Easiest way to add/amplify music at the helm

[swatski]

@fraserjr I love what you did, and the fact that you posted the install and the pictures - many thanks! Your install looks totally factory, they should be doing it already. It is exactly what the install looks like up in the bow.

I got a nice set of @Emmett's DBs (thank you @Emmett!) and will follow your install, plus place a pair in the swim platform location of @Drift Away. I also am leaning towards NOT installing any tower speakers, for the sake of more stealthy look, as @gobecauseyoucan put it.

Okay. This feels weird: Is this forum saving me money....???



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[Drift Away]

@fraserjr I love what you did, and the fact that you posted the install and the pictures - many thanks! Your install looks totally factory, they should be doing it already. It is exactly what the install looks like up in the bow.

I got a nice set of @Emmett's DBs (thank you @Emmett!) and will follow your install, plus place a pair in the swim platform location of @Drift Away. I also am leaning towards NOT installing any tower speakers, for the sake of more stealthy look, as @gobecauseyoucan put it.

Okay. This feels weird: Is this forum saving me money....???



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I like the tower speakers but i am 6'3 and tend to hit my head on things

 

[Mainah]

@fraserjr I love what you did, and the fact that you posted the install and the pictures - many thanks! Your install looks totally factory, they should be doing it already. It is exactly what the install looks like up in the bow.

I got a nice set of @Emmett's DBs (thank you @Emmett!) and will follow your install, plus place a pair in the swim platform location of @Drift Away. I also am leaning towards NOT installing any tower speakers, for the sake of more stealthy look, as @gobecauseyoucan put it.

Okay. This feels weird: Is this forum saving me money....???



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@swatski - For every dollar you may save by learning how to fix things yourself or what not to buy my guess is that you spend 2 on stuff you never knew you wanted or needed but love once you have. So the real answer is probably not saving you money but you don't care.

@Drift Away - I am anxiously waiting for @MattFX4 to mount his Rev 10s and take plenty of photos. Hopefully with someone around 6ft standing at the helm for reference.

 

[MattFX4]

@swatski - For every dollar you may save by learning how to fix things yourself or what not to buy my guess is that you spend 2 on stuff you never knew you wanted or needed but love once you have. So the real answer is probably not saving you money but you don't care.

@Drift Away - I am anxiously waiting for @MattFX4 to mount his Rev 10s and take plenty of photos. Hopefully with someone around 6ft standing at the helm for reference.

Hopefully not much longer! I expect February to be a cold rainy month. I am waiting for a few nice sunny days to get out there and tackle the install.

 

[Julian]

@fraserjr Nice work!!! I have a pair of speakers I plan to install in a similar spot! I have JLs....so I might need a spacer...but sounds like only 1/2 inch...if at all! I'm stoked. I think I'll be putting the port side speaker further forward so it isn't blocked by someone sitting in the seat....any reason you didn't do that? Or did you just want the two to be in similar spots?

 

[fraserjr]

@fraserjr Nice work!!! I have a pair of speakers I plan to install in a similar spot! I have JLs....so I might need a spacer...but sounds like only 1/2 inch...if at all! I'm stoked. I think I'll be putting the port side speaker further forward so it isn't blocked by someone sitting in the seat....any reason you didn't do that? Or did you just want the two to be in similar spots?

@Julian I actually thought about moving it up further but I also wasn't sure of the depth there at the time. Since I could remove the cupholders and wrench my fingers back there, I had a good feeling I would have enough room above the cupholders. My other thought was that spot further up is where the trash can goes and I thought the speaker might get some crap on it from people throwing trash away...probably unlikely but I guess that was my thinking at the time. And lastly as you mentioned, I knew the speaker on the starboard side would have to be further back because of the throttles. In all honesty though you could probably move both of them up further on that panel and be ok. If I had to do it all over again I might have done exactly that. Good luck on your install!

 

[Julian]

Cool....good to know. I may end up putting Polks in there as they are shallower, and put the JLs in the tower pods (if they will fit).

 

[fraserjr]

If you have the JLs on hand I would just cut the hole and see if they fit, assuming you are still using a 5" hole. If they don't then just drop the polks in instead.

 

[swatski]

One wrinkle on the @fraserjr Polk 651 DBs location, at least for potential AR240 owners, is that the driver side (strbd) panel is NOT flat unlike in his 242 LSE. There is a profile/indentation going across. Hard to shoot a pic, I will try again today.

There is still space, I think, but it would be very tight. Will need to mock it with a 6.5 DB grill (which is a little over 7" in diameter).


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[Drift Away]

I got my second sub put in yesterday. Went ahead and cut the grill in the side just to let some air in and sound out.

 

[Julian]

One wrinkle on the @fraserjr Polk 651 DBs location, at least for potential AR240 owners, is that the driver side (strbd) panel is NOT flat unlike in his 242 LSE. There is a profile/indentation going across. Hard to shoot a pic, I will try again today.

There is still space, I think, but it would be very tight. Will need to mock it with a 6.5 DB grill (which is a little over 7" in diameter).
View attachment 50839

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There is decorative trim on the X as well which will make me mount it lower on my boat....but I'm going for it! I'll measure if my JLs will fit when I do this.

Here is a photo from my USB power port install:

 

[Mainah]

One wrinkle on the @fraserjr Polk 651 DBs location, at least for potential AR240 owners, is that the driver side (strbd) panel is NOT flat unlike in his 242 LSE. There is a profile/indentation going across. Hard to shoot a pic, I will try again today.

There is still space, I think, but it would be very tight. Will need to mock it with a 6.5 DB grill (which is a little over 7" in diameter).
View attachment 50839

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I bet they use the same molds for all of the 24 footers. Any difference may be in mold imperfections ( they must have a few for each panel given the volume they churn out) from mold to mold or layup inconsistencies.

 

[swatski]

@Julian and @Mainah The mold IS different, I presume it is different in E-series. And I am not taking about a decorative trim.
AR240 does NOT look like this (LSE):


I will follow up with better pics.

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[swatski]

So hard to shoot this profile, need to get my boat dirty for better contrast, but here it is -- my 2016 AR240. Note the rib/indented profile going across. The widest flat-ish space across is about 7" but not quite:


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[fraserjr]

So hard to shoot this profile, need to get my boat dirty for better contrast, but here it is -- my 2016 AR240. Note the rib/indented profile going across. The widest flat-ish space across is about 7" but not quite:
View attachment 50867View attachment 50868

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It's a little hard to tell from the pictures but which part sticks out more, the top or the bottom? If its the top, you should have plenty of room to install the polks there. Just make sure you won't be hitting it with any throttle movements. You could also probably go a bit farther back by the cupholders. It would be a little tighter but I think they would fit.

 

[swatski]

It's a little hard to tell from the pictures but which part sticks out more, the top or the bottom? If its the top, you should have plenty of room to install the polks there. Just make sure you won't be hitting it with any throttle movements. You could also probably go a bit farther back by the cupholders. It would be a little tighter but I think they would fit.

Yes, it is the top part that's sticking out (the lower part is recessed), and there is (kind of) enough space, not flat.

I'm still planning on using that space for the mid-cabin speaker install, would have never thought of it before your mod!

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[Mainah]

Most certainly different molds. Look at the throttle area and below it. I would never have guessed that. @swatski I am interested to see what you do here.

 

[fraserjr]

Most certainly different molds. Look at the throttle area and below it. I would never have guessed that. @swatski I am interested to see what you do here.

@swatski One thing that I did to test the depth before I drilled the 5" hole. I took the smallest drill bit I could find and drilled in to the approximate center of where the speaker would be. Then I used a straightened paper clip to test the depth a take a measurement. That way, if for some crazy reason I wasn't going to have enough room, I could just plug the hole with some black epoxy and I would have been the only one who would have ever noticed it. Also, make sure you know where your mid-cleats are located. You don't want to cut a big hole only to realize that there are bolts coming in from the other side.

 

[swatski]

@swatski One thing that I did to test the depth before I drilled the 5" hole. I took the smallest drill bit I could find and drilled in to the approximate center of where the speaker would be. Then I used a straightened paper clip to test the depth a take a measurement. That way, if for some crazy reason I wasn't going to have enough room, I could just plug the hole with some black epoxy and I would have been the only one who would have ever noticed it. Also, make sure you know where your mid-cleats are located. You don't want to cut a big hole only to realize that there are bolts coming in from the other side.

Excellent points, again thank you for sharing! Yes, the space will not be an issue (for a 651 DB) and the cleat mechanism is planted more forward.
I have been crawling into that area lately as I'm also installing a trim tab controller ahead of the throttles, and then the Perfect Pass.
I would love to install some sound deadening along that part of the hull, too, it feels like inside an acoustic guitar body in there.

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[Mainah]

The wires and cables in that area do vibrate in a annoying way when my sub hits certain frequencies. I am certainly going to do something with insulation in that area but now I will wait to see what @swatski does. I personally think there should be a cross member between the outer hull and the flat box section of the inner hull next to the seat (under the tray and cupholders. Lots of flex there when you push on the outer hull.