My current cockpit speakers have expired and need to be replaced. I'm looking at the Bose 131 but am unable to find any reviews on these. Does anyone have any experience they would like to share? How resistant to sun / weather are they? These will be mounted in a rear lazarette so access and space is not an issue. Should I spend the $239 for Bose or would $100 Sonys or Pioneers be just as good. Thanks, Jim
Cockpit speakers
- Thread starter Jim C
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Where to spend the money
Jim. For cockpit speakers you of course need ones that can take moisture. Check out available outdoor rated ones on the internet. The key is to get ones that have a power handling rating that will not be exceeded by your sound source. There are many good brands available both in the marine catalogs and for outdoor use. So identify the max wattage handling you need and go shopping. Good luck
Jim. For cockpit speakers you of course need ones that can take moisture. Check out available outdoor rated ones on the internet. The key is to get ones that have a power handling rating that will not be exceeded by your sound source. There are many good brands available both in the marine catalogs and for outdoor use. So identify the max wattage handling you need and go shopping. Good luck
131's
Jim- I have a pair of Bose 131's on my boat and I love them. One speaker is installed left of the companionway, completely exposed to all of mother natures elements. The second is placed in the aft part of my port locker. I dont worry one bit when I'm washing the boat down. I spray the speakers out. Bose marine and outdoor speakers are of top notch quality and tested by being completely submerged in H2O and frozen. Take a look at them before to make sure you have enough room on the backside for the box. There is not much wrong with Pioneers either.
Jim- I have a pair of Bose 131's on my boat and I love them. One speaker is installed left of the companionway, completely exposed to all of mother natures elements. The second is placed in the aft part of my port locker. I dont worry one bit when I'm washing the boat down. I spray the speakers out. Bose marine and outdoor speakers are of top notch quality and tested by being completely submerged in H2O and frozen. Take a look at them before to make sure you have enough room on the backside for the box. There is not much wrong with Pioneers either.
You Can Do A Lot Better...
for the money. In the audiophile world Bose is considered a marketing company not a speaker company. The 4.5 inch driver in the 131's was invented by Dr. Bose in the early 60's and has remained virtually unchanged since. Meanwhile other speaker companies have put more money into speaker technolgy less into marketing.. The Bose 131's use a 4 1/2 inch "full range" driver. Full range means that one 4 1/2 inch speaker is trying to move the air of a woofer and also hit the highs a tweeter can reproduce. Outdoors on a boat you need a lot more cone to make music than 4.5 inches trust me. I have provided a link to a pair of Pioneer 6 1/2 inch coaxial speakers (6.5 inch woofer & a tweeter) that I know will blow away the Bose 131's. I know this because my Mainship Pilot had 131's when I bought it. They sonded one dimensional & constipated plus because they were so in effcient it required me to overwork my stereo to achieve the same volume as the Pioneers. When I switched to the Pioneers the difference was amazing. More volume, more bass and more midrange, bass & high end clarity.. They are also half the price.. If you want a really nice sounding speaker check out the marine series from MB Quart these have incredible finesse, imaging and soundstage depth.. Spend less but at least get a 6.5 inch driver you'll be happy you did. -Rod
for the money. In the audiophile world Bose is considered a marketing company not a speaker company. The 4.5 inch driver in the 131's was invented by Dr. Bose in the early 60's and has remained virtually unchanged since. Meanwhile other speaker companies have put more money into speaker technolgy less into marketing.. The Bose 131's use a 4 1/2 inch "full range" driver. Full range means that one 4 1/2 inch speaker is trying to move the air of a woofer and also hit the highs a tweeter can reproduce. Outdoors on a boat you need a lot more cone to make music than 4.5 inches trust me. I have provided a link to a pair of Pioneer 6 1/2 inch coaxial speakers (6.5 inch woofer & a tweeter) that I know will blow away the Bose 131's. I know this because my Mainship Pilot had 131's when I bought it. They sonded one dimensional & constipated plus because they were so in effcient it required me to overwork my stereo to achieve the same volume as the Pioneers. When I switched to the Pioneers the difference was amazing. More volume, more bass and more midrange, bass & high end clarity.. They are also half the price.. If you want a really nice sounding speaker check out the marine series from MB Quart these have incredible finesse, imaging and soundstage depth.. Spend less but at least get a 6.5 inch driver you'll be happy you did. -Rod
Pioneer 6 1/2
We would like to replace two compasses on either side of the bulkhead with marine speakers. Due to the location of the Sailboat instruments, the speakers must be magnetically shielded. Are the Pioneer 6.5 magnetically shielded? Any suggestions for good sounding magneticaly shielded marine speakers?
We would like to replace two compasses on either side of the bulkhead with marine speakers. Due to the location of the Sailboat instruments, the speakers must be magnetically shielded. Are the Pioneer 6.5 magnetically shielded? Any suggestions for good sounding magneticaly shielded marine speakers?
speakers
Speakers that sound great in the cabin will sound small and tinny when mounted in the cockpit, there arent enough surfaces to fill out the bass, so you get only what the speakers are able to produce themselves, so if you start with a small speaker (4.5") you will only have good sound when standing near the speaker. I'd say start with a 6" bass cone, in either a coaxial configuration or a panel style bass/mid/high, for a wide open space like a cockpit you need to start with good bass. I'm not into 'thumper' type music, but like the sound that is clear and clean all the way through, and if you don't have good base you tend to overdrive the rest to try for bass, and the overall sound picture suffers, and single cone full range speakers fall on their faces for 90% of the music, they sound a lot like an AM stereo broadcast, the sounds and volume are there, but they can't reproduce it. match the speakers (2,4, or 8 ohm) to the requirements of the deck or amp, if the radio says 4 or 8 ohm, the 4 ohm speakers will produce more power, but not always the clearest sound. I run a 200 watt rms amp, but get a lot of flack because you can seldom hear the radio outside the boat or truck, it's there to add clarity to the sound, not volume, though I have to admit some tunes have a way of cranking up the volume all by themselves. If you can, try to move the speakers to an area that is close in size/shape to the area you plan on listen in, and AWAY from other speakers, sound from the speaker you listen to will cause the nearby speakers to resonate and color the sound so you won't have a clear picture of what they sound like. max and rms, most speakers say 100 watt max or rms, rms is bigger than max, 50 watts max is roughly 17w RMS, so don't just look at watts I'd say go with the sony, Bose is more marketing than function as Rod said, they do sound nice, and if I had to have small speakers, I'd possibly use them, but you can do better with a less compact speaker, and enjoy the sound more. If you are'nt hurting for space, you'll hurt your sound by going with a smaller speaker. ken.
Speakers that sound great in the cabin will sound small and tinny when mounted in the cockpit, there arent enough surfaces to fill out the bass, so you get only what the speakers are able to produce themselves, so if you start with a small speaker (4.5") you will only have good sound when standing near the speaker. I'd say start with a 6" bass cone, in either a coaxial configuration or a panel style bass/mid/high, for a wide open space like a cockpit you need to start with good bass. I'm not into 'thumper' type music, but like the sound that is clear and clean all the way through, and if you don't have good base you tend to overdrive the rest to try for bass, and the overall sound picture suffers, and single cone full range speakers fall on their faces for 90% of the music, they sound a lot like an AM stereo broadcast, the sounds and volume are there, but they can't reproduce it. match the speakers (2,4, or 8 ohm) to the requirements of the deck or amp, if the radio says 4 or 8 ohm, the 4 ohm speakers will produce more power, but not always the clearest sound. I run a 200 watt rms amp, but get a lot of flack because you can seldom hear the radio outside the boat or truck, it's there to add clarity to the sound, not volume, though I have to admit some tunes have a way of cranking up the volume all by themselves. If you can, try to move the speakers to an area that is close in size/shape to the area you plan on listen in, and AWAY from other speakers, sound from the speaker you listen to will cause the nearby speakers to resonate and color the sound so you won't have a clear picture of what they sound like. max and rms, most speakers say 100 watt max or rms, rms is bigger than max, 50 watts max is roughly 17w RMS, so don't just look at watts I'd say go with the sony, Bose is more marketing than function as Rod said, they do sound nice, and if I had to have small speakers, I'd possibly use them, but you can do better with a less compact speaker, and enjoy the sound more. If you are'nt hurting for space, you'll hurt your sound by going with a smaller speaker. ken.
Kliptsch
If you do need to have shielded speakers, consider the Kliptsch. They have a series of outdoor speakers and kliptsch always punch a lot of bass. I use a set inside my boat (can't remember model #s) and at times they have too much bass. Outside, where the bass dissipate, maybe they would be great. Now that I think about it, I may move them outside.... There are a number of very nice outdoor speakers if shielding is not an issue. Re Bose: There is a little rhyme I have heard: "No highs, no lows, it must be Bose"
If you do need to have shielded speakers, consider the Kliptsch. They have a series of outdoor speakers and kliptsch always punch a lot of bass. I use a set inside my boat (can't remember model #s) and at times they have too much bass. Outside, where the bass dissipate, maybe they would be great. Now that I think about it, I may move them outside.... There are a number of very nice outdoor speakers if shielding is not an issue. Re Bose: There is a little rhyme I have heard: "No highs, no lows, it must be Bose"
Unshielded Pioneer 6.5 speakers
We purchased a pair of Pionerr TS-MR165 6.5 inch speakers for the cockpit only to learn after the fact when other upgrades were completed that they were not shielded speakers and would affect the instrument performance. As a result, they are sitting in the basement and not mounted on the boat. Old saying modified - check what your boat can handle twice, buy once.
We purchased a pair of Pionerr TS-MR165 6.5 inch speakers for the cockpit only to learn after the fact when other upgrades were completed that they were not shielded speakers and would affect the instrument performance. As a result, they are sitting in the basement and not mounted on the boat. Old saying modified - check what your boat can handle twice, buy once.
Magnetic shielding is an oxymoron
Magnets can't really be shielded so that they don't affect a nearby compass. Some computer speakers have a soft iron or mumetal covering to prevent distortion in a crt display. But all that extra metal will change the deviation of a nearby compass. That's what Physics says. Maybe someone can prove it wrong.
Magnets can't really be shielded so that they don't affect a nearby compass. Some computer speakers have a soft iron or mumetal covering to prevent distortion in a crt display. But all that extra metal will change the deviation of a nearby compass. That's what Physics says. Maybe someone can prove it wrong.
When we shipped
the magnetron's for our radar they were placed in boxes lined with sheet steel and the boxes with the magnetron's inside were checked with a hand bearing compass for magnetic fields. if they affected the hand bearing compass the packaging was inspected for leaks. This was for air cargo and the load masters were very fussy about putting anything on a plane they were going to fly across the pacific ocean that might cause a compass error. Take any horseshoe magnet and approach a compass with it then place that magnet in a steel can with a tight lid(paint can)and bring the can with the magnet close to the compass.
the magnetron's for our radar they were placed in boxes lined with sheet steel and the boxes with the magnetron's inside were checked with a hand bearing compass for magnetic fields. if they affected the hand bearing compass the packaging was inspected for leaks. This was for air cargo and the load masters were very fussy about putting anything on a plane they were going to fly across the pacific ocean that might cause a compass error. Take any horseshoe magnet and approach a compass with it then place that magnet in a steel can with a tight lid(paint can)and bring the can with the magnet close to the compass.
Thanks
I kinda had the same thoughts as some of the posts here but thought the attached sound chamber may help the sound. Thanks all, Jim
I kinda had the same thoughts as some of the posts here but thought the attached sound chamber may help the sound. Thanks all, Jim
Speakers
I can see Bose in my truck, but not the boat...WM actually has a few resonably priced products, including speakers. I got a pair of Poly-Planar 4600s...6", low magnetic field, water proof, UV protected grills...$48 plus shipping.
I can see Bose in my truck, but not the boat...WM actually has a few resonably priced products, including speakers. I got a pair of Poly-Planar 4600s...6", low magnetic field, water proof, UV protected grills...$48 plus shipping.
Polk
Polk makes a outdoor speaker that sounds great. They sounded so good in my cockpit mounted under the rail seats, I got another set for the salon cabin. Got them at Circuit City.
Polk makes a outdoor speaker that sounds great. They sounded so good in my cockpit mounted under the rail seats, I got another set for the salon cabin. Got them at Circuit City.
In defense of Bose
I use a pair of Bose 151’s in the cabin, and a matched pair under the stern rail seats. They are driven by an Alpine 60-watt per channel CD/receiver. They are water proof/resistant. Even so, I use quick pins to mount them to the brackets so I can bring them below between outings. These speakers are moderate size self-contained boxes that put out respectable sound. They are simliar to the 131's, but not flush mounted. I have gotten complements on the sound output and quality, but I realize the limitations of the single small drivers. I think these are one of the better speakers I have heard for this size and simplicity. It’s hard to get great bass outdoors without large speakers and amps, and I chose not to go there. I’ve tried PolylPlaner and some others, but I wasn’t happy at all. The other speaker I’ve liked was the Pioneer Nautica 8 in. But they are flush mounts, and I won’t be drilling that kind of hole in my boat. I am kind of critical about music systems, but I keep the good setup for home. You shouldn’t judge a speaker on its design or configuration. The test is how it sounds. I used to bad mouth Bose speakers for reasons already mentioned, but I’ve come to appreciate them for what they are, and in particular for what they offer in the difficult environment of a boat. They may not have the sound that my home system does, but they actually sound pretty good when I get some blues or reggae cranked up.
I use a pair of Bose 151’s in the cabin, and a matched pair under the stern rail seats. They are driven by an Alpine 60-watt per channel CD/receiver. They are water proof/resistant. Even so, I use quick pins to mount them to the brackets so I can bring them below between outings. These speakers are moderate size self-contained boxes that put out respectable sound. They are simliar to the 131's, but not flush mounted. I have gotten complements on the sound output and quality, but I realize the limitations of the single small drivers. I think these are one of the better speakers I have heard for this size and simplicity. It’s hard to get great bass outdoors without large speakers and amps, and I chose not to go there. I’ve tried PolylPlaner and some others, but I wasn’t happy at all. The other speaker I’ve liked was the Pioneer Nautica 8 in. But they are flush mounts, and I won’t be drilling that kind of hole in my boat. I am kind of critical about music systems, but I keep the good setup for home. You shouldn’t judge a speaker on its design or configuration. The test is how it sounds. I used to bad mouth Bose speakers for reasons already mentioned, but I’ve come to appreciate them for what they are, and in particular for what they offer in the difficult environment of a boat. They may not have the sound that my home system does, but they actually sound pretty good when I get some blues or reggae cranked up.
marine series from MB Quart
MB Quart is the way to go if you don't have the time for research. Speakers are a personal type of thing......not everybody hears the same. I have a Passage 42 and I have spent over 2k.... and I'm still looking for perfect sound. Somebody else might be happy spending $200.00 If your into high end systems at home....you'll want the same for your boat. I agree on the Bose, no highs no lows. They make a good around speaker....and charge too much. Buy a couple of good 6 x 9's and make sure to have a good back box behind them. I cannot say this enough...the enclosure is the most important part of any speaker system.
MB Quart is the way to go if you don't have the time for research. Speakers are a personal type of thing......not everybody hears the same. I have a Passage 42 and I have spent over 2k.... and I'm still looking for perfect sound. Somebody else might be happy spending $200.00 If your into high end systems at home....you'll want the same for your boat. I agree on the Bose, no highs no lows. They make a good around speaker....and charge too much. Buy a couple of good 6 x 9's and make sure to have a good back box behind them. I cannot say this enough...the enclosure is the most important part of any speaker system.
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