polk db651 sale

Crutchfield seems to be having a sale on the db651 for 49.99 a pair. I picked up 2 pair, since it's about the cheapest I've found them anywhere. Def. get me thru the season until I can hopefully afford the better stuff next year.

I think mine sound great for in boat speakers

They sell for that about 2 times a year for a couple of weeks, sometimes with free shipping. Why would you need to move to something else when you can buy those several times over? The 651 is a great all around speaker for your interior.

[semi-hijack]
Kicker is having a buy one get one on their non marine competition subs. Looks like you can still find the 10" on line but most of the best buys in my area only have 12's left.

I'll upgrade later as I'm using them in tower cans. I already have them in the interior, and don't intend on upgrading those.

Keep an eye on amazon. They go off and on sales at around 35 per pair. Your price is good and I like mine.Last year they were a black friday sale then a few more times throughout the year.

I've got 6 like new db651 all with blown tweeters. I'll sell them for $10 each. This was my second and last set of Polk speakers.

"Why would you need to move to something else when you can buy those several times over? The 651 is a great all around speaker for your interior."

Not starting a war here but those speakers aren't very good. Sorry but anybody considering these is advised by me to stay away, they don't handle much power and have pretty weak low end. Highs are ok. They can be found for $35 on amazon every so often.

EDIT: "aren't very good" is more polite than my original description.

is there a better option near this price point? I don't know a whole lot about this stuff, just buying what seems to be popular.

You guys must have insanely high standards. LOL I have never run pro audio in my boat since I can't afford wetsounds like the rest, but 3 pairs of these in the cabin of my boat have held up pretty damn well and haven't let me down. Running 2 off the head unit, and 1 set with 80 RMS to each. Not everyone is rolling with thousands of dollars to dump into powering super expensive speakers. Nothing wrong with dumping $45 into these speakers man....for the money, I dont think you can find anything much better. As long as they are in line with your expectations, you should be cool.

These speakers are pretty good but as someone mentioned I wouldn't force feed a bunch of power to them. On a side note, these speakers are very bright at higher volumes to the point they hurt your ears with no mid-bass punch. If you like to listen to music just floating these are fine but if you like to actually hear your music cruising, I'd look else where

AJ........the sound you describe is a speaker starving for some quality watts. The amp matters as much as the speaker, maybe more. I have heard the Polk db 651 powered by PPI Art series and they do sing when they are run with plenty of power. Better than anything I have heard for fiddy bucks.

I agree they are a good price point speaker but I only had my Polks a couple weeks before getting the Bullet HP 6.5" in the cabin but that's not a fair comparison

There is no question that a Polk dB651 is a great value in the under a 100 price category. Its smoother than the competive models which usually feature a 'W' or mylar, polycarbonite or equivalent hardshell dome tweeter in that price class. But the dB still only has a 3/4-inch hybid dome and that can be exposed as hard as speakers are typically run in a boat. The next class up of speakers makes a giant difference in performance. For example a Bullet HollowPoint 650 coaxial features a full 1-inch dome with a much lower resonance, ferrofluid cooling and damping, 2nd order highpass, larger midbass voice coil with a considerably larger motor structure, carbon fiber cone, larger spider, longer throw and so on. For anyone who has pulled out one and installed the other as AJ has they know there is a big difference. While it might cost another $300 to outfit a boat requiring three pair of coaxials keep in mind that this is the speaker that solely reproduces eight of ten octaves. Actually there is no better place to justify an upgrade.

David
Earmark Marine

Thanks for all the input. The bullet 6.5s do look nice, but when all is said and done, I just can't justify what would end up being $1000 system in a $6500 boat.

As an aside, would building box enclosures for the interior speakers improve their sound at all? Enough to justify the work? They're just mounted free air now.

Daymien,

I was just going to make this comment and then you asked the question. Making a box or an enclosure for these speakers makes a world of a difference. Without it yes they lack some mid and low punch with it they come to life. I had this debate with my father in law made a box for it and held the speaker in front of the box then put it in the box......HOLY SH*T...do that again....Are they $200 a pair speakers no but for someone on a budget I dont think these can be beat...

Just my .02

Understand that these 6 1/2-inch coaxials are infinite baffle to begin with so they were designed to operate in a large car door that constitutes 'free-air'. So don't add a baffle unless you have a specific situation that requires correction. For example, you'll note that in-boat coaxials lose midbass when placed in a tower pod of small displacement. However, if the speaker is mounted to a coaming bolster for instance and at the edge of an open pocket, or similar scenerio, where the front and rear acoustic radiation isn't isolated and as a result is canceled, then a baffle or rigid pod will do wonders.
Yes, the small baffle may raise the resonance and roll off the bass somewhat but by far we have selected the best of two options in this particular case. Don't try and fix what is not broken but when truely needed the pods dramatically improve power handling, midbass and transients. When making the assessment of whether to go or not to go with isolating baffles choose the leper with the most fingers.

David
Earmark Marine

Hmmmmmmm.....I just had the opportunity to try the Bullet Hollowpoint 650 coaxials in my boat. I have had 4 Polk Audio Db651's for over a year.

I thought the Polk Audio's sounded better, much better. They sounded like they had more dynamic range.

I realize the Bullet's have better power handling capabilities but I couldn't justify spending three times the money for a speaker that didn't sound as good.

Now I am wondering if I needed to do something different to get the full benefits of the Bullets...maybe I will try them again. I had 60 watts RMS going to each speaker...

We've installed literally hundreds of dB651s plus the previous 650s and 675s. While they are definitely a bargain at $100 a pair less the entry Polks are not in the same class with the Hollowpoints. While 60 watts is really good for the dB651s its towards the bottom end of the power range for the HollowPoints. Then again all 60 watt amplifiers are not created equal. Don't confuse dynamic range with sensitivity. Smaller voice coils and lighter cones may play louder with less power. Never are speakers with the most linear response and the widest bandwidth the most sensitive. A cheap Pioneer 3-way will undoubtedly play louder with low power than esoteric Focal separates. The same holds true in home audio as well.

David
Earmark Marine

This holds true in subs as well. I stepped it up a few years back with my sub but still had the same amp...no go, the previous sub was louder. I had to get a properly rated amp to facilitate the potential of the new sub.

Not to hijack this thread....but what class what you but the Wetsounds SS65 ($159 pair) speakers and XS65 speakers ($249 pair) when compared to the Bullet Hollowpoint 650's?

FJK, I think you were almost starving the Bullets with 60 watts.

The Wetsunds SS65 and XS65 plus HollowPoint 650s are all very classy.

David
Earmark Marine

Thanks for the heads up. Ordered 2 pairs.

I'm not an audiophile or anything but I know these will sound better than the stock speakers on my '00 because the woofer cones on them completely rotted away.

I still think, for the money, the Polk Audio's can't be beat. Their price point is $50, which is better than "less than $100" and the whole point of this thread.

Plus when you figure you can get by with a less expensive amp the total package is even more appealing.

Granted, if you want "the best" you would need to look past the Db651 but you will also need to dish out 3-4 times the money.

I think my in-boats speakers sound great and are plenty loud. I have 4 Db651's and a Cadence amp. Total price around $200 (all bought new) - go with the higher end stuff and you are looking around $700 - or more...It's hard (at least for me) to justify spending the extra money...

Most people I know tend to jump on board at this price point. Some are satisfied while others then work their way up the audio ladder. If you are in the second group, that is a pricey way to get to where you want to be. Some discussion regarding the better speakers is not too far off base for this thread, but the point above is well taken.

I just bought 3 pairs as well, especially nice since I had a $150 gift card for Crutchfield. I'm all about having nice stuff, but I'd rather put the extra money that I could have spent on WS or Bullet in-boat speakers to other areas of the boat. My ears aren't that refined anyway.

The only way you would be disappointed with the Polks is if you've been spoiled by something else. Other than that they sound better than a great percentage of factory equipped speakers.

David
Earmark Marine

I wasn't disappointed in the Polks (especially at $150 for 3pr) but I had the means to step up to the Bullets when Earmark had them on sale for $450 for 3pr. If it had not been for Earmark's sale, I would have kept the Polks

AJ, did you upgrade your amp when you went to the Bullets? What did you have - do you have?

I could use 2 pairs to replace the Sony marine speakers in my pontoon. I think these will be a good match since I put a Kicker 250.2 in recently. My only concern is they will be exposed to the elements since it often is not covered so they will get a good amount of sun and plenty of rain, will these hold up well in these conditions?

FJK - I used a 4 channel Kicker amp on the Polks and then I went with a complete new system with the Bullets and power them with a 6 channel JL Audio amp,however, the Bullets are using 4 channels and the sub is using 2 channels

Ray,
There is a big difference between the UV exposure of the seasonal weekends versus 12 hous a day 365 days a year of direct UV exposure as stored. You see that in coastal areas where cruisers and motoryachts are typically not under boathouses that cones warp, surrounds decompose and grills fade or change colors within just a few seasons, even for some of the marine products. This is alot different than smallcrafts that are in covered storage or have boat covers where it would take 10 years to see the same level of exposure. Also, non-marine speakers usually have exposed voice coils around the center post that supports the tweeter. Its not much of an issue for the occasional splash, roller or rain because the copper windings that would normally be prone to corrosion are enamel coated plus when you use the speaker this cavity quickly gets blown out. However, I'd be a little concerned if its a frequent event and the water settles in the gap for long periods. So take this into consideration for your particular application. It will cost two times as much to get a true sealed marine speaker.

David
Earmark Marine

Ray,
What you just mentioned is the exact reason I shy away from the genre specific units available on the market. With the amount of elements mine are exposed to (and the boat stays in a garage when not in use), I can replace something like a Polk every other year and not spend a fortune.

As I said in my earlier post I ordered some of these for the interior of my boat.

Looking at an Aerial tower package that includes 2 or 4 DB651s in speaker pods. Normally this would not be my first choice for a tower speaker given the distance between the listener and the speakers but in the package deal they're essentially $100 a pair in the pods which is much cheaper than any other tower speakers (even really cheap ones like Pyle).

Can anyone comment on these as tower speakers when fed appropriate power?

I had four Polk Audio Db651 as tower speakers with 60 watts going to each. They sounded really good but they can be hard to hear 60' + behind the boat, especially when cutting outside the wake.

When floating or beached they sounded great but if you really want to get the sound back to the rider you need to get a set of HLCD's and a high power amp.

I ended up upgrading to HLCD's but the end of the first year and I am really glad I did. But, the db651's were still plenty loud to turn a few heads when you are out on the water.

I bought two pairs of db651s for my boat in 2007. I had the default Wakesetter Red Sony's. I cant comment on the wetsounds / hollowpoint speakers, but I can say the db651s blow away the stock speakers.

forget the polk and just hook up a couple of these

That MTX photo reminds me of how much I miss playing fooseball. Great game!

Received mine this afternoon. Installed 3 of them and they're 900% better than the 10 year old Clarions that were in there. I was sure they'd be better given the condition of the others but they exceeded my expectations. I had an issue with a factory trim ring on the 4th speaker and needed to let some JB Weld dry on it before I can put the last one in.

I hooked up the first one and 1 DB651 sounded better and louder than all 3 of the remaining factory speakers.