Need Some Wet Sounds Advice For New 22ve

[Bryce]

Hi all,
I have been lurking around for a while but just now joined. A few months ago I purchased a new 2008 22ve and am now going to put in more speakers. The boat currently has 4 stock 650s and that's all.

So here's what I am thinking of doing:
-Add 2 more 650's for a total of 2 in the bow and 4 in the cabin and run them on a Syn 4 (125x2 and 90x4)

-Get an XS-12 and seal it and put the box under the glove compartment and run it on a Syn 2 (700x1)

-have WS-420 run everything with factory deck

For the tower I am torn. I will either do the 3-some and run it on a Syn 6 (200x2 and 600x1), or do a pair of Pro 485's and run it on a Syn 4 (400x2). I have heard many people say doing a pair of Pro 485's will sound better, and appears to save me $250 or so for the setup compared to the 3-some.

I have the standard Tige tube tower and am not sure if a pair of Pro 485's will look/fit right since it curves some. If anyone has pics of their setup I would love to see them. Also, assuming I hang the speakers on the top bar how will I then attach my bimini top since now it wraps around the tower and zips up?

I would appreciate your suggestions on what I should do with the tower speakers or anything else that you think I would find helpful.

Thanks!

Bryce

[chpthril]

-Add 2 more 650's for a total of 2 in the bow and 4 in the cabin and run them on a Syn 4 (125x2 and 90x4)

Good choice here - 125W's to each bow speaker and 100W's to each of the 4 in the main cabin.

-Get an XS-12 and seal it and put the box under the glove compartment and run it on a Syn 2 (700x1)

I would recommend placing it under the driver's helm instead of enclosed in the storage were it will be muffled. The front seat access to the driver's storage is large enough to get the .9 cu/in enclosure in and attach it to the back side of the bulk-head wall.

-have WS-420 run everything with factory deck

Good choice.

For the tower I am torn. I will either do the 3-some and run it on a Syn 6 (200x2 and 600x1), or do a pair of Pro 485's and run it on a Syn 4 (400x2). I have heard many people say doing a pair of Pro 485's will sound better, and appears to save me $250 or so for the setup compared to the 3-some.

I have the standard Tige tube tower and am not sure if a pair of Pro 485's will look/fit right since it curves some. If anyone has pics of their setup I would love to see them. Also, assuming I hang the speakers on the top bar how will I then attach my bimini top since now it wraps around the tower and zips up?

I would appreciate your suggestions on what I should do with the tower speakers or anything else that you think I would find helpful

Tough call between a pair of 485's and the 3-Some. From an installation stand point, the 3-Some is fairly straight forward on either the Tige "E" or "Z" towers, which were both offered in 08. I do have a pic of a pair of 485's on a "Z", and I think with the new style clamps, it would be doable on the "E", which I guess you have. On the 08's with the factory bimini, most speakers get mounted on the front cross bar. I would consider mounting them on the rear bar, and then consult a canvas shop about modifying the bimini to accommodate the speaker clamps.

Both are crazy loud when powered right and tuned correctly and their performance and sound quality is outstanding. It would really come down listening preference and the mount-ability of the two 485's.

Let me know if I can further assist you. Welcome to the site and congrats on the new 22Ve.

[Bryce]

chpthril,

Thanks for the input. For the sub I think you are suggesting to still put in a sealed box but in the storage behind the helm, right? I don't like having the speaker showing down on the wall where my feet go, so I guess what you suggest would be a good idea.

You are right in that it is the "E" series tower. I know it would be easier with the cover to just mount on the lower/forward bar but then it kills the headspace for people walking through. Great idea with going to a canvas shop for modification.

As for listening preference goes, we mostly surf and do a little boarding/skating. I know a sinle 485 would probably be enough, but better to have a little too much than not enough

What would you say the difference between the 2 pro 485's and the 3-some is in listening preferences???

Thanks,
Bryce

[chpthril]

Ok, found the pic, the pair of 485's are mounted on the front bar of the "Z" tower. I couldn't remember, I thought they were mounted to the rear. After looking at a pic of the Z and E together, the rear bar of the E seems to have more of a straight section in the middle, then quickly arches to the gunwales where the "Z" seems to have a constant arch from one side to the other. I searched the gallery on Wet Sounds and dont see a pair of 485's on a Tige "E" tower, but i think it's doable.

Thanks for the input. For the sub I think you are suggesting to still put in a sealed box but in the storage behind the helm, right? I don't like having the speaker showing down on the wall where my feet go, so I guess what you suggest would be a good idea.

What i'm suggesting is to mount the sub on the bulk-head wall, in the factory location, then attach your sealed enclosure from behind. This allows the sub to "breath" if you will. If you want to place the sub and it's enclosure in a storage compartment, it's highly recommended to vent the compartment. This would net you the best results from a sub that you dont want seen.

The 3-Some is one of the more popular setups as it seems to be a great mix of highs and mid bass. The 3-Some will still give you some mid-bass close up like for surfing and partying, yet the 80's will reach out to the rider when boarding. The pair of 485's will give you more close up mid-bass and still plenty of volume to the rider.

[Thomas Hohl]

I have a 22VE (07) with the E tower. I pretty much took cheaps advice and did what he said, which is pretty much what he is suggesting to you. The only thing I did was to use 60s on the tower and they sound awesome. I will say that you should consider that this system is going 1. out doors 2. in a boat which makes some noise and 3. driving in the wind. My point is it will seem loud when you are standing still but when you are running its not as loud as I thought it might be. I now understand why some people put 4 speakers in the tower. You kinda need them. Don't get me wrong mine looks and sounds better than awesome, but just keep that in mind when you are on the fence about more speakers or less speakers, definenatly MORE speakers and power.
I did the almost the exact same setup that you are thinking about and I probably wouldn't change a thing. Cheap knows his stuff. The Bimini is very easy to have fit for the brackets for the 80s. make sure to get the upgraded WS brackets however. I did and they work killer. They cost quite a bit but they are worth it!

[Bryce]

Thomas,
Thanks for your reply. So it sounds to me that the 3-Some is the way to go. If you have pics of yours I would love to see how they look with the bimini customized. Why did you opt for the 60's over the 80's?

Thanks,

Bryce

[ds@earmark]

Bryce,

I'm not familiar with the various tower designations but with a pronounced tower radius the 3-Some would still look pretty good.

I wouldn't mix the Pro485 with the 60s unless my only goal was to significantly widen the dispersion with the 60s aimed to the outside. The 485 and 60s have distinctly different collars while the 80s and 485 match. A collar upgrade would be too costly as compared to the 80s upgrade.

But the real issue is that the Pro80s and 485 with similar midbass drivers will sum more effectively for greater output. The 60s would basically be sonically invisible on each side of a 485. Since 50 percent of all musical fundamentals fall between 200 and 600 Hz and since this is the sole domain of the midbass drivers you'll get more average output and a richer sound with similar speakers.

In fact, we get better results tuning the 3-Some based on balancing the midbass drivers versus the peak outputs of the horns.

Hope this helps,

David
Earmark Marine

[Bryce]

David,
Great information for me, I appreciate it! I looked at my tower again and it appears to be really flat. With that said I've decided to go with the 3-some because of advice of you and others here. Will cost more than two pro 485's but from what people say sound better. Thanks again!

Bryce

[Thomas Hohl]

Thomas,
Thanks for your reply. So it sounds to me that the 3-Some is the way to go. If you have pics of yours I would love to see how they look with the bimini customized. Why did you opt for the 60's over the 80's?

Thanks,

Bryce

I did not want a crazy loud system, just something that works very well. So I thought that the 60s would do the trick. It's mainly for my kids, and I had heard that the WS speakers were awesome. They really are VERY well made speakers. I am a machinist and even I was impressed. just make sure to get the upgraded brackets for your speakers, or you will wish you had. They make the whole bimini thing work much better. You are going to love your setup.

[chpthril]

I did not want a crazy loud system, just something that works very well. So I thought that the 60s would do the trick. It's mainly for my kids, and I had heard that the WS speakers were awesome. They really are VERY well made speakers. I am a machinist and even I was impressed. just make sure to get the upgraded brackets for your speakers, or you will wish you had. They make the whole bimini thing work much better. You are going to love your setup.

Just an FYI for all that read, the Pro80's and Pro485's do come with the new SS quick-connect clamp and the Pro60's, MB8's, XST-650, and SST-65's can be fitted with them as an upgrade. MSRP = $159.99

[Bryce]

chpthril,
Great to hear that the 3-some comes with the upgraded brackets at no extra cost.

Now after talking to a few people I am woundering if I should do an xs-xxx on a syn 1 or stick to the origional plan of an xs-12 on a syn 2. I don't need the whole boat to ripple the water, but I want a good amount of base projecting out when we are riding. Any suggestions or experience between the different two?

Thanks again!

[chpthril]

chpthril,
Great to hear that the 3-some comes with the upgraded brackets at no extra cost.

Now after talking to a few people I am woundering if I should do an xs-xxx on a syn 1 or stick to the origional plan of an xs-12 on a syn 2. I don't need the whole boat to ripple the water, but I want a good amount of base projecting out when we are riding. Any suggestions or experience between the different two?

Thanks again!

It will ultimately come down to where you decide to place the sub IMO, I dont think you will really be pleased with the performance of any sub when stowed away in a storage compartment, unless you fabricate a nice big vent for the compartment. The XS-12 will work well with either a .9 cu/ft sealed enclosure or a 1.4 cu/ft ported. A .9 sealed box is simple, doesnt consume a lot of space, and is effective when the sub is powered correctly (700W's @ 4 ohms on the Syn2). The ported box needs to be 1.4 cu/ft, that's not overly huge, but it's 50% larger then the sealed. IMO, if you where going to do a ported, I would go ahead and consider doing a 1.7 cu/ft and stepping up to the XXX, IF you can fit that size of box.

Again, just my opinion, but having a 12" sub pushed by 700 to 1K watts closed up in a storage compartment it like idling your Corvette in the garage with the door closed.

[Bryce]

I will most definately take your advice and put it below the steering column (probably have box build inside and use existing wood as front side of box) with the speaker sealed, facing out where my feet are. I was going to run it on the Syn 2 at 700W since I would get the dual 2 ohm sub. At least that's what people at Wet Sounds suggested for the amp/sub combo. Knowing that will the base in the boat hit hard? I don't really want to step up to the Syn 1 and XS-XXX unless you think it's necessary to get a lot of base and make the music sound and feel how it is intended to. As I said I'm not one for making the whole boat shake just for the sake of doing so, but want it to sound good. I also don't want to take up all of the space below, besides me feet need somewhere to go too!

Thanks again,

Bryce

[chpthril]

Check out the Tige gallery on Wet Sounds http://www.wetsounds.com/pages/galle...tige/tige.html and you will see a couple of installs with the sub in that location.

The Syn2 will do 700 watts RMS x 1 with the XS-12D2 wired in parallel (= 4ohm's) and you will not be disappointed with this setup.

You should not have any trouble building a .9 box that will fit through the front opening, when assembled, and then use the sub's mounting screws (will need longer then whats supplied) to secure the box to the back of the wall.

[ds@earmark]

Bryce,

I would really support the bass-reflex enclosure. I think you've got the room with perhaps a single angle to conform to the hull? Because the XS-12 is lower mass and easier to drive, the SYN 2 combination will also definitely hammer. The smaller ported displacement could prove to be a bit friendlier install particularly in consideration of the insertion dimensions.

If you did an overlay clad in the same marine carpet (a standard color & pattern) it could trim both the sub driver and a slotted port or two smaller tube ports. Just offset the length of the port by the depth of the factory facade plus the overlay.

Build a truly water-resistant enclosure and be sure to elevate it off the sole with at least a 1/2-inch gap.

David
Earmark Marine