New Tower Speaker Option

[Shaka 146]

I was picking up some stuff at Marine Products in SLC and noticed they had some tower speakers I'd never seen. According to the sales guy some people broke of JL and started the company. Anyway these were just put on the market and have HLCDs and run about half the cost of REV 8's. It may give those with limited budgets a good option to the higher priced manufacturers.

 

Here's a vid:

 

[Stretch 409]

Hate the name. but could get over that, seem crazy hard to actually find from internet search and when I did find them 679.99 for 8s and 579 for 6s. Pretty far off the 279$ he stated. Is that what you found them listed at? Competition is good. Need to spray them black

[Shaka 146]

Marine Products told me around $500 for the 8's but the salesperson might have been guessing. They were so new they didn't even have a price tag.

[Wylie_Tunes 146]

I demo'd their 6'5" HLCD last year at the CES. From I was told, it had a 1" compression driver. This limits power handling and projection. The horn flare also had a long section of parallel wall. This makes them "honk'ish". That 8" looks like its also got a small compression driver and the same horn flare.

 

I think you may find the performance and build quality will match the price point. I would like to demo that 8" next to an Icon-8 or Kicker KM8 with all powered to their potential. I think the coax is is certainly going to offer better SQ and may just yield similar projection.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2015 by Wylie_Tunes

[truekaotik 458]

We are a Powerbass Dealer and the XL-POD65 is 479.99, the XL-POD8 is 559.99 MSRP...

The 6.5" is 75 watts RMS and the 8" is 100 watts RMS.. They will not project like a REV series at all... They remind me of the JL coax but bright...

Edited June 29, 2015 by truekaotik

[Shaka 146]

They are half the price of the REV series. I respect you guys but for some of us cost is a huge factor. Are REV's worth twice the price? It's a debate worth having especially for those that mostly surf.

[Wylie_Tunes 146]

 

 

The 6.5" is 75 watts RMS and the 8" is 100 watts RMS..

this bout sums up what I suspected after seeing the small voice coil on the 6.5". You could probably safely drive them @ 125W for the 6.5 and 150W rms for the 8.

 

@ trueK, can you tell if the 8 has the same compression driver as the 6.5"? If my distributor stocks them, I may be tempted to pick up a pair just to demo, but not going to ask them to special order.

 

@ shaka,

 

Yes, the Wet Sounds are worth the price. Does that mean that the PB's are not worth their asking price, cant say till I get into one. But id say there is little to no engineering in them, but mostly part shopping by a buyer. Mid-bass woofer, flare, compression driver and genaric cross-over. Probably more thought into the pod mold, then anything.

 

Wet Sounds build everything from the ground up, on the rev series. Pod is ABS plastic with 2 stage auto grade finish with UV, stainless clamps over aluminum. The cross-over in the in the rev series was designed so the speaker didnt sound like the old Pro series or any other HLCD on the market. Large 2" voice coil is the largest in the market, not including the 2.5 in the 410, just single pod HLCD, Thats a ton of power handling and way deeper mid-bass extension. Kevlar woofer as opposed to an off the shelf cone. Even the surround is proprietary. Spider is synthetic not cotton/paper, etc.

 

Is a hand built Porsche better then an assembly line built mustang?

[Stretch 409]

They are half the price of the REV series. I respect you guys but for some of us cost is a huge factor. Are REV's worth twice the price? It's a debate worth having especially for those that mostly surf.

I agree. I bought the 679+ tax and shipping was too high, but 559 is more reasonable. Cost is a huge factor, plus I've never even had a tower speaker so won't be comparing to "the best" lol

[Shaka 146]

this bout sums up what I suspected after seeing the small voice coil on the 6.5". You could probably safely drive them @ 125W for the 6.5 and 150W rms for the 8.

 

@ trueK, can you tell if the 8 has the same compression driver as the 6.5"? If my distributor stocks them, I may be tempted to pick up a pair just to demo, but not going to ask them to special order.

 

@ shaka,

 

Yes, the Wet Sounds are worth the price. Does that mean that the PB's are not worth their asking price, cant say till I get into one. But id say there is little to no engineering in them, but mostly part shopping by a buyer. Mid-bass woofer, flare, compression driver and genaric cross-over. Probably more thought into the pod mold, then anything.

 

Wet Sounds build everything from the ground up, on the rev series. Pod is ABS plastic with 2 stage auto grade finish with UV, stainless clamps over aluminum. The cross-over in the in the rev series was designed so the speaker didnt sound like the old Pro series or any other HLCD on the market. Large 2" voice coil is the largest in the market, not including the 2.5 in the 410, just single pod HLCD, Thats a ton of power handling and way deeper mid-bass extension. Kevlar woofer as opposed to an off the shelf cone. Even the surround is proprietary. Spider is synthetic not cotton/paper, etc.

 

Is a hand built Porsche better then an assembly line built mustang?

Once again I appreciate the knowledge. However, are 2" voice coils necessary for folks that mostly surf? I'll tell you right now there are a lot of pro audio products designed for sound reinforcement applications that do not use 2" voice coils. Nor does the horn require hundreds of watts of power. These are products that are designed to be heard at distances that are farther than the average wakeboarder rides.

 

One other thing I don't understand is why you guys think Wetsounds is a great innovator. They aren't. They reinvented the wheel. Weatherproof coaxial speakers with HLCD's have existed for a long time. Anyone can spec out components and build materials and if you order enough Eminence, B&C, or a myriad of other speaker manufacturers will build them for you. Application specific crossovers have existed for a long time and really aren't rocket science. This stuff has been commonplace in the pro audio community forever. Just because the tech has been ported to a tower speaker doesn't mean it's all that and a bag of chips. I salute Wetsounds for making a high quality great sounding product that can sell at a premium price. However that doesn't mean that they necessarily win when it comes to bang for the buck. Frankly I like seeing other options come to market because competition is healthy. It's possible that they guy surfing 20 feet behind his boat might not need a 2" voice coil That can be heard 200 feet away, $1200 speakers, and a $400 high powered amp.

 

This debate is a lot like the guitar amplifier industry. Leo Fender copied RCA schematics to build his first amplifiers. Jim Marshall initially copied Fender. Today's tube amplifiers are mostly adaptations (some are exact copies) of those initial designs. Leo wasn't a great innovator although the electrical engineers over at RCA that he copied might have been.

[truekaotik 458]

You asked for a comparison. We are giving you one. No, they don't project or sound like the Rev series, also I would like to know who you think Tim copied designs from? That's basically what your post said...

[truekaotik 458]

We are not Knocking PowerBass at all. Telling you what we can see, so you can decide what matters to you.. You made the connection to WetSounds, not us.

[truekaotik 458]

I will tear the 8" apart this afternoon Wylie... They are just sitting in the box. I don't have the 6.5" though

[Shaka 146]

You asked for a comparison. We are giving you one. No, they don't project or sound like the Rev series, also I would like to know who you think Tim copied designs from? That's basically what your post said...

The drivers are simply coaxial speakers with HLCD's which have existed in the pro audio industry for a long time. Water resistant versions have also existed for a long time. I played concerts in the mid-nineties where my wedge monitors used coaxial speakers with HLCDs. Wetsounds did not invent these kind of speakers they simply ported them to hang off a wake tower. I give them credit for that but throwing an HLCD in a can doesn't qualify in my book as a great innovation nor does weatherproofing it.

[Shaka 146]

We are not Knocking PowerBass at all. Telling you what we can see, so you can decide what matters to you.. You made the connection to WetSounds, not us.

I get it. I just personally think there might be a market for cheaper HLCD loaded speakers. My experience with the pro audio industry tells me that there is plenty of room for quality products to exist that are cheaper and would fulfill the needs of boats where surfing is the priority.

[truekaotik 458]

You didn't read anything Wylie posted did you? You also obviously don't follow audio as these aren't your grandpas coax with a horn slammed thru them... If that is your understanding then your loss. Don't buy them.

[truekaotik 458]

I get it. I just personally think there might be a market for cheaper HLCD loaded speakers. My experience with the pro audio industry tells me that there is plenty of room for quality products to exist that are cheaper and would fulfill the needs of boats where surfing is the priority.

They have some, you can buy them now. Kicker has had some for awhile. So has another brand I won't mention...With the price comes the build quality in this world, that's a reality...

Edited June 29, 2015 by truekaotik

[Stretch 409]

Can an analogy be made such as. Centurion is to supreme as wet sounds is to ______?

 

As in it might not be as fancy but makes a darn great wave

[Shaka 146]

You didn't read anything Wylie posted did you? You also obviously don't follow audio as these aren't your grandpas coax with a horn slammed thru them... If that is your understanding then your loss. Don't buy them.

I read everything he posted as well as understood it. Yes they are a coaxial speaker with a compression driver with a waveguide slammed through it.,

 

Dude, in addition to being a musician I owned a company that provided concert sound in the nineties. I owned high-end products by EV, JBL, EAW, and Yorkville. This stuff is not a mystery to me.

[Shaka 146]

They have some, you can buy them now. Kicker has had some for awhile. So has another brand I won't mention...With the price comes the build quality in this world, that's a reality...

My local marine speaker emporium had a pair of the Kickers for $500. I consider them a great option but they are huge. I only have so much room on my tower.

 

Price doesn't always equal build quality. My buddies X5 is in the shop a lot more than my Titan and similar issues cost a lot more to fix.

[Wylie_Tunes 146]

My local marine speaker emporium had a pair of the Kickers for $500. I consider them a great option but they are huge. I only have so much room on my tower.

 

Price doesn't always equal build quality. My buddies X5 is in the shop a lot more than my Titan and similar issues cost a lot more to fix.

Huge? They are a 6.5" component HLCD setup with a hand height of 8" when loaded in the Kicker Pods.

 

I'll get back to you later on your other comments. Too busy right now to digest and form a response.