Best marine audio system?
 

Im sure this has been covered as I, myself have researched this on here. I'm looking to upgrade my system. Right now, I have a Boss MR1600W receiver with wired remote, stock speakers inside the cabin (not sure the make/model), Boss 6.5" MR650 in the cockpit and what I believe are 10" Pyle Hydra subs underneath the rear seat. There is an amp (Eclipse). I have been working on the boat & engine so a system is now on deck.

I've researched and everyone thinks highly of JL Audio but they are expensive. I'm looking for installing 2 more 6.5" speakers in the cockpit, next to the subs and disconnecting the ones inside the cabin. So it would be 4 x 6.5" speakers, 2 x 10" subs (if the Pyle subs dont work or suck) and an amp. I'm guessing the Boss receiver should be fine for now. Let me know what you think. I would also consider the Infinity speakers if the price is heavy.

I am running Polk audio momo series and they sound great. I think they are considered the second best for boat sound systems. As fas as for subs I think it depends if they will be getting wet or not. As far as the amp goes it all depends on what subs you run and how much power you will need.

Yep JL audio pretty good stuff

Take a look at the Focal 6.5 speakers, they are great choice. JL subs and Alpine PDX amps would finish up the system.

focal is more expensive then JL, but great stuff

I have a buddy that is a dealer, Focal CVX 165's for $299.00 a pair. He's got 12 pair in stock ready to ship.

Love my Kicker Components with crossovers http://www.amazon.com/Kicker-06KM625...5247516&sr=8-1

+1 on this set-up... all good stuff, no disappointments. Spend a little more on the front side and it will be worth it.

there is alot of great sounding speakers out there for half the price of JL. It just depends on how wild you wanna go and how much you wanna spend. Alpine, Kicker, Polk, Clarion...all make great stuff. Component speakers (tweeter and crossover separate) will sound better than the 6 1/2s. make sure that your amps ohm load matches the speakers ohms. Just remember...theres always someone that has a deeper pocket

Thanks for the feeback. Any opinion on Pioneer? I know theyre solid in auto and I know they make a marine speaker too. Money is not a huge issue, I just dont want to pay for a Ferrari when a Corvette will do. So far, everyone speaks like JL is the one to have.

AudioFN recommended some DC Gold speakers for my boat last week and I ordered them WEBSITE HERE. I have not hooked them up yet, but here is what I can tell you so far:

1) The build quality is awesome.
2) They are made in the USA (Palmdale CA).
3) Three year warranty


I bought 3 pairs of 6x9 and 1 pair 6.5. I was STUNNED that they were made in the USA. I really was! I didn't know that when I ordered them, but really happy about that little detail. One other thing......when I read the warranty statement it said that when used in salt water, they want you to remove the speaker every six months and emerce the whole speaker in fresh water (I think it said distilled water) to remove salt build-up. I thought that was pretty funny.

Well if money is not an issue then get the best head, amps and speakers you can.

I can tell you Boss is not high end, and Pyle is basically another name for Pyramid and thats the crap you buy at flea markets.

JL seems to have made a really good name for it's self. Personally there are alot of brands out there that sound better for equal or less money. Their subs sound muddy to me.

The thing you want to do is keep all the mid/hi speakers the same. If you use different brands you will get cancellations that will not sound good. Another thing is to make sure you have the proper power for the speakers. Mid/hi speakers should have atleast the RMS power of the speaker, 25% more than the RMS is better. For the subs I always reccomend an amp that is 30 - 50% more power than the subs RMS rating. Headroom in the amps gives cleaner sound, cooler running amps and power for those peaks. To little power blows speaker much easier than too much power.

Also when looking at subs just because they say they handle 1000 watts does not mean they are the best speaker. It just means it's gonna take alot of power to get sound out of them.

"Just remember...theres always someone that has a deeper pocket"

Boy isn't that the truth, LOL

Nightlife's recomendations are right on the money!

I can tell you this having worked in the 12V industry for about 20 years now, that JL is one of the best brands out there especially on their speakers, that is what they are known for.

As far as Pyle and Boss are concerned, don't want to rub anyone the wrong way here but they are both flea market price sensitive brands, meaning that before the unit is designed the price point is set first with about 100~150% markup.

If you stick to the better names in the buisness, on paper they may seem that impressive compared to say boss but in actual use they will perform better accross the board.

Jl as mentioned earlier, as well as
Rockford makes some very high end marine products,
Memphis which is a bit more affordable
Kicker also has a good line of marine
Alpine also makes good stuff especially the marine head units
Kenwood If someone wants something a bit more on a working mans budget but still get a quality item

My 2¢

Thanks Mike. Good info & feedback.

Take a look at Memphis audio,great sounding with fair priceing

I've got 4 10" JL subs and Rockford Fosgat separates (22 speakers total). The JLs don't hit like I thought they would, but I love the Fosgates. Alpines marine stuff has been recommended highly to me.

Speaking of Ferrari,

Ive been very happy with my Audison amplifier and Hertz speaker combos.

Made in Italy.

Not cheap but very clear and powerful.


Uncle Dave

I went with all Fusion speakers and deck on my new boat. 4x7" and 2x10". Very LOUD and Clear. Running all six off of an Alpine 5 channel amp. I have less than $1k in the whole setup. Sounds way better than the JL's I did in the past.

true statement...i have heard them...they rock!!!!

http://www.wavesandwheels.net/

Call Justin.. Very impressed with his knowledge and service!!! I purchase Focal 6.5 and very happy with them.

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.

I used all car audio w/ my install last year & had ZERO issues, just watch directly spraying your amps w/ water....

This and it's not even close in my opinion. A friend of mine has them in his malibu wakesetter and it's by far the loudest/best sounding system i've ever heard on any boat and I've been around a lot. He was anchored about 100 yards from our raft up a few summers ago and we could hear his music over the boat we were standing in. I've been on it a lot and it's nothing short of phenominal. He's also got a 15" sub under the dash that beats harder than any i've ever heard. No distortion at all.

Apline head unit.
Fosgate speakers, subs and amps.

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.

Wetsounds.

Digital Designs made in Oklahoma. and Memphis Audio...

Kinda biased for used to be a deal er for them and never had any issues from them on ski boats to performance boats...

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.

Just added the new Alpine PDX-F6 amp and tied it into 4 Polk 691MM speakers (6x9's). Sound is crazy loud and clean. Amp is all digital and requires little or no cooling so you can keep it in a dry place. No fans in it to get water into. The Polk speakers are marine cert. The digital amp also has a small footprint for easy mounting and uses less power so when you are on the beach it does not drain your battery.
+1 on the new Alpine amp. Have had many and this one is the best. Check out the spec's I think you will be impressed.

Another vote for Wetsounds at least for the speakers. I've had the XS650's for in-boat and both Pro80's and MB8's all are great speakers but I don't imagine you'd need anything other than the XS650's.

As for head units if it's going to be up on deck it really should be marine since it's going to get wet, I personally like the Kenwood units because they were one of the only ones I could find with 4 volt pre-outs for the amps.

For subs, it's a toss up as there are many different routes depending on how much power you're planning to throw at them, just make sure you don't end up with anything tha thas a paper cone. If you look at the speaker and aren't sure you could spray it with a hose (not that you'd ever want to) go to a different speaker.

For amps I've had may fair share and didn't like the JL (started losing channels at 8 months), didn't like Boston Acoustic (sounded great but died after a year due to corrosion), etc etc. So far I like Hifonics the best, they're not considered a "high end" amp but I'm hear to tell you they're cheap, put out a ton of power, and so far have been indestructible (3 seasons of abuse in a saltwater environment) I've heard good things about the alpine PDX series for me I was just worried about them not putting out enough power and the hifonics never died so no reason to try them.

Hope that helps.

Kenwood deck with Memphis Audio everything else! There equipment sounds great!

If you really want to wake up a system, go tri amped.

One amp for tweeters, one for mids, one for subs. Then an electronic crossover to run it.

My system is 4 1.5" tweeters, 4 6.5" mids and 3 12" subs. I have Autotek amps powering the system with a G&S crossover. Powerbase mid's and highs. With Rockford P-1 subs.

Although not a large system, anyone that has heard it will tell you it rocks. Other then the Autoteks and Rockford Head unit, nothing is real high end.

DC Golds are great speakers. Very loud, crystal clear and nearly indestructable. They also have the best warranty out there at 3 years. I had Babbs in my Pantera and now have DC Golds in my AT. I actually just installed the 8 ohm DC Golds in the walls and ceiling in my basement for my home theater.

BTW, the lowest price I have found is at one of their authorized dealers www.LafayetteRadio.com

The XS-650's have some killer midbass if they're powered right.

I've got a used 3-Some and Syn6 6-channel 1000W amp for sale if anyone with a wakeboat is in the market. The 3-Some has a pair of Pro80's (each can has an 8" woofer and HLCD), and a single Pro485 (2 8's and 1 HLCD).

http://www.wakeworld.com/classifield....php?view=1738

How do i start........
 

So many directions to go in, this post is like beer, do you want
ale or lager, can or bottle, golden or dark, domestic or import....im a big supporter of JL Audio, but Pioneer Premium really packs a punch MB quart is nice as is polk audio....not sure if your looking for bass, clarity or symphony sounds but shop around and ear test at audio shops. In the audio business name brands mean nothing if you dont hear the sound you are looking for and be sure to mention marine grade as it applys to some pieces of equipment.....but buyer beware they will sell you as much stuff as your money can buy, and some stuff ends up being over kill. Some shops will sell you the a$$h0le of a rattle snake then swear to you a bout its dynamic rattling sound.....hope this helps

FYI I only drink 2 kinds of beer, FREE beer & COLD beer:party-smiley-048:

That is close to the best I have found...


[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COMFZbNE-8U[/YOUTUBE]

Post Up Some Pics, I Would Like To See What Some Of You Have Done With The Sound Systems On Your Boats.

Took these off the boat yesterday. They were put in at the same time, and were basically in the same location. One is a marine speaker and one is not. Can you tell which is which? Also, this boat was only in fresh water until 2005 (if you can call the Mississippi fresh water). :drink::drink: