Hella Marine Dual Tone Disc Horn Set | 12V 118 dB

Every boat needs a horn that people can actually hear. The Hella Marine dual tone disc horn set delivers exactly that. You get two horns in the set, one tuned to a 280 Hz low tone and one tuned to a 350 Hz high tone, and when they sound together they blend into that rich, layered note that carries across a busy harbor. Combined output is rated at 118 decibels. That's plenty of punch for the kind of sound signal you're expected to make under the rules of the road.

These are disc horns, not trumpets. The disc design keeps each unit compact and flat, roughly 4.8 inches round, so they tuck into an engine bay, under a console, or behind a bow rail without eating up the real estate a trumpet horn demands. On a smaller boat where every inch counts, that matters. And because there's no long trumpet throat to trap water, they shed spray and drain well when they're mounted at a sensible angle.

Why two tones instead of one? A single-note horn can get lost in wind and engine noise. Stacking a low tone under a high tone gives you a fuller sound that's easier for another skipper to pick out and easier to locate directionally. It's the same reason big ships run multiple tones. You're not just making noise, you're making a signal that reads as a boat.

Each set runs on a 12 volt system and the pair pulls 66 watts, so figure on roughly five and a half amps when both horns fire. That's more than a lot of dash switches and thin signal wire want to carry directly, so we always wire marine horns through a relay. Run heavy power straight from the battery through a fuse to the relay, and let the helm button just trigger the relay coil. It keeps the switch cool, the wire sized right, and the horn loud. If you're not comfortable sizing a relay and fuse, we can walk you through it.

Mount both horns where the sound can get out, not buried deep in a locker facing a bulkhead. Point the openings slightly down so water runs out instead of pooling. If you space the low and high horns a little apart and aim them the same direction, they reinforce each other instead of one masking the other. Give the terminals a shot of dielectric grease before you button things up. On the water, that little step is the difference between a horn that still works in year five and one that quietly corrodes.

The housings are galvanized metal finished in Hella's electric blue with a yellow housing, and they're built for the marine world. Galvanized steel holds up well, but it's still steel, so if you run in salt give the horns an occasional freshwater rinse and keep the connections protected. Do that and these things just keep working, which is the whole Hella Marine fit-and-forget idea.

Once it's wired, test it before you leave the dock. A quick sound check tells you the relay clicks, both horns fire, and you're getting that full dual-tone note instead of a weak single buzz. It's the kind of thing you want to know at the slip, not in a tight passing situation. And a horn earns its keep in exactly those moments, the short blasts you use to signal your intentions when you're meeting or overtaking another boat in close quarters. So it's worth getting the install right the first time.

Who's this for? Center consoles, runabouts, day sailers, pontoons, and tenders that need a legitimate, loud, dual-tone horn without a big install. It's a straightforward swap for a tired factory horn or a proper first horn on a boat that never had one. Larger vessels running offshore in heavy wind may want additional signaling on top of it, but for the typical recreational boat this set covers your sound-signal needs and then some. Order before 3 PM Eastern and in-stock sets ship the same day.