MX20,

If that setup doesnt work for you, let me know, i have several enclosures and drivers left form my caraudio days that are just sitting in my shop.

New installation
 

Hello Guys,

Thanks for all the information on speaker set up, I am planning on an installation in March, for the moment, my Mariah 182 has the standard speakers in the front and a basic CD head unit, I am going to install new speakers in the front and probably a pair in the rear next to the seats, looking at the questions and answers here, I think a bass tube or box and amp in the engine bay is the way to go, will I need a specific marine grade bass tube or will a standard car version be good enough, I remember reading somewhere that some pre run wires were fitted in Mariah's for extra speakers, is this the case? To be honest, I will probably replace the wiring during the instalation.

I am planning on a simple 4 speaker, bass tube and single amp set up, any sugestions on the best type of pspeakers and amp? Do they need to be marine grade or is a car type bass tube and amp good enough? Which speakers give the best results in a boat, I have heard that Sony's are pretty good but would prefer to go for Infinity, any suggestions?

Thanks for any advice,

All the best,

Gary

Gary,

as far as brands go, anything of the major brands will give good results. Just make sure they have a ploy cone and a rubber surround. I have owned and used about every brand on the market and over the years and even been on a few factory sponsored teams(rockford fosgate & crossfire) when i was competing. Most people dont know it but there are only a few companies that "make" and assemble speakerparts. for coax and other smaller drivers, the parts and assembly method are basically the same. The Kenwood rep will never tell you that his product came out of the same overseas factory as the MTX stuff but it probably did.....or at least it did at once upon a time. As i said before, there are only a few overseas outfits that make this stuff. the basket that the speaker sits is stamped and when i was in the game full time ('99-'03) every company has the same one. they might have been powder coated a different color but they were the same. The magnet, voice coil, terminal, cone, surround.......same story. They are all jazzed up differently to fit in different price points. cool stickers on the magnet and dust cap, fancy colors on the basket and cone and some faux-CNC grille cover make a 50 dollar pair of speakers sell for over a hundred. Now i have been out of the game for a few years now but that used to be the way it was. when i was on my way out there were some guys that were trying to do everything in house here in the states. The Digital Designs woofers were assembled from a blend of overseas soft parts and hand tooled top plate, bottom plate and magnet. Hell, I still have boxes and boxes of cones, baskets, motors, dust caps, coils and all that stuff from my last few years trying to be louder than everybody else. Bass tubes are ok in the right application. If it were me, i would find out how much room you have to work with and then find an enclousre to fit your needs. Most big box stores offer packages on encloure and sub packages and have a varitey of things to choose from. Sealed is usually more efficient with less power and a ported box is pretty needy in terms of power. peel the carpet off the sum *****, hit with a d/a sander to get rid of the spray glue left on the particle board or mdf and give it a generous coat of resin to keep it from swelling twice its size form moisture.

ok i will shut up now Gary. The best advice i wll give ya is to find somthin that will be in in your budget, looks nice and wont fall apart if it gets a little bit wet. Marine grade stuff is nice because it is all generally white and has the rubber surround and a plastic or ploy cone. But they cost twice as much as a good car speaker. if you want the all white and want to spend the cash, go for it. you can also just buy a nice car speaker scuff the grills with some 120 grit and shoot them with some gloss white from a rattle can.

Hope i was a little help. good luck dude!

Hello Barnzi,

Thanks very much for all the info, I am going to use your advice and locate the ploy cone with rubber surround to make water-proof, I could not care less about the looks, I am ony after a decent sound while chilling out with the wife and kids on a hot summer day (well as hot as it will get in Loch Lomond, Scotland).

There is a pretty good car audio outlet near my home town that I have used in the past, i may tow the boat down there and see what they have, to be honest, I am quite looking forward to setting it up myself as the access is obviously pretty easy for wires etc.

Thanks again for all the advice, I will let you know how it all works out.

Cheers,

Gary

Thanks Barnzie
 

Hello Barnzie,

Well that is all speakers bought, I have went for the enclosed self powered sub woofer (JBL Basspro) and also for some 6.5" Poly P with rubber surround speakers complete with cross-overs and tweeters, the sub box is an all in one plug and play unit, I took your advice on the power issue and decided on this unit as oposed to seperate amps, I will install the speakers and tweeters directly into the head unit, I think the sound will be perfect.

I currently work off shore and get back home to Scotland in March, I will complete the installation then (depending on the weather) and let you know how it all goes.

Thanks again the advice was invaluable.

Cheers,

Gary

Not a fan of bass tubes at all I personally would recomend getting real subs. Currently my boat has 2 6x9s and 2 6.5s this summer my mariah will be getting 2 12's in the engine compartment a 1,000 watt sub amp, 4 6x9s on my tower and 2 8' subs on my tower along with a 400 watt speaker amp for the 6x9s. But if i were you i would really forget the whole bazooka tubes thing.

No problem Gary. Cant wait to see how your project turns out! I am now reading what i posted the other day..... Guess i should proofread what i send. Sorry that reply looked like a third grader wrote it!

Re: subwoofer box for marine??
 

Regarding the size and setup of a marine application you really need to determine when you're going to be using the radio. A system to listen to anchored down enjoying some cold beverages is totally different than what you might need to hear while running the lake wide open.

If you're just listening to tunes on the hook, the factory speakers and a decent head unit with a small bass tube would be perfectly adequate. But, with wind noise, water noise, and engine noise that same system would be hard to hear at above planing speeds.

For instance: I have a Sony head unit with 10 disc changer, Kenwood EQ in the tape holder DIN spot, the four factory full range speakers, and 2 12" Kicker CompVR's on a 600 watt 4 channel amp. Between the head unit and EQ, I pull most of the low end out of my full range speakers so I can drive them louder without distortion. When cruising at 35 to 45 mph, I can hear the tunes fine and at a decent volume. At WOT (55 to 60 mph) the four barrel carb is open, the wind noise is much more noticeable and the system can barely be heard, even though others can hear the bass a quarter of a mile away.

My setup is great when hanging on the hook, swimming around the back of the boat and relaxing, but I need to upgrade/rearrange some things to get the sound I want for above cruising speeds. My subs are on either side of the engine under the sunpad, and I would guess I lose 1/4 of my bass when I close the sunpad. It's going to be tight, but I plan on putting them both under the dash up front. Also, I want to upgrade the factory speakers to 6x9's and add two speakers in the bow.

And just like all the other electronic junk in our lives.... Don't Forget the Batteries! Once you start installing subs and amps, the current draw on your batteries increases dramatically. My setup at 3/4 volume will kill my Optima Blue top in about 2 hours. The best solution ( and what I have done myself) is to add another battery with a switch. I have a deep cycle just for playing tunes while we're anchored down. All I do is flip a switch from the starting battery to the deep cycle and crank up the music. I don't have to worry if the boat will start when we weigh anchor to leave. If you're lucky, the boat will start on the deep cycle and charge it back up for tunes later, but if not, just flip the switch back to the cranking battery and no worries, the boat starts and you're on your way.

Re: subwoofer box for marine??
 

We have a very similar setup on our boat and went back and forth on sub and amp placement for a while. Ultimately decided to install the amp under the dash with a high amp distribution panel for future accessory install and put the subs under the sun pad. The subs definitely do not sound as good under the sun pad, but i really don't see anywhere else to put them with all our other storage needs. I would love to get them out into the open, but as i said, no realistic place to put them without them getting damaged or wet.

I've though about putting the subs under the dash as well. If you do this, i would advise not placing them under the helm, but instead on the port side. The subs, with their large magnets, would no doubt screw with you compass only being a couple feet away.

Thanks for the info:wink_thumbup:

Re: subwoofer box for marine??
 

I too plan to install my Amps under the Dash but was considering installing my Subs on the base of my back seat (bench) so they would be facing out into the boat.

Does anyone have their Subs mounted here? If so do you have any issues other than the loss of some storage space! I would rather sacrafice the storage here vs. under my dash.

Mike