2016 AR240 Audio Upgrade

[msjones144]

Good early morning fellow captains,

I've spent so much time garnering great info off of this site and all of you, that I felt compelled to post my recent upgrade. I have been so in love with this boat since I purchased it in April (23 hours on it and coming from a 2002 Rinker) that I thought I'd never touch it...Then I settled into the reality that the stock audio is hot garbage. I struggled to hear whispers of music while underway while at the same time making the stern and bow occupants' ears bleed. Sooooo, I did my best to emulate Jason Parks' post found here since I was on a budget. I've had the items in and out of my Amazon cart 3 times and pondered squeezing it in before our upcoming week long Norris Lake trip this Saturday, but thought time would be too tight. Last weekend's day on the lake solidified my decision and I've been working on it since Sunday, just finished tonight, couldn't be happier with the results for this first stage... Below find some bullet pointed lesson's learned and some pics. Otherwise, if you want more details click on Jason's post linked above or shoot me some questions. Thanks to everyone that's taken time to write a post about audio, b/c chances are I've read it, and thanks to @Jason Parks for his detailed write-up, I did my best to replicate it.

Materials (all from Amazon):
Polk DB652 ( 4 pair)
Alpine MRV-300
4 AWG red & black wire, 20 ft
16awg speaker wire 100 ft
Rockville MAC65b

Lessons learned:
-Buy a good hole-saw, buy a good hole-saw, buy a good hole-saw! I read a few posts that mentioned using the cheap kit from Amazon or harbor freight, and read a few that said buy a good hole-saw, figured I didn't mind being patient so, I started with the $15 Amazon kit, and could punch myself for it. I spent 4 battery charges and multiple overheating sessions (2 hrs) on my Milwaukee 18v drill with the cheap hole saw kit...didn't get one hole cut. Bought the "hole dozer" 5" hole saw from Milwaukee at HD, had both holes knocked out in under 2 minutes.... BUY A GOOD HOLE-SAW!
-The "Klein tools" steel fish tape is irreplaceable (I happened to have had one for years). It made fishing the port side midship around the bow and fishing the power wires from the stern to the help stowage a breeze.
-Fishing the tower was a bit tricky...I started by using a sheathed "2-wire" single wire from some Romex but even that was tight. Ended up using the ground wire that was un-sheathed from the 2-wire and that worked great... It is a tight squeeze where the tower meets the gunnel.
-I used an old piece of composite decking for the "cutting board" mount for the amp, but followed the hinged approach of @Jason Parks, which I'm glad I did, but man it sucked... (I'm 6'1" 270#'s....tight squeezes and cuss words)
-I've gotta say, the clarity is the most impressive part of this setup.... I'm really looking forward to adding a sub at some point.



Let me know how I can help, if at all. Thanks!
Matt

 

[ks9mm]

Thanks for the write up! I am looking at similar approach minus tower speakers on my SX 240.

What’s the best way to cut the hole for speakers without damaging gelcoat?
How and where did you connect the power wires. Any tips on fishing the wires?

Thanks!

 

[Jores]

Buy a good hole saw- start slow and run it in reverse until you get a nice groove- easy peasy John

 

[msjones144]

Buy a good hole saw- start slow and run it in reverse until you get a nice groove- easy peasy John

Hey John,

I'll try to get a better response in the next few days. In the meantime I'd say click on the link in my post that goes to other guy that I tried to copy and see what you can garner from that. I'll review my pics and see if I can take some better ones to help guide you soon.

Matt