Are two tower speakers enough

On a budget and want to add tower speakers to hear some tunes while kneeboarding and wakeboarding. Can I get by with two speakers of decent quality (100 - 125 watt rms). My boat is pretty quite running. What would be your recommendation?

If you are fine with just barely hearing it then you are ok. I've got 250 watts rms per bullet hollowpoint 770 on my tower (1 pair of 770's with a 500 watt rms amp driving them) and it is PLENTY loud. (by plenty I mean it is seriously loud)

I think you can drive horns on 125 watts rms.

The horn (hlcd) makes the difference if you can afford to go that route...they aren't cheap though.

What does "budget" mean? Do you already have an amp? If so, what amp? If not, what is your budget for speakers and amp?

For budget I was thinking amp and two speakers for around $500-$600. Maybe I cannot do it for that. I do kneeboard and wakeboard on a shorter rop (65'). Not sure if that will matter.

Maybe something like this would do the job:
http://www.exileaudio.com/products/sxt65/
http://www.mbquart.com/Nautic_Amps_NAU.html Model: NAU460

don't buy mb quart. if you're on a budget you can probably find a good deal on some kicker kmt6 tower speakers; and the reviews i've seen give them good sound ratings. a kicker zx350.2 is a great amp. think ahead of what you want or might want to do down the road, because this can save you money. you can save a fair amount of money by shopping online, but beware. 99% of online only shops are not authorized dealers, and you should support your local shop if they can help you.

Those Exile sxts are superb. They are not HLCD (horns) but rather large coax speakers. I have 4 on my tower. While not as loud as many HLCD speakers, I've yet to hear a horn speaker that's anywhere close to being as pleasant on my ears. They do require a decent amount of power to get the most out of them.

Chad - you mentioned the SXT65 speakers. I call them our surf model because they sound excellent. They are built with a 25mm direct radiating tweeter and sealed mid driver design so they give you some added mid bass attack. If sound quality is one of your goals, your on the right track.

I think you have a couple of choices to look at. If you want 1 pair of speakers because you don't want to fill up your tower, you should look at an HLCD design that features a larger speaker. On the other hand, if your on a budget (as you mentioned in your post), you might look at installing 1 pair of speakers this year, and then adding another pair next season. Just make sure you look at the amplifier needed to properly power two pair in the future.

As 'SqueekyWheel' mentioned, having 4 SXT65's is a very high end tower sound that works decently for wake boarding, and sounds phenomenal for the surf sports / party cove applications.

If you need any info, on Exile you can hit me up at brian.exile@gmail.com or at the office 888.249.0970

-Brian
Exile Audio

i have two wetsound pro80's on my tower coupled with a new amp and ws-420. any rider at any length can hear them perfectly. they are easily louder that any stock setup on the lake (there are louder customer setup). save yourself the $1500 (two add'l pro80's and another amp) and see what you think. you can always add two more later, but really doubt you'll feel the need as they are just overkill.

I plan to run just two REV10s powered by a SYN4. I hope it will be enough.

Behind your I/O it is much easier than it behind a V-drive. My recommendation is to grab a pair of DIY cans and drop a pair of Kicker KM6200's in them and power them off the biggest amp you can afford. My buddy is running them and it's just enough for his inboard with mufflers.

GD, from what I understand, that is plenty good. I have a pair of REV10s on the way that I am powering with an Arc Audio KS300.4, and it should be a heck of a tower system. I should have it hooked up by next weekend, super stoked!! (I spent waaaaay too much money on this upgrade... haha)

I will second Exiles surf speakers I just got done installing 2 pairs this weekend. All I can say is wow! I thought that going the coax route I would be a little disapointed.no way no how. Those speakers powered by the harpoon sound amazing!

Can you hear those from 80' away while boarding? I really think the exile coax is the way to go. That's 250 rms watts. My boat is not that loud when pulling. The other option I am considering would be 4 polk db651 cans. I It would probably save me $100+. I have them in the cabin and they sound great and they are not amp'd. If I can get by with two speakers, I feel that works best for me. I just don't want to go over the top in spending on a entry level boat.

Don't do Polk db651 on a tower. The tweeter will not last any length of time. They are probably fine for your interior speakers but they only lasted in my interior for less than one season before I killed 5 out of 6 tweeters. Exile, Kicker, Wetsounds, or many other interior speakers on a tower are better choices. I have seen the Kickers' I am recommending for close to the same price as the Polk's. We went from the db650 to the Kickers on my buddies tower after he burned up his second pair in less than one season. The Kickers were a significant upgrade.

The exile surf speaker is NOT another inboat or car speaker stuffed into a can for a tower application. It is wayyy beefier than an inboat coaxial or car coaxial and designed for tower applications. It's a different animal all together.

Originally Posted by mikeski

Don't do Polk db651 on a tower. The tweeter will not last any length of time. They are probably fine for your interior speakers but they only lasted in my interior for less than one season before I killed 5 out of 6 tweeters. Exile, Kicker, Wetsounds, or many other interior speakers on a tower are better choices. I have seen the Kickers' I am recommending for close to the same price as the Polk's. We went from the db650 to the Kickers on my buddies tower after he burned up his second pair in less than one season. The Kickers were a significant upgrade.

What kind of kicker speakers was your buddy running and how many?

Pulling the trigger on 2 exile xm7 speakers. Hope they don't blast the people sitting in the boat out. The tower is pretty tall. speakers will hang over 6' above the floor. Now I just need to figure out the best way to power them.

I'm running a pair of ws485s each powered by a rockford t-600 so they get plenty of power and can seriously be heard. Problem is they do blowout anyone in the back of they boat! I don't know if there is anyway for the ride to really hear the systme without the peeps in the boat driver back getting blasted.

OK, Brian called from exile and I changed my mind. I went with 2 sxt65q speakers and harpoon amp. May add another 2 speakers next summer. I went with sound quality vs loudness.

ok everyone with exile sxt65s on the tower, how loud is your set up wakeboarding?

2 bullet hollopint 770's powered by a JL audio G4500. 250w to each speaker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlqw1pIzgaA

Vid I found on you tube. 1 pr REV 10 off SYN-4.

Tim
Wet Sounds

Two speakers are plenty if you go with the WS 485's they have been around for a while and are still relevant when it comes to tower speakers.Since everyone is putting up video links here is mine a set of 485's powered by an Arc Audio KS 300.4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=183Y3...layer_embedded

If budget is an issue, u could sell your kneeboard! hahaha, sorry couldn't resist.

Chad - Welcome to the Exile family. I suppose I could post up all kind of video's of this speaker and that, but I'd rather see your video after you get your system up and going. This tower speaker upgrade will be a huge improvement and sound fantastic. I'm glad we got to touch base about your stereo specifics and lay out a plan for you.

Many guys that have had HLCD speakers have moved over to the SXT's because of the fidelity alone. It just sounds really really super really good. Assuming of course you power them properly. The Harpoon will give you tons of power for 1 pair and be spot on output power wise, for a second pair when your budget permits.

When you get into the install, touch base with me and I'll walk you through some install and tuning tips so you can get it dialed!

Cheers!

-Brian
Exile Audio

So will 4 SXT's reach back loud enough to hear really good at wakeboarding lenght and speed. I'm trying to figure out what I can do on my supra next year and I want 4 speakers because 2 just dosen't look good enough on a boat as big as my 24V and I just can't swing 4 HLCD's and amps to power them.

No you won't be able to hear them really good wakeboarding. They are not designed to project that far, the SXT65 is a surf speaker not designed to project that far. You'll be able to hear them but not "really good". You should do 1 set of XM9's with the harpoon, that will satisfy your goal. The XM9 is a really good sounding HLCD, I went from the Hybrid setup to the XM9 and lactually like them. They sound alot better than I thought they would.

Originally Posted by brianinpdx

Chad - Welcome to the Exile family. I suppose I could post up all kind of video's of this speaker and that, but I'd rather see your video after you get your system up and going. This tower speaker upgrade will be a huge improvement and sound fantastic. I'm glad we got to touch base about your stereo specifics and lay out a plan for you.

Many guys that have had HLCD speakers have moved over to the SXT's because of the fidelity alone. It just sounds really really super really good. Assuming of course you power them properly. The Harpoon will give you tons of power for 1 pair and be spot on output power wise, for a second pair when your budget permits.

When you get into the install, touch base with me and I'll walk you through some install and tuning tips so you can get it dialed!

Cheers!

-Brian
Exile Audio

Brian, Can wait to get them! They are going to sound amazing. Thanks for your help.

Nice choice. You will be extremely happy with your decision.
Make sure you follow Brians direction when setting up that Harpoon to run 2 SXT's. Thats a lot of power, but very good decision when planning to add to the system in the future.
We are currently running 4 SXT's and 2 XM9's and couldnt be happier.

Originally Posted by 05mobiuslsv

No you won't be able to hear them really good wakeboarding. They are not designed to project that far, the SXT65 is a surf speaker not designed to project that far. You'll be able to hear them but not "really good". You should do 1 set of XM9's with the harpoon, that will satisfy your goal. The XM9 is a really good sounding HLCD, I went from the Hybrid setup to the XM9 and lactually like them. They sound alot better than I thought they would.

So you are just running XM9s now? I thought you were "done" after the last round. Why the switch?

Originally Posted by shawndoggy

So you are just running XM9s now? I thought you were "done" after the last round. Why the switch?

It's what I do. When I heard the xm9 I thought I should probably have some .

Originally Posted by 05mobiuslsv

It's what I do. When I heard the xm9 I thought I should probably have some .

I know I have the disease too...

Yeah I don't know what my problem is but I need to quit. At least I was able to sell the other stuff quickly.

Nu Bu - Do you like the 9's better than the hybrid?

Brady - Do you power the SXT's and the 9's with 2 amps?

I bough the kciekr hlcd speakers in cans from liquid audio on Ebay. I won mine for around $430 already in the cans. You can get black or polished. Then get you the appropriate kicker anp and you will be good. They sound great to me. They are clear and you can hear them when wakesurfing and tubing and what not. I have never head wetsounds or exiles before but they get great reviews. They just werent within my budget..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kicker-HLCD-...item1c1f3cd167

Originally Posted by monroeyd

Nu Bu - Do you like the 9's better than the hybrid?

Brady - Do you power the SXT's and the 9's with 2 amps?

I'd say I like them about equally. I felt the XM9's sounded good enough that I could go away from having the hybrid if that tells you anything, and the hybrid is the best sounding setup out there.

Rev 10s is the way to go

The OP must have missed that memo.

Can't beat the price for the kickers. I had them and they were great, and they can be found for 250$ on some websites.

I finnally bought two more, and got them on a 4 channel 600w amp. It was pretty loud.

I'm trying wetsounds now, because i sold my boat and bought another one. Not sure it is worth it to pay 3-4 times the price, but I will know for sure next season!

Harold, did you do your own install?? Maybe you can help me get my stereo tuned in correctly next year. Prob gonna buy new tower speakers and another amp. I'm pretty much a dummy when it comes to hooking up stereo's and amps LOL

Tony I have done all the mods to my boat myself.Let me know what you want to spend and I would be more than happy to give you a hand with install and gear selection.You have surfed my boat and know what my system is capable of and we can get you good results with cheaper gear but if budget is a concern I recommend doing your system in phases.There are some good buys out there on used pro 80;s and with a good amp to power them I think you would be happy.Then next year maybe upgrade the sub and interiors.

right on H! i'll figure out my budget and we will def get together for the install! I know yours sounds excellent. If i can get mine to sound half that good i'll be happy!