Tower Box design

So we previously had a tower box with 2- 8" drivers, and 2 10" drivers. The HLCD was mounted on top of the tower cause it was so large. I wasnt really fond of it, but it was way loud so it made up for it.

I have been thinking of what I want to do with it, and finally came up with a plan of doing what I wanted originally,

Facing back- A set of Image Dynamics Compression drivers (cause the horn is really thin) the drivers to go with them, and a set of 6x9's to balance out the sound.

Facing down- a set of 6x9's

Facing forward- a set of 6x9's and some lights for docking at dusk.

I have been playing around with how to layout rear facing part for the speakers, and can only really come up with a couple layouts that I really like. All of the speakers are different sizes so it makes sense to cover them with some sort of fabric screen, or metal mesh. I think it might look kinday cheezy to have all these different shapes visible. I am trying to follow the lines of the tower as much has possible. The problem is my tower is really narrow, so they would have to stack the HLCD's at the top in order to get it to layout right.

Here are a couple examples of what I am thinking about- anything that is light gray would be behind a grill or cover.



The first front example has 2 6x9's, and an extended side that could hold lights or something.
The second was similar to Grants.

Just looking for input on what people think looks better and why.

"Which one of these is not like the others ? " Looking at your diagrams reminds me of a Sesame Street song. Seriously however I like the front #2 look.

(Message edited by iagainsti on March 06, 2006)

They are all prety similar, just suttle changes in wether the horn is under the grill, or if the center gap has changed.

#2 for the front is cool, But I dont want to copy something that has already been done.

Have you heard that setup before? I'm not very convinced that you'll be able to mellow out the horns with only a couple of 6x9's. At riding distance your going to really hear the horns and any "mellowing" effect by the 6x9's will be negated. Up in the boat the horns will be kinda harsh and will proabbly overpower the 6x9's. Unless you plan on using some sort of attenuation circuit. IMO you'll get a better sound out of 4 6x9's maybe not as "screaming loud" as with the horns. Just my 2 cents.

I would think he will be running separate amps and have them on faders. So when he is hanging out tied up with other boats, he will fade out the Horns and when someone is riding, he would turn on the horns back on.

That is correct, the horns will be wired seperatly, and turn down.

Im not concerned about hearing the 6x9's while riding, the horns are there to put the music back there. I've heard a lot of peoples stereos, and like the way the 6x9's sound around the boat much better than the pro audio stuff. You cant beat the pro audio stuff while riding though.

The image dynamics are much better than other horn/driver combinations, so I'm not worried about them sounding terrible around the boat. I know this will be the best combination for what I want it to do.

Just curious why you think the image dynamics sound so much better than the other combo's? You sure it's not the crossovers?

The crossovers for the ID's are much better, and actually give me options for tuning, whereas the Eminence ones I had were just set. That way, if I think the horn is to loud, I can drop it down a bit to keep even with the rest of the system.

I also like the ID's cause the horn is about 2" x 15" as opposed to 6" x 6" with the smallest eminence horn. My tower is really narrow, really narrow, and it limits the options that I have for speaker layout.

It really comes down to that at this point, I have become dissatisfied with what I use the tower speakers for. Which is hanging out on the lake with friends. We dont really get around to blasting it when riding anymore, so it isn't serving any purpose for me.