Best subwoofers
 

What are the best 10 inch subwoofers for a boat, probably infinite baffle (no box)? Price is not a big issue, I want lots of thumping bass.

i have a pair of 10 inch alpines i paided 400 for and 225 for box you can have for 125

jl audio W7s are the loudest for base but also the most expensive

I have the Alpine Marine 10" free air subs in my boat. They thump pretty good, but still don't compare to sealed box sub. Without a sealed box, you will be limited. I would say the Alpine or JL Marine Subs. The Alpines are about half the price of the JL's on ebay. I paid $230 for a pair fo them.

I ran four 10" JL marine subs last year and pushed them with a 1000 Class D amp. It was crazy loud and crazy bass. They are a good bang for the buck and dont require a lot of battery to run. I just finished putting four 12" W3's in a sealed box. So far (sitting in the shop) it is off the chart stupid crazy loud. I also had to add a Honda generator, two power packs and four different batteries. It got stupid expensive very fast. Stay with the JL marine subs they are worth every dollar.

If you want the best sound you need to have the subs in a box. Free airs are okay, but even with the JL's you are limited to the bass output you are going to get.

X2 on what diggin said. You're really limited on free-air speakers.

I've sold several of these: http://www.wetsounds.com/pages/products/XS-10FA.html

Compared to the Clarion 10" free-air, and the Kicker Marine free-air 10's, these are far superior. Much cleaner sound and louder. That all depends on how they're powered also, but to compare, I had these on the same amp.

PM me if you need more info.

Thanks to all, ok I need boxes to get what I want, has anyone tried the Kicker marine boxes, seems about the smallest foot print, any other suggestions? Note I am getting rid of two 12 inch Pyles in boxes that I had in the cabin v berth. Wanting to put 2-4 10 inch in the cockpit, so space for the boxes is an issue.

Are there marine W7s? I can only find W5s in marine........ What size & number of amps and wiring configuration would be best for 4 10" subs? Inline (+ from amp to +#1 sub to +#2sub and - from amp to -#1 sub to -#2 sub.........etc.) or curcuit (+amp to +#1 sub and separate + amp to +#2 sub.......etc.) Or that may be the other way around (inline vs. curcuit)?
Either way....just trying to rock the boat!

These look pretty good... How are Pyles? I have been out of the sub action for a while know however years ago for a free air sub they worked great. I've used them in cars and boats. In the boats I just mounted them under the rear seat. Also do the JL's perform best in a sealed or ported box?

I am debating whether to go free air or sealed. If you go sealed or ported is it still best to mount them under the rear seat. If so what is the best way to vent them into the cockpit? Do most people use the space under the rear seat to enclose a custom sealed or ported box? Or build boxes to fit under the rear seat?

4 FA 10's under the rear bench may be the best in your case. Dave Brown's 29 Outlaw has a pair of them, and like I said they sound decent. There's room for 2 more. I've got a pic of those but it's not uploaded. I can do it when I get home if you'd like to see it. If you do find a way to build boxes, I'd use the Wet Sounds XS-12's. They're a step-up from the 10FA's, but require a sealed or ported box. Sealed makes the woofer more efficient and works better in tight spaces, where ported requires more space and more power, ported boxes are much louder though.

All that depends on the woofer, single or dual voice coil, impedance of the voice coil's, and the amplifier you have.

No 7's in the marine line. I'm not a dealer for JL so I'm not up on their products at the moment. Most of their lineup is really good equipment though.

I'm not too keen on Pyle either. They used to be made here locally, but I've never really thought too highly of them with all the other products out there. The JL's depend on which woofer for sealed or ported, or free-air. There's a lot of variables there, and the enclosure design depends on what you can do in the boat. Most people can't build a box under the rear seat, or you could, but would have to piece it together inside. The only alternative is to dissasemble the entire rear bench, set a box in , re-assemble, then seal it to the face of the bench with the woofers mounted on the surface. It can be done, but would be permanent once it's all sealed up.

Bill, Don't know if you remember Jamie Snyder's 26' Sonic Prowler or not. He had 3 JL 10W3's in the cabin under the port side couch in sealed boxes. Perfect fit, and they were loud. If you could do that, that's what I'd recommend. We could use the Digital Designs 1510 woofer. I've done a few of those in cars and had good results.

I bought the JL marine 10, its in the center compartment in the cabin,replaced a Kicker marine 10,it looked like a cheapy,I also replaced the 5 channel Sony explode amp with a JL 6 channel,#5-6 bridge together on the 10,I was very impressed,good thump and made the 6 1/2 alot louder than the Sony.You can close the cabin door it will vibrate the sides of the boat and ya can hear the 6 1/2 thru the hull pretty clear.:drink:

Now I need to do something different with the cockpit!! Its a bunch of amps and speakers that isn't loud enough!!

I guess it depends on what kind of area you have for the subs,if its a big area that wide open the free air want do much,try and build a box/ported,even if its to small,or even drop down to a 8th's,pomp them hard,

Take a pick of the area yur putting them in.......

Rob:bigbird:

Thanks guys for the help. I like the idea of ported boxes under the rear seat and screwing and sealing them to the face with the subs mounted on the outside. I am limited to 10" due the rear seat base is 12" high x 14" deep. I think I'll have the two 10's under the rear seat and one 12" single or dual VC in the cuddy. Is there a good mono amp that would run all three? With three subs what would be the best combo to end up with 2 ohms preferably along with the desired amp. I guess it would have to be configured two ways depending on the 12" being single or dual voice coil.

I kind of figured Pyle was a thing of the past. Perhaps they'd be OK for the right application.

Cant do that. You'll need 2 mono amps to have subs separated like that. The sub in the cabin really needs to fire to the side if you do that. If it fires out of the cabin, and the 2 under the bench fire towards the cabin, you'll have a standing wave. The 29 OL I spoke of above added a DD 3512 firing to the cockpit, and we had to turn the 2 FA 10's down because it created a standing wave.

I dont know much about subs, but i have room to mount one free air sub, and I wanted to go 12 since I can only do one. does anyone have any experience with these?

http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/ro...12s4white.aspx

if you are not in a hurry i have one of those that i dont know if it will fit where i want to put it and if it wont i am going to sell it brand new in the box my complete stereo is Rockford Fostgate and i want to keep everything the same brand Ed

Jon
When you get ready to do this project let me know. I install stereos in boats in Chicago for side job. I'd be more than happy to spec out what you need. I think for what you're trying to do, you're best going with two 4 ohm speakers in the back and a 8 ohm in the cabin. Any quality amp would push this combo. With a competition grade amp you could go two 2 ohms in the back and a 4 ohm in the cabin. There are a lot of variables as to placement, I like to corner load subs whenever I can, it really makes the sub hit a lot harder. As far as brands- JL, boston Acoutics, Orion and MTX are all good subs. Not a fan of Pyle products.

Makes sense. Let know if the 3rd sub in the cuddy would be beneficial or not. I would fire it from one side or the other depending on space. I just like the idea of having it in an enclosed area like the cuddy. Just seems like you'd get a bigger bang being in some what of an enclosed area so to speak. Otherwise would I just be better off going with 4 tens under the rear seat???

Thanks for your help. I kind of forgot about the fosgates. Back in the day those things use to be awesome. They were just getting real popular when I left the head banging scene. Know I have an eight year son who loves to hear dry pipes and base pounding. LOL... He digs Eminem.

You can certainly run an sub/ amp combo like that! You just need to have an amp that can run mixed mono! To overcome the standing wave problem you just run the cabin woofer 180 degrees out of phase, which is super easy to do!

Thanks,
Your help will be appreciated. When you can pleae put something together for me. We must have been posting at the same time earlier. You know what I have for space and what not. I am not looking to go with all seperate speaker components such as individual mids and highs. I would rather go with some thing simple yet effective like 6x9's and 6" round. Either two or three way's. With CMI's and dry pipes I just need it loud yet clear. If you can figure two 6x9's and two6" round for the cockpit and two 6" round for the cuddy. I would like to run two 10" subs for the cockpit and one 12" for the cuddy. Idealy I would like to run two amps total. Perhaps the two 6" could run from the deck power if applicable so we wouldn't have an ohm issue and wouldn't have the subs pounding when in the cuddy. Deck power with fade control would be ideal. Would also be nice to have a unit that would work with my sons ipod touch so were not changing CD's all the time.

Let me know your thoughts when you can. Also if I am going about this right. If the sub in the cuddy isn't benificial then just say so. I can always go 4 tens in the cockpit however I can't help but think having the 12 in the some what enclosed area like the cuddy would pound pretty good. Almost more so than having it in the cockpit. You know what I'm getting at.

Thanks,
John
PS I hope all is well

John-
PM me your number. I'm in Onekama all week, if you want I can swing over and check out your boat and then come up with a plan of attack.

Mike

Kicker Solo-Baric. Square more cone area= more bass for the same size speaker. A 10" speaker is closer to a 12 in cone area. I run 4 12's in my boat and 500 watts to ea speaker. I have not herd a louder boat with the same amount of 12" subs.

Just because there's more cone space doesn't mean it's louder. The Kicker's also require an enclosure, which can't be used in certain situations. There's a lot of variables to making speakers loud, not just buying something, and it all starts with a good clean signal from the head unit.

I know, it's just not recommended. If a subwoofer is in a totally different area, or enclosure, it needs to be powered by a different amp or different channel. Corner loading doesn't make a woofer hit harder. It hits the same and the only difference it would make is with more or less power, bigger or smaller enclosure. It sounds louder, but that's just because when it's not firing directly into open-air, the wave resonates and sounds louder. That's why subs in hatchback cars that fire to the rear of the car sound louder.

Rockford back in the day made a pretty good product, I think they're okay at best these days compared to what else is out there. That's just my experience. I think the third would help, but not as endeavor said you could do it. Not trying to start a pissing match or anything, I just don't believe in 1 amp for woofers in different boxes or areas. Also, it doesn't always take a large number of woofers to make loudness. The wakeboats I have done installs in have mostly gotten 1 sub. They're beefy, mounted in ported enclosures, and have plenty of power. You're wasting money on subs when you don't have good enough amps for them.

The Wet Sounds 12" XXX:

http://jonyb.webs.com/photos/07-Supr...s/DSC_7189.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...a/DSC_7190.jpg

I've got one ten in my truck and it sounds great. The 12 above looks awesome. My only concern in a boat is all the openess and not being in an enclosed area. I realize the cuddy sub wont hit any harder given it is driven with a comparable amp however it's just the effectiveness of it's location I meant.

I always used linear amps. At the time they were superior to many amps. They had a nice 2602 that worked very well for many applications with variable high and low outputs and adjustable built in x-over. A real cool simple amp. If I remember right it was only 120 watts total (60/60).

Thanks,
John

PS where do you get the sub above. that thing looks stout to say the least.

So if you only had room for one sub mounted free air, and had a amp that is 450 rms, mono, what sub would you get?

Sorry to hijack thread!

Linear Power was great, but car audio has come a long way since those days.... If the sub is done right, it'll sound fine. Mine fire out from under the helm, and the other one from inside a console with the hatch open. They have no problems getting loud. I'm a dealer for the Wet Sounds brand, but anyone interested can email or call them to find the nearest dealer to them... 1-877-WET-SPKR

Wet Sounds XS-10FA, as I said before. These are designed for infinite baffle, 250W rms, 500 peak. http://www.wetsounds.com/pages/products/XS-10FA.html

Like a lot of people posting on here, I "used" to be into the stereo game, had a pretty serious Grand National with a pile of Phoenix Gold [back when they weren't junk] Kaption, and Fosgate stuff, a lot sure has changed since then..........

Here is the system I mapped out for my 24ft outlaw, ANY input is welcomed, and I hope that it helps anyone looking to put a similiar system in a boat [NOT looking to hijack the thread, just help (-: ]

I currently have a 10" sub mounted in the cabin, its a cheapie "Bazooka" sub, that works OK, but, isn't real good quality, I plan on replacing it with a Polk Audio 10" DVC MM series Sub, I find there quality is pretty good, and the price is middle of the road, I would have LOVED to gone to JL W7's but, the price is just crazy for my needs [not looking to win any contests, just want nice clear, loud tunes on the water]

I am mouting a pair of MM6501 6.5" Polks' on either side of the 10" sub and drving the sub and the components with a single JL Audio M4500 [channels 1 +2 to drive a component each, and channels 3 +4 bridged to drive the sub]

In the cockpit I am going with 3 additional sets of MM6501's driven by a single JL Audio M6600 [600 watts to 6 component speakers]

I am also gonna add 4-8" subs [Polk Audio MM8DVCs] under the back seat [behind where your feet would be] with an infintite baffle board box, I haven't decided to make 1 box, or 4 seperate ones, but, its relatively easy, you just make a "3 sided box", mount it, then when your finished mounting and wiring, enclose the "top" of the box.

I will be powering the rear subs with a sinle JL Audio M1800 driven at 2 ohms. I have ordered a 120 Amp alternator and I have an on board battery charger as well. For batteries I went with 2 blue top Optima's and I am using 2 Kinetik HC 1200's for the stereo.

I had considered removing the "front" sub altogether and replacing it with a flat screen, but, its already mounted with a box, wiring, etc, and I figure it would be more of a pain in the butt to tear it all out, then it would be to just replace it with a "real" sub.

Another tip I picked up was to wire the remote turn on wire from your deck to a remote switch before going to the amp that drives the cabin speakers, that way if someone is in the cabin [child taking a nap, or a buddy with a screaming hangover/sunburn] you can shut off the speakers to the cabin and still have tunes in the cockpit


Any thoughts/questions are welcomed, and I hope this info helps anyone looking at a system, Merry Christmas guys!

Michael

Infinity Perfect 10's is my vote :D

Jonyb-
Placement of a sub is everything. When setting up my home theater system I spent days placing the sub (M&K MX-350) in different areas and walking around the room with a DB meter and playing various music/movies to find the best location. I can say that placement is everything and the DB meter proved that. With my sailboat I have a singe Boston Acoustic G5 10 corner loaded in the very back of the boat. Again I played around with this for days. When it was in the cabin is was not as loud as where it is today. Again this was confirmed by a DB meter and everything in the boat shaking much harder.

As for the standing wave issue, it's almost impossible to have such a problem in an open air envirornment such as a boat cockpit. Standing waves are caused by reflecting soundwaves in a room. Typically the smaller the room the more likely the problem. This is why it is almost impossible to have this problem in boat cockpit as its open with very little reflection surface. The problem you are referencing in called bass cancelation. This is when two like waves cancel each other out. However this is very easy taken care of by changing the polarity on one of the speaker sets.

I also have to disagree that there needs to be a seperate amp for the cabin woofer. There are many ways to control the volume of the sub (if needed), I've done it for many clients and its worked out great everytime. Yes it would be easier to just mount another amp but certainly not cheaper. Plus more amps means more batteries. I have a 6- 6volt golf cart batterys in my sailboat, but I don't want that kind of weight in my Formula.

Thanks to all for the contributions, I am getting a lot of information as I like many others am not current on the marine and auto stereo manufacturers, etc. I have designed and built several home speaker systems and complete stereo systems (amps, preamps, dynamic range expanders, graphic equalizers, I am an electrical engineer), and I have installed stereo systems in several boats and cars, but that was a long time ago and usually on a somewhat restrictive budget (in my yut, lol)

What I am replacing/upgrading are two Polk 12 inch speakers in ported and tuned Qlogic cabinets in my cuddy (1999 271 Formula Fastech) powered by a bridged Profile 1000w amp and the factory installed Kenwood head, CD changer, speakers and amps, but I was never satisfied with the amount of bass versus what I had installed. Some of it was the woofers, not the best from Polk, some of it was the installation (lots of bass in the cuddy, not enough when at the beach a little distance from the boat even withthe cabin door and hatches open).

So here is what I going with: Alpine PDX 1.1000 with a Tsunami 5 or 10farad capacitor to power the subs, 2 10 inch JL Audio W7's in boxes if I can get it to fit or 4 10inch JL Audio M101BS-CG-WH's infinite baffel under the back seat if not, add a pair of JL Audio M770-CCS-CG-WH components mounted high in the cockpit to go along with the existing Kenwood 6x9 which are mounted low in the cockpit powered by a Alpine PDX 4.100M. I am replacing the Kenwood head unit with the Fusion CD600 with the Ipod adapater and two marine remotes (one at the dash and one on the transom). Ain't gonna be cheap but should rock and thump when desired. Oh yea, I am also going to add a Ramsey FM transmitter so that the other poeple I boat with can tune in in their boats and I do not have to play as loud I have over the last 20 years (age is a *****).

Now, has anyone added laser lights and a disco ball to their boat, opps my age is showing again, just kidding, lol, thanks and please keep it going, there is a lot of expereince being shared.

I should have added, everything I am taking out (the Polk speakers in the QLogic boxes, Kenwood head unit and 10 disc Cd changer, the two Kenwood amps and the Profile amp) are available for purchase if anyone is interested.

Not too sure about the use of the capacitor Bill. Lots of people have different opinions about those and most say that it'll hurt more than it helps. All it does is store energy for when the sub amp draws more current for longer bass notes. If you've got good batteries, you won't need the cap IMO.

Before you do all this, you should really come down to my shop and check out the Wet Sounds stuff. I can probably price it better than the JL W7's and I'm putting my money on the XXX being better, but you'd have to power it right.

Age has nothing to do with disco balls bub... I've got 1 hanging in my shop, and 1 hanging from a tree at our camper :D

How does it compare to the Alpine Marine 10" rated at 300W rms and 900W peak????
http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/prod...model=SWR-M100

I've never heard the Alpines, but considering all of their stuff is priced high compared to their competition, it probably ranks right next to the Kicker KM10's and Clarion FA's.

Jonyb, maybe I will do that, boat is in storage right now but plan on pulling it out in late february and doing an overall cleanup and repair, get the hull blue printed, some upholstery repair, some other little things, but the stereo upgrade is the major one. I really like the idea of box mounted subs under the backseat.

One last questions, what batteries are the best for powering this system

Odyssey Batteries.

I have 2 Alpines and putting about 250W rms to them and they sound very good, but have never heard the Wet Sounds. Alpine retail price is high, but ebay price is about half that.

which Odessey battery?

Bill, my boat and most of my customers that upgrade have used the Stinger batteries. I'm a dealer for those as well. Dave Brown has one for his stereo with the on-board charger, my boat has 3 with 3 chargers, and there's a few other ones out there too.

I have an SP800 for starting the boat, running the lighting, and powering the ballast system. 2 SP1500's are for the stereo alone. With 4 WS amps, I can play this for a few days. The amps are pretty efficient though. Obviously the alternator isn't enough to charge these batteries and we don't run much, so the stereo plays mostly when the boat isn't moving. The chargers are hard-wired so all I have to do is throw a cord out when I get back to the shop or camper, and plug it in. All 3 are tied to together under a panel and have a single 50' 12 gauge cord. The chargers charge the batteries, then shut off. The batteries are dry-cell, so they can't be trickle charged.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...a/DSC_7209.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...a/DSC_7208.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...a/DSC_7210.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...a/DSC_7170.jpg

I had a pair of Rockford Fosgate HX2 Power 10's wit the 400 oz magnets in my SVT Cobra and all I can say is DAYUM! Idon;t know about having them in a boat though, they were HUGE POWER HOGS.