Box speaker type for the cabin?

[hobie61]

Looking to find decent box speakers for the cabin of a 29' sailboat and seeking recommendations/suggestions. I will be using a Fusion radio (4 ohms) as a power source.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Tim

[Evan]

On my last boat we used 6x9 car stereo speakers. In the aft corners of the cabin we fitted diagonal pieces of wood that ran at 45 degrees to the corner. It's important to close off the top and bottom so the wood box is reasonably airtight. The speaker supplier will recommend a volume range.

It's hard to find 4 ohm box speakers but maybe Polyplanar marine ones will work - not that I think they are very good.

[getlostonpurpose]

I use studio monitor speakers from Definitive Technology. The studiomonitor 450's. I bought em new off ebay for $275 for the set several years ago. Now I see Amazon wants $660 for a pair! They've got crazy bass for speakers that size. There is a "bass radiator" basically a sub woofer on the sides of the speakers so you have to take that into account when mounting them. I've got one built into a custom wood shelf on the port side and the other one bolted to the wall (subwoofer pointing into the pilot berth) on the starboard. I've had many compliments on their sound quality and it's great watching movies below with actual bass. I figured it was best to not skimp in that department since I knew I'd have music on constantly (and I do) They're pretty small for box speakers too.
8-3/8” W x 11-7/16” D x 13” H | 21.3 x 29.1 x 33.0 cm

Definitive Technology - StudioMonitor 450

Drew

[getlostonpurpose]

actually edit that...i think i may have the studiomonitor 350's!

6-15/16” W x 9-11/16” D x 10-11/16” H | 17.6 x 24.6 x 27.1 cm

http://www.definitivetech.com/Products/products.aspx?path=Bookshelf%20Speakers&productid= StudioMonitor%20350

[camaraderie]

Hobie ...you do NOT need 4 ohm speakers. Either 4 or 8 ohms or anything in between will be fine. The universe of answers is limited by your budget. What do you want to keep it down below? Do you already have speakers "upstairs"...if so...what size/kind?

[Waterborn]

I just installed a complete system in my 28 footer (finished last night to be exact)
I ended up putting 6.5" pioneer car speakers in the foot of a storage compartment. I cut the holes out with a saber saw (jig saw) for flush mounting. Once the lid was on the compartment and the cushions replaced, the amount of bass was far more then I could have hoped for.

P.S. I put Alpine M600 6.5" Marine speakers in the cockpit and they also sounded far better than I would have thought for outside.

Sublime sounded great with my boat still on the cradle.
"Lifes too short, so love the one ya got
Cause you might get runover or you might get shot"
R.I.P. Bradley Nowell

[hobie61]

Thanks for the comments and advice. I kinda had decided on a pair of Boston Acoustics 4 for inside, but was advised from crutchfield that they would not work well with the radio. Been thinking about the bose 151 se, but kinda big and space is limited. Dont want to spend a lot of money, as other projects are in the process too. Do want some decent sound for the nitetime and rainy days.

Thanks again for your advice and thoughts.

Tim

[skipmac]

For small areas I really like my Bose Acostimass 5 speakers. Only need a small corner or bulkhead space for the tweeters and can hide the larger base module in any out of the way corner. Have not found a better sound for the size. Drive these with a really good power amp and they will rock.

[camaraderie]

Hobie...if that is the Boston Voyager4...excellent choice. Check Polk atrium series for similar design/quality indoor-outdoor.
No reason to use indoor outdoor down below! Check Cambridge Soundworks Newton Series or Polk RM series for other choices. POLK RM8's might be a good choice for you.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg

If you like a little brighter more forward sound, the JBL Control 1 pro monitors are well made and suitable as well.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ol_1_Pro_.html
Finally...forget the 151's...most people find tweeters a nice thing to have in speakers!
The accoustimass is toatally unsuitable to be run by your car stereo. What's more, it sucks compared to other products in the same price range. This review is both telling and deadly accurate and cuts across all accoustimass products.
intellexual net · m k i v

[speedoo]

I picked up some ads L310's that I have yet to install in my boat. If you are not in too much of a hurry, I'd be happy to sell you (cheap) the speakers that are currently in my boat, which sound pretty good. Or if the ads L310's for whatever reason don't impress me enough, I could sell you those if you like.

ads L310 Reviews

I will also be installing one or more subwoofers that I might have extras of. They are the Sirius SIR-PS1 8” powered Subwoofer.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fL1cqgN...s-SIR-PS1.html

[camaraderie]

Speedo...Re: Sirius...how are you gonna provide the approx. 15 amps it draws? BTW..it is discontinued.

The L310's are great little boxes and built to a high standard. The real problem with them is that they suck power to sound good and are not a good choice for boat audio unless you have a separate amp rather than simply a head unit driving them.

[MoonlightShadow]

<MoonlightShadow makes mental note to anchor a bit away from this lot if they are all together somewhere>

[S/V Antares]

For Box Speakers look at Poly Planar MA7500. They have a slightly triangular shape that fits snugly in a corner. 4 Ohm. I use a pair in the main salon book shelves (Sholder high) and a pair of MA905 speakers low along the settee. Great sound with great range at low power and high power when I feel the need.

[David M]

I have a pair of these onboard. Compact Waterproof Box Speakers

They are 4 ohms as well, which is what 12 volt car stereo systems typically use. The resistance makes a difference because amplifiers are engineered to the resistance of the speakers. Some amps though can be switched between 8 ohms and 4 ohms. With 8 ohm speakers and a 4 ohm amplifier, they will not be as loud at a given volume setting if your amplifier does not have that switch.

As far as sound goes, they seem to be full spectrum except for the bass...which of course is not very good because of the size of the box. Good bass will require a much larger cone and probably more power from a separate amplifier than the head unit alone provides.

[s/v Jedi]

You have lots of choice and can spend money as much as you like, but imo the best sounding small speakers are from Mirage. These are manufactured in Canada and optimized for odd shaped rooms.

Find them here: Bookshelf Speaker

ciao!
Nick.