Helix Tower Speakers

[jcornell26]

Hi All,
New Moomba owner s of a few weeks ago! I picked up this 2018 Helix, and shes a beut. She didn't come with tower speakers, so I am looking to add some. After reading through this section it sounds like the HLCD speakers are the way to go, if they are in my price range. I don't have a large budget ($1000), but I do have some questions. Primary usage is for my kids who are into the water sports and just hanging out at the sandbar. I don't need them to blow your tits off, just want them to sound good for riders behind the boat.

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My Helix came with the 4 Inboat Kickers, the KMW10 sub and DX250.4 amp. I have attached a pic of my amp and how its configured from the factory. I'm not an audio n00b but I haven't installed a system in over 20 years. Is only the sub connected to the amp 1 and the 4 inboats are running of the HU? (forgot to take a pic of the other side of the amp)
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One pair of Tower Speakers I have my eye on and heard mentioned on here are the KMT674's. Sounds like you get a lot of bang for your buck with these. Are 6.75" going to give me a good clean sound or will I be dissapointed I didnt go with some 8"s?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K8EKMLK/?coliid=I3R7SIEDDYIU0L&colid=1LF345S8WN21V&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

My Tower came pre-wired I just haven't dug around to see where the wires lead to in that area. Would a 4 channel amp be sufficient to push these like KXMA400.4? Should I get something a little bigger and throw my sub on there too?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MT7I11P/?coliid=I30RTLEUENGDH7&colid=1LF345S8WN21V&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Thanks for listening!

P.S. Some tuning advise for a pretty simple system would be great too. i.e. where to set your gains, etc.

[MLA]

The existing 4 chnl is likely powering the woofer and 3 pair of in-boats.

The KMT is actually one heck of a great sounding setup. Tons of mid-bass with really smooth balance to the tweeter. However, its not a true HLCD. It has a horn flare, but a more traditional dome tweeter compared to a compression driver type tweeter. So it wont project quite as well as a true HLCD like the KMS67. The trade off is going to be some near field sound quality though.

If you go with the KMT67, you will be better served by a 2 chnl amp like the KXMA400.2 or the Wet Sounds HTX-2 for a bit more power. The KMT67 tends to put an amp into a protect mode when bridged on a 4 chnl because its impedance dips low.

If you want that wake range projection and a little better near field sound quality, id suggest stretching the budget a little bit and look at the Kicker 9" KMTC94 HLCD or the Wet Sounds Rev-8.

[KG's Supra24]

If you like the kicker look, wait for the new tower speaker to become available for purchase.

I'd go with a pair of 8" minimum but would lean to one of the larger offerings, especially when looking HLCD.

You will want a min 250 watts x 2 speakers to achieve output at wake range.

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[jcornell26]

Thanks for the replies. I think I am leaning towards those KMS67's instead of the KMT's. What amp do you suggest to push those?
These are the ones correct?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010ESOYUE/?coliid=I1RVFU1F8JQNE7&colid=1LF345S8WN21V&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
That seems like a decent price. It does come with both sets I assume?

@KG Supra. When are those speakers supposed to be released?

[MLA]

The KMS76 will get you the wake range projection but still sound pretty good close up, or a 6.5 HLCD.

My go-to amp would be the KXMA400.4. Setup and tuned right, that 200W rms to each.

Or go with the Kicker KXMA800.5. Move the woofer over to it to free up the DX250.4 for just the in-boats. This gives you a little more wattage across the board and room to add a 3rd pair of in-boats later. The KXMA800.5 is 10X better for the woofer, not just a little more wattage.

[jcornell26]

The KMS76 will get you the wake range projection but still sound pretty good close up, or a 6.5 HLCD.

Is that because one speaker is a HLCD and the other is a Coaxil?



Or go with the Kicker KXMA800.5. Move the woofer over to it to free up the DX250.4 for just the in-boats. This gives you a little more wattage across the board and room to add a 3rd pair of in-boats later. The KXMA800.5 is 10X better for the woofer, not just a little more wattage.

I might spend the extra $200 and go with the 800.5. I think I'll be happier in the long run.

[MLA]

Is that because one speaker is a HLCD and the other is a Coaxil?




I might spend the extra $200 and go with the 800.5. I think I'll be happier in the long run.

The KMS76 is a true HLCD, not a mix. What you see with Kicker's KMS67, is a component setup rather then a pro-axial like their new 9" and 11" HLCD. You get a horn loaded compression driver paired with a 6.5" mid-bass woofer (no coaxial tweeter).

The lesser in near field sound quality is really because it only a 6.5" mid-bass. This is true with any brand 6.5". Thats why most have moved away from the smaller HLCD and towards larger. Hence the new 9" and 11" offerings from Kicker. With that said, the Kicker KMS67 is one of the best sounding 6.5" HLCD ever out there, but its still a 6.5". In part was due to its component design allowed for the flare to eliminate any long parallel walls. It allowed for a continuous mid-bass cone rather then a hole in the center like with a pro-axial.

One other think Kicker did originally, was offer a pair of extra mid-bass drivers sold by themselves. This gave you what we called the 6-pack. The two extra mids added more mid-bass to help balance out the aggressive horns for smoother near field SQ.

[philwsailz]

I would recommend even looking into the KXMA12002 amplifier. It will deliver 300 watts per side for the KMS674; a tad bit more power than they are rated for, but at 100 Hz hi-pass crossover, they will certainly handle it.

Phil
Kicker

[jcornell26]

If you like the kicker look, wait for the new tower speaker to become available for purchase.

I'd go with a pair of 8" minimum but would lean to one of the larger offerings, especially when looking HLCD.

You will want a min 250 watts x 2 speakers to achieve output at wake range.

Sent from my SM-G928V using TapatalkAre these the ones you are referring to?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180518/40eb69588056261ef71336ce52b96b18.jpg

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[MLA]

Those are the new 9" HLCD. They also have an 11" version as well.

[KG's Supra24]

Are these the ones you are referring to?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180518/40eb69588056261ef71336ce52b96b18.jpg

Sent from my SM-G965U using TapatalkYes. Although, when suggesting, I did think they would be released closer to your budget.

I definitely second the 5 chl amp route as a nice upgrade but do think you would appreciate the extra size of a larger tower speaker in the long run.

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[jcornell26]

Are those basically a cross of a HLCD and Coaxil?

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[KG's Supra24]

Lol, if you believe everything you read in this thread.

My apologies, I did not see that it said coaxial speaker in the ad. I was "yesing" to MLA comment about the kicker 9" and 11" HLCD.

Since you mentioned wake projection, id steer towards HLCD.

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[jcornell26]

Lol, if you believe everything you read in this thread.

My apologies, I did not see that it said coaxial speaker in the ad. I was "yesing" to MLA comment about the kicker 9" and 11" HLCD.

Since you mentioned wake projection, id steer towards HLCD.

Sent from my SM-G928V using TapatalkActually, I think the kicker has them labeled incorrectly on their page. The speakers in that pic are definitely HLCD's, a long with the description at the very bottom, but say Coaxil

Check it out:
https://www.kicker.com/kmtc-9-inch-4-ohm-coaxial-tower-system

Think that is where the confusion lies.

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[MLA]

The KMTC9 IS an HLCD, compared to a traditional tweeter coaxial such as the KMTC8 https://www.kicker.com/kmtc-8-inch-coaxial-tower-system

For wake range, go with an an HLCD and solid power. The KMS67 will get the job done and easily fit the budget. A larger HLCD like the KMTC9 will give you better sound quality close in for those surf and party cove times. That does not mean the KMS67 sounds "bad" its just the larger speaker offers better balance with the strong output of the compression driver.

[philwsailz]

Actually, I think the kicker has them labeled incorrectly on their page. The speakers in that pic are definitely HLCD's, a long with the description at the very bottom, but say Coaxil

Check it out:
https://www.kicker.com/kmtc-9-inch-4-ohm-coaxial-tower-system

Think that is where the confusion lies.

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ACTUALLY......

The definition of coaxial is one where two "things" are mounted in such a manner that they share the same axial alignment. Sort like cohabitation is where two people share a house, and when two things are co-linear they exist on the same shared line. For a coaxial speaker one of the transducers is mounted in the center, or on the center line of the other.

"Coaxial Speaker"does not imply the type of transducers, it only talks to the mounting of one of the transducers with respect to the other. The KMTC9 and KMTC11 use coaxially mounted HLCD high frequency drivers in front of the direct-radiating midranfge drivers. With the KMS674 the HLCD is not coaxially mounted. Wetsounds Rev series tower speakers are also coaxial, FYI.

If you dig around on-line enough you can even find examples of coaxial horns where a high-frequency horn is mounted coaxially within a midrange horn. Then the bass cabinet is found below the coaxial horns. Here is an example:


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Yeah, so as an industry we have commonly referred to the speakers that have a midrange driver behind a dome tweeter as a coax, but the truth is, the Kicker website is still correct at the moment since the KMTC9 and KMTC11 are comprised of a midrange/midbass driver with a coaxial HLCD high frequency transducer. Despite that I can see the confusion so I will work with our web team to make this more clear... Thanks for pointing it out.

Thanks for letting me ramble... :)

Have a good weekend everyone

Phil
Kicker