Please help me with an enclosure for a boat!

[mylilpeterbilt 10+ year member]

Hello everyone! I have several questions and am quite new to car audio so I am looking for some help. I have a 20ft race boat that I am going to put a system into. I just bought a pair of RE XXX 6.5 components and already have a 12" type R. My questions are about designing a box for the sub and also for the RE's. There really isn't any space limitations for the sub box as it will be going up under the front of the boat but I was wondering if there needed to be design changes because it isn't going in an enclosed trunk or cab of a vehicle.

Now for the RE 6.5xxx's what type of box would suit those best? They are getting some type of enclosure built for them either way so would it be beneficial to build a mini ported box for those as well or is that only for subs? Can both 6.5's be mounted into the same box with each other or do they need to be separated? Where is the best place for the tweeters to mount? I plan to have the 6.5s in a box or 2 boxes up under the front as well to try to protect them from spilled drinks!

Sorry for so many questions but I've never built a system before and I would obviously like to do it correctly the first time! Most of the music will be rap type stuff and I would like to be able to hear it outside of the boat of course. Will a 4channel amp work for my situation if this is all I plan to run? I don't have an amp chosen yet or a HU so if any of that will play a part please advise. I don't plan on running a marine amp as it will be in a nice safe place. I will put a picture of the boat and I plan to put everything up where the driver and passengers feet go. It is completely open under there all the way to the front if that matters where speakers should be placed.

Thank you again so much for your help

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[marcotheclepto 10+ year member]

hmm with it not going in a car cabin your gonna want to design the enclosure larger and tune it lower than normal.

a 4 channel will probably be okay depending on the power it does. bridge rear channel to sub ( with the larger encolsure smaller power should be okay)

and hte front 2 channels should be ok for the components

as far as placement goes im not too sure what to tell you. a sealed pod will work well for the mids. and tweeters can be mounted onto same pod.

also im sure it goes without saying be be careful of rain/ other water getting to the equipment

 

[09civic 5,000+ posts]

gorgeous boat. i live in florida so and my boat isnt that nice lol. wish i could help you with your situation but ive never tried putting a system in my boat..cuz it would get trashed lol but good luck

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

Bandpass is the answer for boats and bass.

 

[mylilpeterbilt 10+ year member]

You guys are fast! So any good drawings or dimensions on a bandpass box for a type R? What size sealed enclosure for the little RE's?

 

[09civic 5,000+ posts]

You guys are fast!

we are here to help people like you

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

I don't think there any "pre-made" bandpass designs for a type r. I would suggest a 4th order design, but I would to look up the specs on the sub to get an all out design.

 

[09civic 5,000+ posts]

is the type r d2 or d4?

 

[mylilpeterbilt 10+ year member]

Are there no designs because it's a crappy sub for that kind of box? I'm not completely against picking up a different sub but I would like to avoid spending a bunch more if the improvements are going to be negligible. Thanks for the info rabbit, could you pm me some info...I see you build custom boxes

 

[mylilpeterbilt 10+ year member]

Not sure if they are 2 or 4...I'll have to look and get back to you tomorrow!

 

[09civic 5,000+ posts]

who do you listen to? (rap artists)

 

[mylilpeterbilt 10+ year member]

I like alot of songs from gorilla zoe and jeezy, hollywood undead, eminem. I listen to alot of rock and country too but I just want the rap to sound its best.

 

[Cabin_Pressure 10+ year member]

Nice boat. I run two boxes with two 8" L7s in each. Each enclosure is 2.5cu.ft tuned to 34Hz. I built them out of lexan and covered with boat carpet. There is a pic of one of the boxes in the attachment below. The subs are under the dashes. I have six 6.5"s on the tower(4 facing back and two facing front in the outer cans) and four 8" co-axials in the boat for mids/highs.

 

[mylilpeterbilt 10+ year member]

Are you happy with the way the ported boxes sound in your boat deafwish or do you wish you wouldve went a different route? Thanks

 

[mylilpeterbilt 10+ year member]

Anybody have any thoughts on the enclosure size for the little xxx's?