Speakers in 06+ 196

[2gofaster]

I don't know about the wakeboard and crossover boats, but mounting the speakers in the coaming pads of a 196 is a royal pain. Who in their right mind would order a $40K ski boat without a stereo?!?! MS, that was directed at you. LOL. The foam between the vinyl and the backer board is 1 1/2 inches thick. What are people doing on these boats to solidly mount the speakers? I'm thinking of getting some mdf speaker rings made, cutting the foam back from the hole in the backer board, and sliding the speaker rings under the vinyl and screwing/gluing em to the backer board. That way, the speaker only has to compress down to the speaker ring and not all the way to the backer board. Anybody have a better idea? Now I'm thinking if I have to go to this extreme to do it how I feel is correct, I might as well go to 7.7" speakers.

[EarmarkMarine]

RE: Speakers in 06+ 196

Shane,

Here's how we do it. Avoid MDF. Make stackable 1/2" and 3/4" inch thick birch spacer rings. Split them into two equal pieces for easy insertion and mounting behind the foam. Drill and countersink serveral pass-through mounting holes in each half. Resin-coat the rings. Screw the right combination of rings in place behind the foam in order to obtain the correct depth reduction. Pull the vinyl tight into the opening and terminate it's edge by stapling the vinyl into the edge of the birch rings. This will keep the vinyl from pulling or receeding from around the speaker later. Burn through the vinyl and foam with a soldering tip so that the drill bit or screws do not get caught up in it during installation of the speakers. As a precaution, it doesn't hurt to drill in reverse. Predrill pilot holes into the birch rings and screw the speakers into the rings through the foam. The rings will limit how far the foam compresses and thereby eliminates wrinkles in the vinyl that would otherwise appear as you tighten the speaker down.

David
Earmark Marine

[2gofaster]

RE: Speakers in 06+ 196

Thanks for your input, David. I was thinking of the same thing, with cutting them in two so I can slide them under after resin coating them.

[MARK-S]

RE: Speakers in 06+ 196

Stereos in boats? You cant hear anything. For the price of a system in a 196, I bought top-o-d line Yamaha System with some Klipsch speakers that dont just take care of the boat, they reach the whole lake.

[2gofaster]

RE: Speakers in 06+ 196

This is texas, MS. We have real lakes too. And the cute chicks like to go out on them. Therefore, said Yamaha system wouldn't work. Although with one of those small honda inverter generators, I could take my Denon amp from the house and my 80lb each Klipsch Forte IIs and strap em down. You'd definitely be able to hear that! lol

[inboardsonly]

dont use mdf or wood...

Use King Starboard.
You can buy Starboard Lumber from any marine store, that sells TACO brand rub rails.

Anything you can do to wood, you can do to Starboard. Except maintain it, or split it, or paint it.

Comes in colours, and is easy to work with, too.

Correct Craft worked hard at eliminating all of the wood in the boat, dont put it back in!!!

[2gofaster]

RE: dont use mdf or wood...

Well, it's too late for Starboard now. I did resin covered birch rings this week. I just installed this system temporarily so I can gather the needed components for a real system. So when I replace the Polks with Wetsounds in the spring I'll look at remaking them in Starboard. I think West Marine can get it. I want to build some sort of sealed box in the coaming pads for the 6.5's anyway.

MS, your old hooptie now has a Clarion CMD6, Polk MM650 6.5's, Alpine PDX4.100, Alpine PDX1.600, and the old Audiobahn 15" sub from my 05. It sounds decent. But I want more. lol

[EarmarkMarine]

RE: dont use mdf or wood...

2gofaster,

Man, that's quick work! You're right, West Marine does carry KingStarboard. If you have any trouble we stock and sell 2' x 4' sheets of KingStarboard in both white and black. We also carry HDPE which is cheaper and also used by Nautique in non-cosmetic applications.

BTW, we have injected molded isolation chambers for both 6 1/2 & 7.7 inch size speakers. But honestly, they won't provide a benefit for free-air coaxials unless you're trying to achieve front-to-rear acoustic isolation or isolation from a nearby subwoofer's radiation. If a sub's output is sharing the gunnel cavity with coaxials and modulating the smaller speaker then there would be a benefit.

Hope this helps.

David
Earmark Marine

[MARK-S]

RE: dont use mdf or wood...

You better keep an eye on the battery. Make sure to shut the system down at the switch when not in use. You may have a constant draw from the amp.
Its going to make it tough to here the ZO beeps with that thing blasting.
Where did you put the stereo?