Offshoreonly.com - How does one achieve good sound in a go-fast boat?

Offshoreonly.com (https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/)

- General Boating Discussion (https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-boating-discussion-51/)

- - How does one achieve good sound in a go-fast boat? (https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-boating-discussion/303178-how-does-one-achieve-good-sound-go-fast-boat.html)

In my boat I only have 4 6.5 wetsounds and then I have 4 12 kicker subs. I placed two of my 6.5's on the dash and the other two right at the rear bench. In my boat that takes care of everyone. Before I put them on the dash I had to turn it up to loud and the people in the back would complain. I am super pleased with the clarity and volume of the Wetsounds. I have them running off a kicker 4 channel and a mono for the subs.
Put them on the dash and you will be happy. Sorry I don't have pics of the rest but here is when I first put them up.

[IMG]http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7cede9b3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/...psd8a907df.jpg[/IMG]

Here is my old boat same setup just kicker mids. I found it takes a lot of bass to hear it while running. With my setup you can cruse 55 and hear it just fine and feel it too.

[IMG]http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/...2012194551.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/...2012195144.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/...2012194740.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/...aw/p_00212.jpg[/IMG]

why not downfire into the floor?

I haven't decided brand yet (I'm quite partial to memphis personally) but I think 2 12's downfire into the floor and seperate mid's high's would be a nice setup. I hate hearing a sub straight on personally

To the OP's question -
Higher positioning
More surface area
Select amps with 120% the rated RMS of the speakers they will be driving.
Use separate amps for subs. Compromising with 5 channel is a $$ waste and only good for small systems where space is tight or technical install is minimal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cat & Mice (Post 3999283)

The issue with the 8" set ups is not playing loud or clear. It's that they are not linear. The most important job of a speaker is to reproduce the sound, if the speaker changes the sound of what you are playing then its not doing its job. It's very difficult and almost impossible to get a small tweeter and large mid range to create a flat response. The tweeter can not play flat down to the upper range of the mid range 8" so the tweeter struggles. Same for the 8".

It may sound good to you but its not right. Same thing goes for Bose Systems, they sound cool but do a horrible job of reproducing sound accurately.

MP

Being an audiophile is a losing battle on the water. Engine roar, wind noise, other music, ambient sounds and Alcohol all compete and distort the listening experience.

LOUD and minimal Distortion win out for general listening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pstorti (Post 3999096)

I am a JL fan also but have seen some impressive Wet Sounds systems that are loud as hell and clear what is your opinion of them? If you boat in salt water JBL and Focal are not really options.

Wet Sounds puts out some nice stuff. The higher power handling, 100w xs650 is worth the $$ over the 70w xs65. Tweeter and mid bass magnet are larger which produces better sound both high and low plus has better heat management for extended playing sessions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cat & Mice (Post 3999099)

Wet sounds is actually pretty good, I dont know much about the company but it looks like they buy stuff off the shelf. They do have some horn loaded compression drivers that are pretty good but you have to have the depth.

Most car audio speakers will work good for awhile in salt water. The speakers are the cheap part so I would rather have a better speaker and replace it every couple years. The problem is that nobody makes real high quality marine speaker.

JL is always good but I am not a fan of the 8" coax or component systems. They don't sound very good, IMO. They have lots of bass and highs but the integration is not good.

MP

Wet Sounds does not openly sell their HLCD in less than a full pod.
Bullet Audio's Hollow Point and their knock off Krypt do sell individual units.
http://www.bulletspeakers.com/index....id=1&Itemid=53
http://www.bulletlines.com/wakeboard...akers-s/36.htm

They are not cheap relative to most but will out drive JL in sound VOLUME.
I run 4 6.5 HLCD in the stock low positions and have plenty of sound in my boat and that is before turning on the tower.

Rockford's 8" coax is a current favorite for good sound on a mid range budget.

If just the highs are missing, you might be able to add some bullet drivers but I would recommend consulting an audio specialist before just punching those in.(different than the above Bullet brands) Example would be Rockford's PP4-T

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/produ...C2%AE-speakers

You make good points and I agree with most of them. I believe quality is important. For instance adding a bunch of speakers that play the same sound next to each other can create all sorts of issues. This is common in boats. I believe its better to have less good speakers then more crap speakers.

I understand you will never have or would necessarily want a Audiophile experience in your boat. I go more for a pro audio scenario where it plays loud, low distortion, and is tonaly balanced at the seats.

I can tell you from experience that most boat systems sound horrible. The reality is that most listening is done at normal levels.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cat & Mice (Post 3999346)

If you also have a sub then you really don't need the 8.8. a 6.5 will play well down into the subwoofer range and the 6.5 will play much higher to match the tweeter. Anything below 80hz is mono and non directional so the sub can take over.

I agree that if you can not have a sub then a 8.8 might be the best speaker choice. Again overall JL makes really good speakers.

MP

The 8.8's replaced one pair of 6.5's and one pair of 7.7's and the sound is much better than before. have you heard them yourself? The 8.8's can be played full range and don't need to have the lower frequencies cut off like the 7.7 & 6.5, the subs don't have to provide the bass for the whole boat now the 8.8's are helping. IMO the only reason not to use 8.8's is if they don't fit.

A boat is a tough place to fill with sound and the 8.8's do a much better job than the smaller models. My boat is a center console so it is much more open than most performance boats.

8.8's at the stern, the 6.5's have since been removed and covered with a plate
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps7aecd57f.jpg

Here are the 8.8's in the bow seats facing aft
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps9645768e.jpg

Subs in the console
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...psbde241a6.jpg

Tower speakers (7.7 coax)
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps754e3a98.jpg

7.7 components on either side of the helm
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...pscc06014c.jpg

the subs run off an M1400, the rest run off of two M600/6, with 4 channels bridged (180w each) for the 8.8's and the remaining 4 channels normal (60W each) for the 7.7's at the helm and on top.

Looks like a nice system and I am sure it sounds great. Yes I have heard the 8.8 and they are great in a lot of ways.

MP

It all depends if you are going for sound quality or loud sound. If you want loud mount them up high. If you want sound quality mount them low-and here is why--- sound travels from them speaker to your ear at a constant speed, having the speakers up high, you have a speaker 14" from your right ear and 74" from your left. It will be loud but sound horrible. Mount them lower and your distances are closer to equal. It's called phase linearity.

I used to build car audio speakers. Yes I used to sit there with magnets, speaker baskets coils cone and hand build speakers of all sorts. I have worked for pioneer, T3 audio, RE Audio, American bass, Eclipse, Fi Audio, DC Audio, and a few others. I fixed there broken speakers, basically they sent me their blown speakers and I replaced all the soft parts and sent them back.
And from doing this I know for a fact that while there are a couple build houses in the US, 99.99% of all audio gear comes from South Asia. Not that that is always, some of the best amps in the whole world come from Korea. But realize that most of this stuff is coming out of the same place with identical parts.

To the guy that said buy a 5 ch amp is a waste, not all of us can fit a crowne. http://www.woofersetc.com/p-3131-a60...amplifier.aspx. I used to run a Memphis Audio "Memphis belle" amp for a long time. It was awesome. You get 125rms x4 chan, plus 1100 watt mono sub channel.

Kinetic makes awesome batteries. I had 24 of the 16V batts in a competition van I had. Sold that one and started another one that had 38 of the kinetic 2400's. at the end of it all I realized all they were doing was going to the Chinese build house and rebadging batteries. After that I did a lot of digging and found the same battery for half the price. Now I have them in both my boats.

To truly get solid audiophile sound in a boat is truly difficult. Plan it out. Has some people help you. Make some foam baffles for the back of the speaker. Make some speaker pods and place the around the boat to see where it sounds the best. Have some people hold the pod 6" off the floor, then 12" , then 18" and so on. Take the time and do your research. While fiberglass can be fixed, no one wants to cut random holes in it.

try thru-prop exhaust...