Wet Sounds or Roswell?

[Mainah]

@MattFX4 - I have searched and can't find a photo on here of what I think we are both looking for. If you come across it please tag me as I will you if I find it. Better yet install yours and post pictures. With my boat shrink wrapped over the tower it will be many long cold months before I can install.

 

[MattFX4]

@Mainah Will let you know if I come across the picture. It may be early spring before I get around to installing. I have to buy them first, and right now my wife is still trying to get over the deposit I put down on a $7,000 boat lift

 

[Huntersales]

I put these Memphis 8" towers on my 2016 AR240
and I have to say they are awesome! I am powering them with a Polk PA D5000. They are very clear and loud! A big plus is they come in a gray-charcoal color that matches my boat perfect!!

 

[Mainah]

@Huntersales - Thanks so much for the photo. Love that color scheme. Those tower cans are big. Do you hit your head on them in that location? I can only imagine how big a pair of Rev 10s will look like in that location.

Do you have any photos of someone standing at the helm with those mounted?

 

[MattFX4]

@Mainah Found this one on facebook. This isn't my pic so I covered up the persons face. Some people may get upset about their pic being posted! Oh yeah, the guy said he couldn't push out towards corners any further with the fixed clamps. Would have to get the swivel clamps to do so. I have seen others on here with them pushed out and they look pretty good.

 

[MattFX4]

@Mainah found the ones I was thinking of. Courtesy of Bob Morgan. Not sure if he is a member here or not...if so hope you don't mind I used your pics!

 

[Mainah]

@MattFX4 - Thanks so much. Not as bad as I thought in the corner location. Color matched to the tower looks really good. Personally I love the look of JL cans but the rev 10s will of course kick butt at distance. Guess I may have to get the rev 10s painted to match my tower.

Next time they go on sale somewhere I will have to snap up a pair and put them under the tree to me from Santa. I will also have to buy something extra for my wife and do the same. I think I will tell her they cost around $400. Shhhh!

 

[MattFX4]

@MattFX4 - Thanks so much. Not as bad as I thought in the corner location. Color matched to the tower looks really good. Personally I love the look of JL cans but the rev 10s will of course kick butt at distance. Guess I may have to get the rev 10s painted to match my tower.

Next time they go on sale somewhere I will have to snap up a pair and put them under the tree to me from Santa. I will also have to buy something extra for my wife and do the same. I think I will tell her they cost around $400. Shhhh!

haha no prob. Well for me I need a new amp, upgrade power wire, etc. It never ends.

 

[Mainah]

I hear you on that. Think I am going to get a Jl audio m 800/8 and bridge channels for the rev 10s, bridge another set for my second sub, and finally get the swim deck off my head unit using the remaining two channels. Proablly another $100 in wire too.

My bank account needs me to stop reading this forum. I will end up having 3-4k in my audio upgrades as opposed to the original 1k budget I set when I bought the boat.

 

[David Analog]

I was pretty much sold on installing a Wet Sounds system in our AR240 this winter with new speakers all the way around, Icon 8's on the tower and class D amps. But now, all of the local boat dealers seem pretty sour on them anymore. the dealer where I bought the boat is becoming a Roswell dealer in the very near future, and have tried to sell me on how much better they are than the Wet Sounds equipment.

I was told that many dealers dropped them and are not talking nice (Wet Sounds), because they opened up their sales to places like Amazon.com, Crutchfield, and other online retailers. This cut the profit margin they can make off the equipment, and hence the bad attitude.

Does anybody have any opinions on this? I always thought they were both very good brands of marine audio equipment. In the top 3 along with JL. Is this opinion shared by any of you? If not, what makes the Roswell so much better?

It's hard to make sense of the dealer comments because the authorized on-line dealers list Wetsounds at M.A.P. For example, Crutchfield has never been known for their deep discounts. So the profit should be unchanged. However, if the dealer doesn't stock product they may be at a disadvantage from the standpoint of the delivery time.
I've never considered Roswell as an audio company....just more of a wake product that also sells audio. Like for instance the Neptune tower speaker, which has a tweeter that is far more of a bullet than a horn. The length of the horn determines bandwidth and this is a very short horn. Okay in a 3-way speaker but not a 2-way. So not an exercise in linearity by any standard.
Certainly Wetsounds and JL Audio have different approaches, with each committed to their own beliefs, and each product adhering to those beliefs consistently. They sound different. But IMO these are the two 'best' wake audio products by a country mile.
Odin with Earmark Marine will mirror whatever promotion Wetsounds and JL Audio are running at any given time, not to mention progressive discounts at any time of year. And he is an authorized on-line dealer for both products, Wetsounds and JL Audio. So if Wetsounds runs a 20% off Black Friday sale, so will Odin. However, you will get a far more in depth level of knowledge and technical support from Odin, plus the ability to mix the best from both products.

 

[d_coyne1984]

If you want to hear audio behind your boat while doing water sports you really should get an Horn Loaded Compression Driver (HLCD) speaker, which the Wet Sound Icons are. I am not aware which other manufacturers sell HLCD's in there tower speaker. Anything but an HLCD is a glorified car audio speaker that is designed for wide dispersion, small area applications. They will not project even 30-40' behind your boat while in motion. HLCD's are designed for sound projection like concert venue speakers and I can hear my buddy's Icon 8's 80' back behind his Supreme while wakeboarding.

 

[David Analog]

If you want to hear audio behind your boat while doing water sports you really should get an Horn Loaded Compression Driver (HLCD) speaker, which the Wet Sound Icons are. I am not aware which other manufacturers sell HLCD's in there tower speaker. Anything but an HLCD is a glorified car audio speaker that is designed for wide dispersion, small area applications. They will not project even 30-40' behind your boat while in motion. HLCD's are designed for sound projection like concert venue speakers and I can hear my buddy's Icon 8's 80' back behind his Supreme while wakeboarding.

Actually the Wetsounds Icon8 is a direct-radiating coaxial using a conventional 1" dome tweeter. But not an HLCD. In the same size the Wetsounds Rev8 is an HLCD.

 

[Huntersales]

The Memphis MXA82TS 8" towers are HLCD, and they are crystal clear and man do they carry!! I mounted them on my tower to the sides out of the isle way and they hang between the bucket and bench seats so no head bonking yet. But I am 6'3' and clumsy so it is bound to happen! lol I love the fact that the brackets do swivel so you can direct the sound wherever you want.

 

[d_coyne1984]

Actually the Wetsounds Icon8 is a direct-radiating coaxial using a conventional 1" dome tweeter. But not an HLCD. In the same size the Wetsounds Rev8 is an HLCD.

Ah! thank you for the correction. Hopefully I didnt lead anyone astray. The Rev8 is what I was reffering to. I would love to put a pair on my boat, but they are a little out of reach at the moment.