Want a lot of bass for not a lot of money? Here is what I just discovered.

[Ronnie]

I’m no expert, but I noticed that in general Kicker speakers have a frequency response range that starts lower than other marine speakers - typically in the 30-35hz range vs 45-55hz of other manufacturers. Could that be part of the reason they have a little more “thump” than others?

This is news too me, don’t know if it’s true but hope it is. I had 6.5” kickers in the same spot for years but they never sounded any where near as good as the 8”s. I am sure the difference in amps is the cause of the performance difference though. The 6.5”s got power from a Pyle 6 channel and the 8”s get their power from a dedicated class d amp.

Attached are the pics of the certificates that came with the bigger amps. I assume the amps were actually tested and the certs are legit but who knows?

For reference the amps specs say they should put out 360w Rms (4 x 65w 4 ohms) and 800w rms (at 1 ohm).

 

[Compatico]

I’m no expert, but I noticed that in general Kicker speakers have a frequency response range that starts lower than other marine speakers - typically in the 30-35hz range vs 45-55hz of other manufacturers. Could that be part of the reason they have a little more “thump” than others?

Music and accuracy has been a passion of mine for many years, and speaker specs can be deceiving if not qualified.

Without qualifying numbers and a graph, I'd say Kicker frequency response depth is not any better, probably less actually than more expensive brands. It's the fall off curve dB that matters and most 6.5" woofers simply don't have usable output below about 50Hz. Kicker may give a rating of 35Hz-21KHz but no fall off while expensive brands rate say 55Hz-25KHz ± 3 dB - it's the ± dB range that's important, because any speaker can be rated down to 35Hz, but there will be little or no usable output at that frequency if it's down 10dB or more.

Having said that, Kicker speakers are not bad and they're popular due to decent price/performance ratio. In an environment like a car without subs, any extra mid-bass output is often desirable since there will be no sub filling in the deeper tones, yet they can still sound very good if the mid-bass hump is mild. 8" speakers will have more extended bass response too, so perhaps more output than a 6.5".

Something to remember is that the baffle behind the speakers can greatly affect the bass response of speakers, regardless of make. In one car or boat, the installation area may help tune the bass response upward for mid-bass output or extended bass. Another car or boat with different volume baffle area may make them sound a little thin. Material behind the speakers also affects tonal quality. Most times the only way to find out though is to try them and see if they suit your specific criteria.

 

[Ronnie]

Wow @Compatico , i need an “over my head” emoji for your second paragraph. Thanks for the information/education regarding the remaining paragraphs.

I attribute my “discovery” to dumb luck. I happened to install the right speakers powered by the right amp in the right spots.

I just switched the 8”s from a 2 channel (150w per) channel amp to a 4 channel (117 per) amp to accommodate a new pair of tweeters on the swim deck. If this noticeably changes the bass response on the swim deck I will switch the amps back.

 

[Compatico]

Wow @Compatico , i need an “over my head” emoji for your second paragraph. Thanks for the information/education regarding the remaining paragraphs.
I attribute my “discovery” to dumb luck. I happened to install the right speakers powered by the right amp in the right spots.

You chose well though...bigger is usually better.

I just switched the 8”s from a 2 channel (150w per) channel amp to a 4 channel (117 per) amp to accommodate a new pair of tweeters on the swim deck. If this noticeably changes the bass response on the swim deck I will switch the amps back.

I doubt you'll notice much difference in the sound output of the 8" speakers, but the tweeters will fill in more treble and you might perceive a loss of bass output as the highs will tend to balance out the bass. If you tune the bass/treble a bit, you can probably find a nice blend of highs and lows.

As for power output, once you get to a solid 20w RMS the rest is usually just a bit more volume/overhead. Speakers are much more critical to sound quality than amps, contrary to what the salesman will try to sell tell you. An inexpensive $100 amp will make $1000 speakers sound great (within reason). But a $1000 amp will not make $100 speakers sound great, since speakers do 90% of the work.

When it gets to big speakers sounding better with more powerful amps, a lot of it has to do with damping factor, rise/fall rate, and the ability of the amp to push the speaker cones with controlled output. That's why a solid speaker with a big heavy magnet and voicecoil combo needs some "oomph" to get them thumping. A whimpy head unit with a few real watts of power won't get them moving properly. But a decent 10w or more will get it done. Once you hit 10-20 watts of power, jumping to 100 watts only gets you 6-10dB louder volume because perceived volume is a logarithmic scale and power demand climbs quickly past 10w. Contrary to what you might think, volume is not linear, so 1w to 10w to 100w of power is not as dramatic as it might look on paper. A perceived doubling of volume of 10dB requires 10x the power to achieve. This all assumes 1 speaker. With 2 or 4 or 6 you can get that perceived volume level to increase a bit faster, 10x more power gets you 13-15dB more volume, which isn't that much beyond a doubling of volume.

A well made 50w amp will sound just as good as a 100w amp and at peak volumes many people would be hard pressed to hear the difference. If your 50w isn't enough volume, you need much more powerful speakers and amps, and more of both, to crank up the volume - again assuming the amps and speakers are all equal quality. None of this applies if you're going from crappy tin can speakers and low output head unit, to 100w/ch amps and good sounding speakers like JL or Wetsounds.

With sound quality, you generally get what you pay for. Great sound isn't cheap, but good sound can be had for a reasonable price.