Audio Suggestions

[chadg722]

I'm looking to do a full audio replacement/upgrade. When I originally started this quote with my local marine audio guy I was sold on the Rockford Fosgate M2 series speakers/Subs with the M5 Amps. After receiving the quote, I was slightly blown away and want to look at other options. I know one thig is for certain I will be going full Fusion for the stereo head, helm remote, & swim deck wireless remote. But I need opinions on Speaker/Subs & Amps.
His quote for the below was Roughly $5,500 installed.
8 - RF M2 6.5 Speakers
2 - RF M2 10'' Subs
2 - RF M5 1500x5 Amps
1 - Fusion MSRA210
1 - Fusion MS-ERX400 Remote
1 - Fusion ARX Wireless Remote
1 - RF RGB Controller

I realize RF M2 series is up there in price and quality with JL, Bluave and WetSound. I really want this setup, but I also don't know how I feel about dropping $5k on a 22yr old boat that I just dropped $4k on for a new AquaTraction floor. I get it, BOATS!

Couple Questions:
1. What other Marine audio brands are you all using besides the high-end ones (JL, RF, Bluave & WetSound) that produce great sound quality? I don't need to blow my ears off but do enjoy some loud music from time to time. How do we feel about Kicker, Clarion, Fusion?
2. Where are you all installing subs on an 02 246? I've seen a couple places. 1 under helm next the fire extinguisher, and someone installed 2 under back seat. Any issues with these two locations? Under the helm causing any rattling or electrical issues because of vibration and all the main electrical components right there, same thing under back seat, any screws working loose with the bracket that's holding that seat on?

Thanks in advance for your experience & opinions!

[jhnmdahl]

Regarding speakers, I'd put JL Audio and Wet Sounds solidly above Rockford Fosgate (I wouldn't spend the kind of money you're looking at and put Rockford Fosgate speakers in a boat). There are some smaller brands like Roswell Marine that may be another step up yet in quality (Cobalt used them as a step up from JL Audio in premium systems), but JL is sort of a sweet spot for many. Marine speaker brands competitive with Rockford Fosgate include Polk, Infinity, JBL, and Fusion. MB Quart used to be a high end product, but they seem to have given that up for mass market. I know of some truly high-end installations that have used Focal speakers, either from their car audio line or mixed and matched with their Littora line oriented at yachts - https://www.focal.com/en/boat-k2-power

To my ear, Wet Sounds are good but are a bit bright and can be fatiguing, but to be fair some people like that and I rarely like the way most metal dome tweeters sound. JL is somewhat similar but a bit more balanced, and Roswell has a smooth, low distortion sound that's hard to achieve in a boat. I bought JL and Roswell to test in my boat, and ended up going with Roswell. In the JL line, the M6 are the "premium" and the M3 the cheaper speaker - they sound somewhat similar, and while the M6 do sound noticeably better they also seem to need discrete amplification to sound their best while the M3 doesn't. I don't have a great explanation for this.

Amps matter a fair bit less - most manufacturers can make a pretty good amp at a pretty good price, so lots of options there. No reason not to go with class D at this point - power consumption and performance are really leaving traditional amplifier topologies in the dust. 300W per channel is likely gross overkill except for the subs, so you may be able to drive your main speakers with something like https://creativeaudio.net/mv800-8i/ and the subs with a dedicated amp with more power per channel like https://creativeaudio.net/mv600-2i/.

I just swapped out my factory Sony head unit, using the same remote you're looking at but the Fusion MS-RA670 head unit. It's a great ecosystem, and works much better than the Rockford Fosgate I tried to install first. You can read more about that experience here:

viewtopic.php?p=113875

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=4198

Obviously I'm on a similar path but am doing mine piecemeal and doing the labor myself. I enjoy doing that kind of thing, but not everybody does. If you're inclined to look at DIY, one of our forum friends, Creativeaudio.net, gives VERY competitive pricing/discounts to members of this forum. See:

viewtopic.php?p=114293

John

[jwill323]

I'm doing the same thing this spring. I went with all Garmin/Fusion equipment MS-RA210 head unit with the remotes, 2 of the SG-DA51600 amps, 3 sets of the SG-F652W and the matching 12" subs. I went all Fusion primary because of a hookup with a family friend who works for Garmin. Also picked up a new GPS unit to link in via NMEA2K. I have heard good things about a brand called Hertz as well. No first hand experience though.

[AsLan7]

Well said John.
We used wet sounds on our tower to project sound outside the boat as their horn tweeters can’t be beat for that. Incredibly efficient.
We used the highest end JL Audio for inside listening and were quite pleased. We didn’t notice any brightness per se such as with Polk audio.
We used RF for the head unit due to its versatility and the dedicated subwoofer volume control.

[chadg722]

Regarding speakers, I'd put JL Audio and Wet Sounds solidly above Rockford Fosgate (I wouldn't spend the kind of money you're looking at and put Rockford Fosgate speakers in a boat). There are some smaller brands like Roswell Marine that may be another step up yet in quality (Cobalt used them as a step up from JL Audio in premium systems), but JL is sort of a sweet spot for many. Marine speaker brands competitive with Rockford Fosgate include Polk, Infinity, JBL, and Fusion. MB Quart used to be a high end product, but they seem to have given that up for mass market. I know of some truly high-end installations that have used Focal speakers, either from their car audio line or mixed and matched with their Littora line oriented at yachts - https://www.focal.com/en/boat-k2-power

To my ear, Wet Sounds are good but are a bit bright and can be fatiguing, but to be fair some people like that and I rarely like the way most metal dome tweeters sound. JL is somewhat similar but a bit more balanced, and Roswell has a smooth, low distortion sound that's hard to achieve in a boat. I bought JL and Roswell to test in my boat, and ended up going with Roswell. In the JL line, the M6 are the "premium" and the M3 the cheaper speaker - they sound somewhat similar, and while the M6 do sound noticeably better they also seem to need discrete amplification to sound their best while the M3 doesn't. I don't have a great explanation for this.

Amps matter a fair bit less - most manufacturers can make a pretty good amp at a pretty good price, so lots of options there. No reason not to go with class D at this point - power consumption and performance are really leaving traditional amplifier topologies in the dust. 300W per channel is likely gross overkill except for the subs, so you may be able to drive your main speakers with something like https://creativeaudio.net/mv800-8i/ and the subs with a dedicated amp with more power per channel like https://creativeaudio.net/mv600-2i/.

I just swapped out my factory Sony head unit, using the same remote you're looking at but the Fusion MS-RA670 head unit. It's a great ecosystem, and works much better than the Rockford Fosgate I tried to install first. You can read more about that experience here:

viewtopic.php?p=113875

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=4198

Obviously I'm on a similar path but am doing mine piecemeal and doing the labor myself. I enjoy doing that kind of thing, but not everybody does. If you're inclined to look at DIY, one of our forum friends, Creativeaudio.net, gives VERY competitive pricing/discounts to members of this forum. See:

viewtopic.php?p=114293

John

John,

Thanks for the detailed response. Curious as to what issues you’ve heard of or have with RF? I’ve not read any bad reviews about their marine speakers/subs. The price point certainly doesn’t suggest cheap quality and if you look at all their cones and connections they look of high quality. Before I bought this boat last year I had RF speakers in my Rinker for 10+ years and no issues with them. I’m mostly trying to avoid the $5-6k price tag for this job. And going with JL and above I’m going to be over $6k. Meaning I’m going to have over $40k in a 22yr old boat lol. Would love to do JL but 8 speakers is going to be $2500 alone plus amps and subs.

[jhnmdahl]

I've had no issues with their speakers, but their head unit was a no-go for me. The thread I linked goes over it in detail, but I got a couple defective units in a row, only to find out it couldn't play much for digital media (limited to 999 files for an external drive) and I returned it for a Fusion. Huge upgrade.

See viewtopic.php?p=113875

[wss48126]

One thing with speakers is to look at how efficient they run. When I did my audio upgrades about 18 months ago, my wife had given me a $5K total budget for audio upgrades and for putting in the Garmin Touchscreen. I ended up going with the JL M3 speakers as they had close to the same spec's as the M6's and when I went to an audio shop to listen, the difference was not noticeable. The RMS was slightly higher on the M6's, but they were the same efficiency and range ratings on response. For my tower speakers, I went with JL M6's and have been pretty pleased with those. If you are on a budget, take the time to shop and look at open box, or new take outs. I took a month or so to gather everything together including finding deals on my wiring and all supplies. I kept a spreadsheet of everything I bought and every supply I bought and ended up at $5,008.00 for what I also calculated would have been $11,000 in equipment had I not used the Creative Audio Cobalt Forum discount, and also bought many things as open box off ebay and other sources. I didn't post pictures of the tower audio upgrades as I did those a few months later as I wanted to find a deal on those so I could stay around my $5K budget.

viewtopic.php?p=108097&hilit=wss48126#p108097

[chadg722]

One thing with speakers is to look at how efficient they run. When I did my audio upgrades about 18 months ago, my wife had given me a $5K total budget for audio upgrades and for putting in the Garmin Touchscreen. I ended up going with the JL M3 speakers as they had close to the same spec's as the M6's and when I went to an audio shop to listen, the difference was not noticeable. The RMS was slightly higher on the M6's, but they were the same efficiency and range ratings on response. For my tower speakers, I went with JL M6's and have been pretty pleased with those. If you are on a budget, take the time to shop and look at open box, or new take outs. I took a month or so to gather everything together including finding deals on my wiring and all supplies. I kept a spreadsheet of everything I bought and every supply I bought and ended up at $5,008.00 for what I also calculated would have been $11,000 in equipment had I not used the Creative Audio Cobalt Forum discount, and also bought many things as open box off ebay and other sources. I didn't post pictures of the tower audio upgrades as I did those a few months later as I wanted to find a deal on those so I could stay around my $5K budget.

viewtopic.php?p=108097&hilit=wss48126#p108097

That's awesome that you were able to do all that for $5k. I wish I knew a lot about audio and could install myself. Unfortunately I do not, nor do I understand Amps/Channels/Olms/RMS etc so I'm leaning on experts to advise on what I need. Finding deals sounds good, but piecing it all together when you don't really know what you should or shouldn't buy will be challenging for me. Also by doing it this way doesn't carry any kind of warranty or my installer will not warranty the work unless it's purchased through him.

[wss48126]

Good Point on the warranty of the system. I hadn't thought about that aspect of it as I always do my own troubleshooting and handle the warranty with the individual equipment manufacture if needed. Luckily, I didn't have any failed equipment from anything I bought. The only thing I really took a huge gamble on was one of the JL audio amps I bought used for $100 that was identical to the new one I had bought for $700. Everything else carried a manufacturer's warranty. I'm guessing labor on a full boat install would be around $1500 that I saved on that.

[chadg722]

Where is everyone putting subs at in a. 02 246? I’ve seen two 10” under the back seat. Or 1 10” under helm next to the fire extinguisher. Not a lot of good places on this model. What about behind and to the left of the co capt chair up against the side wall?
Any concerns with these places. I really only want 1 sub but I think next to the fire extinguisher it’s going to rattle that housing like crazy. And my boat guy said over by the passenger seat on that lower wall causes a lot of rattling. Torn on what to do cause I don’t really want to put two under the back seat. That’s way overkill.