It Has Started: The MLA Kicker Bu II

[jwanck11]

[AdaminMN]

Looks awesome CHP!

[chpthril]

Update!

Thanks for all the props

I want to thank Kicker and Phil White for the Excellent product to work with and the flexibility they gave me in designing the system.

Huge thanks to ET for allowing me the opportunity to do the system

Picture wise, I think we have just about covered the system from all angles, so lets get to the meat of the system.

Tower:
Kicker KM6500.2 HLCD Tower system with the extra KM6500 mids. I like to call this the "6-Pack". They are in 6 domestically coated pods from Earmark Marine. The wires are custom hidden through the clamps. SO no visible speaker wires. The silver grills are custom painted black.

The Tower is powered by a pair of Class-D IX500.4 amps. That's a total of 1000 watts RMS to the tower alone. Ive been impressed with the KM6500.2's since the beginning, but man, powered off the IX500.4 is unreal. These are super loud and crystal clear, but yet not harsh like a traditional HLCD. They make a sweet surf/wake-board setup. They actually seem to be louder, the further you get away from the boat.

In-Boats:
3 pair of the Kicker KM6200 coax and 1 pair of the KM6250.2 components. These are powered off the Kicker ZXM700.5 Marine 5 chnl amp.

Subs:
Under the back corner seats, we have a pair Kicker SKM10 10" Marine subs, each in their own waterproof enclosure. With these under the seats, they dont really add to the music, but damn do they make the boat rumble. These seats seem to be a favorite place to site for the ladies

Under the helm, we did a Kicker CompVX-10 in a 1.5cu/ft ported enclosure powered with a 1000W RMS from the brand new IX1000.1 amp. Some might ask "why the VX and not an L7". Well, everyone does the L7 and I wanted something different. The L7 series subs are slammers no doubt, but the VX is right there with it IMO. Now, the real reason I went with the VX over the L7 was due to enclosure size and the overall mass of the magnet. The VX series subs are very close to the L series in power handling, but baby aint got as much back . This means less motor to drive and less structure taking up valuable enclosure volume. We went with the 10 over the 12 based on what was learned about the under helm space on the 09 VLX we did last year. This combo produces some very low and musical notes, but also hits very hard.

Zones: We are using 2 ZXM-RLC zone controllers and 3 knobs to control the Tower, in-boats and sub. These are located in a custom switch plate with LED rocker switches.

LEDs:
All 16 cup-holder have a waterproof LED puck in the center.
The 6 KM6200 coax speaker have a puck on the back side of each grill mounted tweeter. The component mid-bass drivers each have 4 pucks. The wakestter emblem already has red LEDs behind it, so I moved it from the OEM courtesy light circuit to the rest of the LEDs on there own switch.

Stereo bank volt gauge on the amp rack

Blue-Sea ACR

Dual-bank Shumacher Shin'n Shore On-Board charger.

[mls6722]

All that's left is a round of applause for a spectacular design and installation

[chpthril]

Last minute Upfit!

At last it has arrived!!! We finally received the long-awaited IX1000.5 amp So today, I swapped out the ZXM700.5 powering the 8 in-boats and 2 SKM-10 subs and replaced it with the all new Class-D IX1000.5 This gives us about 50% more watts RMS to each in-boat and about 20% more to each of the SKM-10 subs......and all this in a smaller footprint that draws less current and produces less heat. This amp is absolutely beautiful.

[Timmy!]

That's awesome!!! I will be picking one of those up this spring. Love my IX500.4.

[chpthril]

That's awesome!!! I will be picking one of those up this spring. Love my IX500.4.

Now im just waiting on Kicker to build us a 4-chnl class-D that does around 125W RMS x 4 @ 4 Ohm Hint hint Phil

[thtrog]

Awesome install as always...has to be one of the first with this amp! Sweet amp Kicker!

[sarah.shepherd]

ZXM-RLC 3-zone controllers flush mounted in a fabricated vinyl covered ABS bezel that will be going in the side pocket.

Hey cphthril would it be possible to get some details on how you did the flush mount for these? We are looking to flush (or close to flush) mount ours in either a plexiglass or aluminum plate.

Thanks!!!

[chpthril]

Hey cphthril would it be possible to get some details on how you did the flush mount for these? We are looking to flush (or close to flush) mount ours in either a plexiglass or aluminum plate.

Thanks!!!

Sure! It wasnt a hard project, but took lots of time getting the dimensions right in order for it to fit where I needed it to. I'll post details later today.

[sarah.shepherd]

Sure! It wasnt a hard project, but took lots of time getting the dimensions right in order for it to fit where I needed it to. I'll post details later today.

Sweet!! Thank you!!!

[chpthril]

Hey cphthril would it be possible to get some details on how you did the flush mount for these? We are looking to flush (or close to flush) mount ours in either a plexiglass or aluminum plate.

Thanks!!!

The frame is made out of a sheet of 1/8" ABS. Its easily cut with a scroll, hack, or jug saw and can be formed by warming it up with a heat gun.

To cut the opening for the controllers, I first make cardboard template. I then taped off the area and traced the outline on the tape. To cut the holes, I used a soldering iron with a flat cutting tip. My goal was to make the cutouts in a way that they required some filing out to get a good fit. This way I could account for the vinyl that would soon be between the controller and the ABS.

If covering in vinyl, backing of 1/8" foam adds some body.