tower speaker and sub install

[AustinSouthSide]

I have a 2004 Riders 22V w/ the Clarion XMD3 receiver and amp and I am looking to install 2 Fusion 5 1/4 tower speakers and a sub this spring. I have a call into my dealer for some info, but I want to get the goods from end users/installers. My thought is to keep it real simple and cheap, I am not trying to win any competitions, and get a 3 channel amp to run the towers and a sub. I got floor model tower speakers without documentation, so I am curios what power they need and any other info that maybe I am missing. For the sub I was just going to grab a 10 in a ported box and put it under the drivers console. Again, keeping it simple and cheap. Also where have people mounted their tower speakers, on the bar closest to the front of the boat of the one right behind it. I have the big, square Metcraft tower. I am guessing it is just personal preference, but am curious what the preference has been. I don't have a bimini right now, but plan on getting on this spring also, does that make a difference? Any tips or lessons learned on this while process would be appreciated!

[rushin]

I mounted my sub under the dash on the wall (stock location)and mounted an enclosure behind it inside the stroage compartment and mounted a light/speaker bar on the aft tower bar. Bimini clears just fine with 6 1/2" speakers.

[smendez]

I have a 2003 22v with the Metcraft tower. Once the speakers were placed, the metcraft bimini wouldn't fit properly under them, so a couple of holes had to be tapped a little lower in the tower to mount the bimini. This was fairly easy. The only problem is that you loose a few inches of head room. Don't bother me - I'm 5' 7" :)

Check out my picture gallery and you can find out if we have the same tower.

[Gardyloo03]

I would get a 4 channel amp and run it to your tower speakers and then amp out the two in the front, unless you already have them amped. If you do then i would get a 2 channel and then a mono channel class d for that sub. Jl has a new marine line out and their subs and amps should be great sounding.:) :D

[AustinSouthSide]

Right on, good info, thanks much. I will have to check out the factory sub install spot and look to amp up the front speakers to get some more kick overall. What about marine amps/speakers, as I was browsing today for an amp I started wondering if a marine grade amp/sub was necessary to hold up to lake conditions? I know I will get caught out in a few texas rainstorms this summer but we don't get that much rain in Austin and the boat is covered when it is off the lake.

[AustinSouthSide]

Oh yeah, smendez, we have the same tower. I am 6 ft so I am hoping once I get the bimini I can fit under without ducking too much!

[Ruune]

I had custom sounds in San Antonio do a bandpass enclosure. It is a down-facing design in the storage compartment in front of the driver. Installed are two alpine competition 10s... if you want to check it out, I'm taking it to the ski dock this weekend to get some work done. Tell Damon, Charley, or Roland that Trey (me) said its ok as long as you dont step on the seats w/ your shoes on :p . Its the red/black/red 22v thats in my profile.
L8
3

FYI- there is another "Trey" that works there now... thats not me. I'm "Trey" the owner. :p

[AustinSouthSide]

Originally posted by Ruune
I had custom sounds in San Antonio do a bandpass enclosure. It is a down-facing design in the storage compartment in front of the driver. Installed are two alpine competition 10s... if you want to check it out, I'm taking it to the ski dock this weekend to get some work done. Tell Damon, Charley, or Roland that Trey (me) said its ok as long as you dont step on the seats w/ your shoes on :p . Its the red/black/red 22v thats in my profile.
L8
3

FYI- there is another "Trey" that works there now... thats not me. I'm "Trey" the owner. :p

Great, thanks! I will pop by to check it out.

[Gardyloo03]

I dont have a marin amp for my sub. Just make sure you put it in the passenger side storage compartment that way it doesnt get excessive moisture. Hell I dont even think that you really need marine speakers, but hell im not in the speaker making business. I have an alpine type R ten mounted under my drivers dash and im hitting it with a jl audio 500/1 with 500 watts rms and itll thump your shorts off if you turn it up. mtx makes a great 2 chanell that i am running my tower speakers with it is 75 watss x2 rms and peak is 250.

[TigeDuner]

I am upgrading the tower on our 2300V to a 2005 design and plan to add a pair of tower speakers. Currently, all the boat has is the stock speakers in the hull throughout the boat. I have a Clarion M335 head unit. How is the volume on the tower speakers controlled seperately from the hull speakers? Is one 4 channel amp enough to power all the speakers and a sub? I am looking at Clarion's APX480M amp for power to the speakers. Any help would be great. Martin

[Ruune]

austinsouthdude... FYI I didnt take it in on Sat- weather was NASTY!

[AustinSouthSide]

Ruune,
yeah it was terrible! I called Saturday and got some good info from Guido (?) and I am going to pop into custom sounds to check out their amps and subs. Let me know if you do drop it off, I would like to check it out.

[Ruune]

Dropped it off last night... Guido waited 30 mins after close for me to get it inside the gate. Took me 3 1/2 hours to drive up from San Antonio! Anyways, its under the camo parachute/cover in the back.

[scottie4421]

What up AustinSouthSide. I'm from Austin as well. I bought the same Fusion's you have. They're rated at 100 watts each.

I'm hooking mine up tomorrow. I bought a Diamond Audio D3 400.4 (55w x 4 @ 4 ohms) and (100 x 4 @ 2 ohms) for 139 bucks on ubid.com. It retails for around 300 bucks. Diamond makes pretty good stuff....you'll notice that the speakers in your Fusions are Diamond. I also put 4 Polk DB 650 speakers on the interior.

I'm going to wire the Fusions at 4 ohms, so they'll get 55 watts each. I'm going to wire the Polk's at 2 ohms and there's 4 of them to power, so each one will get around 50 watts.

I'll let you know how it sounds.

[AustinSouthSide]

scottie4421,
Right on, I bet it will rock, let me know. What lake do you ride? We ride on the Perd, were out yesterday afternoon actually. Nice afternoon, water is up to 70. Summer is here, I am jazzed.

[scottie4421]

We usually ride on Travis or Austin.

I got the system hooked up.....it sounds awesome....really loud and really clean. The Fusions sound really really good. I'm anxious to ride behind the boat to see how they sound while boarding.

How do you get to the Perd from south Austin?

I just moved here a year or so ago, so I'm not familiar with all of the area lakes.

How are the boat ramps on the Perd? Lake Austin and Travis are always packed so it's hard to find parking and smooth water.

[scottie4421]

Also,

One note on mounting the speakers on the tower, the Metcraft tower has wiring holes drilled in the front bar only (towards the bow). I mounted mine on the back bar (towards the stern) just because I thought it looked better. You'll see these holes if you look under the pads that hold your boards. There are also holes on the side bars to run the wires down into the hull. You'll notice when you remove your wakeboard rack pads that the metcraft tower is actually jointed. The center section is a seperate piece. It's held together by 4 screws on each side. When you try to snake the wire through this jointed section, it will hang. So, get a coat hanger or a good wire snake and use it to get the wire through. It's a pain, but it can be done.

[AustinSouthSide]

Scottie442,
I live South also, in the neighboorhood behind Central Market on Lamar and Ben White. The Perdenales river is a great place to board and chill, it is almost all wakeboarders and even on holiday weekends it is not too crowded compared to Travis and Austin. It is too far up Travis for the Cabin Cruisers to mess up the water! Take 71 west past 620 to Pace Bend Park Road, FM2322. Take a right and go about 3 miles to Old Ferry Road, it sneaks up around a bend past two gas stations on your left. Take a left on Old Ferry and you will dead end into Camp Perdenales park. It is really small with a few campsite and two boat ramps, 7 bucks to launch. It can only hold maybe 30 or 40 cars, but I have never seen it full and I went almost every weekend last summer. One of the ramps is closed due to high water but the other is fine. The cooler thing is there is a bunch of boat storage right on Old Ferry Road, big covered stoarge for 60 a month, we keep our boat out there. Supposedly there is not a problem with break ins, but this will be our first summer out there. Let me know if you start going out there, we should meet up. If should be easy to pick us out when we are out there, our 2004 22V Tige is White with Pacific Blue center stripe and Rider editions graphics, haven't seen another one like ours out there yet. If you see us, cruise on up, my friends and I are really chilled. What is your color scheme?

Sounds like you got your stereo setup rocking! We mounted our fusions last week and I used a fishtape to get the wires thru the tower and it was suprisingly not that bad. I mounted them on the back bar also. I am not very happy that where the tower connects to the boat that they did not drill a factory hole so we have the speaker wires running down thru the cushions into the boat. While we are looking for a real good deal on an amp we have the fushions running of the clarion 100X2 factory amp. It sounds decent surpriingly enough. It will work as we look for a steal of a deal on an amp.

I am hoping to get out there maybe Sunday, but all my friends are afraid to go out because they think it is too cold!

http://www.martin247.com/camp_pedernales.htm

[Ruune]

Rules :

Quiet after 10

Every tent must pay

No large dogs, only small dogs are allowed.

Clothing optional after midnight



word.

[AustinSouthSide]

Right on, need to get out there after midnight!

[scottie4421]

Thanks for the info AustinSouthSide.

We'll definitely have to meet up. My colors are charcoal and yellow. I'll let you know when we're heading out there.

I live about 2 miles from where you're at. I'm right off Monterey Oaks and 290.

Yah, I hear ya on the lack of factory drilling to run the speaker wire from the tower to the hull. I drilled my own hole. When you get ready to do yours, swing by o'reilly auto parts. They have this cool stuff you can use to cover up your wires. It's difficult to describe, but it's like a mesh tubing. It comes in different colors. I got mine in yellow.

I drilled a 1/4 hole in the hull, snaked the wire through the yellow mesh tube (leaving enough slack to lay the tower down if I need to), and used a 3/8" rubber grommet where the wire goes into the hull to give it a factory look. When you drill the hole, run the drill slowly in reverse until you get through the gel coat...otherwise you can chip the gel coat. I used this same method to cover the wires from the tower to the speakers. It looks pretty good. Last time I was there, they had the mesh stuff in blue. I don't know if it's perfect match, but I'm sure it's close. You should check it out.

I'll post some pics when I get a chance.

Thanks again for the directions.

[TigeDuner]

When I went to Southwest Texas back in the day, clothing on the Perd was optional-period. How times have changed....

[Beau McCrory]

scottie4421, got any pics?? I've got the 20v in yellow over grey hull...