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Old     (Diggertaker)      Join Date: Dec 2011       07-23-2012, 2:26 PM Reply   
Looking for a review from someone who has heard 4 of these on a tower. Was originally going to go 2 Rev 10's at 375 watts a piece but I can do 4 icon 8's @ 175 watts a piece for about the same money. I know these are apples to oranges & yes I have read every thread on how the Revs are a warmer HLCD. There are no dealers within hours of me & nobody has either of these speakers on our lake. I had 4 krypt 8" HLCD before and just wasnt that impressed with them at the end of the rope so I am thinking of going with a pure sound quality setup this time, although Im sure the Revs are another ballgame compared to the krypts. We do a lot of hangin out behind the boat on the weekends & really like the full look of 4 speakers compared to 2 so I'm torn between sound quality in 4 icons or output in 2 Revs. For anyone who has rode behind 4 icons, can they be heard from 75 feet or is it just kinda like audible noise like my 6.5 coaxials I currently have?
Old     (Wakesounds)      Join Date: May 2011       07-23-2012, 3:14 PM Reply   
Get the Rev 10's, you wont be dissapointed. I have a pair and love them even close up! Mine had a slight break in period but sound amazing now.
Old    kx250frider617            07-23-2012, 4:42 PM Reply   
I don't have the icons but I do have 4 alpine 7" speakers on my tower with 90 watts going to each. Now these speakers are considerably cheaper than the wetsounds but the sound output is amazing for what they are. I can easily here the music from 80 feet back however, they are only audible directly behind the boat. The icons would definitely demolish my alpines. My alpines are also in a sealed enclosure so the bass output is pretty darn good. Iv'e never heard the REVs up close but judging by the output of my alpines, I would gladly settle for the ICONS. 4 8" speakers will be heard from 80 feet back for sure. This is just my opinion, which is also a budget friendly one! I would just be ready drop in 1 or more 10" subs to really sound good.
Old     (david_e_m)      Join Date: Jul 2008       07-23-2012, 4:50 PM Reply   
Four 8-inch drivers have a 20 percent surface area advantage over two 10-inch drivers. It takes about a 30 percent difference before you will recognize an output difference.
A 10-inch driver with larger pod displacement will have a lower inherent resonance and deeper bass extension. A greater number of speakers will increase in amplitude as you add but will not provide any deeper extension than one speaker of the same size. So two 10s will actually go deeper than four 8s or even eight 8s.
A larger quantity of speakers just adds quantity....more of the same. It does little to change the quality, balance or characteristics.
Typically a surf speaker is thought of as more of a sound quality speaker than an HLCD. That was true of the Pro series. But I wouldn't say that is true anymore of the REV series.
Two speakers spread apart have less off-axis cancellations (comb filter effect) and tend to sound better than a packed horizontal array of four speakers.
The appearance issue is a subjective choice so I have no preference to share. But you can see which way I would go strictly from a technical standpoint.

David
Earmark Marine
Old     (JohnAr)      Join Date: Jun 2010       07-23-2012, 10:45 PM Reply   
David, is the comment on surface area still true when comparing a coaxial with grill-mounted tweeter to a HLCD which has the big "horn hole" in the middle of the driver? I would expect that the actual surface area of a REV10 is comparable to a 8" coax. Or in other words, is bass response and tone more of a factor of diameter, or surface area?
Old     (david_e_m)      Join Date: Jul 2008       07-24-2012, 6:39 AM Reply   
John,
Do the actual math between a midbass cone with a solid dustcap and one without on the same size of speaker based on a large 1.5-inch voice coil. You will find that there is perhaps a 5 percent differerence on average (depends on the VC size in proportion to the driver size) in radiating surface area. Such a diameter would be a huge difference at the outer diameter (like different sized speakers) but minimal at the center. If we are not comparing speakers of the same size it is not enough to be an important factor.
However, there are other factors beside just the surface area that can determine output. Surface area determines the initial sensitivity and efficiency. But, the voice coil diameter may help determine maximum power handling before going into dynamic compression. And, voice coil length can determine more excursion which is similar to surface area in determining displacement. So just looking at surface area ignores the top end capabilities of a speaker.
A REV is clearly meant to play louder than an Icon for a variety of reasons.
In another scenario, I would choose a single pair of Icon8s over any single pair of 6.5" HLCDs I have heard.

David
Earmark Marine
Old     (dud77)      Join Date: Aug 2009       07-24-2012, 7:20 AM Reply   
If cost is an issue just buy some used Pro 80s. You can pick them up for $450-$550 and put 400 watts on each. You need the watts to get the sound. Buy 2 80s and either a Syn2 or Syn4 any you will be all sit. The amp will cost you $600-$700 but you won't be disappointed. Yes, the Rev stuff sound a little better but for half price you can have almost the same sound. The Pro 80s will sound better than pretty much anything else you can get for the money. I've had NVS speakers, infinity and the Wetsounds and the wetsounds stuff is the best.
Old     (murphy_smith)      Join Date: Dec 2005       07-24-2012, 7:48 AM Reply   
I think the 4 Icon 8's on the tower with a Syn2 would sound awesome.

You are not the first guy who is fed up with trying to acheive quality sound at the end of the rope. I hear more and more folks going with a bigger non HLCD speaker and doing 4 of them. There is no doubt that you will have exceptional SQ in the boat and while wake surfing and while hanging out behind the boat. You will also win the heart's and ear's of those in your boat for no longer blasting them to death so that you can hear the music clearly while riding.

Im a huge fan of the HLCD's and love to crank them up - but now that WS has brought an 8" tower speaker to the market that I really like...who know's it may be my next setup.

I have listened to the Rev 8's, Rev 10's and the Icon 8's. Impressed with them all and I think that you would be really happy with Four Icon 8's on the tower based on what you described in your first post.
Old     (Diggertaker)      Join Date: Dec 2011       07-24-2012, 7:50 AM Reply   
I already have an arc 300.2 (pretty close a syn 2) & a jl 750.1 so the amp isnt the issue for either the Revs or Icons. Price isnt really that big of an issue I just wanted to stay in a certain ballpark $ wise. I think I have ruled out the pro 80's, need something with more sound quality.
Old     (murphy_smith)      Join Date: Dec 2005       07-24-2012, 8:09 AM Reply   
Good choice on the Pro 80's. Great speaker when they were introduced but there is now better out there.

I run a set of Rev 10's on an Arc Audio 300.4 and I love it. I did almost switch to the JL HD line when i tranferred the old system from old boat to new boat and I was going to run the JL HD 750/1. I ended us sticking with the Arc KS amps and put a 300.4 to the Rev 10's

On some tower 4 speakers look better than 2 and vice versa. On my G3 tower, I love the look of one set of rev 10's versus the look of 2 sets of Rev 10's.

If you are going to go with only one pair - i'd stick with the rev 10's for SQ purposes. My fear is that if you do only one set of Rev 8's or 1 set of Icon 8's - you will find yourslef pushing the speaker pretty hard to get what you want.

There is big output difference b/t the Rev 10's and Rev 8's....so if I were in your shoes....1 set of Rev 10's or 2 pair's of Icon 8's
Old     (Diggertaker)      Join Date: Dec 2011       07-24-2012, 8:26 AM Reply   
Yeah 1 set of Rev 10's pushed by a jl 750/1 or 2 sets of Icon 8's pushed by a Arc 300.2 are pretty much the only options Im considering at this point.
Old     (murphy_smith)      Join Date: Dec 2005       07-24-2012, 8:38 AM Reply   
Your set! Post up some pictures when you get it all done.

btw-what boat and tower are they goin on?
Old     (jonyb)      Join Date: Nov 2008       07-24-2012, 9:11 AM Reply   
Digger, where are you located?
Old     (Diggertaker)      Join Date: Dec 2011       07-24-2012, 9:12 AM Reply   
Axis A22. My thoughts on this pretty much echo everything the above posts read. I just wish I could hear both setups before I make the decision but due to my location thats just not possible.
Old     (Diggertaker)      Join Date: Dec 2011       07-24-2012, 9:21 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonyb View Post
Digger, where are you located?
Right in the middle of IL. Closest dealers are 2-3 hrs out & none of them have wetsounds gear on display.
Old     (jonyb)      Join Date: Nov 2008       07-24-2012, 11:09 AM Reply   
If you're in the middle of IL, you're within a drive to me, and I'm a dealer.... I'll PM you the info.
Old     (JohnAr)      Join Date: Jun 2010       07-24-2012, 12:43 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by david_e_m View Post
John,
A REV is clearly meant to play louder than an Icon for a variety of reasons.
In another scenario, I would choose a single pair of Icon8s over any single pair of 6.5" HLCDs I have heard.
I guess this is what I'm curious about -- I already have a set of HLCDs which get plenty loud at the end of the rope, but contribute nothing to SQ in and around the boat. LOUD isn't the only metric, I'm curious about the overall SQ and midbass output of a pair of Icon8s vs a pair of REV10s. I would expect the midbass output would be similiar, with the SQ advantage overall going to the Icon8 due to the tweeter? Thanks for replying.

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