benjdow
10+ year member
Junior Member
Hey guys, new member to caraudio.com, although I've lurked around for quite awhile. I didn't really know where to put this post, hope it's ok here. Anyway I was hoping to get some help on speaker and subwoofer placement in my boat. This is going to be long, but any opinions would be GREATLY appreciated.
I have 4 speakers now and will be installing 4 more, and 1 or 2 subwoofers, but I need some opinions. We normally drive to the cove, shut the engine off and hang out, so the majority of listening will be while parked.
I'll have 8 Exile SX65C 6.5" speakers powered by an Exile X800.4. 100w x 8 - 2ohm. I'm just not quite sure where the optimal location for the additional 4 speakers will be. I know it's an open air environment but I don't want to cut holes in my boat and end up regretting picking the location.
The sub(s) will be powered by an Exile X1200.1. I hear the amp is underrated, here's a quote from the owner of Exile; "X1200.1 bench out about 1350 watts, but I have seen units in the 1400 watt range... With square wave, burpabble SPL power around 1600 watts or so... "
I'm not sure what subs to get, but I've really been leaning toward 2 Sundown SA-8's. I've heard they do well in smaller ported boxes and 2 SA-8's would be a good match with my amp pushing 400w x 2 - 2ohm. I want sub(s) that are loud with a blend of SPL and SQ, but decently efficient. I'm open to options, but really like everything I've read about Sundowns, however, space is limited. I will admit I'm not too educated on ohm, wattage, etc. I just know I want to get the most I can out of the amp and sub without overworking it.
Amp specs: EXILE 1200.1
1200-1 ohm
800-2 ohm
400-4 ohm
- Class D high efficiency design
- Stable down to 1 ohm
- 24dB crossover
- Subsonic filtering
- 4 gauge power and ground connectors
- Fuse size: 100A
In the pictures below, the red arrows indicate where the current 4 speakers are mounted. The green arrows indicate where I could mount the additional 4. I included different pictures to show the different angles. Each option I indicate a location. In the end, I need to decide on any combination of 2 locations to accommodate 4 additional speakers.
(Note; the only picture of my actual boat is the 3rd one, I downloaded the others as I don't have good pics of the interior, but identical boat)
In this picture I could put 1 speaker in location 1, which I see as a good location. An additional 2 speakers could be mounted next to the front seats in location 2. My only concern with location 2 is that the driver and passenger will be blocking the speaker while we're underway, however, it seems to be an optimal mid cabin location while we're parked.
View attachment 26522982
In this picture I show the 2 speakers already installed (red) in the front bow which are facing each other. I think an additional speaker in the middle front bow (the adjacent Location 1 option) would be a good location, but was curious if I'd have sound cancellation issues because of the other 2 already installed. I could mount an additional 2 speakers in Location 3 on the passenger and driver console, but my only concern is how close they'd be to each other. You can't really tell in the pic, but they'd actually be closer together than the 2 already installed in the front bow.
View attachment 26522983
This is just another angle of Locations 1 and 3.
View attachment 26522984
This picture shows another angle of location 2, and an additional possible location in the rear, behind the seats. I like this location, but most of the sound would be in the back and nothing mid cabin, as I already have 2 speakers under the bench seat and possibly 3 as I like the idea of Location 1. I don't know that this would necessarily be a bad thing since the majority of the time spent on the boat is hanging out on the rear deck.
View attachment 26522987
This is a picture of an awful drawing I made. This is where the sub(s) will go, under the drivers console. There's 3/4 inch thick storage rail next to the hull that I could cut a notch in for the sub box to sit in. I could add a small riser to the left side of the box so it would be level. If I decided to do this I could have a box that's approximately 18"d x 15"h x 28"w. The box would sit about 5 inches above the floor. I don't know if this would be sufficient for 2 SA-8's. If I don't do it this way, the size of the box will be reduced, and I definitely want the box to be vented. I'm also not sure which direction I should have the subs firing. I see a lot of boats with subs firing to open air, I would think firing against the floor, the rear wall, or possibly firing up would produces more bass, but I'm certainly not an expert. The floor dimension width starts at 18" in the front and tapers to about 13" in the rear. There's a 45 degree angle, which I tried to represent in the picture. (Next post shows picture of where I want the sub)
View attachment 26522986
I have 4 speakers now and will be installing 4 more, and 1 or 2 subwoofers, but I need some opinions. We normally drive to the cove, shut the engine off and hang out, so the majority of listening will be while parked.
I'll have 8 Exile SX65C 6.5" speakers powered by an Exile X800.4. 100w x 8 - 2ohm. I'm just not quite sure where the optimal location for the additional 4 speakers will be. I know it's an open air environment but I don't want to cut holes in my boat and end up regretting picking the location.
The sub(s) will be powered by an Exile X1200.1. I hear the amp is underrated, here's a quote from the owner of Exile; "X1200.1 bench out about 1350 watts, but I have seen units in the 1400 watt range... With square wave, burpabble SPL power around 1600 watts or so... "
I'm not sure what subs to get, but I've really been leaning toward 2 Sundown SA-8's. I've heard they do well in smaller ported boxes and 2 SA-8's would be a good match with my amp pushing 400w x 2 - 2ohm. I want sub(s) that are loud with a blend of SPL and SQ, but decently efficient. I'm open to options, but really like everything I've read about Sundowns, however, space is limited. I will admit I'm not too educated on ohm, wattage, etc. I just know I want to get the most I can out of the amp and sub without overworking it.
Amp specs: EXILE 1200.1
1200-1 ohm
800-2 ohm
400-4 ohm
- Class D high efficiency design
- Stable down to 1 ohm
- 24dB crossover
- Subsonic filtering
- 4 gauge power and ground connectors
- Fuse size: 100A
In the pictures below, the red arrows indicate where the current 4 speakers are mounted. The green arrows indicate where I could mount the additional 4. I included different pictures to show the different angles. Each option I indicate a location. In the end, I need to decide on any combination of 2 locations to accommodate 4 additional speakers.
(Note; the only picture of my actual boat is the 3rd one, I downloaded the others as I don't have good pics of the interior, but identical boat)
In this picture I could put 1 speaker in location 1, which I see as a good location. An additional 2 speakers could be mounted next to the front seats in location 2. My only concern with location 2 is that the driver and passenger will be blocking the speaker while we're underway, however, it seems to be an optimal mid cabin location while we're parked.
View attachment 26522982
In this picture I show the 2 speakers already installed (red) in the front bow which are facing each other. I think an additional speaker in the middle front bow (the adjacent Location 1 option) would be a good location, but was curious if I'd have sound cancellation issues because of the other 2 already installed. I could mount an additional 2 speakers in Location 3 on the passenger and driver console, but my only concern is how close they'd be to each other. You can't really tell in the pic, but they'd actually be closer together than the 2 already installed in the front bow.
View attachment 26522983
This is just another angle of Locations 1 and 3.
View attachment 26522984
This picture shows another angle of location 2, and an additional possible location in the rear, behind the seats. I like this location, but most of the sound would be in the back and nothing mid cabin, as I already have 2 speakers under the bench seat and possibly 3 as I like the idea of Location 1. I don't know that this would necessarily be a bad thing since the majority of the time spent on the boat is hanging out on the rear deck.
View attachment 26522987
This is a picture of an awful drawing I made. This is where the sub(s) will go, under the drivers console. There's 3/4 inch thick storage rail next to the hull that I could cut a notch in for the sub box to sit in. I could add a small riser to the left side of the box so it would be level. If I decided to do this I could have a box that's approximately 18"d x 15"h x 28"w. The box would sit about 5 inches above the floor. I don't know if this would be sufficient for 2 SA-8's. If I don't do it this way, the size of the box will be reduced, and I definitely want the box to be vented. I'm also not sure which direction I should have the subs firing. I see a lot of boats with subs firing to open air, I would think firing against the floor, the rear wall, or possibly firing up would produces more bass, but I'm certainly not an expert. The floor dimension width starts at 18" in the front and tapers to about 13" in the rear. There's a 45 degree angle, which I tried to represent in the picture. (Next post shows picture of where I want the sub)
View attachment 26522986
