input on new speakers..

You really think i'm going to touch that line bawshogg? Although it would be fun to start another mind bonk.

i'm brand loyal in all categories of my purchases if the company/product does right by me i.e. quality, customer service, usability.

LOL, thread summary....

OP asks what he should do to upgrade on a budget using existing amps.

A few helpful answers, then exile! wetsounds! Exile! Wetsounds! EXILE! WETSOUNDS!

I invented HLCD's!

No I invented them!

OK, neither of INVENTED them, but I was first to use them on a boat! Oh so you say, but that wasn't with a super horn, which I did first!

Crescendo'ing right into the "Don't be THAT guy" deck boat with the wetsounds and the big screen.

To the OP -- maybe you should stick with what you have

LOL good summary. I think fall is in the air and we can expect 5-6 more months of this.

i'm also shop loyal i.e. ear mark for any of my stereo needs including questions because they are so friendly.

The winter won'tbe that long since we will all be waiting for the 8 new, innovative products that Exile is going to roll out....including the much anticipated XM-9.

I for am going to be expecting to see and hear about all 8 and will be extremely dissapointed if all 8 do not make it to market this year

Exile must have really deep pockets in order to bring out 8 new products. Just the tooling and initial purchase could cost upwards of a 250,000 and that is a conservative number

It is going to be a great winter and I am planning on being the most critcal and argumentative SOB you have ever seen!!!!!!!! Heck I may even throw WS under the bus a time or to.

bundle up guys...it gets pretty cold in the winter when the golves come off!!!

shawndoggy..........so true and so hilarious!

RM.....I would say this to you no matter which brand you chose to be loyal to. I appreciate how your value system works, but if you go through life with brand blinders on you will never know how your chosen brand stacks up against the gold standard. Your chosen brand might even BE the gold standard and you will never know. 20 years ago, MB Quart was my go to brand for every project. When the company was sold, their speakers became solid middle of the road at best. If I had not stepped out of my box and tried other brands (before the Quart sale), I would still be blindly rockin' the Quarts and wondering what happened to my hearing. Not a sermon, just a thought.

The only brand I am loyal to is the one that writes my paycheck.

i keep up on things. the last time quartz was sold to mtx or whoever i swore off their stuff. there's an old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." i think this applies to a product/company/store that has done right by you in the past. when the products and or values and treatment stop agreeing with what you feel they should be then you pursue other avenues of personal satisfaction.

A speaker whore once called me a speaker whore. That probably sums up my approach to audio pretty well. Glad to know your blinders allow for a little peripheral vision. Your earlier post lead me to believe otherwise.

I have said it many times and I'll say it again. By the time you make the investment into a well powered properly tuned pro-audio based tower system you will most surely be satisfied with the result. I have Wetsounds and I am happy, my buddy has NVS and he is happy, same with Bullet or Krypt speakers, I see lots of guys with Exile stuff and it appears that they are happy too. Avoid Skylon tower speakers, I have two buddies that had them in the past and now run Wetsounds. I see some guys with the new Kicker stuff getting good results too so that could be an option to consider if you want to be different or already have some round cans.

Once you get to this level it's like going to the dragstrip and liking a Chevy over Ford or Chrysler. It's as much of an emotional decision as it is a logical decision because they all make a solution to your need.

You have a Malibu with an illusion tower right? Assuming this is correct I would probably recommend you grab a pair of Wetsounds Pro-80s and you are good to go. If you want to step up a bit you might want to consider the 10" NVS Modus or 2 pairs of Pro 60's. In my opinion 4 Pro-80's starts to get a little over the top. That second set of speakers is not going to make your system twice as loud, maybe just 10-20% louder. If you've got the money go for it, if not then spend wisely where you will get the biggest bang for the buck. Spend your money on a good amp instead. Push a single pair of Pro-80s with a Syn 4 and you are going to have plenty of music to hear from the riders position. I am currently running 500 watts to each of my Pro-485s, I am planning to step it up to 700 watts each with a Syn 2 pushing each 485 sometime this winter.

At spring ride this year we had a bunch of different boats at the dock blasting right at each other. I recall one particular boat that started out with 6 Exiles on the tower the first day. By the end of the second day 2 or 3 of the speakers were gone from the tower. Rumor around the dock was that he had blown those speakers. I didn't see anybody blowing Wetsounds or NVS speakers. Although, I am sure Exile will work it out and stand behind the product but they are still a relative newcomer to this space so you might share in some growing pains they suffer as they add 8 new products to the lineup. I do still want to hear a Typhoon amps from the end of the wakeboard rope.

My Pro 485s were purchased in 2006, they have been run off 320 watts then 400 now 500 and soon to be 700. They have spent hours running near full volume during events like spring ride and Bump. I have killed 11 Polk tweeters in my in boat speakers at these events, burned a voice coil in a subwoofer, so I am not that easy on my gear yet my 485s keep going strong.

scratch Typhoon, make it Harpoon. I am getting my poons confused...

By the time you make the investment into a well powered properly tuned pro-audio based tower system you will most surely be satisfied with the result.


Mikeski......I feel ya, but I believe that ^^^^^ statement is too general to be thrown out there as an absolute. What about the guys who can't stand the sound of pro audio horn based speakers in the first place? They are currently the minority, but as better non HLCD speakers become available, those guys seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Lately there has been a lot of buzz concerning mixing horn and non horn speakers on the same tower. That tells me at least some people find the bright treble ( or some other aspect) of an HLCD speaker objectionable and they are ready for another solution. I am hoping the big guys will address this market when they roll out the new gear we have been hearing about.

chris01svt - As Brian mentioned in the beginning, the one that sold me was "1) XM7's spin in 360 degrees, with the turn of a thumb screw. Very cool for aiming sound at a party cove, or spreading the sound field for wakeboarders on the fly!"

With an Illusion tower myself, I'm able to mount a pair of XM-7's and spin all 4 speakers 360 degrees... and then quickly disconnect them when needed and stick in their cool socks -> Pro-80's are extra cash. I've listened to both a pair of Wet Sounds Pro-80's and Exile XM-7's together (powered the same)... you may notice a slight difference but minimal. Everyone hears things different, so take the same test and see what works for you. As others have mentioned, the amp is the critical piece when your talking these level of speakers, so don't skimp on them. Technology changes every year, so unless you are in a hurry, I would wait for the newer line ups and discounted pricing that comes in the off season. Oh yeah - don't forget the WS-420!

Mikeski - I've got a Harpoon amp pushing my Xm-7's and local to you. I'm going to be at Anderson on Sunday if you want to hear/ join. Still looking for a 3rd, 4th, etc...

-- Jeff

I wanna be a minion. I think I also want to invent something to hang from my tower. Might as well kill two birds with one stone this winter. Any takers? Investers apply with in. Maybe next year you will see my minion inventors banner on WW.

Originally Posted by kruiserkat

I wanna be a minion. I think I also want to invent something to hang from my tower. Might as well kill two birds with one stone this winter. Any takers? Investers apply with in. Maybe next year you will see my minion inventors banner on WW.

You have to get on the "Paid Minion" waiting list. I sent out my application about a week ago, hopefully I'll be accepted .

FWIW, I have four Exile XM7's and would highly recommend them. No wires showing and 360 degree swiveling mounts can't be beat. I have never heard the other brands and am not an audiophile by any means, so take my opinion for what it's worth. I ride at 80' and can hear them like I'm standing in the boat.

...and the sales have begun:

http://www.earmarkcaraudio.com/Xcart...cat=337&page=1

i watched a little xm7 video about the swivelness and i really liked the overall looks and function, but i am wondering if people ever drop them or the thumb screw vibrates loose and they fall off. ??

Haven't seen anybody drop theirs. You have to unscrew them quite a bit before they will come off. By then I would think you would notice your speaker moving arround on the pivot.

The mount on the XM7 has a very deep detent that the adjustment bolt seats into so this provides the safety that a friction mount lacks. If the speaker loosens then it will simply be free to rotate. There is an allen fitting in the end of the bolt that allows for a firmer lock if you feel that is necessary. But the bolt has a large knurled knob and rubber boot so you can get more than enough torque by hand without any effort.

David
Earmark Marine

That is a pretty good deal on the Earmark Website.

Four XM-7's, harpoon amp and HSE Volume control for two grand.

Mr Mojo - David's observations about the XM7 clamp design are spot on. The devil is in the details and those are a few of the important ones with respect to the clamp design. We recently had a customer with 4 XM7's get hit by another boat on the water (Tige vrs Supra new reality tv show?) and although the boat took upwards of 25K damage, his speakers, mounts and connections all remained undamaged or came off the tower for that matter. In my opinion, with HLCD's, you run a bigger risk of damaging your speakers by running a cracker jack amplifier behind them. HLCD designs do not fare to well with the big time distortion that comes from a 2 x 1500W amp (aka known as 2 x 15W). In short, just remember to feed HLCD's power.

-Brian
Exile Audio

ps: As a side note... The XM7 speakers do not qualify it as an approved USGS buoyancy device!! Now if we could just tether them some how...