Any experience with Samson's S7HD speakers?

[laserfish]

Has anyone heard the Samson S7 speakers? I am about to pull the trigger on a new Razor (thank you State Farm) and they are having a great sale on these. I love the quick release mount system since I have to store mine outside under cover. How would they compare to the Kicker 6500.2? The Kickers are the others I am considering since I already have the cans to install them in. I know the Samsons would be great for surfing, but how about at 80 feet. Will also be installing an FAE. Merry Christmas. Opinions and experience are valued.

[chpthril]

These are the Samson branded Exile XM7, which I am a dealer/installer.

I like them alot, and my customers have been very pleased with their performance and sound, and especially the quick-release clamp. 2 customers are active boarders, one pushing them with 200 watts and the other with 250 watts rms each, and both are pleased. One other customer is a grandfather that takes the whole family out. They are plenty loud for them and they all like the sound. I have 2 other customers that are more into the part scene and power theirs with apx 400 watts each and they are stupid loud and still sound good.

HLCD's, by nature, are designed to project long distance, as compared to a traditional coax. So by design, the Samson H7HD are geared more toward boarding and not so much surfing. What makes the Kickers different is that they have a separate mid and horn. This gives you a lot more speaker cone surface area, which produces more mid-bass then a speaker with a horn mounted through the center. This gives them a warmer "feel" when lose up like for surfing or the party cove. But, with the addition of the Harpoon amp and Throttle box to the S7HD speakers, you have the ability to taylor the sound for all environments. You can change the x-over (move a wire) in the S7HD to tone down the highs, but you will sacrifice a little on the projection.

As compared to the Kickers, or others, what everyone's ears likes, is different. The best advise is to try and get a listen to anything you are interested in. It would even be better if you could here them side by side. I dont think you would be disappointed in either choice.

As with any HLCD system, powering sufficiently is key. With the Kicker's, 150 watts rms to each side minimum, but 200-250 watts rms is even better. For the S7HD's, 200 rms watts each at the minimum. So factor in a amp for either option depending on what you have now powering your current tower coax setup.

[tnvolgrad]

I like them quite a bit - agree with chpthril's comments. The razor tower is what I have installed on my boat - see my pics for the tower and S7HD. The only complaint is that they sound good in the boat, but you need some power behind them if you plan to hear them surfing/boarding(hence my phase II upgrade plans).

[chpthril]

I like them quite a bit - agree with chpthril's comments. The razor tower is what I have installed on my boat - see my pics for the tower and S7HD. The only complaint is that they sound good in the boat, but you need some power behind them if you plan to hear them surfing/boarding(hence my phase II upgrade plans).

I'm guessing those are outdated pics? Cause what is pictured there looks like the Samson "720", which is a coax based in-boat type component speaker.

[Brianinpdx]

Those are the Samson 720's loaded with focals in them. A great sounding speaker, and yes, you need power behind them. The Samson S7HD is an HLCD design that you will also want ALOT of power behind. This product is indeed aimed at the upscale user that wants to put a lot of sound on target at 80 feet and beyond. Samson also offers an SMT65 that is a fixed mount surf speaker that sounds great up close but is based on a direct radiating design.

The thing that makes the Samson/Exile speaker set apart from the competition is the clamp design. It's patented and nothing else is like it. You can spin in 360 degrees, and quick disconnect in 5 seconds. The S7HD's come with covers in the box.

Hope that helps.

-Brian
Exile Audio

[laserfish]

Thanks Brian, I have a set with the Harpoon amp coming with my Razor tower. Really looking forward to seeing how they perform. I have heard nothing but great things. Also looking forward to being able to remove them easily to keep them in the house when not on the lake!

[philwsailz]

I will point out that the horn design in the Kicker KM6500.2 is quite different from other HLCD horns. the Kicker system uses a tractrix horn geometry where the area and flare of the horn are constantly changing. The result is a very natural accurate soind without the typical peaks and resonances that plague so many horns.

The KM6500.2 is so smooth and accurate it will sound nice even up close. They sound so nice that I decided to build home speakers out of them...

Phil
Kicker

[laserfish]

Those look great, did you use existing enclosures or did you make those? Honestly, I was leaning to the Kicker before I had to replace my ruined tower. Even bought the cans (they are now for sale if anyone needs them, a pair of Liquid Audio doubles). Just decided to go with the Samsons as I heard great things about them as well. Thanks for all your input to the site. You and Mike are valuable to us all here.

[philwsailz]

The cabinets came from Parts Express. They have a lot of good speaker building supplies.

[adamsjstt]

A set of the kicker 6500.2 installed in liquid audio double cans sold on ebay last night for 362.50. To bad I missed the deal. Another set went for 450 two days ago.

[Timmy!]

The S7's sound really good. My local dealer has installed them on a few boats. The slickest part about them is the mount that allows you to rotate them any direction you want or remove them completely in just a second or two. I haven't heard them at a lake, only in a showroom so I don't know how good they are behind the boat.

[laserfish]

Wow, either one is a steal. I have new double cans for sale if anyone wants to install a set.

[Brianinpdx]

Laser - you'll love them. Make sure they sent you a ThrottleBox remote for the Harpoon amplifier. It's a nifty remote control that plugs into the amplifier and will allow you to actively control the tweeter dispersion for up close (surf) and out far (wakeboarding). It's a must have for any HLCD system.

Cheers!

-Brian
Exile Audio

[laserfish]

They are sending one with the amp. I was sure to ask and they said it is a must have as well. It was 85 here yesterday, sure made me want to hit the lake! Too bad the high won't be out of the 50's the rest of the week. I know those of you in the great white north are thinking the 50's are warm.
Also, we only have a single battery and have had no problem running the two small amps and the stereo. Will we have to expand our battery bank to two batteries. I am reading the ACR thread with interest. We plan on adding something along the lines of the Kicker 700.5 and 10" sub along with the Harpoon in the future. For now we will be running the Harpoon with a small MTX for the cabin and sub. Will this necissitate adding a second battery?

[Brianinpdx]

Laser - with the Harpoon you are stepping into the big leagues with 1000W of power across your tower speakers. If you want to jam on the volume.... I suspect you will, I'd highly recommend adding a second battery. It's retroactively easy to install and a pretty inexpensive upgrade. Ask yourself, "is it worth 200 bucks for peace of mind out on the water?"

You can get carried away with high end batteries but I see guys do plenty fine with a walmart or costco group29 rv/marine deep cycle. The add a battery ACR works great too, or you can step up to a Promariner / Guest off shore multi bank charger. Also pretty easy installtions.

85 degrees = Nice!We actually are finishing up an Exile Subwoofer upgrade for one of Samsons local customer's today and the guy is looking to pick up his boat tonight and wakeboard tomorrow... ***Ahem its 38 degrees outside. CRAZY!