Marine Audio Archives - Perfectionist Auto Sound and Security

Product Spotlight: Hertz HMX 6.5 Marine Speakers

06/13/2017 By BestCarAudio.com

Hertz is proud to introduce a new line of marine and powersports products to their family of premium mobile electronic solutions. Four new amplifiers, seven new speakers and a subwoofer will provide marine and off-road enthusiasts with the same impressive performance that has made Hertz speakers, amplifiers and subwoofers a revered name in cars and trucks for decades. In this product spotlight, we take a closer look at the HMX 6.5 marine and powersport series coaxial speaker products.

HMX 6.5 Design Features

The HMX 6.5 is a 6.5-inch coaxially mounted component speaker system. The system uses a polypropylene woofer cone that has been co-molded to a Santoprene rubber surround. The motor and suspension of the woofer feature a 1-inch voice coil that is centered by an aramid fiber spider. The voice coil is vented to help control heat and pressure build-up under the dust cap. Hertz has optimized the suspension for infinite-baffle applications. Silicone-encased tinsel leads offer excellent durability and reliability.

Hertz has provided an over-sized magnet for the woofer for topnotch efficiency. A marine-grade polymer injected basket encases the motor assembly for protection from the elements. There are no protrusions from the basket that could cause life jackets or fishing rods to get hung up as they are pulled past the rear of the speaker.

The speaker has a mounting depth of 3.76 inches. A soft rubber gasket on the back of the mounting flange ensures a tight seal against the boat hull to prevent leaks.

The 1.4-inch tweeter PEI dome tweeter is powered by a neodymium magnet and suspended above the woofer in the grille. An acoustically transparent stainless steel mesh insert protects the tweeter from physical damage.

An acoustic lens is incorporated into the tweeter mount to increase off-axis performance. This lens helps to ensure that every seating position has great sound, even if the speakers are mounted down low in the boat. Hertz has integrated a passive crossover network into the side of the speaker chassis. The crossover system includes solid-state tweeter protection circuitry.

Speaker Specifications

Hertz rates the HMX 6.5 series of speakers as having a continuous power handling capability of 75 watts, with a 150-watt peak power rating. Each driver has a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, so they are compatible with every source unit and amplifier on the market. An efficiency rating of 90dB ensures that every watt of power sent to the speaker is used efficiently.

Nature Proof Design

Hertz calls their environment design features Nature-proof. The cone, surround, chassis and grille are all made from UV-, salt-, fog- and thermal-shock–resistant marine-grade polymer materials. The design is water- and dust-resistant so it can be used in any outdoor application. The speaker terminals are gold-plated to improve the system’s overall corrosion-resistance characteristics.

Four Options for Any Application

Your choice of white or black HMX 6.5 speakers is also available to be purchased with integrated RGB LED lighting. With the LED option, the optional HM RGB 1 BK wireless LED lighting controller can be purchased to further enhance your experience. The wireless control included with the HM RGB 1 BK uses radio frequency communication to allow the user to select from 256 different red, green and blue intensities. The range on the remote is specified as 65 feet.

The HM RGB 1 BK Controller includes options for color-changing patterns. It also has a built-in microphone and 3.5 mm aux input. The controller can change the lighting to the beat and tempo of your music, if you wish.

Hertz HMX 6.5 Series Speakers

As we mentioned, the HMX 6.5 series speakers are just part of the new family of marine and powersports products from Hertz. The line includes marine and powersports trim 8-inch coaxial speakers (only the black version will have the optional LED lighting) and a 10-inch subwoofer in the marine series. Two series of amplifiers round out the offerings – a four-channel and a monoblock in the compact HMP series and a four-channel and two-channel amp in the HCP series.

If your boat, ATV, motorcycle, motorhome or race trailer needs amazing sound, then look into the new marine and powersports offerings from Hertz. Your local authorized Hertz retailer can provide you with installation and pricing details.

For more information about all of the Hertz amplifiers, speakers and subwoofers, visit their website.

This article is written and produced by the team at Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Product Spotlight: Wet Sounds WS-220 BT

04/26/2017 By John Schwartz

Perfectionist Auto Sound & Security in Anchorage has been building the finest marine audio systems for our clients for over a decade. One of the most versatile products we offer is the Wetsounds WS-220BT.

Wet Sounds Legacy

One of the things we appreciate most about products from Wet Sounds is the company’s dedication to marine. Ever since their founding, everything they do has been designed to give you a better-sounding, longer-lasting, more fun day on the water. Their products are not car audio products that are relabeled marine, but rather, products engineered from the ground up specifically for the needs of a boat owner.

Four-zone Control

Right out of the gate, having up to four different zones controlled at your fingertips makes it a lot easier to enjoy the music you want on all the areas of your boat. Imagine being able to control the volume down inside the cabin, up on the main deck, in your tower speakers and in your subwoofers, all from one convenient spot, with all of them at different levels.

Listen to Three Different Sources, Including Bluetooth

Let’s say you hop on your boat and start cruising toward your destination. You can listen to the source unit in your boat, use Bluetooth wireless music streaming to enjoy music from your smartphone or use the aux input to play almost any portable media.

Talkback Microphone for Added Convenience

Imagine this scenario: You are on the water, enjoying your day, and you want to talk to the people splashing around in the water or resting on the shore. You simply get out the talkback mic and begin speaking. The Wet Sounds WS-220BT will mute zone 1 and use those speakers to let you communicate with them easily and efficiently.

Schedule a Consultation and Learn More About the WS-220 BT

The next step in getting a great-sounding marine audio system that you will enjoy for years to come is by scheduling a consultation with Perfectionist Auto Sound & Security. You can stop by our state-of-the-art showroom, call us or simply click HERE. One of our team will work with you to design and build the stereo system that best fits your unique needs.

What To Look For When Buying Marine Audio Products

09/18/2016 By BestCarAudio.com

If you own a boat, you know how great it is to hang out on it with your friends in the evenings and on weekends. Enjoying great conversation, good food and awesome music is the perfect recipe for fun and relaxation. When it comes to designing and installing a marine audio system on a boat, there are some specific product requirements that will help ensure it lasts for years and always sounds great. Let’s take a look at a few.

Water Damage

Imagine the cockpit of a bow-rider or wakeboard boat. If you were to install a conventional car audio CD player in the dash and get it wet, it would stop working. Maybe not right away, but all the exposed internal components that are not protected against corrosion will fail eventually. The same goes for speakers. Car audio speakers can handle a few drops of water now and then, but being rained on or splashed a lot will do them in.

Water-resistant source units are built with control panels that seal themselves when closed. They include rubber gaskets to ensure water won’t get into the back of the radio, and the buttons and controls can withstand whatever Mother Nature throws their way. Look for an Ingress Protection (IP) rating of IP66 or higher. The first number in the rating describes the dust protection capabilities, and the second describes moisture protection. An IP rating of 66 means it is fully protected against dust and against water being sprayed by high-power jets. Specifically, level 6 jets spray 100 liters (26.4 gallons) of water per minute at a pressure of 100 kPA (14.5 psi), at a distance of 3 meters (9.85 feet) for a total of 3 minutes. No water can get into the device during the test.

While direct exposure to water is a problem, so is exposure to dampness and humidity. Thankfully, companies that design source units designed for a marine application coat their circuit boards with a non-conductive water resistant coating. This is referred to as conformal coating. It prevents moisture from corroding component connections inside the radio.

Marine Audio — Thanks to Prestige Car Audio And Marine for sharing this picture with us.

A genuine marine speaker is designed in the same way. These speakers include a rubber gasket on the mounting surface to seal them to the boat. For a coaxial speaker, there must be a secondary gasket at the base of the woofer cone to prevent water from getting into the speaker’s motor assembly. Without this seal, the top plate and T-yoke of the speaker will corrode. Good-quality marine speakers often include drainage channels to let water out from the behind the grille and include provisions for allowing wiring to be secured to the speaker. This prevents speaker wires from being pulled off when objects like life jackets or fishing rods are being pulled out of storage lockers.

UV Exposure

The second challenge is the sun. Almost every boat sits outside in the hot sun all summer. The sun will dry out plastics and fiberglass resins that are not designed specifically to handle harsh UV rays. The materials can fade, turn yellow, crack, turn chalky or simply dissolve. The UV rays cause the microscopic carbon bonds within the plastics to fail at an atomic level, causing free radicals. Once these free radicals (which are highly reactive molecules) are exposed to oxygen in the air, the material starts to fail. Quality marine audio products are made from plastics like Centrex 814 and similar materials that are designed to withstand UV exposure.

Marine manufacturers often specific industry-standard testing procedures such as ASTM D4329. This test puts products in intense UV exposure situations to verify material stability.

Ignition Protection

The American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) has a set of guidelines for the installation of electrical and electronic equipment on boats. While the ABYC guidelines are written for boat manufacturers, they are good practice for anyone who works on boats. Of interest to the installation of marine audio products is the requirement to use of ignition-protected equipment.

Ignition protection-rated devices were designed for use in environments where there are fuel vapors, such as the engine compartment of your boat. In these applications, the devices cannot produce any spark or another form of ignition of flammable substances during normal operation. Manufacturers of compliant products have their products tested in a chamber filled with a flammable air/fuel mixture. The device is operated and cycled through its functions repeatedly to ensure that it is safe. The best part of the test is the conclusion: To confirm the validity of the test, a spark is created inside the test chamber to ignite the fuel. Yes, they blow up the product under test. I know – cool, eh? Devices such as remote controls and circuit overload protection devices (fuses, circuit breakers, etc.) should be ignition protected. Why risk the alternative?

Connectivity

Marine source unit manufacturers put a great deal of effort into their source unit accessories, from simple wired remote controls to units with color LCD displays and wireless units. There are hand-held Infrared and Radio Frequency Remotes, remotes with extra features and outputs to control other functions on your boat (hatch covers, lights, etc.), and even remotes that will let you use your iPod or iPhone to control your radio and see what is playing. These features are not typically found on common “car audio” units.

Salt Exposure

If your boat is going to be operated near saltwater, fear not. Marine entertainment product manufacturers test for reliability under extremely salty conditions as well. In fact, most manufacturers of marine audio products do extensive salt spray and thermal testing, along with the UV and water ingress tests. Look for ASTM B117 Salt Fog Exposure testing on the products you are interested in using.

It’s no secret that marine audio products cost a little more than similar car audio products. You are making an investment in their reliability. The last thing you want is to sail out on the first day of a long weekend and have your system not work. With quality marine audio products on board and a professional installation, you will always be entertained.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Anchorage Boat Owner Gets Calabria Pro V Audio System Upgrade

06/21/2016 By John Schwartz

A client from Anchorage contacted Perfectionist Auto Sound & Security about upgrading the marine audio system in his 2006 Calabria Pro V boat. One of our team got together with him and the boat so we could look over the current audio system as well as explore upgrade options. After looking over the boat we invited him inside our shop so he could hear the products we suggested on our state of the art interactive displays. He liked the upgrades we had in mind so a time was set for us to start working on his boat.

Five Goals

The client had five major goals for the upgrades; fix the cabin stereo system, give him an easy way to control the music, add Bluetooth for wireless music streaming, make it loud, and make it sound great.

Cabin Stereo

Calabria Pro V Audio — A little tweaking had the first upgrade goal accomplished, the cabin audio system.

In this particular boat, we left the existing stereo in the console as well as the existing speakers and amplifier powering them. The subwoofers were in poor condition so we replaced them with a pair of 10” Pioneer TSW260D4 subwoofers. This simple fix made the cabin stereo system livable so we could turn our attention to the major upgrades.

Making It Loud

As the client loved water sports and hanging out in the water in and around the boat, we knew tower speakers were in order, and they had to perform. We started by adding two pairs of the Wet Sounds Rev-8 tower speakers which are loaded with 8” woofers and horn tweeters. These two pairs of speakers instantly gave the boat plenty of output for the vast majority of people.

Making It REALLY Loud

The reality is this client is not most people, and he wanted the thing to really jam! We are talking concert level volumes for extended periods of time without straining. For this reason. we also installed a Wet Sounds REV-410 tower speaker. To put it simply, this speaker is the ultimate when it comes to clear and loud. It combines a pair of 10” woofers along with a pro audio grade compression horn that when given enough power can let you hear the sound clearly from more than a football field away. To add a neat effect to the boat, we installed Wet Sounds LED backlit grills on all of the tower speakers, making for a cool, classy look at night.

Powered By Wet Sounds

Speaking of power, we went back to Wet Sounds for our amplifier, choosing their SYN-D6 which delivers well over 1000 watts of sheer awesomeness, driving the speakers effortlessly for hours at a time.

Audio Streaming

Now that the sound was covered, we needed an easy way for the client to play the music from his smartphone into the stereo system as well as control the different zones. A Wet Sounds WS-420BT fit the bill perfectly, giving us independent control over the cabin, tower, and subwoofer speakers as well as Bluetooth for streaming. It also comes with a PA microphone so anyone can talk to people off the boat using the tower speakers. You never know when this might come in handy when you are out on the water.

Professional Installation And Tuning

Once all the equipment was installed, the installer set about fine tuning the equipment to maximize the potential of the system. One final note the we think is very important is who you choose to work on your boat. You already know that marine life is hard on things, and nowhere is that more evident than in electronics and wiring. The team at Perfectionist uses only marine grade installation materials, soldering and heat shrinking all connections for durability, as well as properly looming and mounting all of the wire runs. All of this is done to ensure you get years of reliable service from your audio system.

Client Was Blown Away By His Calabria Pro V Audio Upgrades

When the client came to pick up his boat he was blown away by the improvements. From the loud, clear sound to the improved cosmetics, he couldn’t be happier. If you would like to upgrade your marine audio system, we invite you to stop by Perfectionist Auto Sound & Security in Anchorage. One of our marine specialists will work with you to design and build the solution that will work best for your needs. Let us show you why Mobile Electronics Magazine awarded us the Top Retailer in the Nation two different times.

You can also contact us here for more info on any of our products and services.

Perfectionist Adds Wet Sounds Products to Our Elite Lineup

04/14/2016 By John Schwartz

Spending your evenings and weekends hanging out with friends and family on your boat is a great way to relax. The mobile entertainment experts at Perfectionist Auto Sound & Security know how to make that time even better – with some great music!

Wet Sounds Products

We are proud to add Wet Sounds speakers, amplifiers and electronics to our product solutions for boats and sport activity vehicles. Let’s have a look at what makes Wet Sounds products so great.

Tower Enclosures

Wet Sounds is well-known for their wakeboard tower speaker enclosure systems. The Icon8 offers great clarity and mid-bass performance from an 8-inch woofer and 1-inch titanium tweeter.

At the other end of the spectrum is the jaw-dropping Rev 3-SOME. It includes four 10-inch midrange/mid-bass drivers and an ultra-high-efficiency titanium dome, horn-loaded compression midrange.

Wet Sounds tower speaker systems can be heard clearly at up to 80 feet away without any appreciable loss of detail or quality. They are the perfect solution for water skiing, wakeboarding or a day of tubing.

The new Stealth series of sound bars lets us install big sound in small spaces. They are perfect for compact off-road vehicles, but we can also use them on a boat, a Jeep or anywhere else you need great sound from a compact package. Stealth sound bars are available with a built-in amplifier and Bluetooth receiver, or in a passive version that you can add to an existing system.

Amazing Speakers And Subwoofers

Wet Sounds offers speakers in 6-inch, 8-inch and 6×9-inch sizes. Each offers amazing sound quality and impressive efficiency. This means you get the most sound possible with the least power. All feature a weather-resistant design that includes a rubber spider and surround, Nylas (Nylon and Fiberglass) frame and grille, and aluminum tweeter.

They offer subwoofers in 10- and 12-inch sizes in applications for sealed, vented or infinite baffle installations. The awesome XS-XXX V2 12-inch subwoofer can handle an amazing 1000 watts of power to ensure you can feel the beat even when you aren’t on the boat.

Premium Electronics

Powering your Wet Sounds speakers is easy with their line of amplifiers. The Syndicate, Hydro-Tech X and Sinister series of amplifiers offer excellent efficiency and sound quality. Each can handle the physical beating that electronics onboard a boat must endure.

All of the amplifiers feature an extremely efficient Class D design. When combined with their efficient speakers, you not only get really loud and clear music, but the system also is easy on your boat’s electrical system.

Wet Sounds offers many source accessories. The WS-420 BT is a preamp with a four-band equalizer and built-in Bluetooth receiver. Just pair it with your phone and you can stream your music to your system.

Wet Sounds has a new wireless audio connectivity solution called the WS-A Link S/R kit. Each module can send or receive audio. The A Link allows you to connect multiple systems together when you are rafted together for a real party atmosphere.

The Best Service And Installation

Perfectionist Auto Sound and Security in Anchorage, Alaska, is best known for our fanatical approach to system design and installation. We’d be happy to help you achieve your goal of having an easy-to-use audio system that sounds great.

Want to know more about Wet Sounds? Check out this short video:

For more information about any of our products or services, please contact us here.