I'm Back... Again!

[countryboy26047]

Hey everyone, it's been a long while since I've posted here even though I still find myself referencing the forums here anytime I'm messing around with boats or discussing them with other folks... Anyhow, if anyone remembers, I used to spend a decent amount of time here asking questions and posting updates on my old '75 Seastar tri-hull. Well, last spring I finally gave up the ghost and gave up on the tri-hull. It is in need of soooo much, I just didn't have the time or money to sink into it as a project, so for now, it's sitting in my field as a lawn ornament. Not willing to give up my time on the water, I ended up going out and buying another boat. I ended up with a 1985 Citation Capri 19' bowrider w/mercruiser 3.0 I/O and I along with my family LOVE it!! Granted it's a bit older than I ever planned on going, I ended up getting an amazing deal on it and couldn't pass it up. She run's great and looks the part also! Last year, I just ran it and had fun but with winter finally setting in full-force around here, I've pulled her in the garage with the plans of doing a very detailed buffing/waxing of the hull, and some general clean-up of the interior even though it's already in very clean condition. I also started another project on it yesterday..... I'm currently installing a Kenwood KMR-M312BT stereo with 4 Pyle Hydra series 6 1/2" speakers and a 600 watt Pyle Marine Amp! Anyhow, before I drag this out even more, Here is my baby!

 

[countryboy26047]

So I just realized that I had posted a thread here last year in regards to my new boat and some issues I was having with it... Long story short, it ended up being the module inside the distributor (has an aftermarket electronic ignition) was bad as well as being WAY out of time (close to 11 degrees!!) So those issues taken care of and she's running beautiful!

 

[tlombard]

I'm a little jealous of your stereo project. A friend and I used to be really into car audio and just audio in general. For years our cars were constant projects because we just kept upgrading every chance we got, especially as we got better with fabrication. When I picked up my new baby last month I figured I would at least get to upgrade the stereo this winter so I had something to do. A proper stereo will really up the enjoyment factor for my time on the lake since our pontoon literally had only one working speaker last summer and our previous boat didn't have any stereo so we just used small Bluetooth speakers. The other boats just weren't worth putting any money into (the stereo would be worth more than the boat!) so we just dealt with it.

I finally pulled the trigger and stepped my boat game up to an entirely different level than the previous couple I share(d) with my dad and his girlfriend (this one's all mine) but I don't get to have that project this winter though because the guy I bought the boat from already did that. This winter has and will continue to be pure torture on me. I'm also jealous that you have the garage and can keep your baby at home. I have to leave mine in a warehouse a couple miles away for the winter so I can't even go stare at her in my free time.

 

[countryboy26047]

I know what you mean, I used to do a TON of customizing on vehicles with stereo's along with body work and performance upgrades. I ALSO know what you mean about how bad it sucks to be on the water and "not have tunes" lol. I am an audiophile and am addicted to all things music. Prior to this upgrade, my boat actually had one of the old style push-button type radio's in it, with 4 speakers even though only 1 1/2 worked. I didn't really expect this to turn into the project that it has, but in the process I decided I wanted to relocate the head unit because the old one was mounted down on the 'kickplate' under the drivers side dash and was a P.I.T.A to reach down to adjust it. I ended up installing the new one in the dash right beside the steering wheel which meant cutting vinyl, 2 thick layers of wood and a layer of fiberglass which that part alone kicked my butt!

I finally got everything wired up (after I had a brain fart and tried to connect both my constant and switched power wires directly to the battery switch), got the amp all wired up and two of the speakers installed.... I'm just racking my brain as to where to mount the other two speakers

 

[countryboy26047]

Once I complete my 'little' project and get her all cleaned up from the messes I've made I'll take some pics and post and see what everyone thinks

 

[tlombard]

I've seen some weird places to mount a stereo but that does sound horrible and needed to be changed. I like the fact that on my boat the stereo is right where you moved yours to. I'm so used to seeing them all on the passenger side that I was very happy to have it mounted where it is.

And then you can move on to the sub! That friend and I used to joke about putting a sub in his boat but we stuck to just upgrading the speakers in the rear bench to 8s and using quality stuff all around. When I was looking at my new girl the guy had said that he upgraded the stereo but good lord. That sub my friend and I used to joke about is right there in the engine compartment!!! Transom controls, bluetooth, 8s in the rear bench, 6.5s up front, two Rockford marine amps and a 10" sub to go along with a Fusion marine head unit... that plays DVDs. I guess I might have one project on my hands now. Finding a suitable portable projector and hanging a screen from the wakeboard tower! Then we can have movie nights on the water. I'm thinking Jaws would be perfect to watch while floating around off the back of the boat.

I've also come to my senses and dug out an old phone that I don't use anymore. Since the stereo has Bluetooth, I'll just download music to the phone and then anybody can control the volume and selection from anywhere in the boat. I wiped everything off of the phone which left me with a few GBs of space and since I have Google Music, I can download whatever we might want to hear before leaving for the lake and be done with it. A couple of weeks ago I actually started scouring Google Music to try and come up with a good mix of the classics from every genre and started a few play lists so that I've already got the necessities when the season gets here and can download any new stuff at that point.

 

[jbcurt00]

Pix of the before and during a project is helpful to those that follow along, in addition to the finished project pix.

 

[countryboy26047]

I've seen some weird places to mount a stereo but that does sound horrible and needed to be changed. I like the fact that on my boat the stereo is right where you moved yours to. I'm so used to seeing them all on the passenger side that I was very happy to have it mounted where it is.

And then you can move on to the sub! That friend and I used to joke about putting a sub in his boat but we stuck to just upgrading the speakers in the rear bench to 8s and using quality stuff all around. When I was looking at my new girl the guy had said that he upgraded the stereo but good lord. That sub my friend and I used to joke about is right there in the engine compartment!!! Transom controls, bluetooth, 8s in the rear bench, 6.5s up front, two Rockford marine amps and a 10" sub to go along with a Fusion marine head unit... that plays DVDs. I guess I might have one project on my hands now. Finding a suitable portable projector and hanging a screen from the wakeboard tower! Then we can have movie nights on the water. I'm thinking Jaws would be perfect to watch while floating around off the back of the boat.

Good Lord man, sounds like you got one HELL of a system there! I'd be more concerned about that getting you in trouble in no-wake zones than the motor!! hahaha

I still have yet to figure out where I'm gonna mount the other two speakers, but I did go ahead and get everything working with just the two speakers just to double check everything and I have to admit, for only being 6.5" full-range speakers, they sound pretty friggin awesome!

Pix of the before and during a project is helpful to those that follow along, in addition to the finished project pix.

I always forget to take before pics, and most of the time pics throughout the project whatever it may be... That and I'm always self conscious about things like this that I do.. I'm sort of a perfectionist so no matter how good a project may come out, I still see everything that could have been done differently/better.

 

[tlombard]

Thankfully the lake I go to doesn't have water patrol in the normal sense with it being entirely private. We do have water patrol but they basically just cruise around periodically to make sure that all the boats on the water have a current year sticker proving they paid their assessments and everything and making sure people aren't violating the no wake zones. On a busy weekend you might be tied up in the cove all day and see WP twice. Many weekends you won't see them at all. Although I don't plan on blasting it to the point of annoying others. With the place being private and smaller you see the same people every weekend and make friends.

As for the other two speakers the most common spots are pretty obvious being on each side in the kick panel area of the consoles or I guess up front on each side of the bow area. I think for the sake of sound, the bow area would be better if you can mount them up higher (like above the cushions) but that is definitely extremely exposed to the water, sun, etc. so I think the protection of the middle of the boat is probably a good idea. But it clearly isn't as cool as something really custom. I'm having flashbacks to the custom kick panels a friend and I built for my Camaro years ago. The process takes some time but is fairly straight forward. Maybe you could make some fiberglass pods that could be angled up and sealed for what would probably be the best sound. Although without seeing the layout of the boat it is hard to say exactly what could be done. I don't know if you've worked with fiberglass before but I always enjoyed the process of seeing what kind of shapes and such that we could get and we definitely got better as time went on.

On a boat, I'm not surprised what you have wired up sounds good though. Unless you pick a weird area, you benefit from having a pretty sealed enclosure pretty much anywhere which is going to help immensely with the lower end of things.

 

[countryboy26047]

Well I've been at work for 14hrs now (2hrs left to go uggghhh) and I've made my brain hurt thinking about those other two speakers and I think I'm going to mount them in the front but problem is the way my bow is shaped, I'm not going to have much choice other than mounting them down low.... or I may just build boxes for them, and put them in the side storage compartments.

 

[jbcurt00]

Moved to the Audio forum.

 

[tlombard]

Without seeing anything, sounds like boxes may be the way to go. The nice thing about boxes is that you can move or remove them plus if a brilliant idea surfaces later, you haven't done anything you can't undo to the boat and still have a chance to do something different.