A quick note on the Comp VR woofers, since we have been looking at weather resistance. The CVR is a great woofer. Just be aware it has a stamped steel basket instead of a cast aluminum basket. If you are one to keep things wet, or if you are in a salt or brackish boating environment, you will have longer life and fewer red rust streaks if you go cast aluminum. If you are a fresh water boater, and the woofer is mounted high and dry, the CVR will do you well. A good round woofer from Kicker with a cast basket is the Comp VX, with L7 performance in a round woofer.
Also, always remember that the KM10 is a bad-azz woofer, both musically and from an environmental standpoint. It has an injection-molded basket, it has drainage channels in the basket and the grill to shed any water splashed on the front. It has a sealed enclosed motor structure to keep water out, and it is magnetically shielded. The magnetic shielding doesn't mean a lot to most tow boat owners from a navigation standpoint, as a compass is usually unnecessary. BUT, the magnetic shielding in the KM10 creates a stronger magnetic force in the voice coil gap, resulting in improved sonic performance in addition to not screwing with your compass as much.
Oh, and yes, be sure to build a box for your woofer. Most of the time a woofer without a box is kinda like a motor without a car. You can start a motor and it will rattle around but it really won;t go anywhere unless it is ina car. Same thing with a woofer.
Quick note on woofer enclosures. I have said it lots of times before, but DO NOT use MDF for your boat's sub enclosure. Go with a good void-free 13-ply birch or marine grade plywood. There is no place for MDF on a boat; it will eventually swell and crumble, every time, even if it is coated. Lots of guys will argue with me saying that they can put a layer of fiberglass resin on an MDF to make it water-tight. It might be water tight at first, but that means any water in it can't get out either. An MDF box will always move, typically due to humidity differences and when it swells enough to put that first crack in the 'glas, it is doomed. That makes a hole for more moisture to get in, and things accelerate from there.
Your void-free plywood will typically be made from a water-proof glue these days, and is not made from sawdust. It is real tree wood, sliced into veneer. Each layer is put down in an alternating direction, so it is dimensionally stable and basically does not shrink or swell, at least at the leve we are concerned with. Use wood glue, like Franklin's Tite-Bond II and some screws and you will be golden. With a plywood box, you really don't even need to cover it, and if you want to, use something like Sikkens Cetol, which is a breathable marine wood finish. With no covering or with the Cetol, all layers of the wood are at the same humidity and can breathe. This will prevent dry rot that some of us are familiar with in transoms and stringers.
I don't share this to scare you; for my boating needs I could go either way on my woofer choice, cast or stamped. On the enclosure material, I will be adamant to a point of being a jerk. There is no point in buying any bad-azz woofer from any good manufacturer, only to put it in an MDF enclosure that will eventually fail. I just want to be the company guy that tells the truth and provides the best knowledge and insight, so that YOU can make a good decision.
Phil
Kicker
Also, always remember that the KM10 is a bad-azz woofer, both musically and from an environmental standpoint. It has an injection-molded basket, it has drainage channels in the basket and the grill to shed any water splashed on the front. It has a sealed enclosed motor structure to keep water out, and it is magnetically shielded. The magnetic shielding doesn't mean a lot to most tow boat owners from a navigation standpoint, as a compass is usually unnecessary. BUT, the magnetic shielding in the KM10 creates a stronger magnetic force in the voice coil gap, resulting in improved sonic performance in addition to not screwing with your compass as much.
Oh, and yes, be sure to build a box for your woofer. Most of the time a woofer without a box is kinda like a motor without a car. You can start a motor and it will rattle around but it really won;t go anywhere unless it is ina car. Same thing with a woofer.
Quick note on woofer enclosures. I have said it lots of times before, but DO NOT use MDF for your boat's sub enclosure. Go with a good void-free 13-ply birch or marine grade plywood. There is no place for MDF on a boat; it will eventually swell and crumble, every time, even if it is coated. Lots of guys will argue with me saying that they can put a layer of fiberglass resin on an MDF to make it water-tight. It might be water tight at first, but that means any water in it can't get out either. An MDF box will always move, typically due to humidity differences and when it swells enough to put that first crack in the 'glas, it is doomed. That makes a hole for more moisture to get in, and things accelerate from there.
Your void-free plywood will typically be made from a water-proof glue these days, and is not made from sawdust. It is real tree wood, sliced into veneer. Each layer is put down in an alternating direction, so it is dimensionally stable and basically does not shrink or swell, at least at the leve we are concerned with. Use wood glue, like Franklin's Tite-Bond II and some screws and you will be golden. With a plywood box, you really don't even need to cover it, and if you want to, use something like Sikkens Cetol, which is a breathable marine wood finish. With no covering or with the Cetol, all layers of the wood are at the same humidity and can breathe. This will prevent dry rot that some of us are familiar with in transoms and stringers.
I don't share this to scare you; for my boating needs I could go either way on my woofer choice, cast or stamped. On the enclosure material, I will be adamant to a point of being a jerk. There is no point in buying any bad-azz woofer from any good manufacturer, only to put it in an MDF enclosure that will eventually fail. I just want to be the company guy that tells the truth and provides the best knowledge and insight, so that YOU can make a good decision.
Phil
Kicker
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