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Any good 5-1/4" speakers out there?

Needafunboat

Needafunboat

Active member
OK, so I doubt I'll replace the cracked 5-1/4" speakers on the bulkhead under my dash - but I was looking around and only saw two marine grade speakers and both look pretty cheap. I have the pyle 5" speakers on the starliner and am not impressed with them - even for a small speaker in a poor location. I also see the Boss speakers which I'd guess perform about the same.

Walmart has sony explode 5-1/4" speakers for $40. If I hook them up, I'll just drive them with the head unit as fill speakers so I don't need anything too special. They won't get much moisture so I think regular speakers will last for a while.

Anyone have a cheap favorite?
 
I put the boss 5 1/4 speakers up front in the eluder, they sounded pretty good but I swaped em for the 6.5 sony's at walmart only because they were giving them away for 20 bucks when they moved to a new store, the sony's sound better and will last for a good while if they don't get to wet.
I could have lived with the boss speakers though. for the money there alright.
 
Just about any 5 1/4 will work in a marine application, assuming you won't be constantly spraying them with water. Most marine grade speakers have a poly-pulp cone and a rubber surround. Funny part is, so do most "decent" brand car audio 5 1/4's. Only real difference is a marine set with have marine rated tinsel leads and terminals (i.e. coated wire from the terminal block to the coil and in many cases, the block itself coated). They also come with something of a gasket to be placed between the speaker and the hull. Bottom line, and this is strictly opinion, is that in most installs, the marine grading is pretty much worthless. If you are mounting them into the wall, the dash, etc, the back of the speaker will see little to no water. Corrosion shouldn't be much of an issue unless you are boating in extremely salty air. Important criteria for selection would be cone and surround material. I recently overhauled the setup in my Check and decided to go with Alpine Type-R component sets all around. They have a hybrid pulp cone and a rubber surround, so I'm not worried about them rotting out for a long time. Keep in mind power requirements also. If you plan to run on deck power, you will be underpowering something like that. The Alpine Type-S would be my recommendation. Not quite as power hungry, but the same basic construction with the same criteria met. The SPS-500 is their 5 1/4 set and can be picked up on ebay for 30-50 a set depending on your luck. Check out here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PAIR-NEW-ALPINE...=ViewItem&pt=Car_Speakers&hash=item3eff764b65

Good luck!
 
Anthony, if you have the room for the 6.5's do the upgrade. The sound difference is worth it! As for marine speakers, Rhino is right about the marine ratings. I only have regular speakers in my boat and have not had a problem. However, they are out of way of water and the boat is stored inside. Most boat speakers are used hard and sound starts going down after a few short years no matter if they are marine or auto. Most will not install a true pro set of speakers as it is just not worth it.
 
i agree, buy a good car audio speaker, your not in an open fishing boat in salt water all the time are you.....

i have only used regular speakers in any of my boats, this idealogy also applies to the head units too....they are sealed all around but most all of our boats dont need the protection
just my .02
 
Thanks guys! You pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. I'd like to put 6.5's in there (waaay more sound for almost the same price), but there just isn't room. It's in about the most sheltered part of the boat - on the bulkhead under the dash so water's no problem. The bigger danger of those sony's is that the tweeters are exposed and the little ones like to take shelter under the dash. So I'll get something with a full grill - maybe those alpines.

I'm just putting something in that space since it's there and will be a cheap / easy install. I'll use the head unit for now and when I do front speakers, I may pop that 4 channel alpine amp in there.

I'll have four 6x9's running on a bridged 300 w amp (Thanks again Brian!) under the rear bench and eventually I'll add two fairly nice 6.5" 's up in the bow driven by an amp. That will be more than enough sound for the family cruising I'll be doing.
 
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