// MARINE AUDIO
Tuning and digital sound processing( DSP), which essentially shapes audio to sound“ perfect” to the average listener, even if it’ s not technically flawless, is where audio companies compete. Brands are focused on the psychology of how people experience sound, designing systems that adjust volume automatically, protect equipment during long, loud play, and ultimately deliver an enjoyable experience.
“ Bass performance is the most demanding and where we see the most opportunity,” Teeples added.“ Different boat styles and categories have different obstacles, and all suffer from being open to the environment which makes creating the bass that people have come to expect from automotive, theater, and home audio difficult.”
Connectivity and digital integration
Boaters also expect seamless streaming, intuitive controls and integration with displays. But simplicity remains just as important.
To meet these needs, Kicker designs systems that work with digital displays and wireless controls, making installations easier while giving boaters simple, flexible control across the boat.
Wet Sounds has also kept pace with shifting expectations.“ Bluetooth has been relevant for quite a while, and constantly improving range and speed is definitely a priority,” said Teeples.“ Younger generations are even more accustomed to using things like AirPlay( Wi-Fi access to two components). Those things are kind of new to the industry, but definitely on the roadmap to advance our products.”
Wet Sounds first unveiled its Boat-to-Boat technology over a decade ago, allowing multiple vessels to link their systems and share the same audio.“ That started as an accessory,” Teeples noted,“ but it’ s quickly becoming an expectation. So integrating some of that technology into the audio system from the get-go is definitely on the horizon.”
The bottom line – audio brands are chasing both integration and ease of use, ensuring boaters can control their systems as effortlessly on the water as they do in their living rooms.
Cosmetics
Looks matter too. Wet Sounds addresses this with the announcement of a new look for its 2026 products.“ Obviously, cosmetics don’ t have anything to do with audio performance, but when it comes to the look, the feel, the boat, the pride of owning the product, offering something that’ s updated and exciting looking is a huge part of it,” said Teeples.
Discoloring grills and screws that bleed rust are no longer acceptable.
Who’ s buying?
Understanding who drives audio purchases is as important as delivering the product itself.
“ It’ s a weird mix from a consumer sentiment of what they want,” Bale said.“ They expect it to work really well and always be there, but they don’ t want to tinker with it at all. The ones that want to tinker with it will. That’ s the DIY group. They’ re going to be constantly adding to it, switching it, changing it around. But the bulk of customers just want it to work and always be there. So that combination of quality sound and durability and lasting products, those are the things we’ ve noticed the big switch on.”
While younger boaters often influence the conversation, it’ s typically older, more established owners who drive buying decisions. That divide creates a unique marketing challenge.
“ The marine environment is a lot different than the car audio environment and even the powersports environment in that, with boaters, you get these 18 to 30 year olds, and audio is super important,” Bale continued.“ It’ s part of the experience, but they’ re not the ones spending money on it. They’ re out there maybe influencing the decision makers, but the decision makers are the 35 to 60 year olds that are on their second or third boat.
“ As a brand, as a marketer, you’ re trying to reach both audiences, and sometimes you’ re reaching both of them through the one that makes the most noise,” he explained.“ For us, that’ s heavily the 20 to 35 crowd, because even though they may not be the ones spending the money, they’ re the ones telling mom and dad and grandma and grandpa what to buy next.”
So younger boaters are pushing innovation by demanding seamless connectivity, while more seasoned buyers are the ones making sure premium audio is included on their boat. Brands are keeping both audiences in mind to stay competitive.
Segment demands
Not all boat segments value audio in the same way, but each has its own opportunities.
“ The wake segment, when you look across all of boating, it’ s fairly small. But it’ s real noisy, partly because they have a lot of speakers on the boats,” Bale said.“ A lot of boating gets focused around them, but it’ s a fairly small segment of the industry.”
He noted that over recent years, the perception and use of pontoon boats has shifted.“ They are becoming event spaces, and with that, audio is a huge piece of the experience,” he continued.“ So we’ re seeing a lot more audio going onto pontoon boats.”
Boaters are also taking advantage of the space available on center consols and aluminum boats to add speakers.
“ Just last week, I consulted an aluminum boat owner who was simply putting a waterproof
Bluetooth receiver with two speakers in his boat, and an over 50-foot catamaran motor yacht owner putting over 30 Kicker products on his vessel,” Bale said, emphasizing the solutions available for different boat segments.
Wet Sounds sees opportunity in boats under $ 100,000, which make up a large share of sales. At this price point, buyers expect high-quality audio comparable to what they experience in cars, headphones, and portable speakers.
The Kicker M-Class Premium Marine Audio line was a 2025 Boating Industry Top Products winner.
www. boatingindustry. com September / october 2025
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