Marine Audio – Tower speakers

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Floatillas, cove parties and wake boarders all have one thing in common.  Their music can never be too loud.  Chris and I bought our wake boarding boat in 2000 when the sport was just becoming popular here in North Carolina.  That summer we were one of 4 wake boarding boats seen on Falls Lake in Raleigh.  Now, 2 out of 3 boats on Falls and most lakes in our area are wake boarding boats.

Why is a wake boarding boat significant?  It has a tower.  Some, like ours, are a simple, aluminum tower that straddles the width of the boat.  Others are powder coated and shaped in an aggressively aesthetic way.  Above it is where the rope is fastened to give the boarder more height.  These towers were empty metal structures and a waste of space until it was figured out, as all hungry ears do, to pop a speaker in a can, devise a mount and “VOILA!” you have MORE music.  Music above the roar of the engine, pointed right at the boarder and since they have to be amplified separate from the radio they are much louder than the cabin speakers.   This allows the boarder who is 60’- 80’ out to hear their choice of music and “shake from the wake”.

Marine audio is a significant part of our business here at CAR Audio & Security.  From February through July, boats in our shop are more common than mobile video, alarms and remote starts combined.  We’ve been told by one of our vendors we sell more marine audio than any of his beach locations. This is why marine audio is so important; that and because like our customers we like to go loud and proud when we are on the lake.

The first time I heard our tower speakers reminds me of the scene from Crocodile Dundee when Dundee is first in New York City. (“New York City?!”)  He is threatened by some thug with a knife.  Dundee, not impressed, doesn’t react in fear but kind of blows the thug off.  The thug says, “Don’t you see I have a knife?” and Dundee replies, “That’s not a knife!”  He whips out a huge machete like blade. “This is a knife.”  The thug shuts up and moves on.  When you are listening to the cabin speakers in a wake boarding boat they sound like any other speakers.  You remark that sounds good and loud.  That is until Chris or some other proud boat owner flips an AUX switch and says, “That’s not loud.  THIS is loud!”

How many do you need?  That depends on the boat and how it’s used.  Different towers can’t all hold the same amount anyway.  You also have to consider head room below the tower.  Some towers don’t give you much head room; you’ll need approximately 10” – 14” below the tower depending on the style mount and size of speakers and cans you choose.   So if you are already ducking you may only want one speaker on each side.  If height isn’t an issue and you are always boarding and rarely sitting still in a cove you would want to fill that tower up.  Most towers can hold up to 4 speakers in their cans and some can hold 6.

We personally prefer JL Audio marine product.  Their amplifiers have a 2 year warranty and have a small footprint.  Don’t let the size of the footprint fool you though. (wink, wink)  It’s all due to excellent engineering because these amps are beasts.  The footprint is a plus due to the tiny little spaces the boats have.  Don’t forget you have to leave room for all the gear, vests, shoes, towels, lotions, clothes, food and cooler.   And if you are fishing in a center console boat, you have to remember space for even more gear, bait, beer and buddies.

Ahhh.  Can’t you see it now, Chris?  Sunset at Falls or heck, sunset at Manteo.  Fishing all day and while you’re punching it from one fishing spot to another, listening to Brad Paisley so loud no one realizes you’re messing up the words while singing “I’m Gonna Miss Her”.

Since we are talking about boats.  Check out our pictures of lights we installed into a few of them.

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