tower speaker options for new Malibu tower
We had Pro80s on our 23LSV. I am looking for something in the 6.5'-7" size to keep headroom this time. I saw the mounts at my dealer for the Pro60s and they looked funky. What works on the new Bu tower and what do you recommend for clean sound with moderate volume?
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Andrew if I were you I would check out the Exiles XM7. All around just a really great product.
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Andrew Exile is the way to go there Xm7's would fit your tower perfect, they sound great and there absolute theft proof! http://exileaudio.blogspot.com/
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The best part about the exiles is there new mounting bracket! No funky shelf looking thing. I just installed 2 pair of the exiles with the brackets on a 23 lsv and was very impressed.
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Exile all day long. Here is a video of how easy they are to install on your Malibu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxpAQmzsgwA |
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I just installed 4) XM7s on Exile's brackets on my tower..... I was originally going to use the Bullet shelves to mount the Exile speakers, but then Exile came out with pictures of their system and it looked much better. Before I had the brackets from Exile, I held the Bullet shelf up where it would mount, and the Exile speaker under it, and it definitely would have been hanging much lower than the way the Exile bracket mounts them. I don't have any great pictures of my install, but I'll see if I can snap some and upload them. Exile definitely has the best mounting system out there. With the speakers taken off the tower, the brackets are barely noticeable.... Nothing sticking out off the tower more than a couple inches. I've never had Wetsounds or Bullets, so I can't really give a fair comparison sound wise, but my 4- XM7s driven by the Harpoon amp are VERY loud, and VERY clear. I'm very happy with how the system turned out. |
Andrew,
Do you have anything on the tower now? We have the new PRO 696 RS HLCD 6x9 that are a direct drop in replacement for the factory speakers. This gives the ability to keep the factory look but upgrade the sound. The 696 is going to be close to the 80's in terms of output. As for the PRO 60's. We have a new mount that will be available for the G3 that mounts to the sides without the use of shelf type system. Also, we have a single pair mount without a shelf that allows you to mount a single pair of PRO 80's to the sides. Or single pair of PRO 60's etc.. Or if you wanted, we have a lot of customers mounting a single pair of PRO 80's on the crossbar corner without the need for any adapters. This might be something that would work for you. Also, Just an FYI. There are NO 7 inch drivers on the market. They are 6.5 inch in the PRO 60 and 6.5 inch in the XM-7 for smaller sized housings or 7.7 inch for JL or Bullet to 8 inch in the PRO 80. Shoot me an email and we can look at all the options that works best. Tim Wet Sounds |
As of now, Exile has the cleanest mounting bracket for the new G3 Towers, super simple to install and they look great. They also have the most user and installer friendly towerspeaker solution for standard tubed towers as well as all the latest designs from Cent, Bu and Nauti. The quick release is as good as you can get, a few turns of the thumb screws and BAM they're off and in the bags for storage.
Feartures: Easy to Install True Quick Release clamps system Included speaker covers no extra charge Nice Fit and Finish Amazing customer/dealer service. Johnny Liquid Trends |
I just installed 2 pair of XM7's with the G3 adapter plates and an Exile Harpoon 1000.2 amp on a buddies boat this last weekend. That is the slickest setup out there, the speakers can still swivel and be removed at the end of the day and carried around in the bags they supply with the speakers, plus you can still have a bimini installed without problems. The Harpoon puts out gobbs of power and sounds clean. Great stuff from the guys at Exile, they are doing it right.
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Andrew -
The G3 tower is unique in its factory setup. You'll see a lot of shelf type adapters out there but to be honest we where not to fond of that idea so we put our thinking caps on and created custom bracket that 1) looks totally factory with matched powder coat to the tower. 2) low profile so we could maintain clearance. 3) setup our tower speakers so they still retain their ultra easy quick disconnect and ability to spin 360 degrees. I suspect that so many guys brought up Exile because no other speaker on the market addresses the three points above. I'll attach a few photos so you can see what I'm talking about. It's pretty slick If you have questions or need any help, shoot me an email / pm or whatever and we can rap about the details of your boat. -Brian ps: here's a link to the malibucrew thread if you want more details http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/...1&#entry385422 Exile Audio |
I think it's important to point out that those photos above are not what the current finish looks like on the brackets, those must have been the pre-production models. The production models of the ones I just installed had the crinkle finish like the factory G3 tower. Pretty seemless look if you ask me.
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^^^ Nu Bu is right.... I think those were a pre-production model with a plain finish. The crinkle finish on the production brackets is an exact match to the tower.... If you have the speakers off of the brackets, they definitely look like they are a stock part of the tower.
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Heres another option :D
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Good gawd hate!!! How do those tree huggers in WA deal with you??? That is awesome!!! Brian I want to do that!!!
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Here's a link showing several G3 tower mounting options for Bullet HollowPoint 770s. G3 Tower Brackets
The Bullet shelf system is very compact and offers very little offset so the phase coherency between the upper and lower speakers is very good... And its definitely an audible difference. The flat bracket Bullet plate provides another streamlined option that snugs up tightly to the G3 tower. Scan on down the page to see these. Both versions are a perfect powdercoat match with the G3 tower. The HollowPoint 770 7.7-inch is just on the heels of an 8-inch driver in surface area and is loaded into a very streamlined aluminum pod. Just pointed this out as HollowPoints do have a flat bracket. David Earmark Marine |
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That's just retarded! In a good way. I was wondering what that noise was. Got a video?
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Here is the setup on the mighty WakeWorld Wakesetter. Four Wet Sounds Pro 60's. I think they look great. Not sure what the headroom issue is unless you stand on the seats. I'm 6' 4" and have hit my head on plenty of stuff, but not these speakers. I'm always amazed at the comments I get about how far away people can hear them since I never really open it up. I've also got a Wet Sounds amp and WS-420 to go along with it. Great setup!
Attachment 5960 Attachment 5961 Attachment 5962 Attachment 5963 Attachment 5964 |
Thats not mine Mark, it was posted on Exiles forum and I saw it the other day. Just seemed relevant here. Thats definitley overkill to me but some how its pulled off on that tower. I'm cool with everything but the back four.
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Looking at the offerings I would unquestionably go with either Bullet or Exile. The Wetsound solution doesn't look nearly as organic as do the two former.
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The G3 bimini curves down quite a bit in the rear, effectively blocking the sound of any speaker mounted on either of the cross bars. Assuming we can all agree that shelf systems are just wrong, that leaves the side plate mounts as the best option. If you like the quick release clamp, Exile has that action all locked up.
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another vote for the xm-7's.... Im getting 4 of them for my VLX.....however I really like that last shot of the wakeworld boat....the white boat and white speakers look sickk
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THe XM-7s might be nice but they are still at 6.5in speaker, in this setup you have plenty of room to go with an 8in speaker like the Pro80s with out losing any headroom, I don't see why that is not the best option, with the pro80s over the XM-7s you will gain quite a bit of output
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HATE - You're a crazy person!!! Looks killer btw.
How would the ws pro 485 look on that tower? |
Have you heard the output from the exiles. I think the PRO 80's are great but just TOO big and on the BU tower the location for them I would rather go with the pro 60's if I had to have WS. However I love my XM7's
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That last statement could be the over exaggeration of the century. |
NUBU, what is so reduclous about the plates? it gets the speakers out of the way, and there are picutes of more than one boat on this forum running 4 pro80s
not to sounds like a Wetsounds fanboy, but do you believe that the XM7s will outperform the Pro80s and if so what do you base this on? and yes i have heard multilpe Exile setups and all have underperformed in both output and sound quality compared to their wetsounds counterparts... |
Seems to me the XM7's lack mid bass. They are a great design and fit though, but I was not impressed with the output. I realize your not going ot get a bunch of bass out of tower speakers but atleast a touch is always nice.
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I think were getting a little off topic here guys, TWS Andrew says he needs a speaker that had Head Room, and is 6.5 to 7 inches. This is how the whole Exile thing was brought about. Now we have drifted to what sounds best and loudest.
TWS also stated he wanted something that sounds great at moderate volume as well. This is turning into another typical WS Exile bash-em up thread. No one is saying Exile is Louder or sounds the same as a Pro 80. We all know the XM7 is most comparable to the Pro 60 but in terms of what TWS Andrew is looking for hands down it seems the XM7 is the ticket he needs. I personally don't like the shelf looking mounts. I also don't like the fact the speakers displayed don't have a quick release. I know WS has what they call a quick release but i have yet to see them in real action. Honestly for the BU and to get the best head room, quickest release, and seamless looking mounting the XM7 has it beat. I am a fan of the XM7 as i have 4 on my Moomba LSV powered by a 1K Harpoon and all i can say is every time, and i mean every time someone new is in the boat they rave over my stereo my tower speakers and how nice the wave is. They are always shocked at what this LSV can do. |
I have to say I am very happy with my XM7's. I am not a huge audiophile, but have had or been around every brand of hlcd. They all sound pretty awesome and are amazing. Everyone is gonna have ownership goggles for what they own, just like we do our boats so I will try to look at your individual situation. If I were to do it again, I would do the XM7's just cause they rock, the customer service has been better than good, and the way they mount. For a boat with the new G3 tower I would think it would be the only option. Look at the difference in mounting and all the other benefits....... On another topic, does anyone have any information on how long the G3 tower will stick around or is it temporary? It sure is difficult to outdo the old Illusion.....
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Since we carry both speakers and can listen to both side by side with the identical power it should come as no surprise that the larger driver in the larger pod has more output and more midbass. Stick with 6.5 to 6.5 comparisons. If and when Exile delivers an XM9 then we can make a valid comparison with the Wetsounds Pro80.
Ryan, I think your system would perform better if you had one pair of Pro80s versus two pair of Pro60s to coincide with your pair of Pro485s. Dissimilar speaker sizes don't provide equal output, don't sum as efficiently, don't handle power equally and don't tune together as well. The boat with the zillion XM7s would sound better if the speakers on the front bar were removed. The phase differential with that much front to rear space creates a large and narrow cancellation in the midrange bandwidth. Its a waste of precious power. David Earmark Marine |
Ok. I finally got around to taking some pictures of my Exile install last night.... Here they are.
The mounting brackets and quick release is awesome!! I always remove my speakers if I'm driving a long distance to keep them clean. Also- I was on my honeymoon about two weeks ago, and took the boat. We kept it in a slip in the marina all week, and every night I pulled the speakers and locked them up in one of the rear lockers. Very nice to have that piece of mind at night if you're leaving the boat out somewhere. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_5022.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_5023.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_5025.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_5028.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_5032.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_4926.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_4919.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_4913.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_4910.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_4922.jpg |
Nice job Charlie. The tower system looks plausably factory only better.
David Earmark Marine |
We had a full WS system on the last boat including two 485's, two MB-8's and four of what are now called the XST650. I went with this setup because I was seeking a better all around sound quality system.
We went a totally different direction this last year with our 2009 VLX. Only four XM-7's and we couldnt be happier with the performance and the sound quality. They have way more highend than I ever imagined and Exile has stepped up their game by adding a switch inside of the casing which can change the crossover manually to a more all around audiophile sound quality set up. We are running two in each position. I havent been a big fan of the G3 tower mostly because of the low bimini and the funky shelf systems for tower speakers. I do have to say that Exile has changed my mind on looking at our next boat possibly having a G3. Both Exile and Samson have come up with some great innovative accessories for this tower. |
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What works on the new Bu tower and what do you recommend for clean sound with moderate volume? |
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And thanks to Brian at Exile for their great product, support, and especially for rushing those brackets out to me so I could get my install done in time for the honeymoon! David and Brian are both great to work with, and ready to help if you have any issues. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from either one of them in the future! |
First of all I just want to say that i wasn't bashing Exile at all, For this application it definatly looks like they have the best mounting application, if that is the whole concern with the speakers they win! the only reason i said anything was becasue it seemed like everyone was bashing Wetsounds, again i 'm not going to get into who has the better speaker so i'll leave the alone
Owkoch, Awesome looking boat, I'm very jealous of you guys with the Malivue David the only reason i went with the 4 60s is because that's what we already had to work with, the 60s are on a seperate amp, and both 485s also have their own amps, so tuning shouldn't be a huge issue should it? i really don't see how 2 80s could have more output that 4 60s but that's just my opinion and i've been wrong before sorry to hijack... |
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I just had to laugh at your last statement. The kicker is.............. I don't own either Exile or WS, I own another brand. If I had to buy a set tomorrow I sure as hell know which it would be based on sound quality alone. |
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Looking at the background behind Charlie's boat ... those of you who live in the north and northwest ... I hope you realize how good you've got it.
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The homes or cottages, all the green right up to the water, it looks like a postcard. I've been in Texas so long the mesquite trees are starting to look good.
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Man do you have a bigger version of this pic? |
G3 Tower Speakers
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Jarryd, here is a bigger version of that pic. If you want it any bigger, you'll have to PM me with your email address and I can send it to you.
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