Largest Bow Speaker in 19’ 2019+ boats?

[Kdkns]

What’s the largest speaker that can fit in the bow?

Specifically looking at replacing the bow speakers with JL m3 6.5” but wanted to change to JL M6 8.8” speakers if possible.

I’m debating between a 4-6 speaker 6.5” setup with optional sub or 4 8.8” in main cabin and leaving stock 6.5” on bow and skipping a sub.

The alternative is upgrading the bow to JL 6.5” and rear cabin to 8.8” but not sure if that will be enough low-mid bass and I’m wasting money instead of just putting a sub?

 

[212s]

This is a subjective issue - I'm not a fan of subs for music as I prefer clean "tight" sound - I have tower speakers for music at home for this reason, I like it loud and tight. I do love subs for home theater though where the house is supposed to shake from the movie sound effects. For me, just adding a good marine rated amp (JL MX500/4) really pumped up the stock Polk speakers and they're plenty loud (my wife says they're too loud) when floating, and loud enough when cruising. The stock Polks can only handle 60w each but the MX500/4 can pump well over 125w into my 2 ohm parallel setup. Down the road I may change to JL M6 6.5 to take advantage of the extra power, but so far we have no need.

As for sizes, you could measure if there's enough room in the bow and cockpit locations to see if 8.8 would fit, might be tight with the seat cushion in the bow, the cockpit would probably fit in the stock locations. A set of four 8.8 would really thump, but you'll want a substantial amp to push them properly. For what we need, the 6.5 have plenty of bass output (rattles and shakes the boat deck) and I'm rarely allowed to crank it up to full volume. But that's just us...people like @Hoyt are trying to go deaf on their boat! Check out his build thread!

 

[Kdkns]

This is a subjective issue - I'm not a fan of subs for music as I prefer clean "tight" sound - I have tower speakers for music at home for this reason, I like it loud and tight. I do love subs for home theater though where the house is supposed to shake from the movie sound effects. For me, just adding a good marine rated amp (JL MX500/4) really pumped up the stock Polk speakers and they're plenty loud (my wife says they're too loud) when floating, and loud enough when cruising. The stock Polks can only handle 60w each but the MX500/4 can pump well over 125w into my 2 ohm parallel setup. Down the road I may change to JL M6 6.5 to take advantage of the extra power, but so far we have no need.

As for sizes, you could measure if there's enough room in the bow and cockpit locations to see if 8.8 would fit, might be tight with the seat cushion in the bow, the cockpit would probably fit in the stock locations. A set of four 8.8 would really thump, but you'll want a substantial amp to push them properly. For what we need, the 6.5 have plenty of bass output (rattles and shakes the boat deck) and I'm rarely allowed to crank it up to full volume. But that's just us...people like @Hoyt are trying to go deaf on their boat! Check out his build thread!

Thanks for this feedback! I also use towers at home for my music and prefer tight bass where possible. i don’t need a lot just reasonable for good balance of sound. Also this is not something I’ll be in 24/7 and I don’t like spending more than 5 to 10% of a boats price on a sound system but that’s me.

I was also looking to do a 2ohm parallel setup , what did you use the remaining two channels for?

I’m looking at the ar190 which has the cheapest speakers and head unit on the Yamaha line. Was looking to go with JL Audio as I’d plan to keep the boat as long as it lasts but may also be happy with Polks which I’m fond of.

 

[212s]

I was also looking to do a 2ohm parallel setup , what did you use the remaining two channels for?

My 21' boat has a pair of speakers on the swim platform and I powered them with the other 2 channels at 4 ohms. This gave me the option to turn them off while cruising and also tune them to about 50w each as they are 5.25" speakers and can't handle as much power.

I’m looking at the ar190 which has the cheapest speakers and head unit on the Yamaha line. Was looking to go with JL Audio as I’d plan to keep the boat as long as it lasts but may also be happy with Polks which I’m fond of.

Oh sorry missed that...if you're changing the speakers anyway, I'd go with JL for sure, they sound very neutral and can handle a lot of input. My boat came with Polk DB652 and DB522 speakers stock, so I just amped them up to get them jumping. They sound good, but JL is much better and the M6 line can handle well over 100w. Down the road I may swap the bow and cockpit with JL M6 6.5" speakers, but no rush right now. If my wife is sleeping, I might be able to make the swap without her knowing...ssshhhhhh...

 

[Yamahaul]

What’s the largest speaker that can fit in the bow?

Specifically looking at replacing the bow speakers with JL m3 6.5” but wanted to change to JL M6 8.8” speakers if possible.

I’m debating between a 4-6 speaker 6.5” setup with optional sub or 4 8.8” in main cabin and leaving stock 6.5” on bow and skipping a sub.

The alternative is upgrading the bow to JL 6.5” and rear cabin to 8.8” but not sure if that will be enough low-mid bass and I’m wasting money instead of just putting a sub?

i just hung up with my shop. he was talking about the 8.8. 4 in the main cabin. said its the same sub as the "sub" if you were to do IB sub only. just with a tweeter. i cant confirm that. Im in the same boat. i dont know if the 8.8 will fit in the main cabin by the captains chairs. 5.25" mounting depth

 

[white2kstang]

I went with 6 of the M6 6.5s on a M800 and a 10in JL sub in a sealed power wedge style box for our 2019 AR195. The m6 has good midrange and I tune out some of the lows but they would probably do ok if you decide not to do a sub. The nice part about the sub is you can adjust the bass as you see fit. The m6s get plenty loud but I will tell you that if you like to hear music while in the captains chair underway the 4 factory mounting locations will leave a lot to be desired. I amped the 4 factory polks on the m800 prior to adding the 6 m6s and there was not enough sound or clarity at high rpm and high volume room the captains chair. Adding 2 more mid boat solved that issue without having to blast out passengers.

Looking the speakers I'm not sure there is 2 inches of extra space for a 8.8 but it might barely fit if the depth is OK. Only way to know is to pull and measure probably.

 

[canefan75]

I have 8 of the 7.7’s and 2 of the 10’s. All JL’s and they rock. I don’t think you’re fitting 8’s in the bow.

 

[Kdkns]

I have 8 of the 7.7’s and 2 of the 10’s. All JL’s and they rock. I don’t think you’re fitting 8’s in the bow.

Were the 7.7 in the original stock location of the bow?

 

[canefan75]

Yes. But you will need a quarter inch spacer to make the W6’s work.

 

[Overtime81]

i just hung up with my shop. he was talking about the 8.8. 4 in the main cabin. said its the same sub as the "sub" if you were to do IB sub only. just with a tweeter. i cant confirm that. Im in the same boat. i dont know if the 8.8 will fit in the main cabin by the captains chairs. 5.25" mounting depth

I just bought a pair of 8.8s and I'm curious too if there is enough room beside the captains chairs to mount them. The 5.25" mounting depth might be too much.

 

[Yamahaul]

I just bought a pair of 8.8s and I'm curious too if there is enough room beside the captains chairs to mount them. The 5.25" mounting depth might be too much.

Crawl up in the storage compartment and take look. They told me there was plenty of room. I guess it’s relevant as to how high up you go. Going with the 8” subs so I can have sub volume control. 6.5” m6 in the stock locations which should not require any cutting.

 

[white2kstang]

6.5 JL m6 fit in the factory holes and locations. New screw holes are required though.

 

[2kwik4u]

I’m looking at the ar190 which has the cheapest speakers and head unit on the Yamaha line. Was looking to go with JL Audio as I’d plan to keep the boat as long as it lasts but may also be happy with Polks which I’m fond of.

First thing first.......Upgrade the speakers with some Polk DB651s pieces from someone on here. The 242 guys replace these all the time and they usually give them away for free. We upgraded with this path on our 190. The stock MA200 head unit delivers enough power to make them very loud, but not enough to distort them. It's a really great and exceptionally inexpensive setup. We can easily hear the music at WOT running 40mph with just those 4 speakers and the stock head unit. I doubt we ever upgrade the head unit, speakers, or add an amp to that setup. It's plenty of volume, and clarity for us.

We did add a Wetsounds Stealth Ultra HD soundbar to the tower. Throws a TON of volume out behind the boat at anchor. It's loud enough that I can hear it while riding the wakeboard if the passengers can stand it in the cockpit. Usually we have it about 1/3 of the way up and it can be overbearing while floating at times. It's especially overbearing if anyone is in the boat while you're trying to hear it on the water.

The one downside to our setup though, is almost NO bass, so we plan to add a free air 10in at some point in the near future.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

8.8 are not subs..... not sure how they even was even thought of. If an installer says that - run and hide from them. The size of a speaker does not determine the type of speaker. The JL 8.8s are full-range speakers.