JL 8.8 Tower Speakers

[socalsynergy]

I want to install 2 pair of JL 8.8 tower speakers and want to know what JL amp or amps should I use?

Thanks Bob

[Truekaotik]

A WetSounds Syn2 would be good for 4 880's.. For JL you will pay way more, MHD600.4 but it's worth it.

[chpthril]

JL MHD750/1 will net about 190W rms to each pod and less expensive than the 600/4. For the money though, the Wet Sounds Syn-2 is going to be a hard one to beat. Perfect wattage for an 8" speaker, marine built, excellent controls and settings and easy to wire for 2 pair.

[socalsynergy]

Would two JL 400/4 amps be enough to power 2 pair of 8.8's? One amp to power one pair. Reason is I already have two JL 400/4 amps.

[chpthril]

Yes, but just note that that option will require four 2-conductors to be fished through the tower. Doable but crowded.

[JLG]

For a little more coin you can get the WS rev8 and even the Rev10 which will blow those JL away sound wise IMO. Or maybe you already have them purchased? Had the 7.7 on a boat few years back and they were OK at best. Yes the 8.8 are a newer version but doubt they can produce and play loud all day like the WS speakers.

[355spider]

I disagree. I came from JL towers and amps to the stock Rev 10s with wet sounds amps and I think they sound puny compared to JL.

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[wetsounds1]

I disagree. I came from JL towers and amps to the stock Rev 10s with wet sounds amps and I think they sound puny compared to JL.

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Thats pretty funny. JL makes great product, we are friends with many of the guys there. However, the REV 10 is hands down the highest performing single pod tower speaker on the planet. The only thing better is our REV 410. But comparing a 10" mid bass driver with a horn loaded compression driver to a smaller conventional driver with a tweeter and saying the 10" and HLCD is puny is way off. You may want to check your settings on your system. As we have seen some get out there with a wrong tune. The stock system uses a SYN-2 for 200x2 to the REV 10. The REV 10 can take 400-500. So not as much power as they can handle but 200 watts to the REV 10 tuned right, should still be rocking. The only response we hear when people hear these speakers is Holy $h!t.

So take a look at the tune and settings. Send some pics of your amp settings and your boat and we can make sure.

Tim
Wet Sounds

[355spider]

Yeah it's probably under powered. I powered my JLs at the limit.

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[chpthril]

I disagree. I came from JL towers and amps to the stock Rev 10s with wet sounds amps and I think they sound puny compared to JL.

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Without knowing your previous setup, its hard to make a comparison. Did you have 4 speakers, or more? What kind of wattage? Its hard to say anything negative about JL build quality and sound quality of their coaxials. But, we can set branding aside and focus on speaker type and size.

Realistically, I doubt that an 8" coaxial would be driven with much more wattage than the 200W rms Syn-2 would deliver to a pair of speakers. So, this eliminates a volume advantage based on amp wattage. Ive installed, tuned and listened to the Syn-2 on enough different speakers to know its got top shelf internals. its not like its a price-point boss audio. Its safe to say that the Syn is on par with a JL in terms of reproducing a quality signal. With wattage and amp quality put aside, this leaves with with speaker size and tuning. With the 10" driver being considerably larger (surface area is what counts) than both the 8.8 or 7.7, its is going to naturally play louder even when powered with the same amp wattage. So the advantage will always go to the larger speaker. It would take 2 pair of smaller speakers to tilt the advantage back to the smaller speaker. Again, its surface area. However, when we are talking about a smaller 8" coax and larger 10" HLCD, its not that simple, especially in terms of the highs form the tweeters. The Rev-10 has a huge compression driver (super charged tweeter) compared to the JL coax. So even comparing a single pair of Rev-10 to 2 pair of coax, the Rev-10 is going to hold its own. Now lets talk about mid-bass extension. The other advantage of the larger driver, is deeper mid-bass. No number of smaller speakers, is going to deliver deeper mid-bass than you get from a larger speaker. This deeper mid-bass widens the spectrum for a fuller richer sound. This is likely why we have a 10:1 rev-10 to 8" coax sales ratio. Even people that dont want wake range projection, prefer the extra mid-bass of the rev-10 for just surf and party cove listening.

This leaves us with tuning. This is the one variable that can greatly impact the sound quality of any setup.

[355spider]

I've always found that amps make the biggest difference rather than speakers. The more power the better and JL amps have power.

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[chpthril]

Quality amp guts do make a huge difference sound reproduction. Although every speaker brand, series and type, has its own sound signature, he quality of the amp does play a role in how accurate a speaker plays and the degree of dynamic range. Suffuciant wattage allows the speaker to be driven to its potential without hearing the limits of the amp or source unit.

Wattage wise, have you checked out the Wet Sounds SD series amp?

The SD-2 will deliver 400W each to a pair of tower speakers or 300W to each to 2 pair of tower speakers. Or 1250 to a 4 ohm sub(s) bridged
The SD-4 will deliver 685W to each driving a pair of bridged Rev-410, 185W to a single in-boat per chnls or 165W to a pair of in-boats per chnl. Or, 165W to four in-boats and 685W to a 4 ohm woofer bridged.
The SD-6 is to date, my favorite amp. It delivers 185W x 6 @ 4 ohm, 290W x 6 @ 2 ohm or 585W x 3 @ 4 ohm. Its can drive a pair of rev-10 or pair of rev-410 @ 585W to each and either a sub @ 585 or 2 pair of in-boats @ 145W to each. Or, a sub @ 585W, a single pair of Rev-8 @ 185 or two pair of icon-8 @ 145W each and then 2 pair of in-boats @ 145 to each.

These amps are marine and full range. the will do full range, low range and full pass. They can run summed mono.

This a line of amps that delivers some serious f'n wattage and sorry, but JL just doesnt have a line that compares. The MHD750/1 comes close to the SD-2 driving a single pair of rev-10, however, the 750/1 can only drive a single pair at 375W. The SD-2 can drive that 2nd pair as its a 2 chnl 2 ohm stable. Driving 2 pair of Rev-8, the MHD 750/1 delivers about 185W, while the SD-2 would deliver 300W to four rev-8

Across the board, the MHD600/4 and 900/5 just dont stack up against the SD-4 and SD-6 in term of wattage.

Havent even gotten into the Wet Sounds new Syn-DX amps and comparing the jl M series.

No question JL makes a quality product. If there was a speaker selection that one was looking to pair an amp with, it can be easily debated between a particular wet sound and jl amp. There can be advantages to both, including price and size, not just wattage. Case in point, we just did some upgrades on a 2014 MC X-30. Added a 2nd pair of JL 7.7s and decided to drive them with a Syn2 delivering 187W rms. We could have used a MDH 750/1 or a M800/8 bridged into 4 chnl mode. Both cost more than the Syn-2 and deliver the same wattage. However, the 750/1 would still delivers the same wattage at static battery voltage as its regulated. Slight advantage but not enough to offset the cost IMO. For the in-boat setup, we installed a M700/5 and a 10IB. We went with the M700/5 because it was good power across the board for 2 pair of 7.7 in-boats and a 10" IB woofer. Price was right and its footprint fit the space we had after installing the Syn-2.