tower speakers

[rli2]

Are the 4 tower speakers worth the upgrade over the 2 tower speakers- can either really be heard when skiing or wakeboarding?

[Mikeski]

RE: tower speakers

The quick answer is go PRO-AUDIO with either NVS or Skylon V/IV.

I have skied/boarded behind lots of boats with tower speakers. The common car door speaker in a can approach is good to about 40' before the sound really starts to fall off. If you have four good high power speakers and a good amplifier you can hear them OK behind a quiet boat on a smooth day. In reality the people on the shore probably hear them better then your rider. I truly feel that they don't work very well, they definately do not live up to the hype.

After being unhappy with my can speakers I upgraded to a set of Electrovoice Evid 6.2 speakers on my last boat. They were pretty good and I feel they are one of the most effective simple solutions if you just want to hear some sound while boarding, but they are not that nice looking. Lot's of companies build fiberglass or plastic boxes that house four 6x9 car rear deck speakers. These tend to work a little better then the round speakers in a can because they have more speaker cone area then the 6" round speakers. I feel the four 6x9 and Evid solution work pretty well in certain situations but the newer pro-audio based systems from NVS and Skylon are a much better solution. There is also a rumor that MonsterTower is working on an offerring.

The tower speaker systems need to be used responsibly. The use of pro-audio gear allows better control of the direction of the sound. These newer systems are optimized so they project at the rider and only at the rider. When you start producing sound at levels adequate for the rider to start hearing the details of their favorite music selection we need to be responsible that we are not radiating inappropriate music into campsites along the lake. Only pro-audio gear offers this level of control.

Don't bother listening to the speakers in a showroom or any enclosed space for that matter. They will not sound anything like that once you get out on the lake, 70+ feet from the boat where they have to compete with the sound of the engine.

See the NVS systems at www.nvs1.net
See the Skylon systems at www.wakeside.com

I am not affiliated with either company, I am just posting my opinions.
Mikeski

[clubmyke]

will concur with mikeski info... keep in mind these speakers need some serious amp/amps to push them properly..

[jefe]

Regarding whether the Dual option is better than the single, I would say not. First off, Nautique gives you the same Amp as they do with the single set. Thus you are pushing 4 speakers with the same amplifier as 2 speakers. Don't ask me why they did this, they just did. Also, it should be noted that if your not into tournament level sound, and just want some tower speakers, the single and dual Cans are the same cans as the Skylon Deafcon I and III, (Skylon makes them for Nautique)
Hope that helps.