How many speakers can you fit on an AR240

[Jaylex]

Great info so far...thanks

@Drift Away I saw your upgrades to the 7.7s on the rear, looks nice with the pods you have up high. Since I'm adding the M880 towers I'm probably gonna opt for the 6.5s on the swim deck, assuming the 880s point towards the rear I should be covered.

I think I want to figure out how to enhance the sound towards the bow, assuming the 880s fill out the main cabin along with the 4 man cabin speakers.

The idea from @jcyamaharider of using a sound bar might be an option to give the front of the boat more sound. So the question is to add another pair of 6.5s in the main cabin or do a soundbar or another set of towers (maybe the MX770s) up top pointed forward. I imagine that would give a better sound since its up high.

Whats the pros/cons of running a soundbar vs the JL MX770 towers. My idea would be to power all the towers from a single amp, maybe a 600/6 so the soundbar or MX770s get 75w each and M880s get 200rms ea.

 

[jcyamaharider]

I guess you are right...
Kind of embarrassing but I must admit it would be very difficult for me to dispense with any of those gadgets actually.

Well, if I had the E-throttles - I would not need the RideSteady. Although I do love that thing - use it all the time (except when docking), basically - push the throttles far up (so that I don't need to adjust them) and use the knob to adjust RPM (and speed) - it works similar to a "single throttle mode" in synch.

I guess I could get rid of the clunky stationary VHF (and use a hand-held) but every time I look for the hand-held unit it is not there (and then... of course it is not charged! So I got tired of it).

BTW - all these add-ons did very well in Bimini, no issues with rattling off or corrosion.
View attachment 64608

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I didn't mean it in a bad way, just looks like a F16 fighter jet cockpit. I am intimidated just looking at it. Lol

 

[jcyamaharider]

Great info so far...thanks

@Drift Away I saw your upgrades to the 7.7s on the rear, looks nice with the pods you have up high. Since I'm adding the M880 towers I'm probably gonna opt for the 6.5s on the swim deck, assuming the 880s point towards the rear I should be covered.

I think I want to figure out how to enhance the sound towards the bow, assuming the 880s fill out the main cabin along with the 4 man cabin speakers.

The idea from @jcyamaharider of using a sound bar might be an option to give the front of the boat more sound. So the question is to add another pair of 6.5s in the main cabin or do a soundbar or another set of towers (maybe the MX770s) up top pointed forward. I imagine that would give a better sound since its up high.

Whats the pros/cons of running a soundbar vs the JL MX770 towers. My idea would be to power all the towers from a single amp, maybe a 600/6 so the soundbar or MX770s get 75w each and M880s get 200rms ea.

The advantage the sound bar will give you is head room. It does sound really good musically as well. It has 2 tweeters and 8 mid type speakers.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I need to stay out of this section - it's making me want to order speakers lol. I know I need to but just had to unexpectedly buy a whole new AC system for the house that put a big dent in those plans.

Has anyone put speakers under the clean out ports? First thoughts are its probably a bad idea based on what I assume is back there.

 

[Jaylex]

I was out in Havasu on the boat and got a chance to swing by one of the shops out there and one of their installers wasnt fond of sound bars, I want to fig out a way to project some additional sound to the bow, as those two speakers up front arent enough.

On a bright note, I got my 2nd 12 working, the connection came loose and it was a simple fix, but now with more bass I def need some more mids & highs, so if I get a 600/6 I an handle the M880 towers and another pair of 6.5s or a soundbar.

Can I get away with 75x2 on a sound bar?

 

[Drift Away]

I was out in Havasu on the boat and got a chance to swing by one of the shops out there and one of their installers wasnt fond of sound bars, I want to fig out a way to project some additional sound to the bow, as those two speakers up front arent enough.

On a bright note, I got my 2nd 12 working, the connection came loose and it was a simple fix, but now with more bass I def need some more mids & highs, so if I get a 600/6 I an handle the M880 towers and another pair of 6.5s or a soundbar.

Can I get away with 75x2 on a sound bar?

Do 6 7.7 or 8.8 pods. 4 facing the rear to facing the front

 

[jcyamaharider]

I was out in Havasu on the boat and got a chance to swing by one of the shops out there and one of their installers wasnt fond of sound bars, I want to fig out a way to project some additional sound to the bow, as those two speakers up front arent enough.

On a bright note, I got my 2nd 12 working, the connection came loose and it was a simple fix, but now with more bass I def need some more mids & highs, so if I get a 600/6 I an handle the M880 towers and another pair of 6.5s or a soundbar.

Can I get away with 75x2 on a sound bar?

I have 125 watts x 2 to my sound bar.

 

[Jaylex]

@Drift Away man I love how your mind thinks, and I'm very tempted to bulldoze the opposition with 6 towers as that will def do the trick, but I prefer to balance my pocket with my hearing,lol.

My goal is to figure out how to add sound to the bow...2 speakers don't cut it, so I'm def gonna do a pair of M880s and one of three options: 1) MX770s 2) soundbar 3) another set of MX650s in the bow somewhere.

At WOT when up front you can't hear as well with only 2 speakers vs sitting in the main cabin.

I'm leaning toward the MX770s since they will be sufficient for projecting towards the bow, and can be powered with 75w each, and keep everything JL Audio.

Another pair of 6.5s in the bow would require modifications and not be as lound as the MX770s

Am I missing anything, feel like the second set of tower speakers are my best bet above the soundbar or 6.5s

Would power it all with a M600/6

All input is appreciated....

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

@Drift Away man I love how your mind thinks, and I'm very tempted to bulldoze the opposition with 6 towers as that will def do the trick, but I prefer to balance my pocket with my hearing,lol.

My goal is to figure out how to add sound to the bow...2 speakers don't cut it, so I'm def gonna do a pair of M880s and one of three options: 1) MX770s 2) soundbar 3) another set of MX650s in the bow somewhere.

At WOT when up front you can't hear as well with only 2 speakers vs sitting in the main cabin.

I'm leaning toward the MX770s since they will be sufficient for projecting towards the bow, and can be powered with 75w each, and keep everything JL Audio.

Another pair of 6.5s in the bow would require modifications and not be as lound as the MX770s

Am I missing anything, feel like the second set of tower speakers are my best bet above the soundbar or 6.5s

Would power it all with a M600/6

All input is appreciated....

If you want to out-do every one else you need to look at three factors. 1. Cone area 2. Power 3. Efficiency. Other factors like cancellation go into effect when adding a ton of speakers, but on a boat this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Basically get the largest, most efficient speakers you can and power them with all the juice they can take. You can increase power handling by raising the crossover points, you can also get more power by finding lower Ohm speakers. I would venture to say with a x-over point around 100hz you could put 150-200 watts per MX770. Of course, always slowly ease into the power to make sure they can really handle it. In the car audio world, it's not uncommon for guys to have 300watts per speaker when they are only rated for 75-100.

With that said, if you really want to out-do everyone, the JL stuff is the wrong product. The Kicker KMS67 will blow everything out the water, hands down. There is nothing louder or more efficient then HLCDs. If you put power on those, two is really you will ever need... put four with 250-300 watts to each speaker and will go def quickly. Ideally I would purchase the components separate, and pair two mids per HLCD. I can't emphasize enough how loud HLCDs are.

 

[jcyamaharider]

If you want to out-do every one else you need to look at three factors. 1. Cone area 2. Power 3. Efficiency. Other factors like cancellation go into effect when adding a ton of speakers, but on a boat this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Basically get the largest, most efficient speakers you can and power them with all the juice they can take. You can increase power handling by raising the crossover points, you can also get more power by finding lower Ohm speakers. I would venture to say with a x-over point around 100hz you could put 150-200 watts per MX770. Of course, always slowly ease into the power to make sure they can really handle it. In the car audio world, it's not uncommon for guys to have 300watts per speaker when they are only rated for 75-100.

With that said, if you really want to out-do everyone, the JL stuff is the wrong product. The Kicker KMS67 will blow everything out the water, hands down. There is nothing louder or more efficient then HLCDs. If you put power on those, two is really you will ever need... put four with 250-300 watts to each speaker and will go def quickly. Ideally I would purchase the components separate, and pair two mids per HLCD. I can't emphasize enough how loud HLCDs are.

I am going to disagree here. HCLD are loud......80 feet away, I don't think that is what the OP is after. He is trying to get good sound while under way for the front of the boat, not past that. I had HCLD on both of my boats, you can get both cheap ones and expensive ones, I have also had both and both sounded great, at a farther distance. Up close and the sound is too harsh.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I am going to disagree here. HCLD are loud......80 feet away, I don't think that is what the OP is after. He is trying to get good sound while under way for the front of the boat, not past that. I had HCLD on both of my boats, you can get both cheap ones and expensive ones, I have also had both and both sounded great, at a farther distance. Up close and the sound is too harsh.

While I agree the sound can be a lot - tuning goes a long way. Also rule of thumb is 5x the power to mids as the HCLD. Done right, HCLD can sound better than everything else. Again this is speaking from my car experience, but the tonality shouldn't change much in the boat, really just imaging and staging. There is a reason there are many world champion SQ cars with them.

If it's just front of the boat - then I'll chalk that up to me still being half asleep at work lol. HCLDs should only be on towers.

 

[Jaylex]

@jcyamaharider you are correct, I'm tryn to find a solution to get more sound to the front. The main cabin and transom will have six 6.5s, plus the M880s on swivel mounts. Assume your soundbar help you with sounds in the bow?

@adrianp89 I also had some Skylon HLCDs, and they were very loud and were what I needed then, but I wanted keep the JL theme and have read some good things about the M880s. So those on a swivel plus something to round out the bow would bring me to 14 speakers and 3 amps. Just tryn to make sure I complement the current system and round it out nicely with these final (i think) audio mods.

I think someone on here recently got the M880s, not sure of his review but I love the sound of the JLs and def don't want a harsher sound typically associated with HLCDS even though you can adjust them, having a single brand is also a small factor. I originally looked at the Rev8s, but my research led to JL based on wakeboard distances not being a concern.

 

[jcyamaharider]

@jcyamaharider you are correct, I'm tryn to find a solution to get more sound to the front. The main cabin and transom will have six 6.5s, plus the M880s on swivel mounts. Assume your soundbar help you with sounds in the bow?

@adrianp89 I also had some Skylon HLCDs, and they were very loud and were what I needed then, but I wanted keep the JL theme and have read some good things about the M880s. So those on a swivel plus something to round out the bow would bring me to 14 speakers and 3 amps. Just tryn to make sure I complement the current system and round it out nicely with these final (i think) audio mods.

I think someone on here recently got the M880s, not sure of his review but I love the sound of the JLs and def don't want a harsher sound typically associated with HLCDS even though you can adjust them, having a single brand is also a small factor. I originally looked at the Rev8s, but my research led to JL based on wakeboard distances not being a concern.

Yes I have my sound bar turned around to face the captain and co-captain chairs along with the bow. We are doing a poker run in 2 weeks and I will have people in the bow for the run. I am sure they could chime in once we do this with how they sound while under way.

 

[Jaylex]

@jcyamaharider that would be a good test case. This past weekend I let my GF drive and I sat upfront and the sound from the two 6.5s didn't blow me away, so naturally I want more.

I'm surprised others haven't brought up the bow as a weak point in the audio system, but suspect the towers or soundbar will fix that easily.

Keep us posted on how it turns out.

 

[Drift Away]

@jcyamaharider that would be a good test case. This past weekend I let my GF drive and I sat upfront and the sound from the two 6.5s didn't blow me away, so naturally I want more.

I'm surprised others haven't brought up the bow as a weak point in the audio system, but suspect the towers or soundbar will fix that easily.

Keep us posted on how it turns out.

My boat is like a mullet business up front party in the back. I have two JL 6.5 mounted up front and that's about it. So if you're sitting on the sandbar Beach are just floating around somewhere there's more than enough sound in the back. But you're correct I set of PODS firing forward would fix all your problems

 

[Jaylex]

Hahaha, @Drift Away that might be the best way to describe the audio setup.

Its so nice to sit up in the bow, whether underway or just chilling so need to even out the fun, and turn up the sound just a bit.

Any objections to the MX770s upfront, dont need it to be over powering, just enough to round out the sound in the front with the existing 6.5s. Thats what Im leaning towards and running both pair of the towers off a M600/6.

 

[Volffas]

Not my boat, but I saw this for sale earlier this year.

 

[Jaylex]

That is BANANAS!!!

Must be louder than you can bear with them pointed 360 degrees essentially. I count 24 speakers on both sides and 4 towers....talk about ear piercing.

I think I'm going for something a lil more subtle, well compared to this at least, lol

 

[swatski]

Yes I have my sound bar turned around to face the captain and co-captain chairs along with the bow. We are doing a poker run in 2 weeks and I will have people in the bow for the run. I am sure they could chime in once we do this with how they sound while under way.

@jcyamaharider What's the final word on the WS soundbar - as far the bow sound coverage?
Just curious, I think that redirected bar maybe the ultimate solution!
I am very interested in your findings. I do not like the idea of additional tower speakers turned to project forward, and the sound bar should be within the perfect range.
Would you venture to guess what would the minimum wattage be for that bar? Do you remember what was the factory set-up? - I know you said it was way under-powered, and you have it at 125W per channel?

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[Jaylex]

I'm also interested in the feedback on the sound bar....from my initial research those sound bars can require some decent wattage and with my setup I was thinking a M600/6 with 4 channels bridged for the 880 towers leaving 75w for the last 2 channels and it would either be for a another set of speakers with the bow in mind, so the feedback from @jcyamaharider and others with a soundbar would be helpful.

I saw a smaller sound bar that might ft my needs, but thought about wanting to keep the entire boat JL so the sound characteristics blend better for what its worth.

@swatski any reason your not feeling a second set of towers?? just curious.