dkwestern

those blaupunkts look crazy.

Audiofn

Sure do!!! Wonder how they sound.....

Clarions free air marines sound very good for a free air. If you want to go through the effort to build a box then the Polk Audio DB series or even better the MOMO's They have HUGE output with out a lot of power. They also operate in VERY small sub boxes. The allumapros that Troutly mentioned are also a GREAT sub, but as he mentioned they are expensive. I have flip flopped back and forth on the Polks and the Allumapro's for my boat. Allumapro is sapposed to have a free air 10 for Marine this year but I have not fallowed up to know when.

There really is not a huge difference btwn Marine and Car speakers. The EXCEPTION being Clarion and MB Quart. They actually do some different things to their stuff to protect it from the elements. If you do go with a car speaker, make sure that it is ALL alluminum. The Kickers loose my vote because of the steel frames and grills. This just DOES NOT work in the Salt enviroment at all!!!!!! What ever speaker you pick make sure it has a Alluminum or Poly cone and a buttyle surround.

Jon

dpolgar

AudioFN is totally right when in a salt environment steel is best to be avoided ..even for grills..In a marine environment the surrounds can dry rot, hence Clarions use of Stenoprene and AudioBahn's use of EPDM surrounds..use of a rubber surround can lead to dry rot and you may get a bunch of use out of the speaker but I look at surrounds as a point of failure which i try and engineer around. Steel baskets are a no no...There seem to be a couple of options outside of steel. First a plastic or composite basket. Second a aluminum basket..these are offered by several manufactures such as Focal, MB Quart, Audiobahn, and I think Alumapro. In my Formula i use the Audiobahn Alum12Q. An all aluminum basket, spun aluminum cone, EPDM surround, I also use their new digital amps since they run a lot cooler and are physically smaller than standard class D stuff. For mids and highs I went right to Focal. Their stuff is US Navy certified and is priced like it but what the heck. I am in the business of engineering for this kind of equipment and I see tons and tons of new ideas. Bottom line is if it wont last below the water line then it will eventually fail above the waterline.

dpolgar

AudioFN is totally right when in a salt environment steel is best to be avoided ..even for grills..In a marine environment the surrounds can dry rot, hence Clarions use of Stenoprene and AudioBahn's use of EPDM surrounds..use of a rubber surround can lead to dry rot and you may get a bunch of use out of the speaker but I look at surrounds as a point of failure which i try and engineer around. Steel baskets are a no no...There seem to be a couple of options outside of steel. First a plastic or composite basket. Second a aluminum basket..these are offered by several manufactures such as Focal, MB Quart, Audiobahn, and I think Alumapro. In my Formula i use the Audiobahn Alum12Q. An all aluminum basket, spun aluminum cone, EPDM surround, I also use their new digital amps since they run a lot cooler and are physically smaller than standard class D stuff. For mids and highs I went right to Focal. Their stuff is US Navy certified and is priced like it but what the heck. I am in the business of engineering for this kind of equipment and I see tons and tons of new ideas. Bottom line is if it wont last below the water line then it will eventually fail above the waterline.

Thunder32

Kicker does make an Aluminum grill that I painted with imron for my 10" sub . part#01G10

Andy Buzz

My choices of sub depends on application. Free air should be avoided if possible as all a free air sub is a sub with a very stiff suspension to allow the speaker to operate out of an enclosure. They are far less efficient when comparing power to actual bass output. If you must use a free air, at my shop we recommend DLS: a swedish company. When you can make an enclosure, where space is constrained I prefer Image Dynamics. If space is available I use Rockford Fosgate. For the money, Rockford makes great product and stands behind it well. That is the important part as it is likely you will make a warranty claim on speakers used in a marine application.

The first step in choosing a sub for a boat is to design an enclosure and then find the sub that matches the enclosure specs the closest. Bear in mind that you can have the best sub in an inadequate enclosure and it will not sound good. You can also have a low priced sub in the right application a yield very good sound.

With a proliferation of people buying electronics over the web unquided, I see on a daily basis people that are dissatisfied with the end result. It is almost like a person buying presciption medication without a doctor's advice.

There is a lot to consider when choosing equipment. Feel free to private of you need help or a deal.

Andy Buzz
Buzz-Off Alarms
Maximum Audio

Rforsey

Ok this is good we are going to put a new system in the boat . It really has nothing and the bullet has no space to work with. Last year was a nightmare for me not Ron. I bought him a CD player for his birthday he called them and returned it. now we have to buy another one because that one went with our old boat.
so it is his Birthday time again what is your choices for Cd Players. I think we had with the 6x9's 12 or 14 speakers with the old boat 4 amps and 2 12" enclosed under the bolsters 4 10's under the bench seat and 4 amps, since there is such limited space, would love to hear some suggestions. I bought the tubes for the 10's last year had to cut them in half and reseal them. he went out and bought all Rockford's and we returned 1600 worth of speaker's because couldn't get them to sound right, so say you had a 1500 to 2000 limit what would you buy.
we also want to be able to have it sound clear as well as lots of bass
oh and best place to find enclosures
Thanks in advance and will post the pic's when we have finished
love the grill covers thunder32

Andy Buzz

THe best head unit is the new MBQuart marine radio and offers a wired remote control. MBQuart also makes the best sounding speakers. Add some enclosure matched subs and a good amp to match the speakers power, you will be pleased.

happy hours

I currently have a Clarion 10 inch in a free air situation. (under back seat) And I am fairly happy with it but I have the room I might give up to build a box. Is there any benfit to putting a sealed encloure around a free air sub?

Mike

hp500efi

Geez, with all that on board, I think you just lost another 2-3mph ....at least you'll sound cool