speaker ???'s
 

Need to my 4 Kenwood Marine 6" speakers in cockpit.

Looking at 6 1/2" Alpine coaxials and the Rockford Fosgates. Any thoughts on these 2 speakers or any other recommendations?

System currently has 2 Kenwood speakers in cabin powered from reciever 'front' speaker outputs, 4 new speakers in cockpit powered from MTX ProThunder 504 4 channel amp, 8" MTX sub built in an enclosure under the rear bench seat. (Not best location, but was installed by previous owner and I really do not want to change it)

Prefer to stay with round vs 6x9 for installation reasons. Thoughts???? What gives best sound.

Thanks

Try BOSS...........not Bose..........BOSS.........can be found on ebay under marine speakers. I bought some cuz they were cheap after installation they ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

US1 Fountain,
I ended up cutting the holes to 6X9's. Audiofn set me up with Babbs 6x9's. I have four of them mounted in the cockpit powered by a 500s Rockford amp. No sub. They rock! I abuse them and they still sound great. They are very efficient speakers. I tried 6 1/2's and wasn't happy.
Dan

BTW, the Babbs have an ugly grill but are still worth it.

I got the Babb 6x9's from Audiofn also. Head unit power only (for now) and they ROCK.

If you can cut holes for the 6x9's, I highly recommend them.

I have sold Babbs for over 15 years and they are the best marine speaker on the market. The only problem is that they do not have a 6.5 inch speaker. Though the last time I spoke with them they were working on that problem. Poly Planar also makes a nice and good sounding marine speaker. Remember that the majority of speakers Manufacturers just change the color and call them marine speakers. Forrest

Thanks,
Will look into the Babbs.

So if a standard speaker costs half as much and lasts 3 or 4 seasons and a marine speaker costs twice as much and lasts 5 or 6 seasons,WHATS THE POINT in using a "marine " speaker anyway?

No rust for one. The Babbs have a polymer frame and grill all one peice. with a aluminum cone you can submerge the speakers and they will keep on playing. Poly Planars have stainless steel powder coated grills and come with stainless hardware. Tere is nothing worse than having rust stains bleed onto your interior. Besides these speakers sound great. www.babbspeakers.com
Stay away form the 10 inch as they do not sound that great. Forrest

speakers
 

It sounds like you are headed in the right direction to me. My personal preference is to use a variable frequency electronic crossover and additional amp or amps. An electronic crossover will provide a 3 db gain in efficiency over a passive crossover. To regain that 3 db in a passive system you must double your power. You can also dial in a variable crossover point to specifically suit your speaker system. I have 2 Fosgate 12 in subs in separate boxes and ten 6 X 9 JBL's. My subs are thru bolted w/3/8 in bolts w/large fender washers to the bulkheads of the boat and have large rubber washers between the fiberglass and the spkr cabinets. This coupling to the hull extends the lows tremendously as compared to just laying on the floor under the seat. My whole boat resonates with low frequency. My crossover has separate level control for low out plus front and rear levels as well for fine tuning.

I personally don't use marine spkrs. If my boat was smaller and the spkrs were in a "wet" area I might use marine spkrs.

The more power, the better. Lower power amps will "clip" much sooner than more powerful amps and thats one of the main causes of spkr failure. When the amps "clip" they are sending square wave to the spkrs and the voice coils will heat up. When hot, the voice coils will distort and rub the gap in the magnet. Eventually the voice coils will "open" and the spkr has failed.

Good luck in building your system.

The Babbs sound great and last. I have all sizes in stock as well as many amp deals. Feel free to reply to [email protected] or call me at my office in the am at 813-882-8477

Andy Buzz

Forrest & Audiofin......

Well....Just finished the stereo after how long ??? A year or more!!! Well, the Babbs are "The ****".....

Here is the final configuration:

Bow Area
(2) 6x9 Babbs (Thanks Forrest)

Cuddy Area
(2) 7" Poly Planar (Thanks Forrest)

Cockpit Area
(2) 6x9 Babbs (Thanks Forrest)
(2) 10" Claion Subs (Thanks Audiofin)
(2) 6x9 Poly Planar #905 (Thanks Internet)

(1) Sony Explode Amp 4CH
(1) Rockford-Fosgate Amp 5CH

I'm telling you "THIS **** ROCKS !!!!!!!"

Forrest & Audiofin....."You da' Men" !!!!

CJG.

It looks like Babbs are not a speaker carried by the normal electronics store. No one knows of them. I assume the 6x9 that you guys are talking about is the 924's? This is a single cone speaker? The web site list them for $240, each.......pair?? What are compareable speakers to these to get a sound comparison?

Thanks

USA1,

I have an Idea !!!!

Come out to Havasu this weekend and have a listen !!!!!!

112 Degrees last weekend !!!!!!

CJG.

Dan, you were able to mount 2 at the front lower side compartments? I have to check this area for enough flat mounting space.

Chit, I would die from the sudden heat change! It just made it to the 80's this week. We are running WAY below the normal temps this year. Feels like boating season has not even began, and it's hitting the 1/2 way point already.
Why did you go with 2 different 6x9 brands in the cockpit?
Thanks

6"x9" Babb #934's @ $ 185
71/2" Poly Planar #MA6600 @ $ 180/pr
10" Clarion CM2502-RET subs @ $ 125/ea
6"x9" Poly Planar #MA905 @ $ 99/pr

The Poly Planar 6x9's have a 1" deep magnet.........

That's all the room I had in this area..

I used them to fill in the sound near the front cockpit area.

I turned them way down, so the only really come alive when I turn it way up !!!! Forest turned me on to them and I just found them on the Internet a couple weeks ago for $99 a pair.

They work great !!!!

CJG.

If I remember Chris put that pair of Poly Planars in the cabin. Chris I am glad it turned out as you hoped. I saw that you made some additional upgrades how are they working out?

Those are the Plate speakers not 6x9s. Chris yhou should have called me I bought to many for my brother in laws new boat. Anyway I am glad they worked out.

Forrest......

The system has surpassed my expectations.

I have installed (3) Optima batteries to handle the load.

One battery in position #1 to run the boatand two batteries, in parallel in position #2 to run the amps.

I ran 4 gauge from each amp to the set of batteries in parallel.

As my wife will tell you "I'm a pain in the ass".....I want what I want and I want it to work good.

This system rocks.......Bang-for-the-buck, I got some BANG !!!

CJG

Sorry Forrest....

You're right....I should have called, but I got a wild hair after hearing my stereo and bought more speakers on impulse.

Seriously Forrest.....I can't thank you enough.......

You helped me avoid the learning curve & buying **** !!!
I know I could have spent a whole lot more money, but that would have cut into my new motor project.

Regards......CJG.

CJG.

The Babb speakers use an aluminum cone. The speaker is designed from the ground up as a true marine speaker. Call me in the am and I will get you a deal.

I enlarged the two 6 1/2 holes under the rear seat for one pair of 6x9's. I mounted another speaker on the port side under the cup holder by the cabin door. The other speaker is mounted on the side panel under the dash. I did not enclose this area yet. It still sounds good. I am running the speakers full range, no crossovers. I have the speakers wired so the amp see's them as 2 ohms instead of 4 ohms. I know the installers don't like doing this. The amp works harder. A friend, back in the 80's, had his punch 45 running 24 speakers. He was an installer and won a lot of events. That car rocked! 45 watt amp! I think the Rockford amps are built to handle 2ohm's with no problem.

Any questions give me a call at 708-218-1566.

Dan

Andy,
I hear you did a fantastic system for Side by Sides 2500HD. I have to catch up with him to check it out. My 2500 still has the factory radio.:( I need to correct that soon.