp.  Any feedback or advice would be appreciated!

[hunter77ah]

@Skithemidwest just upgraded his this summer and his system sounds great. He may be able to help

[Skithemidwest]

Yea I was in a similar situation and ended up using skar audio 8in co-axial speakers with the krypt cans (links below). There isn't enough room for two 8's so I just have one pair of 8's which is still an upgrade from the 4 six inch can's I had before. I bridged the existing amp. I also upgraded a pair of my cabin speakers to the skar 6.5in.  Overall the sound is a pretty good with a fairly warm energetic overall sound ( I do have sub).  My next upgrade to the sound system would be a surf pipe.  All in I think I was under 400 for the tower setup, significantly less than a pair or revs saving me money for the surf pipe. 

 

https://www.skaraudio.com/products/sk8mb-marine-8-full-range-2-way-500-watt-speakers-black-pair

 

https://www.krypt-towers.com/malibu-illusion-x-wakeboard-tower-speaker-cans-6-5-7-7-and-8-polished-or-black-1/

 

 

[Skithemidwest]

sorry it keeps flipping it upside down, but here you can see the difference between my old dual 6's and my new single 8

[Steveorino]

@Skithemidwest Cool!  Thanks! Are you able to hear the music while surfing?  Is there a difference as far as hitting your head on them between the 6.5 and the 8s?  What wattage are you running to the two 8s?

[Skithemidwest]

I can hear the sound better than I could with the 4 beat up six's with that being said it is pretty loud in the cabin to overcome the engine exhaust noise hence why I want the surf pipe.  I believe the amp is a kicker 4 channel which I bridged to 175watts per channel. As far as head space I bumped my head once or twice at first but otherwise haven't really noticed them.  

[DRB10SEVEN]

Here are my experiences with surfing while listening to music from the boat:

First off, I have 4 Rev 10's on the tower of my 247. They are obviously more than loud enough to listen to music while surfing, even without a surf pipe. I did end up fabricating my own surf pipe for my boat, so that helped keep the exhaust noise down for the rider, but it still isn't exactly "quiet" behind the boat when surfing. Before I installed the surf pipe, in order for the rider to be able to clearly hear the music while surfing, the music had to be turned up very loud. The people sitting behind the tower speakers were getting blown out by the volume needed for the rider to hear it. After the surf pipe, the volume needed is more moderate. Don't get me wrong, it still needs to be pretty loud for the surfer to hear it well. But it is a volume that in the boat, it just feels like you are jamming out pretty hard without being obnoxious. I think an inexpensive set of 8" speakers would handle playing at the volume needed without issue for surfing and listening to music, but a surf pipe would help for sure.

 

Edit: I forgot to add, I would not worry about size. Get what speakers you want as far as audio output/quality. I would never get rid of my Rev 10's just for more head room. Me and my crew occasionally bump our heads on the lower 2 speakers (on an Illusion XS tower), but if I only had the upper 2 I don't think we would ever hit our heads on them.

Edited September 1, 2023 by DRB10SEVEN
added size info