Upgraded speaker location?
 

I have a 1993 Talari 200Z and I'm looking at putting in Kicker Component speakers in the factory locations as well as in the bow. The rear OEM speaker locations are on a surface that is angled towards the floor of the boat. Am I going to get a decent volume level for the back passengers? I don't want to spend the cash on nice speakers to have the sound absorbed by the carpet. I have seen people put the speakers up higher in some Shabahs but I don't have the large flat surface to do so. I'm looking at the Kicker ZX700.5 amplifier with their 10" marine sub mounted under the captains dash. Any experience with these products out there?

Thanks,
Mike

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

Hi, I have a 1995 z272 Barchetta and I recently updated the rear speakers. They are tilted downwards like yours are and I had to use the existing speaker locations. I don't notice any significant effects from the speakers facing downward. The new speakers definitely sound better than the cheap Dual brand speakers. I got two Infinity 6.5" 612m speakers from Amazon and they sound fantastic and look even better! Highly recommended. I would suggest you go ahead and spend the money and put in new speakers, you will be happy and you wont notice any bad sound due to the tilt.

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

I've almost finished the install! Just waiting on my second subwoofer to arrive!! I'll post pics when I complete everything.

Finally finished stereo upgrade!!
 

I ended up keeping the OEM speaker locations but had to cut the holes larger and add an additional hole for each tweeter. A Dremel came in very handy for this! I wanted to try my hand at a sealed subwoofer enclosure under the dash. I've never been a fan of ported enclosures so an infinite baffle plate was out of the question. I chose the port side due to the fact that the starboard side has the defroster core in that location. After much trial and error, I was able to manipulate a shape that fit into place and gave me the correct volume. This was probably the most challenging part of the whole build. I added kicker coaxial speakers in the bow which are powered from the sony head unit. Kicker components surround the aft cockpit accompanied by 2 kicker km10 subwoofers. One under the dash and one more in the aft cargo area. A 5 channel kicker zx700.5 powers the components and subwoofers. The battery selection switch was located under the engine hatch when I bought the boat. This seemed very illogical because the actuator to lift the hatch needs 12V power. So I moved the switch outside of the engine compartment. I had to have XM radio in my boat so I went with the audiovox tuner. It was quite difficult to program after trying 3 different pc operating systems. It only works with Windows XP 32 bit. Glad to be done and I hope everyone enjoys the post!!

Mike

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

Very nice job!

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

really nice job

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Really nice work.

One question I have is, how did you extend your battery cables to reach to the new locations of battery selector switch?

I have comtemplated doing something similar, but I wasn't sure if I would need to increase the wire size to travel the extra distance.

Thank you and have a great day,

Kris

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

I used 2 power distribution blocks and 30 feet of 4ga wire. I only plan to use one battery at a time so figured 4ga was sufficient. The cost of the 0 gauge also brought me to my 4ga decision. They wanted $9 a foot for 0 gauge at my local car audio supplier! Thank goodness for ebay!

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

Hey Mike,

Beautiful boat and install. I just finished mine and I will post some pictures when I can. I had to dremel out the original speaker holes a little to get my Polk 6.5" speakers in.

For a sub, I wanted to go under the dash like you did, but it looked like too much work. I purchased a Polk DB 12" woofer with factory ported box. It fit perfectly under the hatch opposite the battery side. I purchased a Sony class D 1300 watt amp off of craigslist. The system sounds amazing. The 12" seems to be a little bit too much for the boat but I have it tuned to sound great. I haven't had it out on the water yet so I'll probably have to tune it again.

As for the selector switch, I am going to install one and thought about the electric hatch. How would I open it to switch it? I am going to install gas shocks on the hatch and eliminate the electric hatch lifts. They run too slow for me. That way I can hide it back by the battery.

Hey Hyppered-I will post some pics of the install soon. Thanks for all of your previous advice.

Danny (Madison, WI)

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

Glad you got it finished Danny! Definitely post pics.

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For you guys putting the sub under the hatch do you find it works well all sealed up? I've given thought to putting a box in there to try out before I cut anywhere on my boat.

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

Hi rajjeff,

I can only attest to what it sounds like in my garage. I installed a Polk 12" sub. It came with a factory box and it is ported. I bought a Sony class D sub amp to push it. It's actually too big for the sub I have, but you always want to power your sub to the max for sound quality and I got a good deal on it. When I first turned it on I couldn't believe the bass. It was hitting so hard I would have been embarrased to drive in it. Through corrections with the crossover filters on the amp and the stereo I think I have found the perfect blend.

Twenty years ago I had a Camaro with 4 Rockford Fosgate 12". The way this Polk hits isn't too far from it. Technology has come a long way. I will let you know how it sounds outside on the lake. It might be totally different. It needs to get above 55 degrees here in WI. I'm also not sure about gas prices this year. $4.20 a gallon here!

Danny

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Danny, you will find it is way different at the lake than in your garage. Without anything to reflect off of you will find yourself turning that sub right back up. All of the sound flies out of the boat instead of reflecting off of the glass like in a car or in your case the garage walls. You have to turn up the volume a lot more in a boat especially when the boat is cruising at speed.

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

30 Feet of wire, Wow! I must be missing something because that seams like you only moved the perko switch about 4 feet away from the origional battery location. Where was all that wire used?

Kris

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Hey Hypperd,

That's kind of what I figured. That's okay, I've got plenty of room to turn it up. It's so damn cold here I can't even pull it out to wash it. It's getting better slowly.

Danny

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My old z212 had the sub mounted like Mike's but under the driver side. I've considered cutting under the rear seat but I have so much room under the hatch i've thought I could mount a really nice efficient box back there. Maybe next week I will make a run over to a shop and try out a few. I've got a Memphis Audio Belle Marine 5 channel amp to power it all.

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

Hey Danny I feel your pain... Im in SE Wisconsin and itching to get out on the water but not until gas drops south of $4 a gallon. Although it did drop to $3.99 in some spots and I am thinking risking tomorrow despite the possible showers in the forecast.:)

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I have two 10" Polk's in a box in the engine bay and a separate amp in there for them and I think it does a nice job. I have thought about relocating them to the seat compartment, although I don't think losing the easy access storage would be worth it.

With enough power I think it does a nice job.:wink_thumbup:

Re: Upgraded speaker location?
 

Hey guys,

I got the boat out on the water last week for about an hour. Hyppered was right, the stereo doesn't sound as strong outside on the water. It does sound very good and it is exactly the sound I was shooting for. A good quality full sound. That sub makes all the difference.

Thanks for all the advice. Forgive me that the boat is so dirty in these pictures. I've been installing the selector switch, stereo, and dual battery system. I am going to clean it up this week.

Danny

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Looks great Danny! Glad to see you got it done and ready for summer. I hope you enjoy it.

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Mike699, That's an awesome job you did on your boat, it looks great! I wish I had a setup like that! I've got a 1996 z200 Shabah that I want to upgrade the factory speakers on but it's in storage an hour away and I can't remember the factory size? I think ther're 5 1/4 but I'm not sure? I know this is an old post but if anybody knows I'd sure appreciate you letting me know!

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Thank you. Yes their 5.25" stock speakers I am almost certain. I had to cut them larger to fit 6.5" components in.