Something a little different... Boat Build

[agarabaghi 10+ year member]

Well, i figured some of yall might appreciate the sound system installation ive been working on in my boat.

First up will be a list of all the components, followed by pictures and possibly a video of boat and how it sounds.

Boat:

2006 Mastercraft X1 w/ 350hp MCX Chevy 350 V8

100amp alternator

Electrical:

100amp stock alternator (soon to be upgraded to 200amp)

Optima Blue Top

Excide 34XCD Aux Battery

200amp Stinger isolator

0/1 Gauge from Engine Block

4awg all around

Source + Equalizer:

Sony CDX HS70

PPI E.ZD EQ

Speakers:

In Boat:

(4) JL Audio M770 7" Drivers

(4) JL Audio 1" Tweeters

Tower:

WetSound Pro 485

Subwoofers:

(1) RE Audio SX

(1) Sundown SA 10 or SA 8 (depending if I can get the box to fit)

Amplifiers:

(1) Wetsound Syn6

6 Channel Amplifier, 4x60w/rms to the in-boat speakers, 600w/rms to the tower (ch5+6 bridged)

(1) Cadence A7HC

1336w/rms to the RE SX 10" in a Slot ported box

(1) Audio Pipe APSM-1300

1000w/rms to the Sundown SA10 in a small sealed box

Click to read more...

 

[agarabaghi 10+ year member]

Here is a picture of the WetSound Pro 485 speakers, batteries, an old JL J2 360.2 Amp, 200 amp isolator.

First we had to install the CD players, and driver side remote. The Cd player goes into the glove box, and the remote got mounted right by the throttle. Some dremel action and it was pretty straight forward.

The PPI E.DZ comes today so I will be installing that later this week once I figure out the SA10 install.

The second issue was figuring out how to mount all the amps. The boat's hull is fiberglass, but not thick enough where you can screw in amps. There is a compartment that is somewhat protected from the elements where the battery and amp will go. So First thing was to build a plexiglass amp rack that would hold the WetSound Syn6, breakers, and Isolator.

Luckily the right side of this compartment had "Starboard" aka marine plywood glassed into the hull, so we could screw the over sized board directly into it. (Don't mine the sony amp and wiring, we were just testing)...

 

[agarabaghi 10+ year member]

next up was how to mount the other 2 amps.

Solution, fiberglass more of this marine plywood to the left side of this compartment, and re-carpet it.

I have never used fiberglass mat or epoxy before so don't be too harsh, it looks great once coverd =P

Took the carpet off, and there is the hull. Let hope we don't drill through it!

1st layer of mat and fiberglass

Couple more layers and got some L brackets to hold the bottom in place. Also fiberglassed a smaller piece above it to mount the distribution blocks.

Voila! Carpet covered and looks pretty decent!

Mounted the 2 other amps (Audio Pipe one still has not been ordered as im still trying to figure out the SA10 install)

Picked up some nicer battery terminals to clean up the batteries

Some distribution blocks to also clean up the wiring.

 

[kramer_212 10+ year member]

My friend has that same stereo its pretty nice, looks good so far

 

[agarabaghi 10+ year member]

Yea, the stereo isn't bad. Im going to run the PPI E.DZ mainly to get 8v pre outs. That headunit only does 2v.

 

[>>SQL<< 10+ year member]

While your equipment and install look great I do not understand when you play it that loud.

Is it for when you are pulling a skier or for when you are parked.

I have a boat

I spend the summer on the lake.

I have a big system in my car but my boat, well I like peace and quiet.

I see you are from Orlando, I was born and raised there.

What lake do you hang out on?

 

[agarabaghi 10+ year member]

crispin - i hear what your saying. We play the system loud when riding, mainly so you can hear the music while wakeboarding. It adds a nice addition to riding. Other than that we will turn up the stereo in the boat when beached at the island on the lake, or when tied up. But, usually if we are just hanging around the vol is kept low. A lot of this equipment came from my old car, so it was just laying around. I think if i can get the SA10 to fit where i want to put it, ill remove the RE SX and only have 1 sub.

We hangout on the winter park chain of lakes.

 

[brodeisel 10+ year member]

nice bild

 

[>>SQL<< 10+ year member]

crispin - i hear what your saying. We play the system loud when riding, mainly so you can hear the music while wakeboarding. It adds a nice addition to riding. Other than that we will turn up the stereo in the boat when beached at the island on the lake, or when tied up. But, usually if we are just hanging around the vol is kept low. A lot of this equipment came from my old car, so it was just laying around. I think if i can get the SA10 to fit where i want to put it, ill remove the RE SX and only have 1 sub.
We hangout on the winter park chain of lakes.

You sound like a cool dude - again nice install.

I bet you have a lot of fun with it.

My last boat was an 18 ft with a 350 in it and the gas was stupid (I don't know how it works for you but I have never had anyone chip in for gas) so i got rid of it and got the SeaDoo 14 ft Jet boat and it is around 1/2 the gas but still the same top end speed.

I am thinking about adding a second battery so I can play the radio a bit while swimming this summer.

I have never done that yet cause I am nervous about running the battery down. The lakes up here are so big that it could seriously be days until someone came by to help...LOL

 

[agarabaghi 10+ year member]

Get an isolator... It will keep your starting battery charged and let you run down the aux battery only.

Well it doesn't help that we have 600lbs of lead in the nose ... 370lbs of water in the ski locker and 1500 lbs of water in the back ski locker ... We use about 5 gals per 30min wakeboard set lol.

A couple of the guys who come ride regularly will chip in with beer and or gas... But I don't make a fuse of they forget

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

Looks pretty sweet man, makes me wanna get back out on the water

Just curious if you already have an SA-10? Cus they're not really known for performing well in sealed enclosures, let alone small ones. Just something to think about if you still have the choice. I'm sure it'll have enough output and I guess you're not really looking for an SQ boat install

My uncle's stock boat stereo was pretty loud, I can only imagine how much louder it is with everything you've added.

 

[agarabaghi 10+ year member]

yea, I jumped the gun and bought an SA10. Sundown says .55 cubic ft will work on that sub though. Its going to be right under the drivers feet basically, so even on only ~400watts it should be ok.

Ive put a post up to trade for a SA8 since i might be able to make that fit easier.

If it doesnt work, ill be putting it in a vented box and into my truck again =P

 

[agarabaghi 10+ year member]

small update... PPI eq came today

 

[agarabaghi 10+ year member]

Some more stuff came in yesterday:

Sundown Audio SA10:

And I finished the rough drawing of the box...

Will be about 1.15ft^3 after displacement and port tuned to 31hz with 3"x16" aero port

Also ran into some problems with the boat...

Seems like one of the blade of the prop decided to fly off and hit my hull!

Boo!

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

^ WOW..... That is a good chunk of rotten luck there! Sorry to see that man.