2008 SANTE 220 stereo help

[TurboFan]

I've just bought my 220, and know I will want to improve the stereo. I like tight bass, but not a filling shaker, and I want to hear and feel the music when I'm riding as well. It doesn't need to be audiophile grade, that's for my home theater. I've been searching here for the better part of 3 hours and can't seem to find much on 2008 boats. Are the stereo's similar to another year?

I've done numerous custom car audio installations over the years, so I'm very comfortable with almost everything I've read (not too sure about cutting into the hull for a remote!) and have a decent handle on the importance of matching the components properly, as well as powering them properly.

As I'm buying lots of other gear right now, so I need to keep it simple for this season. My initial thought was to purchase a new box for the stock sub and the Alpine CDA-118M (I hate the factory head unit). I'll then run a remote to the rear (somewhere) and maybe get the key fob. I'm also up for re-deploying the amps and adding a six channel so a stocker can support the sub.

I'm wondering if the stock polk's in the boat wouldn't be half bad if properly powered?

Would you consider replacing the drivers in the stock cans, or just going all new?

If I don't replace the drivers, then the real audio improvements won't come until later in the season or next year. I'm interested in the Wetsounds 485's / 3some with the pro 80's. It seems that I'll need to replace the factory amps to run these bad boys, not surprising!

[SuperSquirt]

Turbofan, i've got an 08 model as well and I have switched out a lot of the factory stereo. I did keep the original speaker wires and the factory Polk Momos, which sound just fine to me. You just need more power (at least 75watts) to them and a clean signal, they will rock out.

Also, don't worry about cutting fiberglass, it's super easy to cut. Just make sure to start cutting in reverse if using a hole saw, then switch it back to forward spin. (this will prevent chipping the edge during first cut). The remote add-on is a must for the platform!

[TurboFan]

Thanks for the pics and info. I've been chatting with David about some power options.

Yeah, I've drilled fiberglass a bunch, but not on my new BOAT! I have cases of razor-sharp hole saws (I'm a general contractor).

What are your thoughts on the tower speakers when properly powered? I've been thinking about replacing the stock 6x9 with the WS 696 pro's?

[SuperSquirt]

I have honestly never heard the factory tower speakers from that year model, I ordered mine pre-wired without the speakers. I added two Wet Sounds 485s to tower and amped them around 300/watts each. You should def upgrade them if they are regular coaxial speakers though. Horn drivers is where its at. I have the key fob and it works really good, its cool to have if you are tied up floatin behind the boat, you can control the party

[TurboFan]

I got out the boat this past weekend. In the showroom, the speakers sound OK. On the water, hanging out, they sound OK. Behind the boat pulling, they suck muddy pond water.

I ordered 4 696PRO's from Earmark, along with a Syn2 amp, new sub enclosure and a re-work on the cooler door. I'm going to install the new drivers in the factory cans and power them with the new amp. I'll then take the existing 480 to power the boat and the 280 will be dedicated to LFE duty. I'm really looking forward to getting the hardware and getting it all installed / configured - I don't know why I enjoy this crap so much, maybe it's the ongoing enjoyment of the finished product.

I'm sure it's no surprise to any veteran of this board, David was very helpful, answered all my goofy SANTE-specific audio questions, offered some great options and was very responsive. When I dig into a complete audio rehash on the boat, they'll be my first stop!

[EarmarkMarine]

Thank you TurboFan. I'll be your technical resource during the installation process if you have questions and would really like to visit when everything is done and the system is ready to tune. Good systems are made great with the right tuning.

David
Earmark Marine

[TurboFan]

David, thank you for the continued support.

I do have one question on tuning the boat - given the limits of the head unit, is it worth trying to tune to a primary listening position as I would with a home theater or car audio system? There we use SPL meters, measuring tape, etc to set delays and levels. My thoughts on the couple boats I've done have been to dial in the crossovers for each channel, then set the gains on each channel based on about 85% of max volume. At that point we tweak the bass and treble levels, but if we've done it right these shouldn't need much adjustment?

[EarmarkMarine]

TurboFan,
Our tuning methods are different in many respects which is precisely what makes our systems sound better.
We don't set the source unit at 85 percent. Instead, we determine the true HU clipping and use a threshold just below that. This can differ from unit to unit.
Given that the open field environment of a boat is similar to an absorbent anechoic chamber in that you are dealing with primarily direct radiation and very little reflected radiation, it is very different from the confines of a vehicle or home theater environment where you have to consider the boundaries as nearly as important as transducer-to-perception point distances.
It would be hard to justify a sophisticated sound field processor, like an Audison for example, in a boat. However, you do want to consider phasing issues in the initial design of a boat audio system which is why you might avoid multiple subwoofer locations in a towboat. You want to avoid design errors that cannot be cured by tuning. Other than that we do generally tune for a 'sweet spot' which is for the driver and observer but without boundaries a few feet makes very little difference.
I'll get into the specific 'how to' when your system is at that point.

David
Earmark Marine

[hpage]

I recently upgraded the stereo my '07 220 team. Replaced the port locker hatch with a solid piece of plastic with cutouts and sealed up the factory box with the 10" Sub. I also added a Wetsounds 12" sub and JL slash 500/1 AMP that I bought off another member. The sub was mounted under the helm with firing upwards with a fiberglass false wall. All work and tuning was done by Devine Marine in Kirkland, WA.

Big upgrade in bass and sound quality. I will try to post up some pics.

The big win was a Seattle based plastics shop that had the identical material (thickness, color, texture) used for the hatch on the port side locker. They only charged $80 to build a new one with two 3"x12" vents.

Next stop is to replace the crappy Clarion head unit with a Sony bluetooth streaming model and wired helm controls.

[TurboFan]

Boat work done!

I installed a JL XD600/6 to handle the boat speakers. Overkill, but they sound GREAT!
I used the stock Clarion 280 amp to power the stock sub that I installed in a new Earmark Audio box.
I've installed a Wetsounds Syn2 amp for the tower. I have 2 pair of Pro696 drivers lost somewhere in UPS ****, hopefully I'll see something soon.

The Polk/Momo boat speakers sound great properly powered. The Polk Sub hits so friggin hard now that I have the amp gain set to min, cross at ~80Hz and the bass on the HU at -3. Testing it out tonight and the kids across the street (teenagers) were dancing and asking how many subs I had. No one could believe there was only one 10" sub. Granted, the cooler door is out right now for "mods", so there's plenty of air moving from the port locker, but I have so much headroom left I'm not worried.

[gee]

Turbofan Would love an update and photos on this as I'm in a similar situation.