'96 malibu response

This is up for sale close to me.. decent wakeboard boats are few and far round here so i'm interested. Does anyone know this boat? Any good? wake decent? handling? rough?

Thanx for all input

i ride behind my friends response lx all the time. its got a monster tower, and with a 600 lb sac filled up in the back, puts out a nicely shaped wake. toss in 4 more people in the boat, and the wake gets up to a pretty good size too. i would definetly get this boat if i was in the market and couldn't afford a wakesetter. as it is, i'm stuck w/ my ski/fish boat

I had a 96 Echelon, same hull. Pretty nice boat, great handling, and a workable wake. Depending on hours, and how clean it is, $15K to $20. Mine was very clean, reasonable hours, wedge, and a similar tower to that one, and I got $18K last summer.

Without knowing hours and condition, I'd say closer to $12-16k for a closed bow, but they are built like tanks and have a lot of potential wakewise. There are also details on Jason Craviero(sp)'s open bow conversion floating around the net too, if you're feeling cramped later on.

I just sold my Centurion v-drive and now I'm looking. Crossover boats are one of my options. I like the late 90's Response LX. I know about the slalom wake and superior handling.

Question: a Response LX with a wedge - if you slammed the heck out of it; say the new Pro-X series Fat-Seat in the back (they say 1200 - 1400 lbs) plus a full sack in the floor locker, and PoP bags in the bow, for a total of 1800 to 2000 lbs --- could you get a Pro-level, Outlaw tournament level wake? With wedge, is that too much of a ration toward the back?

Trace, I know you are very well versed on Malibu hull series..., could this hull do that? would it be too much weight for that boat with the low freeboard?

I'm taking my time and looking at lots of options. One other possibility is to do the same thing with an MC 205 DD.

that's too much weight in the back. with my pro-x fat seat, the water is almost at the rubrail when at idle.

currently i run, 300# in the bow, 1100# beside the engine, and 600 in the back. and that's all i think is even remotely "safe". wake is ig enough, pretty rampy, but it is clean to a little past 80 feet.

Thanx guys. Really appreciate the info. Btw, whats in the bow-compartement? Is it accesible?

The only slammed Response I'm familiar with is a 98 or so LX. The guy ran the wedge, one of those old wake tanks under the swim pform (about 400 IIRC), I think 550s on each side of the motor and another 3-400 in the bow. It sat pretty low, but the wake was nice. Reminded me of my VLX with around 1800 in it.

It's just a big open storage area under the nose.

I have a '99 LX. I run a similar setup as Trace described with the exception of the wake tank. I'd describe the wake as....eh. It has an OK shape but not the height. Additional weight won't help. With just the Wedge and no weight the wake is pretty small. Most people who ride behind the boat actually prefer no wedge and just weight.

Performance-wise, it's a sports car. It handles incredibly well. And, of course, you're getting a world-class slolom wake...if you're into that sorta thing.

Oh yeah - it pulls a great tube.

The response throws a sweet wake when properly weighted. I have 250lbs of lead, 100lbs of steel (all hidden), the wedge, and about 4 people and I get an awesome wake. Just don't expect to ride farther then 75 feet. I love the wake for being a ski boat, I have learned a lot of tricks behind it.

what about a '91 euro f3? how is the wake behind it when weighted? Ive been looking around and have found a mint condition f3 with a pylon for about eight grand

i agree that the wake on the reponse is great. another boat to look at is teh echelon it is the sameexact boat as the response. the reponse is based on the sv23 hull which was malibus first wake hull only they removed the lip at the back the hull. if you look over at www.themalibucrew.com you will find out a lot about the older malibus and malinus in general. by the way i have a 93 echelon

I must not be doing something right then. The wake is too wide for me at 80, and I'd like more height. More weight in the bow?

I always thought the wake in my 96 was really wide compared to other boats

Rich,

The Response won't put out a world class wb wake period. It's not designed as a cross over rather a world class slalom boat. As others have indicated you can get a nice wake out of it but nothing close to a v-drive wake. If cost is an issue I'd look at a Sunsetter LX (Wakesetter) now called the I-ride.

It definitely doesn't have the max size potential of a Vdrive, but IMO it is very good compared to other small DD's.

Thanks for all the Responses (pun intended), even though I highjacked this thread. I am now leaning more towards v-drives only, either a 205V hull or an older wakesetter / sunsetter.

Bob, did you buy this 96?

Responses cannot put out a great wake. I have had 600 lbs in the back, 600ish in the bow, and then 4 people in the boat with a wedge down, and laden down with gear. Not only was it dangerously low in the water, but the wake is comparable to my friends x-10 with just the rear sacs full and maybe 5 people in the boat. It could just be me, but my response will never put out a wake that I am happy with.