Tower Speakers

[Coach]

I am in the market for some tower speakers and have decided upon the Pro Audio Grade speakers (HCLD). The major players are NVS, Wetsounds, and Skylon. I am looking at the Skylon Rubicon 450's, NVS 1010's, or a set of used wetsounds Pro 80's (a killer deal). I wanted to see if any of you have the listed brands or have been behind a boat with the above speakers. I am going the Pro Audio route because in theory you will get great sound out to the rider but not crush the ear drums of the people in your boat. Something to do with the "throw" of the sound from the speakers vs a car speaker which is designed to throw the sound 3-4 feet in an enclosed area. Let me have your $.02 on this subject if you can help. Thanx

[Moki]

Coach,
I am in the process of picking out tower speakers as well. So, I haven't listened to any of the speakers that you have mentioned. But, I do have a pair of Klipsch home speakers that utilize horn tweeters. I have set these speakers up outside and the sound is incredible at far distances. So, I am convinced that any HLCD speaker will project clearer. Having said that, I am looking at the fusion speakers, the new P - Series look pretty sweet.

[Coach]

The P series fusion are sweet looking and in terms of aesthetics the fusion are the best looking out there. I guess I am looking at function over the look. The P series are using a better quality Diamond Audio speaker than the T-series.

[Moki]

Let us know what you decide on. You won't be dissappointed with a horn loaded tweeter for projecting music over long distances.

[Jeff T]

I am very interested in this as well. I'll be in the market for tower speakers soon and I know NOTHING about them.

[talltigeguy]

I have not heard the Fusions, but only hear good things. I repeatedly hear that they do not have the same volume as an HLCD setup. I am a little partial to Wetsounds or NVS.

If your goal is to get sound to the rider, then you want an HLCD setup. I have found that the Addictions are loud in the boat (as I think you saw me say on Wakworld), maybe something with a horn that projects the sound would be better. On the Addictions the HLCD just sits behind the midrange speaker and it does not have much of a cone to project the sound out or stop it from being loud closeup.

[G-MONEY]

I was told at the LA boat show and the Anaheim boat show that the Fusion enclosures were not designed with the maximum quality sound in mind, they just wanted them to look good and just added the speakers.

I'm with talltigeguy......and from what I herd at the shows the Wetsound and NVS are in a whole different league than the Fusions.


Just my .02

[Jeff T]

Where do people shop for tower speakers, amps, etc.? I'm going to be in the market soon and I don't even know where to start.

[Moki]

I usually prefer the internet. www.wakeside.com is a good place to start.

[Coach]

Originally posted by Jeff T
Where do people shop for tower speakers, amps, etc.? I'm going to be in the market soon and I don't even know where to start.

www.wetsounds.com

www.nvs1.net

www.skylonsports.com

www.wakeside.com


The top 3 are all HCLD makers and wakeside has everything else.

[Jeff T]

I will buy them online...definitely. I have looked at wakside (I've bought from them too) and boaters paradise. I didn't know if there was another online shop that sells good quality speakers that aren't carried at wakeside, etc. For example, where would a person pick up wetsounds or NVS (not sure what NVS stands for)?

**EDIT**
Thanks Coach.

[Coach]

I have had extensive e-mail conversations with both Tim at Wetsounds and Duane at NVS. I thinks both guys have great products and stand behind them 100% with great customer service.

Here is what Tim explained to me in an e-mail

"For the throw portion.



The PRO 80’s do an amazing job getting music to the rider. Not sure if you saw the tests that Grant and Clay did and put the results on wakeworld. They did a test with ours and other HLCD tower speakers. They did a pair of some and singles of others to try to compare what sound you could get for around $1000. A pair of PRO 80’s out performed all the others. They got measurements of 105 DB at 80 feet back. They only did a single 485. As a pair of 485’s will put out even more. Many of the other HLCD speakers were under 100 db. For every 3 db increase, you ears perceive it as twice as loud. So 6 db is substantially louder. Definitely get music to the rider.



As for the loud in the boat. Remember that Loud is going to be loud. It will be loud in the boat. If you are projecting sound out to the rider, you will have some spill over into the boat. Regardless of what HLCD or brand. I think what some are trying to say and maybe where you have gotten the understanding is that it will put music to the rider and not as much in the boat is that there are different dispersion patterns of the horn flare. More horizontal dispersion with less vertical dispersion. So the sound projects wide out to the flats (left and right) and not top and bottom. Which is what our PRO 485 has. I personally feel the 485 is the only speaker that achieves the results you are looking for. It has amazing off axis response. If you just look at the flare on others. You will see that they look almost square. They are more directional too. Losing the off axis response. Very important as you don’t ride right behind the boat. The PRO 80 has a round flare. So it has an all around wide flare. So the sound patterns are wide but will spill over into the boat a little more than the 485. But, The PRO 80 is our best selling speaker. I get e mails every day on how much people love them. So you can’t go wrong with it. If it is a price issue. I have yet to hear anything come close to the sound of the PRO 80 for the money. We have even heard oursleves and had dealers do tests of the PRO 80 at $899 against some that were $1200 and $1300 and the PRO 80 outperforms them every time."


I think for my needs I will be doing the 485 in the middle and the pro 80's on the sides. I like the Wetsounds ablity to move the speakers easily. It takes 2 screws and the speaker can come down or be turn around. In my case I want to be able to have all the speakers facing back when riding and during the rest of the day turn the Pro 80's forward when we are haning on the beach and play my tunes. I think putting the tower speakers on an EQ will let me play with the sound quality and keep from blowing everyone out in the boat. Esp the Pro 80's

As for the Fusions, Like I said before they are the best looking speakers out there. As for getting sound to the rider the HCLD's have it hand down vs the traditional 6.5 speaker with a 1" tweeter.

[Coach]

Originally posted by Jeff T
I will buy them online...definitely. I have looked at wakside (I've bought from them too) and boaters paradise. I didn't know if there was another online shop that sells good quality speakers that aren't carried at wakeside, etc. For example, where would a person pick up wetsounds or NVS (not sure what NVS stands for)?

**EDIT**
Thanks Coach.

Jeff,


You can buy wetsounds or NVS from their web sites.

[Coach]

Here is what they will look like, but in White

[Jeff T]

Very informative. Thanks a bunch. For very solid sound, would you think it would be necessisary to have 4 pro 80's, as opposed to 2? I'm not sure the 485 would fit on my tower because it is far from flat:


Thoughts?