The best wakeboard tower speakers for the money are a combination of performance and value. You need a speaker system that can reach back to wakeboard range, provide great audio and doesn’t break the bank. But do you go 2 speakers or 4? 2 ohm?
In order to answer these questions is exactly why we’ve written our latest article on just that, the best speakers for a wakeboard tower.
What To Look For
The biggest challenge you’re likely to face is getting intelligible music back 80 feet to the wakeboarder. A combination of the right speakers, the right amplification and the right combination will all come into play when you’re trying to find the best wakeboard tower speakers for the money.
The speakers that offer the best audio capacity and clarity at 80 feet are called HLCD or Horn Loaded Compression Drivers. These speakers in particular are adept at pushing out a ton of volume. In short, a horn allows a small diaphragm to move a large mass of air giving you great audio at wakeboard range.
In order to understand why HLCD speakers offer a specialized solution to the requirments of projecting 80 feet to a wakeboard range you first have to understand the unique challenges of audio over water.
There are multiple variables that affect the upper level frequencies when projecting sound over an 80 foot distance behind a wakeboard boat.
- Non-linear absorption rate of air – How much sound is lost over distance
- Air turbulence – caused by wind and chop.
- Masking – Engine exhaust plus ambient noise
- Diffraction – Upper frequencies bounce off the irregular surface of rough water.
Now that you know more than you need to let’s jump into the meat of it and check out some cool speakers.
Best Wakeboard Tower Speakers For The Money
Wet Sounds Revolution Series
They’re not the cheapest speakers around but they’re not built like it either. The Revolution Series from Wet Sounds will pump out the tunes well into wakeboard range and provide great sound quality too.
The Rev8’s are an HLDC speaker with one thing on their mind, pumping tunes way back to the wakeboard range. HLDC speakers are designed with a long throw as the priority of their construction. Imagine filling an auditorium with sound and you’ll get a picture of what these things are designed for.
The horn on the REV speakers is incredibly smooth.
The Revolution Series uses Wet Sounds’ proprietary REV TEC technology. Unlike most conventional HLDC speakers, REV TEC technology provides awesome volume and great full range sound quality on axis and off axis at long distances. The horn symmetry in Wet Sounds provides a remarkable sound quality and smoothness.
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Sound Quality
Extensive acoustic testing has detailed that these speakers have the ability to project volume and sound quality at 80+ feet without any loss of detail or information.
Not only do the Revolution series achieve great volume and sound quality at a minimum of 80 feet, but with the REV TEC the wakeboarder can enjoy quality tunes while riding outside the wake to being almost parallel to boat.
I do think the Rev series is the best sounding HLCD for all around use in near field and projection
Revolution Series Highlights
- REVOLUTION 8″ High Performance Midbass Driver with Wide Dispersion Titanium HLCD
- 200 Watts RMS, 400 Watts Peak Per Speaker — 4 Ohm Impedance
- High Gloss Black Speaker Enclosures (Sold in pairs)
- X Mount Kit Included with Internally Concealed Speaker Wires
…with the current Wet Sounds 8″ Rev-8, there is a clear difference in SQ. The Rev-8 is much warmer and [has a] greater balance. The horn is not nearly as aggressive as before, yet there is no compromise to its projection.
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Kicker KMT674 Marine Speaker Tower System
Next up on our list of the best wakeboard tower speakers for the money is the KMT674 Kicker Marine System. These will get you a lot of bang for your buck. 2 barrels with 4 speakers for $446.94 right now on Amazon.
The KMT67 range are full-sound, high-quality speaker systems that are specifically designed for reaching listeners cruising in or being pulled behind a boat. With the billet-aluminum brackets and clamp inserts the KMT674 can adjust to seven common sizes, matching most every wake tower.
Hands down, I prefer the warmth and mid-bass of the KMT67.
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The versatility of the Kicker KMT674’s is what helped them to make the list. With these you’re only limited to your imagination when it comes to mounting. Designed for either above or below bar mounting you can make sure that your sound is getting to exactly the right place.
The Kicker system is weather-proofed with sealed cones, motor assemblies and UV-treated components so you can rest easy knowing that your new system isn’t going to get eaten up sitting in the sun or getting a little wet.
Dual mid-range drivers (per barrel) provide twice the cone area for big sound. The whole trick is getting sound back to wakeboard range at 80 feet and with this system and it’s peak power of 300 watts that shouldn’t be a problem.
Kicker KMT674 Highlights
- Peak Power: 300W
- RMS Power: 150W
- Water Resistant Design
- 3/4″ Titanium Horn Tweeter
- Mounting Depth: 3″
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Rockford Fosgate PM2652W-B
Rounding out our list of the Best Wakeboard Tower Speakers For The Money is the PM2652 from Rockford Fosgate. A longstanding player in the audio industry, Rockford Fosgate has help pioneer the aftermarket audio scene and with the M282 it’s no different.
The PM2652W-B from Rockford’s Punch line is a 6.5″ 2-way wakeboard tower speaker featuring marine grade weather proofing technologies and comes in all black with a stainless steel sport grille.
These speakers rock!!! Rockford Fosgate has always made a great product and these are no exception.
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These are really nice speakers for wakeboarding. The 6.5″ setup can handle 340 watts of power so getting sound back to rider is no problem for the PM2652. One part of this package that we really liked was the inclusion of the covers for the speakers. Leaving your boat in the slip all night is nerve racking enough without having to worry about your speakers. The covers take that worry and push it aside.
Rockford Fosgate PM2652W-B Highlights
- True Marine Grade compliance
- High density poly‐ethylene enclosure with UV inhibitors
- Cast aluminum mounting hardware adjusts from 1-1/2″ to 2-3/4″ bar size
- Near 360° rotational mounting capability for unlimited flexibility
- Includes safety lanyard
- Direct Malibu® mount (where applicable)
- Comes loaded with PM2652B Marine Speakers
- Available in black or white
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There you go, 3 great options for when you’re looking to upgrade you wakeboard tower speakers. These setups will get the tunes all the way back to the rider and provide great sound for those in the boat too. All of the speakers featured on our list of the best wakeboard tower speakers for the money list are built to withstand the elements so you can rest assured that your speakers will perform for years to come (or you decided to upgrade again, we won’t judge).
Any aftermarket setup will be a big improvement over the factory setup, it’s all about matching power and performance to your desired effect.
See you out there!
