Just unwrapped our 2010 mostly black VLX, wanted some feedback on the color combo. Sorry for the poor picture, it was taken with my phone. You get the idea though. <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/743247.jpg" alt="Upload">

Boat colors look awesome. I am not a fan of the new tower though.

Very sleek. Looks great! What's not to like about it?

Wow, very nice!!

dislike the tower, but love the black and white

I normally dont like the new tower, but it looks awesome on your boat. Congrats.

That is a sick looking boat, congrats, I really like the color combo!!

Put the Illusion XS back on there and it would be perfect.

Agreed^, besides that tower, the boat is badass

It's the anti-ghost. I like the look and the new tower is nice in my opinion.

That boat looks great! One of the cleanest looking boats I have seen in a long time. <BR> <BR>Not sure about Bu's new tower and I do wish Bu would have an option for letters that dont look like something used in Transformers. But that is being very very picky.

Great color combo. Don't listen to these guys about the tower. Put a bimini, speakers and racks on it and it will look better.

I was open minded about the tower until I saw one at the dealer last week. I am not a fan either. Doesnt look like the tooling on the towers is going to be too friendly for aftermarket options. <BR>And the Bimini sits way too low in the back. <BR>Sharp looking boat otherwise.

Congrats! Very good looking boat! <BR> <BR>I actually like the tower, especially after having seen how it raises and lowers, gas struts, one hand operation, very cool. Besides the illusion tower was getting old and looked it imo. Everyone hates new towers when the come out anyway.

Is it the dealerships? Yeah I agree it looks sick, I love the Darth Vader look.

The mechanics of the tower are awesome and very intelligent. That being said, I still would prefer the older illusion.

That is one really nice looking boat and I'm not a Malibu fan either. The graphics are well done along with the stripes. Not a fan of that tower but I'm sure over time I'd get used to it and it would be just fine. Malibu has really stepped it up in the style department when it comes to gel coats for sure.

Boat looks sweet. And the tower has grown on me. I didn't like it when I first saw it but now I think it is awesome. I have a somewhat biased opinion because I hated the old illusion tower. Not the looks but its functionality. I still think the Titan III is the best tower ever. But, that is a very biased opinion!

Yes it is the dealerships and for sale. I should have mentioned that. Wish it was mine, but if it doesnt sell you better believe it will be our demo!

If it doesn't sell over winter, it would get plenty of attention at the Chicago boat show. I remember last year, Munson had the black and green Monster Malibu. I'll be looking forward to going back this year to check out what's new.

Wes, we have something up our sleeve that we know will be better looking than the Monster Malibu from last year. It will be a VLX, and it will be sexy!!! See you at the show.

it seems like malibu made there boats more low profile this year? i mean its probably just an illusion to me but it looks like it would not sit as high i nthe water? i love the look but i thing the origional illusion tower would look amazing on it!!!

kyle I think it's the tower that makes it look that way. The new tower goes more straight up than the XS or X. There is no difference in the boats from 09-10 accept minor cosmetics here and there.

ahhh for sure i love the look though its so clean!!!!

That tower has grown on me. Still don't think it is as good as it could be, but I really like how it blends into the lines on the boat. I think tweaking the design of the black part of the tower would make that a killer design. <BR> <BR>Aside from the tower, sick looking boat. Personally, I'd tint those windows just to black that ride out.

Tower is definitely growing on me. And I agree that it might be a little lower profile, but it's tough to tell. This is with a little more than 2,000 pounds of added ballast. <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/743891.jpg" alt="Upload">

Some more of the tower with the new Wet Sounds Pro 60's. It almost makes them look small... <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/743895.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/743896.jpg" alt="Upload">

What is your impression of the wake performance of the new hull vs the old hull with added weight?

The tower looks a lot better loaded up like in David's pics. That does seem pretty low with only 2k extra weight. So that is with 3000-3500 pounds total David? The boat looks great.

UH OH! David in the picture of the rear of the boat it looks like you don`t have room in the upper rack lower position for a second board. Is this an illusion or are the racks to close together? <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/743915.jpg" alt="Upload">

John, good catch. If that is how it works with spinner racks or fixed that is a major design flaw. I guess they will see that eventually and make the top rack angled more vertically.

It's not an illusion. The racks are actually spaced the same distance apart as they were on the Illusion tower, but the rack angles are different. On my old boat, the upper rack was angled upward so that the boots pointed outward more when there was a board in the rack. That way they didn't interfere with the lower rack (see pic). I'm not sure if I just got two bottom racks or what, so I'm waiting to hear back from Malibu on this issue. You've got a keen eye!! <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/743940.jpg" alt="Upload">

As far as wake performance goes, I haven't really had a chance to compare apples to apples. When we had the boat out this week, we had as much as 4,000 lbs. of ballast in the boat with the Wedge down. Obviously, the wake is amazing with that much weight in it. However, that's not the way I usually ride behind it. I usually go with the stock ballast and about 800 pounds of Pop Products bags. So far, I've only had a chance to try that configuration for one run. From what I could tell, it's got a little bit more of a peak to it. There was something that was definitely different because it took some getting used to, but the size seems to be about the same or maybe a hair taller. Nothing too dramatic. But, again, that was just from one ride. I will get a better feel after I and several other riders have had a chance to ride behind it a little more.

Both boats are Beautiful! Would love to have either one.

Dave - swim pad already peeling off or were you guys messing with it?

Weatherall wanted to show me how easily he could remove it. I had to remind him that the new one wasn't going on until we were done riding. <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> This one will be going on now that the old one has been removed... <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/743944.jpg" alt="Upload">

Hmm, interesting mount for the tower speakers <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0> by interesting I mean ugly.

Dave- <BR> <BR>boat looks good! <BR> <BR>hate -unfortunately there is not much of a choice and the wetsounds mounting system is actually a better setup than stock

Love that swim-deck cover!

Old wake vs the new wake.... The new wake is definitly steeper than the old wake with the weight im running in it. A little more lippy than the old VLX. I love it! <BR> <BR> <BR>Dave, where did you get that custom swim pad!?!? Our Chicago boat show boat still needs a little more custom love....

Looks like that pad was made by Seadek.<a href="http://www.seadek.com/" target="_blank">http://www.seadek.com/</a>

Yup, SeaDek.com hooked that up. This thing looks sooooo sweet! You should definitely get some white ones with your logo for the show!!

Thanks Dave and Razzman, I will look into that ASAP.

Damn them Bu's are sexy!

David, <BR> <BR>Boat and new speakers looks awesome! <BR> <BR>Kevin, <BR> <BR>Black with white is killer! <BR> <BR>Hate, <BR> <BR>The 2010 factory system speaker mount is below. As you can see it has a shelf that the speakers mount on. <BR> <BR>There are NO mounting locations for speakers like the Illusion X or XS. There are only two recess holes behind the board racks. The factory shelf is bolted there and the speakers are bolted to that shelf. The factory one has threads in the shelf that you bolt into. <BR> <BR>We made a shelf system that uses 3 bolts versus the factory 2. There are tabs welded to the pipe that attach to the black plate. For our shelf you use the 2 factory locations like their shelf but we "through" bolt it versus going into a thread for a stronger mount. You also remove one of the bolts from the tabs and install a longer one. So this way you have 3 bolts and a very solid mount. <BR> <BR>The shelf is also designed to be able to mount 2 pairs of 60's or two pairs of 80's. Or any combo of each. Like the Double Up (60 and MB-8 combo) <BR> <BR>Now you can also go onto the top cross bar with conventional clamps. But most Bu owners want the factory style. <BR> <BR>I would imagine someone will also see this as a way to mount 4 PRO 80's on the factory locations and some more on the cross bar! <BR> <BR>Tim <BR>Wet Sounds <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/744015.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR> <BR>(Message edited by wetsounds1 on October 28, 2009)

I just heard back from Malibu on the racks and apparently they will eventually be offering an angled rack for the upper position on the tower. However, it is not available yet and that’s why I’ve got two bottom racks. When the forks are angled the boards will not interfere with each other, but you will no longer be able to swivel the upper rack in if you are using a bimini, so I’m assuming that a non-swivel angled rack will be what I’ll eventually have in that spot. For now I’ve got six board racks and two wakeskate/wakesurf racks! <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> I do like how they opened up one fork on each rack to accommodate thicker boards such as wakesurfers, yet it still works fine for a wakeboard.

^^Yeah, that last part is genius. Think you can get a knee board in there<IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

You could get one of the new compression-molded kneeboards in there. However, the old-school plastic Hydroslide (about 3" thick) is not happening! <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>