Bass Rehabilitation Needed - 2008 210

[andyray]

I have an 2008 210 Team with the upgraded stereo. It's got the two clarion amps (280 and 480 I believe), the 10" polk/momo, 6 polk/momo coaxes, and 4 alpha speakers.

When I got the boat I spent some time tweaking the stereo. I realized that no crossovers or anything were set at the factory prior to delivery. I'm still a bit disappointed. It seems like for the sum of the parts it should sound better for the amount of gear in there. After reading some of the posts, sounds like I'm not alone.

I'm trying to put together a plan. I'm not looking to spend a bunch and replace everything, I think the largest issue I have is bass. The factory fiberglass 10" enclosure leaks air badly, and it doesn't seem to be able to hit the low bass frequencies in most rap.

So here's what I'm thinking. I will add a third amplifier to handle bass, and take some weight off the clarion's. Leverage the clarions better against the 4 alphas and 6 interior speakers.

Now the question:
- Option A: Redo the box, pull it out, caulk the heck out of it, make sure it's sealed, maybe put some polyfill in it. Is this worth it at all? I've read posts about this box being a piece of junk, but if it's close to the airspace required for the 10" I feel like it's a shame to toss it. If I fix it and put more power to the momo (300rms or so) do you think there would be noticeable improvement?

- Option B: Toss the box, build a proper box from mdf for the single polk/momo 10", push some decent power to it. Again, do you think this would result in noticable improvement?

- Option C: Same as above, except add an additional polk/momo 10", and run about 500rms to both.

- Option D: Ideas?

My goal is to fix/improve the system with a fairly low budget project.

Thanks!

[Latonkaboarder]

RE: Bass Rehabilitation Needed - 2008 210

Andyray there are many options out there to do and I'm sure you'll get a lot of suggestions. IMO I would get rid of the factory box and sub. You can buy a nice ported box for little money at any car stereo store or online. The ported box will give you a lot more deep bass but if you listen to a lot of rock music it will not have as much of the tight punch that a sealed enclosure will have. I listen to all kinds of music and had a sealed box in at first and then switched to a ported box. The ported box lets you feel the bass a lot more. Also I agree that you should get a nice class D amp to run the sub on it's own. I have a JL 500/1 running my 12" Audio Bahn sub. You can usually find used amps on Ebay for a very reasonable price. If you are buying on Ebay I would just make sure there is a serial number on the amp if you are going with a name brand amp. There are a lot of imitaion amps out there that look the same but do not have a factory serial number on them. The serial number on a JL is a white sticker on the back left corner of the amp. I purchased all my amps from Ebay used and they work great. I sold all of the factory stuff and ended up completing my system for around $100.00 to $150.00 extra out of my pocket.

Also I would port the side of the compartment where the sub is located. I made a template for mine out of plywood, and drilled holes through the side compartment. Then I got some fabric from Walmart and covered the holes up. It looks like a factory job to me and really improves the bass sound. I will get you some pictures of my install and post them later. Do a search on "vent" under the stereo and accessories forums and there are a ot of pictures and ideas you can get from others.

I have a 12" sealed enclosure that is practically brand new that you can have if you want it. Where are you laocated? If you want the enclosure shipped I ask that you just pay me for the shipping cost.

Good luck with your install and get us some pictures once you are finished.

[kevfran99]

RE: Bass Rehabilitation Needed - 2008 210

I suggest you do what I did. Buy yourself the nice JL 6 channel amp and run the 6 interior speakers off of this amp, one channel to each speaker. The bow speakers right now and run from the head unit! Take your four channel clairon and run the four tower speakers on to each channel. Run your two channel clarion amp in mono to the sub. I did this and it's hands down better than what comes stock! You may still want to get another box for the factory sub. I wouldn't replace it. It's a great sub! GL

[SuperSquirt]

RE: Bass Rehabilitation Needed - 2008 210

I was in the same shoes you were in when I got my 210. Factory setup was horrible (i guess thats why they build boats and not stereos). I would absolutely junk the factory fiberglass box, its worthless. The Polk sub is okay if you don't want to replace, but I prefer 12's and 15's. I listen to a lot of hard rock and rap music, and I would recommend staying with a sealed box, just port holes somewhere in your fiberglass to let the bass out (it won't sound "great" until you do). Also, get a powerful mono or bridge a 2-channel amp for your sub and let the Clarion amps load the rest.

Check out ebay, you can get a new box, amp, and sub for great prices right now.

[gride300]

RE: Bass Rehabilitation Needed - 2008 210

on low budget if you're knowledgeable about doing it right i'd say the new box is your best bet. get the specs for the size and PORT it. jl makes a really nice marine sub amp

[highrock]

RE: Bass Rehabilitation Needed - 2008 210

I am doing the same thing with my new 210 right now. I am about to get a new ported box for the 10 that came in it and then power the tower speakers with a kicker 350.2 amp that I had and take that Clarion 280 and mono it to the sub. Can you post the picks of where you vented the side of your 210 please?

Thanks for the great ideas and it sounds like everyone is doing about the same thing on their 210.

Latonka what kind of 12 do you have? I might would be interested.

[SuperSquirt]

Here are a couple of pics of my mods.........super easy to do with a hole saw

[kevfran99]

Here are a couple of pics of my mods.........super easy to do with a hole saw

Looks good! want to come down to atl and do mine?!

[andyray]

Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate the feedback!

Latonkaboarder - Interesting comments on the ported boxes, I've always heard sealed was more the way to go, have to reconsider that. I've had good luck with ebay on just about everything, but I would have never thought to worry about fake amps! That's crazy. Also, thanks for the offer of the sealed enclosure, let me see which way I want to go. I'm in Orlando.

kevfran99 - I wouldn't have thought there would be that great of an improvement by re-amping the interior speakers, and moving the sub to the two channel clarion. But sounds like that's really worked for you. Definately encouraging that by moving things around it's going to improve in all areas.

SuperSquirt - I think your setup is going to be pretty close to what I end up with. I'm pretty good with MDF so I can probably build a custom enclosure that fits pretty nice. Thanks for pics of your vents and dynamat. I have to admit this part scares me a bit. Can you give me some more detail on how you did this? Also, where did you get that vent? I assume the gelcoat is going to chip when you cut it...?


I'm off to ebay and craigslist....

[andyray]

Oh yea - am I the only one that has the clarion amps mounted so close to the floor that you need a make up mirror, a screwdriver tip, and hands the size of a 3 year old to make any adjustments?

[SuperSquirt]

Overall job was pretty easy to do, the only tools needed were a drill, 4" hole saw, ruler, and a pair of scissors. I bought the two vents from West Marine for less than $20.

Starting off I just pulled the carpet down from the inside cabin. I laid the Dynamat to fit and cut out the excess.Then I took off the outside vinyl frame with net. Next, i made my measurements for 4 holes equally spread out and marked them. Then I drilled into the painted side of fiberglass (fiberglass is VERY easy to drill into and doesn't chip like wood). Lay down a towel or something to catch all the dust that is going to come out, otherwise you will be vacuuming. Then just line up the vents and screw them in with white painted screws. Reassemble and turn it up! You will be shocked how much smoother and louder your bass will sound. It won't be trapped inside the cabin anymore.

Here are a couple more pics of what i've got now, even though I'm changing it up for next season.

[jjgag60]

why did you use Dynamat

Super Squirt: Why did you use the Dynamat upagainst the fiberglass. Was it cut down the vibration or ? Do you only use Dynamat for sub's or is there other areas in a boat your would use it for your stereo install ?

[SuperSquirt]

RE: why did you use Dynamat

Before cutting the vent holes, the 15" kicker sub used to rattle the crap out of the fiberglass right there. The dynamat cuts down the vibration of the fiberglass. It is used mostly in cars and other brands make it.

[Latonkaboarder]

Andyray- here are some pictures of how I vented the side of the sub compartment. It was easy and very inexpensive to do. I started out by getting a piece of plywood I had laying around. Remove the cushion that is on the side of the compartment. Place it over the plywood and trace it to get the shape to cut. Next cut the plywood and layout your design for you holes. Reinstall the cushion on the side of the compartment. Drill small pilot holes in the wood and place it inside of the cushion. Then drill small pilot holes in the fiberglass. After it was layed out I removed everything again to make sure I didn't damage any of the vinyl while drilling and drilled the holes with a holesaw. Once everything was drilled and ready, I removed the netting on the backside of the vinyl (I didn't ever plan on using it) and used a piece of fabric (purchased at wal mart for a couple of dollars) to cover the entire open area of the cutout. I am very happy with how it turned out and it was very inexpensive to do. I used stainless staples to attach the fabric to the factory template. Here are some pictures. Also is a picture of the MDF box I have if anyone is interested let me know and it's yours for free. Just give me until next week to ship it out because this week I won't have time due to my job.
I couldn't have gotten the pictures to you without the help of my beautiful daughter.

[jjgag60]

Latonkaboarder: I am a little confused and that doesn't take much. Did you just use the new plywood template to drill holes in the fiberglass and in the backside of the existing board that supports the cushion? Why drill holes in the back of the cushion, to let the sound out? What did you do with the foam behind the vinyl did you leave it there or did you try to remove it?