Adding some bling to the cockpit. Have a question.

Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
I need to replace my old cockpit speakers anyway, but I wanted to check before I take my saw to it.
I saw LED lighted speakers at West Marine. They look cool to me but very expensive. I found these Infinity marine speakers for a fraction of WM's cost. These are 8" speakers . Mine are 6.5" . The current cutout is approx 6". The new ones require 6.8" which shouldn't be a problem.
The question is around power. They both have 4 ohm impedence. Is there any chance that larger speakers is a bad choice!? My newer Alpine head unit has enough power. This has nothing to do with sailing, mostly for apre-sailing gathering.

 
Jan 25, 2011
2,391
S2 11.0A Anacortes, WA
You say your Alpine has enough power..what do the specs say about acceptable speaker impedance?
 

Rick

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Oct 5, 2004
1,095
Hunter 420 Passage San Diego
Just from outside the box. I got rid of all that stuff, because that stuff draws amps, and amps on a sailboat are everything when you are at sea. I have two JBL Flip 4 wireless speakers. They bluetooth to my phone or Ipad, and you can put them anywhere. They will run, hell I dont know, for days on a charge. Way less than a "boat buck"

Just sayin
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Site looks like they have a lot of options. The 8.5 speakers (cone size) will move more air giving you more sound for those great rock riffs.. But you need to decide, do you need more sound? Are you facing a competition to play/hear "your music" the anchored near one of those blaster boats?
1594739485359.png


Crank up the base on that baby and you'll create your own tsunami :wow3:waves...
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Mark, all I see in the specs is 18W RMS x 4. Power is measured at 4 ohms
 
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Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
In all seriousness. If you are going to install LED speakers in the cockpit, you will need to hang one of these from the bimini

View attachment 182354:biggrin:
where do I get one !:wink3:
John, the video was reassuring. I have plenty of room to accommodate the .8" larger cutout and larger grill. He says a larger cone produces better sound.
Power draw is not a concern. We really only use the sound system on shore power. Even so, I have 3 batteries.
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Site looks like they have a lot of options. The 8.5 speakers (cone size) will move more air giving you more sound for those great rock riffs.. But you need to decide, do you need more sound? Are you facing a competition to play/hear "your music" the anchored near one of those blaster boats?
View attachment 182355

Crank up the base on that baby and you'll create your own tsunami :wow3:waves...
All I can say is "PRIORITIES"!
 
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Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
All I can say is "PRIORITIES"!
Bella is pretty well set up now. I have nothing left on my to-do list except scheduled maintenance when it comes up. All the important things are up to the task. It's time to enjoy company and crew after a sail. The broken grill on one of the speakers is now a welcome mat for mud dobbers.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Bella is pretty well set up now. I have nothing left on my to-do list except scheduled maintenance when it comes up. All the important things are up to the task. It's time to enjoy company and crew after a sail. The broken grill on one of the speakers is now a welcome mat for mud dobbers.
PS: it's not about competing with boats around me, it's about quality of sound which is why my first post was about impedance matching and sensitivity. It don't want to have to make it louder to get good sound.
I'm out of my area of knowledge here
 
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Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
Bass note carry all too well outdoors. Me, I'd look more at hi frequency output sensitivty/output. Waves and other nature sounds offer competition for those hi ranges. Of course once you drive the birds and whales away, there only the splash of the waves against the hull
 
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Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Bass note carry all too well outdoors. Me, I'd look more at hi frequency output sensitivty/output. Waves and other nature sounds offer competition for those hi ranges. Of course once you drive the birds and whales away, there only the splash of the waves against the hull
if they drive the carp away, that's a plus! :wink3:
 
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srimes

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Jun 9, 2020
211
Macgregor 26D Brookings
In general bigger is better. But something is off when the same brand shows 8" sensitivity and frequency response is the same as the 6.5". Maybe that website has the wrong specs but that's a big red flag for me.

The main potential concern with going to a larger speaker is if the box volume is too small for the driver it acts like a high-pass filter and removes bass. I doubt this is an issue in this case unless it has a specific enclosure.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Good catch. I read another site where the frequency response was 30-20k, not 50-20k like the 6.5" .
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Then go for it and let us know how it sounds :yeah:
I just found them for $165 and free shipping. They even listed the correct specs. Order is placed

 
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capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
I'm a big fan of music aboard. On my old gaffer in the early '70s the only electricity aboard was the chart table light and the stereo. Even the running lights were kerosene.
Lately, I have become a big fan of blue tooth speakers. Unfortunately, I haven't found them in stereo yet, but it is so nice to be able to move the speakers around the boat, even having one that the charter guests can use in their cabin, especially if I don't like their music. They also work if we're watching a movie on the computer or TV. They even have waterproof blue tooth speakers and they are charged by USB which lasts quite a long time.
 
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