Speaker Help

[infinityent]

We just bought a 2003 21i. Right now the boat has no stereo in it. I would like to put a system in it consisting of a deck and probably JUST speakers on the tower.
Question 1: Will the system sound OK with only speakers on the tower?
Question 2: Can anyone make some suggestions on deck, amp, and speakers? I want to keep the system under 1,000 dollars. I'd like to make it so that the rider and people in the boat can hear it.

Thanks

[wrangler]

Hmmmm...

Congrats on your new boat and welcome to the Tige family...I suspect you will truly enjoy your new ride. Be sure to post some pictures when you can...

Now, on stereos... In our last two boats, we went somewhat bare bones on the stereo...as you say, just a head unit and four speakers. As the hymn says, I was blind, but now I see...

I suspect that just having four speakers on the tower will sound fine for your riders, but you will never get very good sound quality...strike that, you won't get good sound quality in the cockpit of the boat. I confess that we went a little overboard with stereo gear in our new boat, an 06 24Ve, but I haven't been sorry one single time we have had it out...

Remember that you can always add gear as you go...and if your first step is to take care of the riders, then by all means get the tower speakers and a good head unit...but my sense is that you will be back later for an amp and speaker for the interior of the boat.

We went with Alpine amps, speakers and head unit. Good dependable gear with very good sound quality. If you are in SoCal, Tige Watersports in Corona is a dealer for Alpine gear and do great installations.

Tige as a company also goes with Clarion if memory serves. Also good reliable gear.

Get as much as your budget will allow and then finish off your system over time. Just my .02 for what it is worth... What else does the board have to say on this one???

[wrangler]

Just one more thought... As you are planning out your system, don't forget a subwoofer... In the past I lived with out one and really enjoy having that filled out sound now in our boat... Just something else for you to ponder... Enjoy! wrangler

[Boarder_X]

I would say a good head unit, and a good 4 way amp. I also chose Alpine. You can then later take half and bride them for the tower, and use the other two channels for the left and right side of the boat speakers.

I also would say get a sub, but that will use a lot of money by itself. The sub ($200) the amp for it ($200), and the box ($70), and the wiring ($75). That's $550 just for the sub. You can do a lot of damage upgrading a tower system for $550...... I would definitely recomend this for you next upgrade though. I went with an Alpine 350W mono amp going to a Phoenix Gold 12."

[infinityent]

any recomendations on brands for the speakers or heads. How many and what wattage is needed to get good sound behind the boat?

[Boarder_X]

I have this stereo. I paid full MSRP , but it's great. Especially for this price. MP3, CDR, CDRW.......

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=14121

You will need at least 150W per speaker to hear it at wakeboarding speed. I recomend going with a 200X4 amp. Yes it will cost you, but you will not need to upgrade later, when you put speakers in your boat. I am at that impass now. I will need all new amps. ... essencially wasted the money I spent on my old stuff. Get what you need the first time, and only pay for it once.

[G-MONEY]

If you want the best of both I say get the speakers and sub in the boat and buy a waterproof mp3 player so the rider has full control of what they are listening to. It saves alot of money on tower speakers and everyone is happy.

[G-MONEY]

if you have an ipod......

[NICKYPOO]

All I've seen on here so far is Alpine. Nice stuff but, nobody has mentioned Pioneer. Good solid equipment at a better price. I just put in a Pioneer DEH-P7700MP head unit and I am VERY happy so far. Sound quality is great. It plays MP3 and better yet AAC. It's got 200 watts of some really clean power, plenty for four mild 6 1/2" cabin speakers and its got more functions and crossovers and adjustments than you can shake a ski at. Oh yeah, 3 pair of 4 volt outputs also (that's a big one). I found mine for $180. I also kicked out for the marine remote w/ display, $100, and Ipod interface, $150.

I would concentrate on the cabin before the tower. Tower speakers are in kind of a transitional state at the moment with the new technologies coming out to get the sound back to the rider. Technology costs $$$$$. I'd wait. Get four decent 6 1/2" speakers for the cabin and a sub and you can get some real quality sound. Lightning Audio (Rockford Fosgate's "cheap" line) makes a decent little 6 1/2" for like $70 a pair. In the words of Billy Jole "You get more mileage from a cheap pair of speakers". Subs are easy. $10 an inch will get you something worth buying. I put in a 10" RE re and I am very impressed with it. All power, no bling. $99 out the door. With the right box and power the little thing sounds like 12" if not a 15". I built my own sealed box. A sheet of 3/4" MDF will run you around $25. Glue, screws, caulk and polyfill mabey another $25. I found a Rockford Fosgate Punch 2002 with a bench rating of 263 watts bridged. It also came with a separate bass control that I mounted at the helm so that I could turn the sub up (and the wife can turn down) independantly of the rest of the system. $125.

So let's see, for around $600, depending on what kind of deals you can find, you've got a rippin' little stereo that will sound dynamite and is easily expandable into a full blown system.

My $.02. Happy hunting.

PS- Don't skimp on the wiring.

[talltigeguy]

3 pair of outputs would be a huge bonus for the boat. I'll keep my eye out for the pioneer when I get a new boat and put in the stereo.

[tony dunn jr.]

I also have a Pioneer DEH-P4800MP and it sounds awesome with polk speakers. I have had pioneer for years and they are extremelly reliable. Could'nt go wrong with them! The Pioneer remote on the transom and drivers dash is pretty cool also.

[NICKYPOO]

Well?

[infinityent]

well,
maybe we will do the in boat speaker thing for now, wait to see what happens with tower setups. We wont have the boat in our hands for probably a month and a half.

[NICKYPOO]

Just enough time time to do reaseach. That way when you get the boat you'll be ready to put the stereo in.

Resonant Engineering Pioneer

[akdoc]

I made my own HLCD system with Raul's Cans. Here is what I did for the tower.

I had 4 of raul's 8" cans to do something with and I wanted to try pro audio but was hesistent because I have heard people say it is hard to balance the system correctly. I gave it a shot anyway and came up with a great pro audio system for cheap, so here is what I used.

4 8" raul cans

2 eminence HF drivers part number ASD:1001. These run 50 watts rms with frequency range from 2.5kHz to 20kHz.

2 eminence alpha 6 mid-bass drivers. These rms at 100 watts with a frequency range from 110hz to 8 kHz.

2 eminence 2 way crossovers model pxb2:3k5. The crossover frequency is 3.5kHz with 12dB/octave LP
and 18dB/octave HP. These are not cabinet ready, just the board.

2 Selenium HM11-25 Exponential horns.

4 mb quart rce 216 grills.

I installed the crossovers in the cans with the alpha 6's. That can has 2 sets of speaker terminals, one for the power in, the other for the tweeter out. The cans with the HF drivers have just the one set of terminals. I had to make a template to mount the horns correctly.
I ran the whole system in parallel to achieve a 4 ohm load to my amp. It is nice because you only have 1 wire to run up your tower. I am pushing the system with a fosgate 300s amp, it is 300 watts rms bridged at 4 ohms.
Once it was up and running I about crapped my pants. It was so loud and clear compared to any car audio I have ever heard. It was not harsh at all standing on the swim platform with the volume way up.
For all of you who are itching to get into pro audio, this system works and sounds great. The only downside is that you don't get the lower frequencies out very well. I got all of the parts from www.partsexpress.com
I can't wait to for my first ride to hear the speakers, I will let you know how that sounds!!


Sorry for the long post, but that basically gives you blue prints for great sounding hlcd based tower speakers that look good and clean.

As far as a head unit, if you have an ipod or mp3 player what about just getting a line eq. You can find clarion line eq's on ebay for cheap, plug you ipod directly into it and you will have great control over your system.