SAN 230, JL vs Wetsounds

Anyone have any pics of the Wetsounds 485's on a 230 SAN FCT3? I hear they look too big for the tower, but would like to form my own opinion.

What does everyone think as far as the JL speakers vs. Wetsounds? Which is louder, in boat and at a distance? Which has more clarity?

Greg,

Here is a pic of a 485 pair on the FCT3 tower. I personally think the pair of 485's fit this tower perfect. The speaker flows with the lines of the tower and they really look like they were made together.

http://planetnautique.com/vb3/ You may want to post up there and ask for pics. I wish I had some more pics for you.

Also, feel free to hit me up at twhite@wetsounds.com and I can see if we have a dealer near you so you can get a demo and make the call on what suites your tastes.

The 485 pair is my favorite and I feel it is the best all around in terms of output and sound quality.

Tim
Wet Sounds

I have wetsounds 650s in my boat. I have done quite a few car installs and wetsounds are by far the best sounding speakers i have ever heard used in a boat. Im working on a boat at the moment that has a $5k fusion setup and if wetsounds blended into a sunseekers cockpit I would be hounding our parts guy to start stocking them!

Thx Tom,

You will be happy to know that we have the new SW series shipping next week. These are a closed grille version of our XS speakers and available in white!! So these will be the ticket for what you are after in blending in more with a boat like that.

Tim
Wet Sounds

Is that grille easily replaceable if broken? Me and my friends feet are hard on grilles..

Hey Greg, I just put the 485's on my boat and they are huge. I don't have that tower but I do have to duck to walk under. I'll post some pics tomorrow 30" x 20" you'll see. Does WS have the mounts for that tower? If so go with the pair of 80s if they swivel like stock one's.

coop,

the grilles remove with 4 screws from the back easily but you have to un solder and re solder the tweeter lead since the tweeter is built into the grille. but these are a really strong ASA material so shouldn’t be too worried

John, we do offer mounts for the FCT3 tower for the sides like the factory but we chose not to offer a swivel, only the ability to mount in the same side locations. We fell tower speakers are for the rider or for those behind the boat in a party cove type deal. You already have speakers in the boat for people in the boat so firing the side speakers down is really not a good choice as far as acoustics go especially with our PRO audio tower speakers.

The FCT3 mounts are available for the PRO 60, PRO 80 or MB-8. So you can do a pair on the sides and a pair up top like the factory. This tower is very tall so the hang height on a 485 is fine and most do not have any height probs with this tower.

Tim
Wet Sounds

I've had 485's on my last 2 230's and they're going on my 2010 230 this month.

Here are a few shots of my '09 with the fct3 and z5. Not the best pics, but I don't have much saved on my work computer.

Greg,

These two speakers are night and day different.

The JL Audio 7.7-inch 'T' version is all about sound quality and is as perfect of an octave-to-octave balance as you will hear. Its the only tower speaker I've heard with a response linear enough that a pair will actually image. They're great for in and around the boat and up to wakesurfing range. Properly powered (150 watts per speaker) they (two pair) can be heard at wakeboarding range but not with the same degree of intelligibility of HLCDs.

You can't bend the laws of physics. Linear speakers are not as loud and do not project as far. Inversely, HLCDs are not going to be the same tranquil musical experience near field. You can't overdrive a conventional speaker but you can tame to some degree an HLCD with an equalizer. So this has to be a consideration if your primary objective is to project to wakeboarding distance.

In my opinion the WetSounds Pro485 is the very best of the HLCD speakers. The larger 8-inch midbass drivers, much larger horn driver and larger pod displacement have a great deal to do with it. Once the bimini (either the factory cargo top underneath or aftermarket model over the top) is installed, the size of a pair of black Pro485s shadowed by a black bimini really serves to minimize their mass.

We also have experience with the Bullet HollowPoint 770 HLCDs. They're a little warmer than many HLCDs with large 7.7-inch midbass drivers and are exteremely powerful in a very, very compact package. Here's a link: http://earmarkcaraudio.com/install_nautique_210.asp They mount in a veriety of configurations. They blend in well and four project extremely well. Here's a video at 444 feet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWv-39ftIZo

David
Earmark Marine