Best marine audio system?
05-13-2011 | 11:41 AM
#22
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From: Monroe, Mi
http://www.wavesandwheels.net/
Call Justin.. Very impressed with his knowledge and service!!! I purchase Focal 6.5 and very happy with them.
Call Justin.. Very impressed with his knowledge and service!!! I purchase Focal 6.5 and very happy with them.
05-13-2011 | 12:11 PM
#23
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From: CORONA, CA
Well I have always heard that the car audio stuff out performs the marine stuff and is cheaper. So if your stuff isn't in a area where it will be getting wet you might wanna go that route. In my system I went with a marine Alpine CDA-9886M, 10 Polk Audio Momo 6x9's (Marine Certified) because they might get a little wet. As far as amps and subs I used car audio stuff. I used Rockford Fosgate for my amps and Audiobanh for my subs. I figure if my subs and amps are getting wet I have bigger issues, LOL. I maybe wrong but I'm happy with the setup I have.
05-13-2011 | 12:40 PM
#25
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From: Chattanooga, TN
05-13-2011 | 01:00 PM
#27
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From: Cincinnati, Ohio
The main reason for buying Marine audio is first and fore most whether or not you will be around salt water, if so Marine is the only way to go!
Car audio will work generally speaking but some components will rust a bit usually not detrimental to the functionality though. Some speakers if exposed to constant humidity changes will slowly begin to change the tonal quality of the speaker.
Myself I did use marine speakers in mine for a couple of reasons. The big one was they were white and matches my boat. The other is the grills are molded into the speaker, so I will never have to worry about them popping off. Car stuff the grills are rarely used in modern vehicles so the grills are more about style on display than actual function! the last consideration is the fact that the plastic has UV inhibitors in the plastic, so they should not fade in color over time. Some car products may have a certain resistance to UV but generally speaking they do not. UV exposure again will change the sound of a speaker as well!
That being said if you are in a fresh water environment you could fully use standard mobile audio products and get good use out of them. For not much more money the above reasons may be enough to justify the price difference between the marine offering.
As far as amps go nothing is waterproof except maybe either Kicker Alpine or Memphis I forget which ones claim they coat the circuit boards and are water resistant. But depending on mounting this is lesser of an issue IMO.
Head units again kind of the same thing although some head units are actually water resistant (not submersable)
Since most companies offer 1 line of marine product, depending on brand it will usually out perform the same brands standard offering, as they realize some people are going to expect results similar to the high end offering so they try to make them as close as they can to their best stuff within reason without pricing themselves out of the market. With exception of maybe JL or Fosgate as their marine is pricey but also better than most other products high end car offering. Other products like Kenwood or Memphis, still a quality product but less of a no comprimise offering that may pay better attention to a budget minded buyer.
Car audio will work generally speaking but some components will rust a bit usually not detrimental to the functionality though. Some speakers if exposed to constant humidity changes will slowly begin to change the tonal quality of the speaker.
Myself I did use marine speakers in mine for a couple of reasons. The big one was they were white and matches my boat. The other is the grills are molded into the speaker, so I will never have to worry about them popping off. Car stuff the grills are rarely used in modern vehicles so the grills are more about style on display than actual function! the last consideration is the fact that the plastic has UV inhibitors in the plastic, so they should not fade in color over time. Some car products may have a certain resistance to UV but generally speaking they do not. UV exposure again will change the sound of a speaker as well!
That being said if you are in a fresh water environment you could fully use standard mobile audio products and get good use out of them. For not much more money the above reasons may be enough to justify the price difference between the marine offering.
As far as amps go nothing is waterproof except maybe either Kicker Alpine or Memphis I forget which ones claim they coat the circuit boards and are water resistant. But depending on mounting this is lesser of an issue IMO.
Head units again kind of the same thing although some head units are actually water resistant (not submersable)
Since most companies offer 1 line of marine product, depending on brand it will usually out perform the same brands standard offering, as they realize some people are going to expect results similar to the high end offering so they try to make them as close as they can to their best stuff within reason without pricing themselves out of the market. With exception of maybe JL or Fosgate as their marine is pricey but also better than most other products high end car offering. Other products like Kenwood or Memphis, still a quality product but less of a no comprimise offering that may pay better attention to a budget minded buyer.
05-13-2011 | 02:51 PM
#30
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From: Hialeah, FL
Im waiting on a quote for JL Audio setup. Thanks for all the feedback. I can go non-marine amp as it sits in the cabin but speakers and subs are outside in the cockpit. It looks like there will be plenty of options. The local boys in Miami here are all saying JL is the way to go. It be easier if it wasnt the most expensive route. We will see.
