I am currently updating my stereo in my boat. I know lots of people have tower speakers for the rider. For those you who have not had them and installed them are you glad you spent the money. I am looking at HL's so its not cheap and I am not rich. Is it worth it?? Also I am not 18 I am in my mid 30's

I'm actually not sure on this either. I'm in my mid 30's, loud music isn't a huge part of my riding, and if I did it I'm ogin to do it right, which is pricey. The PA on the wetsounds 420 would be a huge plus to have to keep idiot jet skiers out of your wake

Me too looking at adding tower speaker as well.

I am in my mid 30's and just went through the same thing. I am generally out with the family, so we surf/tube/swim and dont wakeboard that much at all. When I first bought the boat, I put an entire Polk system in (including 4 tower speakers), WS 420 and new Alpine HU. In November (only 6 mos later)I replaced the tower speakers, sub and amps with WS. <BR> <BR>So here are a couple of observations: <BR>1. I think tower speakers are a must - you can hear them while you are swimming, tubing, surfing etc. The WS 420 is great because it allows you to control volume for the boat speakers, sub and tower separately (ex: I can turn the boat speakers off and let the tower play. This allows people to talk/kids nap without making them deaf) <BR> <BR>2. Even though I now have WS, I thought my Polk system was great for the money. Reality is that I truly wont be able to take advantage of the WS system but few times a summer when the kids are out of town. Since I dont wakeboard, I dont have a lot of demand for projecting 80ft back, which is what the HLCD are made for. With that said, my WS system sound much better, but it should because it was not cheap.

Is there a cheaper version of the WS420? Can't believe no one has done this. Not sure I need the mic but may be a cool option.

I like having the tower speakers for hanging around, music while swimming, etc. But to be honest, I rarely hear/enjoy it behind the boat while boarding. Many times while we're boarding, we leave the stereo off. It's just one more thing to deal with taking focus from the rider &amp; driving. That said, I don't have a HL speakers.

I have a older set of the rectangular kickers that Monster Tower used to sell. They came on my boat when I bought it. You can hear them out back but they aren't very loud. I would love to get a set of WS or similar but I have come to realize that to hear at 70-80' when riding that everyone not in your boat can hear your music 100's of yards away. I have a hard time subjecting everyone else around me to have to listen to what I am playing. The other thing I find is anyone sitting in the back of the boat as I have a DD is just getting blasted with really loud music from the tower. As my friends and I actually like talking to each other having the stereo just cranked doesn't work to well either. I am also 30 so maybe age does start to have something to do with it. I'd rather draw attention with what I am doing behind the boat as opposed to my ridiculously loud music.

As for your question. Having tower speakers is nice to have for the reasons others mentioned but I don't know if you really need to spend the $$ for HLCD's. I also have the WS420 and that thing is great.

Hook up your rear channels to the tower speaker amp and the front channel to the interior speaker amp. <BR> <BR>Then just mes with the fader/balance to achieve the desired sound levels inside the boat. <BR> <BR>We ride at R10 our of a max of R12.

Mid 40s here.... ouch that kinda hurt. <BR> <BR>We bought a boat with a system already in it, 4 tower speakers, 6 interior speakers, 1 sub, over 1100 watts in amps, etc. And have modded a few stereo items, including adding the WS420. My wife says the system is "stupid loud". We kick up the volume while riding, swimming, hangin out, etc., but don't crank the tower speakers very often. The WS420 is nice for telling your rider something, but you can get labeled as "that guy" pretty easily if your not careful with it. <BR> <BR>I've debated on taking the speakers &amp; bimini down, selling it off, and having one of those "above the tower" biminis made. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by bill_airjunky on January 14, 2010)

I would rather draw attention to the boat and music than what I am doing. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0> But that is because I suck. <BR> <BR>I think the speakers are worth the money. The kids love it when tubing even. They have a hoot trying to do the YMCA dance while on the tube, for example. I haven't yet had the guts to blare bad boys' from the TV show 'cops' when I see the lake patrol, but it is on the list. The siren sound has been useful on many occasions to get the lake rats to stop what they are doing and leave me alone and also to let them know that I WILL run them over if they are close enough for me to do so. They then usually stop jumping my wake. There are lots of ways to have fun at the lake with loud tower speakers. <BR> <BR>For me and my family, it is more than just wakeboarding with the stereo blaring.

wakeboarder70 - <BR> <BR>Let me be upfront and say, "I have a dog in this fight because I own a company that makes tower speakers..." With that said, I'll give you some honest speak. <BR> <BR>It seems like every time we have a customer fire up his system after upgrading from regular coaxial/car type of tower speakers to HLCD's the comment is the same, "WOW! that is loud and crystal clear. WOW WOW"-- actually there is usually a few Fbombs in there too but I'll refrain. <BR> <BR>The point is that HLCD's really project and are built to do just that. They are more pricey than run of the mill car speakers. So the question really is: You have to be the one to answer the question, " Is loud, clear accurate sound (at a distance) important to you?" <BR> <BR>If so, then you should demo some or take the plunge and do the upgrade and empty your wallet a bit. <BR> <BR>-Brian <BR>Exile Audio

love haveing the tower speakers when we are riding but dont want them on all the time i took the cheap route i installed an inline switch on the amp remote turn on so power to the tower amp can be turned off leaving just the sub and inboat amps on

I am 43, This is my 3rd year riding. My first year we did not have tower speakers. The next Year I added a complete Wetsounds system boat and tower. The tower has the 3 some on it. It helped all of us progress faster. It let's you just relax and ride by listening to music that puts you into whatever mood you want. This year I added 2 more Pro 60 to the tower. I think it is well worth it.The PA system is awesome, you can talk to the rider to help them as needed,along with yelling at power turners and jet ski's <BR>Don C.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/769073.jpg" alt="Upload">

I have three teen sons and they would love them and told them they could get them if they pony up the $s to upgrades, but so far no tower speakers. I ride regularly in 2 other boats one with wetsounds and another without HLCDs and if you get them go for the HLCDs. The difference in sound quality is huge. <BR> <BR>Like Bill said you can quickly become 'that guy' if you to freely share your musical tastes around others. When we ride in a boat with speakers, 1/2 the time we forget to turn them on or up when someone is riding and it adds a minor hassle to the list of things to do when a rider falls and gets up. It works best if you have a third that is not easily distracted that can be the DJ for the boat.

I lied to myself when I first got the new Sanger and said I wasnt going to do it.. I cant afford wetsounds or NVS's but wanted something louder than the 4 6x9 polks I had on my old boat without breaking the bank. I went with the Kicker KMT6s because they were plenty loud and did not break the bank. I love them and in IMO best bang for the buck. Not the loudest compared to some of my friends boats, but good enough and better than others. <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/769128.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/769129.jpg" alt="Upload">

took me 2 years to get my tower done and im so glad i did it. went with the NVS modous. do yourself a favor, go hlcd for sure. if money is an issue, save the rest of the winter and get a set of nvs, they rip!!! at 80' its deluxe. they are crystal clear and LOUD!!! very clean look and simple. my 2 10's will drowned out a tower full of 6x9's. i have them powered with an ARC KS 1000.1 <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/769162.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/769163.jpg" alt="Upload">

I use my tower speakers to face the shore while everyone is relaxing. For that reason I don't need those high end and expensive speakers. <BR> <BR>To add to that, I don't want to be "that guy" on the lake with the overly loud tower speakers on the boat. I see that as the same as driving around town with your windows down and forcing everyone around you to listen to your personal music. <BR> <BR>The days of "If I blast this music, everyone will think I'm cool" are long past.

I don't know if it is still active but bulletlines.com had their 6.5" HLCD for $175 a pair. It's without cans but that could get you into some HLCD's for cheap. It was a couple weeks ago that they had the special but it still might be going on.

And take the money you save and invest it with Bernie Madoff <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0> <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0>

The thing about a boat stero is that its not just the tower speakers. The multiple amps, wiring, extra battery, upgraded alt, etc cost adds up very quick. <BR> <BR>Personally I was determined to do a quality budget stero for under $500. <BR> <BR>I went with the KickerKMT6 tower speaker for $240, Clarion EQS746 equalizer for $60, upgraded <BR>105amp alt from <a href="http://www.db-starter-alternator.com" target="_blank">http://www.db-starter-alternator.com</a> american made for $75, a cheap 12" sub (built my own sealed box from marine ply and carpet), and last I found a five-channel amp to power my cabin speakers, tower speakers and sub all from one amp. Here is the amp I got, but there are more expensive 5-ch amps available too. <a href="http://www.millionbuy.com/crup50005.html" target="_blank">http://www.millionbuy.com/crup50005.html</a> <BR> <BR>You can hear music fine while boarding, really loud surfing. Sound is great, the EQ is awesome. I dont even have a head unit/cd deck, just run an ipod to the EQ to the amp. <BR> <BR>This is a budget setup and I am super happy with it and saved so much money. No it's not as loud as some of these setups but they are $2k at least.

Brenner - I think you are way off on that price. I wish you weren't though<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/angry.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>I'd add a set if they were that cheap. They did have a great end of summer sale which I hope they repeat this year. That is when I picked up the Bullet 770 hlcd's. <BR> <BR>Mikey is SO right. It starts adding and adding and adding up if you approach stereos like me (and many others here).

Holy cow - it looks like - from the other identical thread - that bullet 6.5" hlcd's are 200 bucks to your door!!! <BR> <BR>What's the price for the full chrome 770's??? <BR> <BR>I just checked the website and it said like 400 bucks or more - what is this discount deal going on?

I think Brenner is talking about bullet lines, not the real Bullet Hollowpoint speakers.

Thanks Tige - I misread that.

Ok you guys got me. So anyone with an 01 x star that has run speaker wire to the tower speakers? How did you get it from the boat into the tower. Are the support legs hollow??? I know there is a wire that runs to the light on top of the tower and there is no wire coming out of the boat into the leg so I assume you can run wire in the support leg

Tamapa - The machined fitting on the end of the front leg has a hole in it for the anchor light wire. You will need to take the lower part of the tower off and enlarge the hole to get speaker wire. You will also need to enlarge the hole where the tower pivots- You will have anchor light wire in this hole now. If you do not want to remove the lower tower section, you can drill an exit hole near the base of the tower and have the wire come out there and drill an entry hole in the fiberglass for the wire to go into the boat. You would need grommets and flexloom if you choose this route. My advice is take apart the tower as described above. It's not to hard. <BR> <BR>cheers! <BR> <BR>-Brian <BR>Exile Audio

Does the base leg on the passenger side where the amps <BR>and stereo have the same hole or is it better to follow the current wire that goes up the driver side. <BR> <BR> <BR>On another note does anyone know a good marine installer that would not mind installing products already purchased in the tampa bay area?????????? Or someone that does it on the side.

Does the base leg on the passenger side where the amps <BR>and stereo have the same hole or is it better to follow the current wire that goes up the driver side. <BR> <BR> <BR>On another note does anyone know a good marine installer that would not mind installing products already purchased in the tampa bay area?????????? Or someone that does it on the side.

My take on tower speakers: I prefer to maximize the SQ and range for people in and around the boat (swimming, beaching, etc) not behind the boat. Having the tunes loud enough for the rider to hear clearly and sound good takes A LOT of volume and means by default that a lot of other lake users also have to hear what you are playing. HLCD's are awesome for projecting sound but do not sound as warm and relaxing as car stereo based systems when you are close to them. For that reason I prefer down and rear firing speakers in the towerbox, it fills the boat up with sound and sounds really good for the people in the boat, the person behind the boat I am less concerned with cause they are already having fun. <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/769690.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/769691.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/769692.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/769693.jpg" alt="Upload">

For anyone considering Krypt Audio products you might want to first read this thread: <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.centurioncrew.com/Caveat-Emptor-specials-t1830.html" target="_blank">Caveat-Emptor-specials</a>