HLCDs in-boat. Pros vs. Cons

Hey Everyone,

Been reading a lot lately and it seems that no one uses HLCDs as in-boat speakers. Why not?

What would the result be if I had HLCDs as in-boat speakers? What are the pros and cons of having them?

Reason I ask... I have 6x9's in my boat currently, so why wouldn't I just throw in the WetSounds 696's?

Thanks, folks.

Dome tweeters blow away horns for sound quality and cost and you don't need to project the sound 100 feet inside the boat...which is what horns do.

Also, normal car audio is way more efficient so you don't need quite the power to get great loud sound.

That pretty much ends the thread

^^^ what he said...it's all cons, no pros.

Matt - they are correct. The 411 is that an HLCD uses a compression horn speaker that creates a very narrow upper frequency sound and it travels in a very focused manner back to the riders at 80 feet and beyond. Are there exceptions to this, yes, but by no means are you going to plug and play HLCD's in a boat and listen to them at close range with out ripping your face off. the sound will be focused and your listening position would be to close.

On the other hand, the direct radiating design of a tweeter allows for much wider dispersion (I almost auto corrected to depression---haha). This wider spread of the sound creates a smoother more pleasurable sound up close. The down side to that is that it doesnt travel back to 80ft very well.

Another thing is, that HLCD's are very deep physically as the horn is stacked on back of the mid bass driver. It's this design that fires that sound up thru the driver that creates its focused energy pattern. I would think on most tow boats guys don't have 7-8" of mounting depth.

It's a fair question you ask and these are some of the general rules I'm sharing here. Hope that helps. The shorter answer is... "What they said".

-Brian
Exile Audio

Matt,
Be specific about your particular boat, where the speakers are located, the components of your existing system and what you are trying to achieve.
HLCDs really make little sense in the interior of most boats. However, if you had an ocean going center console go-fast with super tall gunnels, a narrow beam, lower speaker positions and you want to hear music at 60 mph while standing up in bolster chairs I might reconsider how an HLCD could overcome those challenges. Or maybe a couple of SPL midranges with a bullet tweeter per each side could do the trick.
Also, if you have the space, Wetsounds has an 8-inch coaxial coming and JL Audio has an 8.8-inch coaxial coming.

David
Earmark Marine

I did a boat with HLCD front stage in-boat speakers in 1995 when I was doing Acoustic Engineering and Design work up in Chicago. It was a Deep-V offshore go-fast boat with twin big blocks. If you need the volume, nothing beats the efficiency of a good set of compression drivers coupled with some high-quality horns... Understand, in the pro-sound world there are practically as many different horns types as there are horn drivers, and many have quite wide dispersion. As a side note, many horns have model numbers that relate to their dispersion angles. Many will have horizontal dispersion patterns approaching 90 degrees. vertical dispersion is typically as little as 15 degrees to as much as 60 degrees. There is sort of a general rule that the tighter the dispersion angle the further the horn will "reach" but that is not always the case.

I am with David, tell us more about your situation, your boat, and your goals. With a little more information we might better tell you if your idea will work. Tim certainly can chime in too and help you with a decision.

Phil
Kicker

Wow.

Thanks for all the responses! I guess I just want to have a very loud stereo in my boat. I have a Calabria with 6 6x9's in boat. 2 in th bow, 2 on the dash and 2 in the rear on the floor facing toward the bow.

It looks difficult to change them for a tradition 6 1/2 speaker so I was just thinking of a way with the least modification to get some quality speakers with decent mid-bass.

Thanks!

Matt,
Midbass will come from a combination of good power (unknown), surface area (which you have plenty of), good acoustic front to rear isolation (unknown) and an enclosure for each speaker that represents an unimpeded path with enough displacement to be viewed as infinite baffle (unknown) as automotive 6X9s are an infinite baffle speaker designed for an expansive trunk. All those elements will have as much if not more impact on the midbass as will the specific speaker.

David
Earmark Marine

Thanks David.

This is what I currently have:
Speakers:
1pr: Polk DB691
2pr: Wet Sounds 696rs
1pr: Wet Sounds Pro-60s
1: Wet Sounds 485
2: 10" Boston G310 subs

Amps:
Wet Sounds Syn6
Boston GTA1105 5-chan.
Infinity reference 2-chan 600w peak

Wet Sounds ws-420 eq
-hooked directly up to ipod.

The only speakers not installed are all the 6x9s. All the Boston stuff came with the boat and I got a killer deal on the Wet Sounds 6x9s that I couldn't pass up.

I'm debating whether or not to put the Wet Sounds 696's on the tower with the Pro-60s and 485 and not sure if that Boston amp can keep up? I could add them in the boat or sell them I guess.