Flybridge speakers

Hurricane

Hurricane

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My flybridge speakers are looking a bit tatty
The paint is peeling off the external facing bezels.

Looking at the back of the speaker it says that they are "Sound Marine SM-8562" - 150w peak - 50w RMS - 4 ohm
They say - made in Taiwan so I don't think they are anything special.

Not being a hifi buff, I'm not sure what to do.
Do I strip them down and repaint the bezels or aren't they worth it?
They are still working fine.
My gut feeling is that I should replace them with something else

If the recommendation is to replace them, what should I use?

I'm sure some of you are experts and can advise.
 
Your gut feeling is right. They are not very good speakers and cost nothing, if you are happy with how they perform just get new ones. If you want better speakers its actually quite hard to find a set that will be ok sitting outdoors for a few years.
 
I have both the fusions and the bose, on different decks. Soundwise both are perfectly good if (like me) you're not a hifi freak. For all the technology of the Bose, with that backbox that you need to be able to fit in the cavity, they sound only marginally better than the Fusions imho. The look 100x slicker though, so I fit them wherever I can.

Fusion make great head units of course
 
I have Clarion marine external speakers on a mastercraft. Good sound and they look well too! They need a bit of depth for mounting and my ones have separate tweeters but there are models with incorporated tweeters.
 
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Bose are no doubt the mutts, but at £249 you would need to be a real music buff to get the benefit. Fusion are very good but the styling, at least on the ones I have, is a bit brash.

For a good balance of value vs performance vs styling you should look at marine speakers from a well regarded brand such as Sony, Kenwood or Clarion. I have in the past had both Sony and Clarion and they were very good.
 
Thanks everyone
It seems to me that it is a bit of a waste of money to go for the top end of the range
Being outside and sometimes whilst the boat is moving, top quality sound wouldn't be fully appreciated.

The ones that I have are probably real cheapies but the difference in cost between these and the likes of Fusion seem to be small so I will probably just replace the existing tatty ones with something like Fusion but I will have a look at the other reputable ones. Plenty of time to source some - I will probably fit them in the new year.

So, any other reputable manufacturers that are not at the top end, I'd be interested.
 
Personally, I don't rate the Fusion speakers, although I do like their head units. I use 8" Alpine marine speakers in the cockpit of my T40. These are by no means high-end, but I prefer the mid-bass improvement that you get with the slightly larger speaker (I also have a sub, just to beef up the overall sound).
 
Clarion speakers with 240w output from the head unit to four speakers and no amp sounds well at 40 mph on the mastercraft. Also the speaker cones are plastic rather than paper and the screws etc are stainless.
 
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