Just like your home speakers or audio system, your vessel deserves to have the best audio system as well. There are plenty of marine speakers in the market, but choosing the right one takes time. Imagine yourself buying cheap speakers to pair them with the expensive receiver. Pretty lame, right?
So, to ease the situation for you, here are the best ways to get the best JL marine subwoofer.
Are You Looking for Flush-Mounted or Box Speakers?
Do you have enough space in your cockpit or you don’t? Well, it not only depends upon the space but if you’re looking to do a cutout. In short, it is totally up to your preference.
Box speakers are pretty easy to install. You don’t really have to do a cutout in the boat to install the speakers. Although the installation is pretty easy and simple, the speakers take more space than the flush-mounted speakers.
Coming to the flush-mounted speakers, they look very attractive and are clean to install in the cockpit or anywhere. It’s one of the best JL audio marines that you can use in your boat. Even though they are amazing, the speakers are tricky as they require proper mounting. If you want them to function properly, creating an air space is necessary that is done by moving the diaphragm back and forth. So, they are pretty technical as considered to the box speakers.
Are the Speakers Waterproof?
Taking automobile and home audio examples might help to understand the situation a little bit. These type of audio systems usually consists of exposed copper wired, grilles and steel frames, and paper cones. Now, this is not the ideal situation for marine audio systems. Why? Well, because the copper corrodes, the paper dissolves, and the steel rusts pretty easily with water.
One of the major concern in the saltwater that can cause damage to the speakers. When these problems arise, you must only get water-resistant or waterproof speakers for your boat. The water-resistance speakers are made up of neoprene rubber surrounds, UV-tolerant plastic components, and polypropylene cones that help in saving your speakers from corrosion.
What are the Power Ratings?
When you are buying marine audio, make sure that you’re aware of this part. There are mainly two main power ratings, i.e. peak power and RMS power ratings. RMS stands for ‘Root Mean Square’ and it denotes the best value of the waveform.
The power rating usually decides how loud your audio system can go without blowing. So, it’s important to pay attention to both of these values. Remember that most of the companies calculate RMS differently, so you have to be careful here.
Did You Check the Impedance?
Well, this is where your speaker’s bass comes from. Do you want it more or less? Now, if you’re looking to check the impedance of your woofers, you need to check a value with ohms. It’s basically electrical resistance that is denoted with the help of ohms. Most of the best woofers come with 4 ohms of impedance.
If you’re planning to buy an expensive amplifier, know that they work on a particular impedance. So, planning to get high and intense bass amplifiers installed on your boat? Make sure to check the impedance.
What Kind of Resistant It Should Be?
Well, it’s not as tough as you might be thinking to purchase marine audio. You’re definitely not purchasing Garmin marine radar, so take it easy.
However, there are a few things that you must know before getting your hands on the marine audio. Now, most people think that the audio system should be water-resistant only, but that’s not it. There are plenty of other things that you must know
before buying them.
The UV radiation can also damage the speakers, so is there any chance of UV exposure? If yes, then make sure to check that the speakers are UV certified. Apart from it, checking if the speakers are salt and waterproof is a must.
Tips on Speaker Installation
In case you have got box speakers for your boat, then you’re in luck. However, if you have decided to go with surface-mount or flush-mount speakers, then here’s when you need to be a little professional.
With surface-mount speakers, it’s pretty simple and easy. If you know basic drilling and connecting things, then you’re good to go.
Coming to the flush-mounted speakers – they can be a little tricky. You have to make sure that there enough or at least required space at the back of the speaker to ensure proper functioning. Creating the air space needs some technical work, so you might look to hire a professional for it.
In case you are doing it on your own, here are some additional tips for you.
- The sound from the speaker radiates in a particular axis, i.e. 45 degrees off the axis. If this is not the case with your speakers, then the audio might bounce off the reflecting surfaces.
- Make sure that the speakers are connected ‘in phase’, i.e. the positive of the speaker with the positive of the stereo output. If this happens, then the sound quality will decrease.
- Use only 18-gauge wire for speakers’ connection. Furthermore, use liquid electrical tape to do the installation.
Conclusion
JL marine speakers are one of the best audio systems for the boat, but if you have any other choices then go for it. Choosing the speakers might be a tough call, but it’s all worth it. If you want the audio quality to be perfect, then make sure that the speakers are made of high-quality. Also, read the label before purchasing the speakers to make sure that they will not lose their quality in less time. They must be rust and corrosion-free and to ensure this, you must check what they are made of. If they are certified for it, then you’re good to take your chances. So, are you ready to buy the best marine audio speakers for your boat?