Updating stereo on boat 228

[Mustang65fbk]

Size is the issue. How big were your poly planers? Little speakers sound tiny and little, sound like noise at cruise. Bigger speakers will always sound more natural. BTW I used the same holes for my rear poly brackets hang my bigger SKARs. So no new holes in hard top. You put on the Burwins instead fo drilling for your scotty swivels right?

My post was mainly directed at the OP who wanted to build out his stereo. Always a topic I think is important on a boat!

It's difficult to tell as they don't have any markings or stickers or anything on them but I think they're the MA7500W's. I called and emailed a picture of what I had to the sales rep at Poly Planar and she thought they were their speakers and possibly the 7500's as well. I suppose I could always go up to the 9060's as they aren't too much more in terms of money. And yes I did on the Burnewiin's, I wanted to keep it somewhat "stock" looking and drill as few holes as possible on the gunwales. And I think the Burnewiin mounts look much better than the cheap plastic looking Scotty downrigger mounts.

 

[blindmullet]

Thanks for the reply. I honestly don't really think that I need to have an amp or crazy sound system or anything like that for my boat. It's more just for listening to when trolling for fish or occasionally cruising a bit. I'm one of those that doesn't like drilling a bunch of holes or modifying something that's mostly in stock form. I figured with the Poly Planar speakers that I have, you can find them for right around $100 for the pair. I don't really have to have the best speakers or anything and it would be nice to have the same style of brackets for installing underneath the hardtop so that I don't have to drill more holes. Are the Skar or Polk speakers considerably better and for around the same price at $100 a pair?

If you just want good clean sound and don't want amps and speakers everywhere get a nice BT soundbar and add it to your hard top. They have come a long way! I was looking at one for my little Mako. I

 

[Seafarer_Bob]

Following. Unless I see a better solution I'm planning to install two speakers in the aft facing inspection plate holes, one in the access plate hole for the fresh water pump under the co-pilot seat, and cut one new hole under the pilot seat. I do like the idea of having them facing forward in front of the bait well but not keen on cutting big holes there.
My question is where do you Seafarer's install the head unit? I just added a 10" Garmin 8610 and AIS radio flush on the dash. I still have room to install the Fusion in the lower right quadrant of the panel but I'd rather use that space for other things. I'm considering installing it in the side of the elections box just inside the cabin behind the helm. My thinking is I can use that dash space for something else and there's not much need to touch or see the Fusion and it would be easy to access just inside the cabin door.

 

[blindmullet]

Following. Unless I see a better solution I'm planning to install two speakers in the aft facing inspection plate holes, one in the access plate hole for the fresh water pump under the co-pilot seat, and cut one new hole under the pilot seat. I do like the idea of having them facing forward in front of the bait well but not keen on cutting big holes there.
My question is where do you Seafarer's install the head unit? I just added a 10" Garmin 8610 and AIS radio flush on the dash. I still have room to install the Fusion in the lower right quadrant of the panel but I'd rather use that space for other things. I'm considering installing it in the side of the elections box just inside the cabin behind the helm. My thinking is I can use that dash space for something else and there's not much need to touch or see the Fusion and it would be easy to access just inside the cabin door. View attachment 24226

If you get the Fusion black box you only need a spot for a 2" or so hole and the box goes down below. All the functions are on the GPS or your phone.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Here's a serious JL stereo in a Seafarer here on the boards: https://www.greatgrady.com/threads/2000-2017-228-seafarer-updated.33630/#post-231263

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Following. Unless I see a better solution I'm planning to install two speakers in the aft facing inspection plate holes, one in the access plate hole for the fresh water pump under the co-pilot seat, and cut one new hole under the pilot seat. I do like the idea of having them facing forward in front of the bait well but not keen on cutting big holes there.
My question is where do you Seafarer's install the head unit? I just added a 10" Garmin 8610 and AIS radio flush on the dash. I still have room to install the Fusion in the lower right quadrant of the panel but I'd rather use that space for other things. I'm considering installing it in the side of the elections box just inside the cabin behind the helm. My thinking is I can use that dash space for something else and there's not much need to touch or see the Fusion and it would be easy to access just inside the cabin door. View attachment 24226

I put my deck in the electronic box above my head on the hardtop. great access. The only con is you need to run lots of wiring down the little rigging tube. Finished that mission yesterday. Took 50' of tinned marine wire.

As mentioned, tons of blue tooth options. You don't really need a head unit if you don't want one. Direct Bluetooth amps or Bluetooth controllers like this what would fit in Grady switch panel. https://amzn.to/3zJ9l5F Also you can control with your phone, smart watch or MFD. My Garmin screen doesn't do volume though so I don't use it. My apple watch does.

 

[Seafarer_Bob]

Here's a serious JL stereo in a Seafarer here on the boards: https://www.greatgrady.com/threads/2000-2017-228-seafarer-updated.33630/#post-231263

Thank you for this link. This is generally what I'm thinking about speaker placement but those forward speakers under the helm are lower than I'd like and I often keep bags or a small cooler on the floor there which would further interfere with the sound. As an alternative I may install the front speakers somewhere in the cabin bulkhead like Trilogy installed his sub and put the sub where that fresh water access port is.

PS: That boat Trilogy sold looks like a great deal as long as there weren't any major structural issues.

 

[jbloom]

Just put a new system in my Gulfstream this past spring. below is what I bought. got it from www.creativeaudio.net good prices.
Connected it all to my Garmin screen via NMEA 2000 so I can control it on my touch screen. Go with the amp it sounds 10x better. If you want pics I can post. or if you have questions let me know.

Item #	Description	Qty​
MLC-RW	JL Audio MLC-RW Marine LED Lighting Controller with WiFi	1​
M400/4	JL Audio M400/4: 4 Ch. Class D Full-Range Marine Amplifier 400 W	1​
FusionBDL200825-02	Fusion MS-RA70NSX Marine Radio System with MS-RA70DC Din Cage	1​
C2-525x	JL Audio C2-525x: 5.25-inch (130 mm) Coaxial Speaker System

JL Audio M3-650X-C-GW got 4 each of these and two JL car speakers in the cabin spoke to the guys at Crutchfield and they said the JL car spears would be fine in the cabin because they are not as exposed to the elements. good luck

 

[Greysailor]

I swapped out the fish box inspection port covers with 6.5 speakers. Not a new idea, many others have mentioned it on this thread...
I wasn't inclined to cut any new holes if I didn't have to. I had Boatoutfitters cut the surrounds out of starboard. The seafoam color matches very well. You can easily install larger speakers, provided the magnets are too large.
They sound really good and are less likely to get kicked if placed in the battery box bulkhead. And if you don't like it, easily reversible.

 

[jbloom]

I swapped out fish box inspection ports too, for two of my speakers.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

I'm loving this stereo thread, especially the pics!

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Photos of my new low profile 8” subwoofer, has built in amp. It’s mid install here, so not wired up. But it’s completely hidden unless you’ve been down to look at it.

 

[Seafarer_Bob]

Are these photos two different install options?

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Yes, meant to mention that. It fits on the shelf on either side under the gunnel. But I could only get two screws on it so I didn’t mount it there.

 

[TopsulTime]

I'm happy with my new 6.5" Skars. I kept my 15yo Clarion head unit but added a Pyle marine amp and four 6.5" Skars.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

The Fusion head piece has a class D amp built in at 70 watts a channel . I want it to interface with my other Garmin stuff and I want a durable marine system. My current alpine system is a marine Alpine and it's going string. It's just dated tech with no blue tooth or wifi .

I like the speakers mounted in the corners . That's a great idea. My boat is being serviced . I am raising my motor another hole and some other stuff . When I get it back in a few weeks. I will start buying the audio stuff.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Size is the issue. How big were your poly planers? Little speakers sound tiny and little, sound like noise at cruise. Bigger speakers will always sound more natural. BTW I used the same holes for my rear poly brackets hang my bigger SKARs. So no new holes in hard top. You put on the Burwins instead fo drilling for your scotty swivels right?

My post was mainly directed at the OP who wanted to build out his stereo. Always a topic I think is important on a boat!

I am curious as to how those speakers mounted to the hard top?

 

[PNW_Drifter]

I am curious as to how those speakers mounted to the hard top?

Just stainless 1/4” bolts with washers. Sealed top with mastic tape or silicone. Hard top is strong.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Skar 6.5 vs a nice Polk 6.5, check out the size difference. Both sound nice but Skar has deep bass. Need to remake my speaker pods to accommodate bigger size.

 

[DennisG01]

Skar 6.5 vs a nice Polk 6.5, check out the size difference. Both sound nice but Skar has deep bass. Need to remake my speaker pods to accommodate bigger size.

Just thinking outloud... and maybe someone who's more "in tune" with this stuff than me can clarify... when you tested them, you tested in the "free air"? If so, I can see why there would be a difference in bass. However, once you put them in a container, will the difference still be noticeable? Maybe not at all? Maybe the Polk's turn out to have more base when inside the container?