Exile Stereo Install
 

Hi, I'm a frequent lurker, but don't post on here too often. I recently upgraded my tower speaker set up to Exile gear so finally had something noteworthy to post about :). Boat is a 2006 Moomba Mobius LSV. I replaced my Polk db651 tower speakers in aluminum cans with Exile's new SXT65's, and replaced my Kicker ZX700.5 with the Exile Harpoon (500W RMS x 2 @ 2ohms) and the new Exile SM600.1 marine rated monoblock amp (600W RMS x 1 @ 2 ohms). I already had the custom Exile sub enclosure loaded with an Exile 12" sub.

Below are some pics. I really like the fact that there are no wires showing whatsoever on the tower - I routed the speaker wires from the front to the rear tube via the center oval cross tube. I want to thank David at Earmark for that idea.

As to sound, I am extremely pleased with the SXT65's. The Polk's were fine for floating and swimming behind the boat but when surfing, I could hear them but just barely, making it difficult at times to even tell what song was playing. Powered by the Kicker ZX700.5, it simply was not enough power to overcome the engine noise when surfing and the Polks can't take any more power so a bigger amp was not the answer. And you can forget about hearing them while wakeboarding.

The SXT's are not HLCD speakers so they don't project quite as well as the XM7's but they come close. BUT, they can take a lot of power and the Harpoon delivers 250W RMS to EACH speaker so you can easily hear them while wakeboarding. However, they really shine at surfing speeds - you can hear them loud and clear and they don't sound harsh at that distance like the HLCD's horn tweets do. I am all about sound quality vs quantity so for me, the SXT65's are the ticket. They sound loud and clean and smooth up close but since they can take a lot of power, they can also be easily heard while wakeboarding.

I did try out Exile's HLCD speakers (the XM7's) before settling on the SXT''s. Luckily, I am local to Exile and Brian, one of the owners, was extremely accommodating in letting me try the XM7's so that I could make an informed decision. I actually started out one day on the water with 4 XM7's on the tower, listened to them wakeboarding then surfing, then switched them out for 4 SXT65's while on the water, then wakeboarded and surfed again so that I got to compare them back to back on the same day. In the end, the XM7's were really not that much louder at 75' but the SXT65's sounded much better closer in than the XM7's. Plus they cost quite a bit less than the XM7's so that sealed the deal for me.

I have 6 Polk Audio db651's in the cabin (powered by a JL Audion M6600 6-channel amp) and always thought that the Polks were smooth sounding speakers but after comparing them to the SXT65's, the SXT's are smoother still, and they can take a lot more power. So there might be 3 pairs of in boat Exile's in my future ... :)

Thank you Brian at Exile for some great products and for being so accommodating during this process.!

Now for the pics. Sorry for the quality of them - I will take some better pics when the weather breaks and I can get the boat on the water again.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/IMG_0774.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g.../IMG_07672.jpg

No wires! Still have to plug a couple of the leftover holes in the tower.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/IMG_0751.jpg

Ran 12 gauge to the speakers. All connections were sodered and heat shrunk.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/IMG_0742.jpg

Custom Exile sub enclosure. This was actually an early prototype for the Moomba LSV. The production ones have a taller front trim panel.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...7/IMG_7606.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...7/IMG_6401.jpg


Amps: JL Audio M6600 (cabins), Exile Harpoon (towers), Exile SM600.1 (sub)
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g.../IMG_07592.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g.../IMG_07562.jpg

Looks Great Congrats!!!! You picked the best!!!!

Great job, looks super nice. I am local too, and just added the Exile interior speakers to my Sanger - HUGE improvement. I highly recommend the Exile in-boats, you wont be disappointed!

Looks great Al. Nice work

Nice install. Good work on the battery and power supply, lots of people skrimp on this - it is clear you did not

Wow, that install is clean. Those amps look classy. Good work Al.

Thanks for the props fellas. Until this boat came along, I had never done a stereo install so it's good to hear the positive feedback. And this is the third iteration of the system so I've had some practice :) And of course, I've learned a lot from this and the Moomba forum as well as guys like David from Earmark, Phil from Kicker, and Brian from Exile.

Thats rad that Exile afforded you that opportunity, I guess with their mounting system it would be no problem versuse virtually any other set up. Its says a lot of these SXT65's that you chose them over the HLCD's. I can't imagine picking non HLCD's over HLCD system but its clear these fit your needs better.

Nice clean install, good job!

Actually, the SXT65's do not have the pro audio quick connects that the XM7's do so it was not quite a plug and play swap. That would have made it way easier for sure :)

speakers
 

Awesome install. Love the way you set up the sub -lot's of foot room. When you wire the speakers up from the tower - would love to see how you run the wires

Exile gets all the credit for the sub set up - they designed it specifically for the Moomba LSV. At first, I was leary of giving up leg room but there's plenty left as you noticed.

The speakers are already wired up - you just can't see any of the wires. Everything is ran inside the tower tubing. I ran the wires from the amp inside the front round tube, then thru the center oval tube, into the rear round tube, then to the speakers. The wires run into the speakers thru the clamps.

Crossing over from the front to the rear round tubes is the tricky part. I drilled a 1/2" hole horizontally thru both walls of the front and the rear round tubes and into the oval tube as there is no opening from the oval tube into the round tube. You can see the rear hole in the first pic - it's just below the tow point and has a trim piece covering it. And you can see the front hole in the third pic - I still have to get a trim piece to cover it up. I got the idea from David at Earmark (thanks again David).

Hate mentioned selecting non-HLCDs over HLCDs. You are going to sacrifice some amplitude and projection capability with non-HLCDs. But, in the case of the Exile SXT65s you are getting a smoother response and in my opinion a little better midbass. The SXT65 has a grill-mounted tweeter versus a post-mounted tweeter. This means the midbass cone is continuous and provides a bit more surface area. But there is another benefit to a sealed midbass cone. Spiders, the internal suspension, are normally porous so that the voice coil can breath for cooling reasons. With an open voice coil gap around the center pole piece of a normal coaxial or proaxial, the compressed or rarified air in the pod is allowed to escape which creates a bit of cancelation. However, with a hard and solid dustcap or cone the pod is truely airtight and you get a punchier midbass. Its not an issue in car doors because the coaxial is mounted in an infinite baffle with very low pressure. On the other hand, a small pod displacement of .15 cu.ft. or smaller creates a very rigid air mass. Hence improved
midbass. You would be surprised at the speaker manufacturers that are not even aware of this issue.

David
Earmark Marine

Is that sub box sealed?

What batteries are you using?

No, it's a ported box.

Well, the starting battery is the stock battery that came with the boat. The stereo battery is a standard, lead acid, Group 27 battery, nothing special.

I would think with what...1700 watts RMS you'd kill that battery pretty quick if you wanted to turn the motor off and listen to some tunes.

Killer set up though!

1900W actually :). Yeah, I went from 2 amps to 3 with this upgrade so I probably need to be thinking about upgrading the stereo batt. Although I don't play the stereo super loud for long periods of time with the engine off.

What's the best bang for the buck as far as a single stereo battery solution?

Nubu, on here has two 6v wired in series to get 12v coming off. He uses them for starting and stereo play with no problem even with a large system (4100 watts)and long non running stereo play. He does have a back up starter just in case but to my knowledge has had no problems. Might be a good solution for you, you can get over 200 ah out of them which you'd never get too deep into since you say you don't sit much. Otherwise look at a good AGM with 100+ ah i.e lifeline, Deka, XS Power, etc.

Well, my current Group 27 lead acid battery is rated at 115AH so it doesn't look like I'd be gaining anything with the more expensive AGM batteries?

I guess I'll see how it goes next season - if I start draining the battery, then I'll look at upgrading or adding a third. I do have a ProMariner 20 amp onboard charger that I plug in after each use so at least I'm starting each outing with a fully charged battery.

Al,
I am running a similar set up with 2 deep cycle batteries and I run my stereo loud and with the motor off for long periods. I have never had an issue. I don't even use my isolater. You have a battery isolater, so just switch it to one battery and see how it does.

Diggs, He's running the Blue Sea Systems ACR, no switching needed as it automatically isolates the starting batt out of the loop. With that system it's ON/OFF/COMBINED only. I run that same setup and have had zero issues with it.

Al,

I would just get a second battery for your stereo. I'm running 2 of the Les Schwab Deep Cycle RV/Marine batteries for my stereo alone. And been able to play my stereo for a few hours just floating. I did have to replace them in August due to them no longer holding a charge, but they were 2.5 years old and had been cycled a lot. They are conected to the starting battery via a Blue Seas ACR, like yours.

Tyler, do you have two batteries total, or two batteries just for the stereo? And when you say you don't use your isolator, does that mean you use both/all your batteries to run the stereo with the engine off?

And like Razz says, I have an ACR so it automatically isolates both batteries when I shut the engine off so I don't accidentally run the starting battery down. No need to remember to flip a switch.

Hey Nate,

If my single stereo battery is not getting the job done, I may have to do that but I don't really want to give up the extra storage space just yet.

Do you have an onboard smart charger that is capable of delivering 10-13% of your batteries amp-hour rating to the battery that needs it? My ProSport20 does that. That is the key to keeping your batteries at their full potential and getting the longest life out of them.

Al,

No I do not have an onboard smart charger yet. It is on my list of things to get for the boat. But it keeps getting pushed down the list due to other issues arising. Just as long as I don't have to replace my sub amp right away. I think it will be my next purchase either way.

Al, I have two total and usually just leave them on both. Never had an issue and we leave our boat anchored at the beach with the motor off and music on for long periods of time. I would just experiment with what you have and you can always add it later if you need.

If a guy just wanted to add another standard wet cell battery and didn't want to go the 4d or 8d route I don't think a group 29 or 31 battery can be beat. Some manufacturers call them a group 29 some call them a group 31 but are the same dimensions. Slightly larger than a group 27 but will fit in a group 27 battery box and provide over 125 ah. I've never met anyone who was dissapointed in going that route, I've added 6 of them to friends boats this year. I'll be adding 3 of them this winter to my boat as a second stand alone battery bank with dedicated onboard charger to suppliment my other battery bank, while keeping my emergency starting battery intact.

If you have an ACR then the importance of having a shore AC charger is a little greater. The voltage sensing and automatic switching function of an ACR can keep your stereo battery off line from the alternator for longer periods, and in some cases after an extended play time resulting in very low voltage together with low rpms and/or a short drive time may not recombine at all. So a charger used
regularly can extend your battery lifespan not to mention reduce the voltage sag the following weekend.

David
Earmark Marine

I have two group 29's and I have not been disappointed yet. In testing I would let all 4500 watts bang for 4-5 hours striaght at full volume. Hell we had an end of summer party at a local club here in Portland a month or so ago, and I was the left channel for the d.j. for that long or longer (2 boats in the club, 1left channel, 1 right channel, D.J. in the middle). I think the 29's are the way to go. Got the recommendation from NuBU himself.

Bawshogg - what brand battery are you referencing above.

I am using Motorcraft Marinecraft batteries. BH-29MDC. Almost all the group 29's regardless of brands are about the same as far as reserve capacity and AH are concerned.