Under gunnel speakers for 330

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grady33

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Location
Ocean Pines, MD
Model
Express 330
Looking to add a set of speakers under the gunnels for my ‘06 330 Express. Has anyone else done this already? Looking for suggestions on the best way to do it. Local marine electronics said they. Oils build a box from seaboard and have the speakers angled out a little.
 
Why not just buy box speakers? That's what I did in a previous boat. You can also mount them flush in the step.
 
drbatts said:
Why not just buy box speakers? That's what I did in a previous boat. You can also mount them flush in the step.
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Sticking with Fusion speakers and according to local expert, the box ones aren’t very good - ie sound to take advantage of the amp. I’m moving the 6.5 to under gunnel and adding larger 7.7” ones at the helm.

didn’t want to make any holes either. Also, they will angle speakers to get better direct sound.

hopefully someone else has done this and has some pictures. BTW Grady doesn’t do AMP anymore and instead installs 2 radios to power up to 8 speakers!
 
I have a 01 330, I just installed a Fusion MSRA770 head unit, replaced the 4 speakers with Fusion 6.5 200 watt speakers. I added 2 in the cockpit, right above the steps on each side. My combing pad covered an access hole that I enlarged to accept the speakers, I had the cushions shortened. All 6 speakers have covers on the back side of them to push the sound forward. This is exactly where Grady put them on the new boats. I also installed a 10" sub starboard side just behind the helm seat. The rear 4 speakers and sub are powered by a Diamond Audio Micro 5 channel amp (1100 watts) and the 2 in the V birth are powered by the head unit. I have to say it sounds awesome.


Here’s a couple of pics of the cockpit speaker and the sub woofer, the cushion use to make the turn and cover an access hole where the speaker is. Had my upholstery guy cut them short.

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In the cockpit
 

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I used some Poly-Planar MA9020 2-Way Gunwale Mount Speakers speakers and they have been great. Even tied them off the other speaker so di not have to run new home runs. The sound great for my needs and was a 3 hour project max.
 
1624064301447.pngI added a pair under the gunnels on my 228 they sound fine.
 
The area under the gunnels is perpetually wet and dirty on most 330's. For me, I prefer top quality speakers above the helm on the sides of the cabinets (up there where most 330's have speakers) matched to a powerful Amplifier. The sound coming out of my system will physically hurt you if dialed way up. And it stays bone dry and cockpit remains very fish blood and scale ready. Just sayin...
 
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HMBJack said:
The area under the gunnels is perpetually wet and dirty on most 330's. For me, I prefer top quality speakers above the helm on the sides of the cabinets (up there where most 330's have speakers) matched to a powerful Amplifier. The sound coming out of my system will physically hurt you if dialed way up. And it stays bone dry and cockpit remains very fish blood and scale ready. Just sayin...
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Yeah - Will have 7 1/2 above helm and 2 6.5 in hers under gunnel
 
fsc60 said:
I have a 01 330, I just installed a Fusion MSRA770 head unit, replaced the 4 speakers with Fusion 6.5 200 watt speakers. I added 2 in the cockpit, right above the steps on each side. My combing pad covered an access hole that I enlarged to accept the speakers, I had the cushions shortened. All 6 speakers have covers on the back side of them to push the sound forward. This is exactly where Grady put them on the new boats. I also installed a 10" sub starboard side just behind the helm seat. The rear 4 speakers and sub are powered by a Diamond Audio Micro 5 channel amp (1100 watts) and the 2 in the V birth are powered by the head unit. I have to say it sounds awesome.


Here’s a couple of pics of the cockpit speaker and the sub woofer, the cushion use to make the turn and cover an access hole where the speaker is. Had my upholstery guy cut them short.

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I like this idea. Would need to cut back combing pads. Don’t really need them ther me anyhow. How did you deal with combing pads?
 
I took them to a local upholstery guy, I marked them where they start the bend and he cut them and just folded the material back and stapled. I hardly cost anything. If you position the speaker in the right place you can cover all the pre-exsisting holes. The access hole that you will reveal will need to be enlarged. Easy to do. Now it will look like the newer Express.
 
I drilled a hole and installed a fitting I could screw the water hose on
 

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I recently purchased and personally installed the following on my 1991 Grady White Seafarer 228G:​

1. one pair of POLY-PLANAR MA800 (W) COMPACT BOX SPEAKERS [100 WATTS] under the rear gunnels [$107.56 ON AMAZON]​

2. Kenwood KAC-M1814 4-Channel Compact Bridgeable Marine/Motorsports 400W Max Power Digital Amplifier [$159.00 on Amazon]​


Prior to the above installation, we were only using one pair of Poly-Planar MA800 110 watt speakers that are still mounted to our hardtop.

What a significant difference in the sound quality with the above set up. The gunnel speakers really bring out the bass, which gets trapped in the boat and can be heard when cruising.
 
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