Got Box..

The things we do to get the correct air space..

Anyone else see the woofer surrounds smashed in to make these fit?

Something tells me this no es bueno amigo

looks great I will take two please

Im sure the subs are originally shaped like that? Something like Boston acoustics subs.

(Message edited by bjeremi on January 20, 2010)

I dont think the surrounds would matter as long as nothing interferes with the excursion of the sub.

WOW that's a pretty cool box. Looks like it's a ported box with 2 SPG 555's. How many Q-feet do you need? Correct me if I'm wrong but it look's like the subs are pushing towards the front of the boat and the port is going to exit out the back into the boat/passenger compartment. Pretty intresting.
Ben: Who's boat is this I wanna hear how the Bass is gonna sound when it's finished. Whats gonna power the subs and what in the rest of the boat??

Yeah those look like SPGs and thats their shape. Looks like an interesting install. What else is going on with this boat?

G - I'm pretty sure it's firing towards the cabin area, at the driver's feet. I think you may be looking in the bow of an x-star or some other pickle forked MC towards the rear of the boat.

ahhh maybe. that makes more sense, more pics will be needed. i was thinking they ported it out where the glovebox was.

Those are in the passenger side firing towards the front... I think. LOL

(Message edited by wake_upppp on January 20, 2010)

Justin: Yea that makes sence. The 3 cup holders on the side threw me off. It looks like a traditional passenger side of any boat. Yea that must be some monster X star boat.

Yeah that's definitely the bow of the xstar. That is a massive box.

Which means ported up to the windshield which should reflect the sound through the cabin of the boat even more? Definately would like to hear that. Interesting indeed.

The speaker surround is clear. They are indeed 2 SPG555s. They look a little different because the rear magnet covers have been removed. It is in a Mastercraft X-45 with the woofers and port facing the driver under the dash. The enclosure is 5 cubic feet vented and tuned to 33hz. The extension under the seat was to gain the last 1.5cu.ft needed. The specs are very close to the high output design that Boston recommends but modified slightly for a deeper impact.

This should give you a better idea of the location of the subs. This is just a template taped in front of the opening.

Let me know if any one wants to take a listen to it.



Sorry for the cell phone pic on this one..

NICE!

I have one of those Boston 555's in my SAN. Two must sound insane and take a ton of power.

Looks good Ben. Can you put in a hidden volume limit so I can keep the owner from pushing it too hard?

This is one of my buddies boats, I talk to him weekly, he is very excited and very happy with the work so far. This is round III for sub boxes in the boat, the other's were not nearly this nice. I think the others were built by a bay area car stereo shop in the Dublin area, they never sounded very good.

More to the story... We were on a houseboat trip at the end of the summer. My Nautique, the X45, and a direct drive Mastercraft were all linked up behind the houseboats at the marina on Friday night. There were two Wetsounds threesomes and my pair of Wetsounds Pro-485s and a variety of subs all linked together. I was running things with my wireless remote from one of the houseboats. The other houseboats in the Marina were rented by a group of college students. The whole marina was rocking to the beat. Of course the ranger shows up and freaks out because it sounds like we are having a concert. We turned things down for an hour then back up after the rangers went home for the night. It was a good party.

The direct drive Mastercraft had a single JL 10W7 in an off the shelf slot ported JL box. It hit harder than my boat with 2 sealed 12's and the X45 with the ported 12. Basically my boat and the X45 got spanked from a bass comparison standpoint. Looks like the X45 won't have this issue next summer...

Mike: Have you noticed that boats with a ported box hit pretty good 50 to 70 feet away from the boat but when you get in and around the boat its like where did the bass go????

Example: I have heard boat's drive by @ the lake that are like 200 feet away they are booming pretty good. I pull up to them to take a listen and have a look. Everytime it's a boat with a ported box. The Bass is not nearly as strong in the boat as it was from far away? Its some what of a let down. You think Damm that thing is hitting pretty hard all the way over here it's gotta be slamming in the boat. Then when you get there its like 1/2 as loud.
It's kind of like when you see what looks like a hot chick from far and then when you get close enough to see it turn's out to be some long hair'd Dude Dammmmmmm
Im not saying this boat is gonna be like that. Im just saying my past experiance's with ported boxe's have been like that.

Good from far....far from good

Mike - I'm glad that you are getting good feedback from him. Thanks for putting in a good word for me. We are happy with the output and how the project is coming along. Being in the off season is helpful so we can take our time with everything.

Grant - I believe the effect you are hearing is due to the distance it takes for the lower frequency wave lengths to form. Typically with a ported box most of them have a peak in the output between 25hz-40hz depending on box. These lower frequencies are there when you are in or near the boat but the amplitude hasn't has a chance to build yet.

Pic from this morning.

G Im no audio expert but I have an awesome home theatre with a really nice ported 15" sub. Depending where you place the sub you can walk around the room and get "dead spots" with no bass. The key is to reflect the port off of a wall but at just the right distance from the wall and all the dead spots go away. I wonder if that applies to boats as well. Thats what I was hinting to in my previous post about porting this up into the windshield area.

At one time I had a ported box in my closed bow that was ported forward and the sound reflected back and people always commented how the sound always filled the entire inside of the boat. No matter where it was pretty even bass all the way back to the swim platform.

Wow...nice work.

And even better story, mikeski.

I was down there today and that thing was pounding! I have never heard a ported enclosure before in a boat and that sounded amazing.

Good work guys!

Ben, what amp/amps is he pushing those bad boys with?

Shawn - I think I like your profile pic better than mine. I'm in need of an update.

Hate - As Mike mentioned above we are stop number 3 for this boat so it had a good system when it was dropped off. The only thing we are upgrading is the bass and adding LED cup holder rings. Existing equipment: OEM Clarion head and JL interior speakers, JL Slash series amps for interior and for the Wetsounds 485 on the tower. Replaced Tidal Audio amp with Arc Audio KS1000.1BX and replaced a 12"?? with 2 SPG555s.

Looks good Ben.

I'll take the $$ he's spending on those led's and use it for gas if you like please?

Ben - Excellent work !

Ben, can you ad a CCAIPOD to his Clarion? It would be good addition to the head unit. What about another remote we can reach from the rear of the cockpit area.

Ryan - Thanks! The word on the street is that you have a big boomer system going in too.

Mike - I will mention that to him

Finished Pics:

Sweet Install Guys!

Wow, nice work!

Damn nice work Ben as always. I'd love to hear those SPG's to bad you tube can't replocate very well.

wow, that's amazing what you did for those subs! nice work!

was it a total mess back behind the kick panel? i'm guessing you had to relocate the MDC and other electronics and guessing no heater? that looks like a lot of time involved there. nice job

That is sweet! Love the X-45.

not to be a hater but what happens when this owner puts the bow of the boat in to a wave and water comes over the bow. im smelling rotting mdf....

The X-45 doesnt dip often, not saying it wont happen though

looks really nice

Thanks for all the compliments. I wish that I could invest in a camera/mic setup that could show off subs.

spence - I agree with the MDF rotting smell concern. I'm glad we never use MDF in a boat so this won't be an issue.

Wow ,great photos! Let's see some night pics!

spence, I hear you. I have been in this particular boat when the interior liner looked like a shallow hot tub.

Chase, when you get 15 people in this boat bow dips happen (I have been boarding behind this boat with 17 people on the boat).

The liner and the plastic seat bases really keep the water out of the area where the sub and amps are installed.

Next up on the install list:
- Pro-80's to join the single Pro-185 on the tower
- HSE revolution volume control
- H2O waves rf remote control

17 people is crazy!! lol i can see where it would dip now. the most people we have put in the x-star is 12. usually its just 4-5 of us. not many wakeboarders around here

When did the true yellow LED's make it on the market? Where can I find them?

Aqua, Yellow is one of the primary colors of LEDs, they have always been available, just not a popular as other colors. The bonus with yellow is that they do not attract bugs. The opposite is true with blue and white.

im just curious, what did you build the box out of. i work on mastercrafts all day long. the only common thing i see with boxes here is that after a season or so the become mushy. it looked like MDF, please let me know what you use if its not that.... thanks

Grant,
I know exactly what you mean. I've run across several boats that are the same way. Mine for instance, I have a forward (into the wall)firing D.D 12 under each console with a up firing(slotted) port. I love this set up simply b/c it knocks your head off in the boat and also away from the boat.

Cody - I'll have to bring in the DSLR to get some good shots when the next round is done.

Mike - We are underway with round 2 and have everything on order.

Aqua - I could let you know where the LEDs came from but I used up about 95% of the inventory on this boat and still need some for the tower speakers. I can say that the source has been mentioned on this site many many times.

Spence - http://www.extira.com/ been using it for a long time with no worries. Its about 50-75% more than MDF but it is more than worth it.

Ben- That boat ROCKED!

2nd round almost done. I will get pictures up soon.