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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Default Why so many speakers on tower....

    I have been watching, reading, and learning but still don’t fully understand the full benefit of having multiple speakers (2,3 pair) on the tower. Would a single pair of XM or Rev properly powered not accomplish getting great sound to a wakeboarder?
    2014 Mojo Surf
    2013 Mojo Sold
    2010 LSV Sold
    2002 OB LSV Sold

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
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    241

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mcdye View Post
    I have been watching, reading, and learning but still don’t fully understand the full benefit of having multiple speakers (2,3 pair) on the tower. Would a single pair of XM or Rev properly powered not accomplish getting great sound to a wakeboarder?
    IMO I think of it as like head lights on a vehicle. One set you can see sufficiently, but if you have the money and decide to put more sets of head lights on your rig, you can see much better... well I would think of it the same way with speakers, different angles to set them at, different soudn qualities from one set to another. There is nothing but benifits from adding more than one set of speakers, the trade off is more power to run them and of course the money to purchase them. Hopes this helps.
    2004 Moomba LSV Blue

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Katy, TX
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    6,368

    Default

    and two sets just look cooler
    David

    2017 Moomba Mojo Max Surf Edition, 2 Pair Wetsounds Rev10s powered by an SD2, 6 pair Wetsounds XS650M and Wetsounds XS12 powered by SD6 all controlled by a WS420. 2 Lumitec SeaBlaze X2 Spectrum underwater lights

    SOLD***2008 Mobius LSV, Gravity III , Wake Plate, Z5, Exile SX65c's, Exile XM9s, Exile XI12D, Exile Javelin, Exile 30.2***SOLD

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Fort Worth, TX
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    1,049

    Default

    I like the way two sets look as opposed to one set but personally I only have one set of bullet hollowpint 770's and I can easily hear them while riding.
    -2012 Supra Launch 21V
    -2008 Mobius LSV

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Vancouver, WA
    Posts
    5,456

    Default

    until you need 2-3 guys to help raise or lower the tower...

    I know - quick disconnects. I'm thinking a nice big pair of XM9's would look as good as any pair of 6.5's...
    So when is this "old enough to know better" supposed to kick in?

    2001 MobiusV - Slightly Modified...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Arkansas
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    3,952

    Default

    I was debating between 4 and 6 for the longest time. I wanted a full tower look. I think people mostly go with 4 or 6 for cosmetic reasons but there is definitely more output, not double, but more.

    Yes, I think a pair of xm9's or Rev's would easily reach the rider.

    Maybe the audio gods could give insight into this statement: 2 8" speakers are going to sound better than 4 6.5" speakers in real world application because surface area rules. This may only be true for HLCD's?
    2016 Moomba Mojo
    2006 Supra 24SSV - Traded

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Kaukauna, WI - 3minutes from glass
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    Default

    Because I can. LOL

    I wanted more midbass so that is why I went with the 6-pack from Kicker.
    -Mark
    14 Mojo - 72 hours and growing
    02 Mobius LSV ---- Sold and always will be remembered as the one that started it all.

    "Hey you only live once"

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Posts
    649

    Default

    I am sure David will probably chime in here (and correct me), but I will relay something he said in another post. Now the other post was referring to subwoofers, but I assume the conclusions would be similar.

    He was saying that each speaker you add will result in approx. a 6dB increase in volume, if it is amplified to the same level. He also said that a 10dB increase is perceived as twice as loud.

    So I am not that best at math, but if you have one pair of tower speakers with say 100W RMS to each and it is playing at say 100dB (just chose a random number) if you add another pair with 100w RMS to them as well, it will play about 12 dB higher, which would sound more than twice as loud. Two more, and it would be twice as lound as that, so would that be 4 times louder than one pair?

    Maybe I should just let David (or Brian) chime in. I could be blowing a lot of smoke... but it sounds good doesn't it!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    2,844

    Default

    Personally, for me...

    2006 Supra 20 - Sold
    2006 Supra 24 Gravity Games - Sold
    2015 Supra SE450 - Sold

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Dallas, TX
    Posts
    887

    Default

    mcdye,
    That is an excellent question. Why so many speakers?
    *Partly cosmetics in the eye of the beholder...and the guy who dies with the most tower speakers wins!!!
    *Early HLCDs where smaller and brutally bright for near field listening so double-ups or hybrids using a mix of four or six speakers of contrasting types became popular. Now that more larger tower speakers are available that have a warmer balance that trend is in decay. Going forward you will see fewer numbers of tower speakers with slightly larger tower speakers.
    *"That Guy" who wants to be the center of entertainment at the sandbar or dock wants and needs an inordinately powerful tower system.
    As for IF you need the extra speakers...
    If the construction of two speakers are equal then the surface area will determine the capability for the most part.
    Six 6.5" tower speakers would have an effective total surface area of 104.16 sq.in.
    Four 8" tower speakers would have an effective total surface area of 128.08 sq.in.
    Two 10" tower speakers would have an effective total surface area of 106.96 sq.in.
    As you can see you can pretty much do as much with two as you can four and you can do as much with four as you can with six speakers using the above size comparisons.
    Now, ten 6.5" tower speakers will play louder and be more impactful than one 6.5" but the midbass extension whether one or ten will be the same. However, the larger 10" in a larger pod displacement will have an inherently lower natural resonance and will play much lower. And a larger speaker will generally have a much warmer complextion, particularly related to vocals.
    The more complex a horizontal line source is the more comb filtering effect you will have with off-axis cancellations/peaks/valleys. You can reduce some of this affect and actually improve the dispersion width by fanning the speakers out on the tower a bit. But sometimes the simplest configuration of just two larger tower speakers sounds more coherent from an at rest listening standpoint.

    David
    Earmark Marine

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