DS18 offers full marine packages to upgrade your boat audio.
Our DS18 marine speakers are designed and manufactured specifically for activities offroad and on the water. As manufacturers, we prioritize durability in our designs because we’re familiar with the harsh environments these speakers are brought into. Even the salt in the water, the smallest enemy your speakers face out on the ocean, can cause irreparable amounts of damage to normal speakers.
With familiarity in mind, we use all the knowledge we’ve gained from personal experience in these elements to push the limits on every aspect of our designs. These are some of the things we look for in our marine speakers that could be used to help you find the ones that best fit you.
There are two types of marine grade speakers: “Waterproof speakers” and “Water-resistant speakers”. In the simplest sense, a waterproof speaker has the highest level of protection against the elements. A water-resistant speaker offers a very good, but much lower level of protection against the elements. Water-resistant speakers are treated with manufacturing methods that help resist and repel water damage but do not give enough protection to defend against submersion.
To evaluate how resistant our products are to environmental conditions we rank them using the IPX standard. The IPX standard measures a product's resistance to water based on a rating system that runs from IPX1 to IPX9K. The IPX rating is the most important thing to be aware of when buying an outdoor speaker for a vehicle you intend on having in or around water for extended periods of time.
Marine grade audio products differ greatly from the ones you may use in your home or vehicle’s sound system.
Marine grade audio systems are built for the exclusive purpose of being used in rough saturated environments. Due to the difficulty of reproducing high quality sounds in open air environments, most aftermarket accessories bought for customizing marine and offroad vehicles are comprised of parts (Marine Amplifiers, Marine Subwoofers, Marine Tower Speakers, etc.) needed to upgrade stereo systems.
So large speakers and lots of power are always recommended when it comes to reproducing the highest quality of sound on the water.
There are three main categories of waterproof speakers: Coaxial Speakers, Component Speakers, and Sub-Woofers.
Coaxial Speakers come with a midrange cone for both the mid and mid-high frequencies, and a tweeter on the assembly for the high-range frequencies all in one speaker. Components are made of individual speakers matched together to help fill out the frequency range.
For example, a solid cone water-resistant speaker (that handles mid to mid-high frequencies) with a water-resistant tweeter (that handles high frequencies) to fill out the frequencies that the other may miss or can’t reproduce. Marine Subwoofers fill the lower end of the frequency range and produce room-shaking bass.
The addition of a professional grade stereo / Bluetooth device to your marine vehicles build offers the luxury of enjoying your favorite music while out on the open water.
DS18 provides a plethora of Marine Grade Bluetooth receivers and head units of all shapes and sizes to assure you get the right fit so you can have music whenever you want and wherever you want. These devices use your phone to flawlessly stream anything saved on it to your marine system. These units also offer AM, FM, USB, Card red, and Aux input signals so all paths lead to clear and loud music on the water.
Coaxial speakers, also known as 2-way or 3-way speakers, use multiple speakers to fill out the whole range of frequencies. Coaxial means that one speaker is included and built within another speaker. The tweeter that handles the high frequency is situated in the middle of the speaker and surrounded by a woofer that handles mid-range and low frequencies. The coaxial speaker delivers better performance than a dual cone speaker, but sometimes the components are not necessarily as good as that of a component speaker because true marine grade speakers do take some sacrifices to maintain the waterproof rating, such as sensitivity that other water-resistant component speakers do not.
Marine speaker systems constructed with waterproof cones and sealed drives are able hold their own when faced with rain, washing, and on certain models complete submersion for brief periods.
All in all, the dedicated boat speakers are thoroughly weather and temperature tested to offer the best and only solution for setting up a stereo system in a salty, moist marine environment. When all the best speakers are put together, you can be sure to have an amazing system that will give your seasons upon seasons of endless enjoyment in harsh elements.
