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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Boats, Accessories & Tow Vehicles Archive > Archive through August 01, 2004

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Old    kiwi            07-24-2004, 12:40 AM Reply   
Just a bit of advice needed please
I went to the local car audio shop today for some tower speakers.The dude there said that the 3 component focals would be the way to go.
these speakers are going in to tower boxes that I am yet to make .
Question . Are they worth the dollar.also as long as I pad out the boxes will I still get the sound that these speakers deserve.
As well ; they make a really crossover componentry and I would like to "display" these with the installation. Will I still be able to get the cables up the X2 tower.I don't really want to put them in the boxes because they are pretty heavy
Thanks for your help.Its a good winter project here with the water temp at 8 degrees
Old    whitechocolate            07-24-2004, 7:52 AM Reply   
Martin: The focal's are very nice, I dont know what they are going for a set so I cant tell you if they are worth the money. I ran 12-gauge wire for all my componets 12 gauge is a little over kill you can get away with 14 gauge. Your going to have to run 2 sets of wires for every set of componets so depending on how many sets your plannning on running it might be a lot of wire. You can always run 2 sets of wires up the tower if the loom gets to big. You can run wires up the right and left leg so you shouldnt have any problem. I built a X-over display box for my boat and when all the wires come together it makes for quite a loom. The trick it to lay all your wires on top of each other nice and flat and tape them all together so they take up the least amount of space. There are some tips on my web page
http://svtsupercharged.com/gallery/stereo?page=8


Old    ilovetrains            07-24-2004, 9:59 AM Reply   
speakers are a very individual choice. Some people like one, others hate it. I have focals in my truck. I sound tested with my music vs. bostin acoustic (who I thought made the best speaker available) and JL audio. The focals sounded better to me and were priced in between.

No matter how you look at it they are some of the very best speakers made. I cannot imagine you not be completely satisfied.

However, I would go with JL in my boat (which I am yet to buy.) I think the JL are more durable in the marine environment, and the sacrifice is pure sound will not be missed in the open environment.
Old     (guido)      Join Date: Jul 2002       07-24-2004, 10:29 AM Reply   
Focal has made very high end home audio component for a long time, but are relatively small in the mobile audio market. It all depends on what you are looking for. They are generally very expensive and very good quality. If you just want something to play loud and clean (as most people do on their boat), they may be a bit overkill.

Not sure what configuration you are running for your box, but I personally like 6x9 three ways for their volume of sound. Make sure you cross the bass out of them and you should get very good efficiency and power handling. My tower box plays very loud with a minimal amount of power and it's super clean.... Right now I am running Crystal speakers. I hadn't heard of them till recently, but they have been in the box for 2 years and are holding up really well without any of the complexity of externaly crossovers (I'm sure the imageing suffers from the cheap crossovers He, he...). Try listening to some different speakers. For the most part I would be looking for power handling, clarity, and (importantly) their ability to withstand sun and water.
Old    kiwi            07-24-2004, 3:56 PM Reply   
Grant. How do you get any time to go boarding?
The speakers are the focal 165v3e they are a 3 component unit and obviously have two crossovers per box.Can you tell me how thick that wiring loom would be for the 14 gauge ?And what would I need to get to be able to fade the tower speakers so the people in the boat don't have it too loud.It will be running off the xmd3 head which already powers the standard clarion components in the boat.
The boat arrives in about 3 weeks so I would like to get all the goodies ready to go on it .

They are around $600=00 us or $900=00 nz dollars for the set.
Old    kiwi            07-24-2004, 3:58 PM Reply   
whoops should of said there will be a 300 4 channel to do the tower. sorry
Old    whitechocolate            07-25-2004, 9:37 AM Reply   
Martin: There are RCA type of faders that you can plug into the decks output and split the sound going in between the hull and the tower. I have seen people here using them. I use a Pre amp/ EQ to do this for 2 reasons #1 the Aux imput on the Pre amp works as a 2nd input for DVD or linking boats and #2 it boosts the week ass RCA volume of the Clarion marine units Example the XMD-3 has 2 volt output when run threw a Pre Amp you can get up to 12v output
Old    phimple            07-25-2004, 5:24 PM Reply   
What sort of speaker box are you going to build Martin?

Is it going to be a Kiwi Enzo - would that be a Brittan equivalent?
Old     (colorider)      Join Date: Jun 2001       07-25-2004, 7:27 PM Reply   
Focal speakers are by far the best sounding speakers out there. Me and some others spent hours at the car audio store comparing every high end brand. The focals won hands down. They have crisp hard hitting mids, and the tweeters are crisp and clean without being too "bright". Meaning they are not too high pitched. They are amazingly clear at high volumes. The focals also had much better separation in the music being played. Vocals were also cleaner and clearer in the Focals in high volume applications. At lower volumes, the focals just plain sound better too. They are a french product and have just lately been introduced to the US market (car audio application) If you are in the position to spend a lot of money on speakers, you will be amazed with the Focals. If you are on a budget, the JL audio would be a great choice.
Old     (nvsairwarrior)      Join Date: Aug 2003       07-26-2004, 12:32 AM Reply   
Martin,
Several things (speakers) have been suggested so far in this thread. What I would do before going forward is hear as many offerings as possible and make up your own mind as to what sounds best.
One poster mentioned that speakers are very personal, and I couldn't agree more. To say that a given speaker is the the "Best sounding ever" is mindless. (Did you test them in the invironment you intend to use them in?)
My suggestion is to determine, then state, what your objectives are.
Here are some options for objectives:
1) Looks,
2) sound volume in the boat,
3) Clean sound volume in the boat,
4) sound to the rider,
5) clean sound with ample volume to the rider.
Answers: IMO
1) Fusion, Boss,Lightening, Mako, on the Tower
2) JL, Polk, MB Quart,Infinity,and so on, in the boat,
3) Focal would work.....but in the boat, see #2 also.
4) 6 6x9's or 6 6.5's in a box, Evid 6.2 on the tower
5) NVS Entity's on the tower

That's my take on having listened to all that I mentioned while in a beached boat, and or riding behind one.
Good luck


(Message edited by nvsairwarrior on July 26, 2004)
Old    kiwi            07-26-2004, 1:02 AM Reply   
Cheers Duane
Yeah the only problem is that there are not alot of wakeboarding boats around with real premo systems. Sorry if I offend any one .But the fact is that there just isn't the vaiety in speakers and other good gear over here.It costs you too much to bring it in from the states so you have to make your own tower boxes and then source some good speakers .
I've had two lots of speakers on the tower and both of which I chose on the sayso of the audio man have been crap .I've heard these ones in the shop setup and compared with the others the sound was so clean.

Grant.
I think that I will go for that pre amp idea it looks pretty tight and I'm sure the wife will appreciate it.cheers

Phimple.
yeah. I'm making a couple out of exterior ply for the housing and the outside will be fibreglassed .They are elipticaly shaped so they should look a bit different.
Old     (colorider)      Join Date: Jun 2001       07-26-2004, 11:53 AM Reply   
it they are for tower speakers, the Focals do work very well, and better then other car audio speakers. I have 4 of the Focal 6.5 inch on my tower, Each one getting 100 watts of clean rms power. They are clean, crisp and no distortion when you are listening to them 70 feet or more riding behind the boat.

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