Tower speaker adapters

[kana12]

OK, I have and issue. I have a 2009 Tige 24VE. I have one pair of pro 80's on my tower and they dont have the adapters on them. I bought the boat used and the individual that had owned the boat prior to trading it in had bought the speakers from wetsounds. I am wanting to add another pair of pro 80's with the adapters and buy a pair of adapters for the existing pair.

I called Lee at TIGE and he informed me that if i buy a pair of tower speakers from a tige (dealer) that i can purchase the adapters to go with the speakers just purchased but i can not buy adapters for the ones that are already on the tower.

He said that the president of TIGE set it this way and in no way would bend or make an exception.

So my question is how am i supposed to get the damn adapters.. Just doesnt seem right. Im screwed because i didnt purchase the speakers from tige that were already on the boat when i bought it. come on !!!!

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I mean do i have to buy two pairs of speakers from them just to get the adapters????

[dingleberry]

If you think that the current pair looks acceptable the way they are mounted, just get another pair of Pro-80x and have both mounted the current way.

If you really want the adapter - good luck. The dealer here just fought that same battle with Tige and they refused to sell him adapters unless they came with speakers he bought through the Tige factory.

[jake's02-22i]

I would call Wetsounds, from what I have seen they are awesome. Now if they cant help you I don't know what to do.

[dingleberry]

I would call Wetsounds, from what I have seen they are awesome. Now if they cant help you I don't know what to do.

That adapter (bezel, shroud, whatever you want to call it) is a Tige part. WetSounds cannot get it. The speakers themselves are the X versions from WetSounds and will bolt right up, but the adapter just gives them a little more integrated look.

[majestic]

They must have done it that way to screw people that may have stolen them off off a boat????

[kana12]

i def like the intergrated look. and im not sure why they do it this way. i thionk they should have an option for their customers to buy them. its crap!

[jake's02-22i]

O That does suck. What if you just took them off your old boat?

[kana12]

Thats what i was thinking. It doesnt make any sence.

[light200]

Yep, I ran into the same thing too when I went to add speakers and its very frustrating. Yes they look integrated, but you do lose like 3" of headroom form what I understand.

We have a few things going on here:

--Tige has set it this way because they want you to buy speakers directly from the dealer, so they can charge LIST price and more for the adapters, allowing the dealers to make some sweet margin.
--My dealer quoted by an extra $50 per speaker @LIST price if I were to buy from them with the adapters as opposed to what I could buy directly from Wetsounds! OUTRAGEOUS
--Could there be some technical reason they do not want to sell them as an "accessory". I understand that it's Tige manufacturing the part, but maybe there has to be something special done during install that they don't trust customers with?
--Wetsounds is in the audio business, not molded aluminum business, so I am guessing they could care less especially if they will only end up making a few dollars per sale.

--Maybe a member with the adapter would be nice enough to bring to a mold shop to find out how much it would cost to get some made? I am betting there is a difference between the Pro80x and Pro60x styles because of the housing size, so unless there is some real interest for volume, cost may be prohibitive.

--For reference, here is what they look like without the adapter installed, maybe someone else has better pix?

[chpthril]

They are nothing more then a cosmetic collar to maintain the flowing lines of the Alpha-Z, they are not needed.

I will not defend nor flame Tige, but I will say that I understand exactly why Tige does not sell the collars separately. I know what I pay direct from Wet sounds for the Pro60/80 X speakers and I also know what a Tige dealer pays for them from Tige. So in regards to a sweet margin being made by the Tige dealers buying through Tige, I'll pass on being a Tige dealer.

$50 buck for a pair of collars is only a %5 increase.

[dingleberry]

I had one pair of Pro-60 from the factory, and just had a pair of MB-8 added (same size enclosure as the Pro-80) which did not come from Tige and don't have the adapter. I am trying to decide about removing that adapter on the Pro-60 right now. It doesn't look too bad with the mixed bag, but the plastic the adapter is made from is starting to fade into grayish tones. Here's a couple pics:

[Duncan]

For what it's worth, I think the collars are over rated.

I have a pair of collars on my Pro60s but not on my MB8s (and MB8 is a Pro80 housing with a cone not a horn for a deeper mid) -- both from factory. At the time, they did not make collars for the 80/MB8.

I prefer the straight mounted MB8s without the collar. I think it looks cleaner, less bulky. To each their own.

Good luck on the collar quest though!

[Duncan]

I had one pair of Pro-60 from the factory, and just had a pair of MB-8 added

Nice setup

[light200]

So in regards to a sweet margin being made by the Tige dealers buying through Tige, I'll pass on being a Tige dealer.

$50 buck for a pair of collars is only a %5 increase.

BUT....its NOT only a 5% increase. There's a "cost" associated with wanting those collars. That "cost" involves the fact that you could buy the speakers from Wetsounds directly,(maybe even B stock) or from a dealer, ebay, craigslist,or from a 3rd party and pay significantly less than what the Tige dealer will charge you. This in turn means you can effectively buy the speakers (or in the OP case, he acquired the speakers due to the boat purchase) for a dollar amount significantly below what the dealer will end up making on your purchase from him JUST because you wanted the collars.

Those $50 collars turn into more like $250 collars in most cases.
The simple fix is for Tige to put the customer first and let us buy the collar as an accessory. We already spent upwards of $50k on the boat for cryin out load.