Fusion Marine Speakers

Speakers have efficiency ratings which tell you how loud that speaker plays at a certain distance given X amount of power. It is usually done as 1 watt per 1 meter. This number tells us how loud those speakers are going to play when power is held constant. If I give each speaker 50 watts of power, one speaker has a SPL rating of 89 dB, the other has an SPL rating of 92 dB, the speaker with the SPL rating of 92 dB is going to play louder. However, speakers are subjective and louder is not always better, but you can always turn the volume down. This number just tells us how efficient those speakers are. The 6.5" M0 speakers have an SPL rating of 90.5, the M1 speakers have a sensitivity rating of 89, and the M2 have a sensitivity rating of 89. For the 8" speakers, the M1 have a rating of 89dB, the M2 are 90dB, and the horn tweeter M2 speakers have an SPL rating of 93. With the 6.5" speakers, they are all roughly the same in terms of their efficiency. For the 8" speakers, you can see that the M2 horn tweeter speakers are significantly louder and more efficient than the regular 8".

As you'd probably expect, as you go up from M0 to M1 to M2, the tweeter materials and sizes change. The 6.5" M0 has a .5" LCP balanced dome tweeter. The 6", 6.5", and 8" M1 speakers have a 1" LCP balanced dome tweeter. The 6", 6.5" and 8" full range M2 speakers have a 1" aluminum alloy tweeter. The larger the tweeter, the louder the music will play. The aluminum tweeters in the M2 are going to cut through the engine, wind, and water noise better than the LCP tweeters used in M0 and M1. The larger tweeter in M1 is going to sound better, play brighter, and play louder than the .5" tweeter in M0. Now to the good stuff. The 6.5" and 8" M2 speakers have a 1" PXNX tweeter which is a proprietary material to Rockford Fosgate. They don't tell us what the exact material is, but it is 3 dB louder than the previous aluminum alloy tweeter while also sounding smooth like a soft-dome tweeter.

We recommend using an amplifier for all marine speakers because a boat is a loud, noisy, open-air environment. The more power you give your speakers, the louder, clearer, and with less or even no distortion. However, if you are powering speakers directly off of your head unit, you can use either M0 or M1. The M1 will sound pretty decent off of deck power. The M0 will not as bright or loud. The M2 speakers require an amplifier to hear what you are paying for.

Of the 5 series of Fusion marine speakers, only three are available with LEDs. The Signature series speakers come with blue and white LEDs and the XS and EL speakers with sport grilles come with RGB LEDs. With the Signature Series speakers, you can wire them to light up blue or you can wire them to light up white, but those are the only two color choices you have. If you are creative with your wiring, you could choose to have a switch have select between blue and white, but for most situations and applications, they would be wired to always be blue when turned on or always be white. With the XS and EL series Fusion marine speakers, the cone is translucent and the RGB LEDs illuminate the cone for a nice, even light diffusion. This eliminates some of the hot spots that you sometimes see on other speakers. With the RGB LEDs, you can wire them to a static color, or you can use an RGB controller to choose between multiple colors and multiple modes on the fly.

The LEDs in marine speakers operate off of 12v and do not automatically illuminate with the speaker wire connections. The LEDs must be wired separately. There are two ways this is usually done:

1. Use RGB speaker wire. This is speaker cable that has 6 conductors, two larger wires for positive and negative on the speaker connections and 4 wires for LED power. The black wire is for power, the red, blue, and green wires are to connect to the RGB terminals on the speaker. If you are using an RGB LED controller, you want to connect all 4 wires. If you are connecting them to illuminate in a static color, please consult the owner's manual for the specific color options and how to wire the LEDs to the color you choose.
2. Use your own primary wire and wire the LEDs outside of the speaker wire.

The Fusion marine speaker product offering is unique. Fusion offers a wide variety of speakers and many of them are designed for certain, specific needs. If you have a boat that you take out on the lake and you want a great sounding system, the silk dome tweeters is the Signature Series are the way to go. The FM series speakers are for very specific applications where appearance is super important. If you have a luxury boat and you don't want a seemless appearance, the FM series will blend into the hull perfectly. However, the power handling and efficiency on the FM series speakers is somewhat less than desirable given the price point. You are definitely paying a premium for the flush mount look. The XS speakers are a solid value and more efficient than most speakers in the price range. The LEDs are going to look better than most because of the translucent cone and you get both grilles included. In all honesty, I see the XS speakers and I see the Kicker KM65, and I can get a KM65 for roughly the same amount of money, or the Wet Sounds RECON 6. Unless I am a "Garmin Guy," I would go with either of those speakers over the XS. The FM series speakers give you a titanium dome tweeter, at a super affordable price point. The EL speakers are just not efficient enough to justify the price and Fusion doesn't tell us what the tweeter is made out of. For the money, you are better off with the FR Series if you can fit the 6" speaker in your existing opening, Rockford M0-65 or Stinger SEA65. To make the long story shorter, go with the Signature Series if you want a quality marine stereo system. The FM series are great if you want the cleanest appearance and no grille protrusion. Outside of those two, there is better value elsewhere, if you ask us.