Any recommendations on a Stereo Installer..

I am looking for a reputable shop to install some stereo equipment in my Malibu 21Xti. I don’t have the space (or the time) to do this myself.

I am willing to tow the boat up to 100miles or so from the Bay Area, CA to get this done.

Any recommendations (and why you recommend them) would be much appreciated.

Hey Ken check your email

www.soundillusionsaudio.com

I had Liquid Trends do the install on my boat. Although there is a small problem with the speaker box developing some spider cracks they are going to replace it at no charge. So i have to say they are a stand up company. They did a clean install and I have had no other problems. They also have a shop in San Jose.

I would second Liquid Trends...Great company, very cool helpful guys. Clayton from what I hear, is also the man.

I've seen great work by both the above mentioned. Most of the Delta area car audio places do boats. Ultimate Car Toys in Dublin did the system in my old boat, and did a nice job. While I wouldn't go back for a new system in my boat (i did my own), they were cool, did clean work, and got it out quick and at what I planned to spend.

Take it to Enriched Audio, Lance is the Man. Have them install 6- 12's and a Wrangler 220 amp alternator with some of them 3 hr bluetop's
http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/376439.html?1161737025

Hey Grant I went to your website and noticed a lot of 210's. Is what you guys do mainly or are there just a bunch of 210's around your area?

Ken -
I'm in San Jose and I had mine done at Neptunes Marine audio in Stockton http://www.teamneptunes.com/
I have other friends that have had their's done at Sound Illusions and Neptunes and both shops do top notch installs and custom work and really know their way around marine audio.
Not sure exactly what you had planned here though. If it's just installing a head unit and interior speakers you could get that done at Topside marine which is in North SJ I think.

I am not sure if Stockton is too far away but you might check out Neptunes Marine Audio.
www.teamneptunes.com
Those guys do great work.

also check out Car Audio Depot in Modesto. I had them do my tower set up and it is great. I'll also be taking my boat down there this offseason to have a 10W7 in a custom box under the driver side dash.

Neptune Marine Audio or Liquid Trends. Those guys both do great work.

Thanks for all the replies, it helps a lot. The project I am looking at doing includes the following:

-2 Optima Batteries with Perko switch (replace stock battery)
-Replace Kicker speakers (x4) with more efficent ones
-Add 4 tower speakers
-Add Sub under the dash
-Add 3 amps (1 4 channel for in boat speakers;1 4 channel for tower speakers; 1 mono amp for sub)
-Add Sony XM module for head unit
-Add a couple of tower lights

That should set the boat up nicely.

hey ken the place to go is kustom kar in santa rosa. these guys have ben installing boat systems for a while now. if you want a better job then these other shops go to kustom kar. they should change the name to kustom boat audio because at any time of the year you can see at least on boat in the shop as well as cars and trucks. they are well beyond their time. just ask "bling" and clayton how they get their ideas on how to build a box for a boat, easy call scott babson and ask him

one or more boats

That's pretty similar to what I did on my boat at Neptunes, except I didn't bother with lights and I added an EQ (which is key for fading between the tower and interior).
Spend the time to figure out what tower speakers work best for your situation. There is a big difference between adding 4 car speakers in cans vs. the HLCD pro audio speakers (at least if you want to hear clearly when riding).

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quote:

just ask "bling" and clayton how they get their ideas on how to build a box for a boat, easy call scott babson and ask him

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NOW THATS SOME USEFULL ADVICE!

hey bling im just messin with u . babson is a great dude to learn stuff from. these guys do such great work but they dont post picts because they need to ask their customers if it would be ok with them. so mabey one day everyone can see how great their workmenship is.

From the Bay area go to http://www.teamneptunes.com/ in Stockton.They will have reasonable prices and get you in and out quickly .

Neptunes in Stockton carries a wide variety of products to meet any budget with top quality installation.

Richard what Jerry is talking about is, I talked to Scott at Kustom Kar about some Ideas for Jasons sub box. So Jerry was just joking around its all good.

Mabey this is a good quetion for another thread but how much money is Ken looking to spend?

BECAUSE I think some shops are better depending on how much money your willing to spend.

Grant,
Have Clayton and yourself broken up???

Dont see any links anymore in your profile!!!

Suggesting other shops.
What is the deal???

E: Clay and I are still together,(Husband and Wife) LOL. The suguesting other shop was toung and cheek. Clay owns Sound Illusions and works there full time. I just show up when I wann make somthing LOL. When I had my name and profile on W/W with Sound Illusions people would call the shop and ask for me like I ownd the place and Clay would have to explain he was the owner ect. So I changed my profile so there is no confusion.

Check your e-mail, we are in San Jose.

Jerry you really know how to bring someone down!!! Thats a hard one to take. The guys at Kustum Kar are great guys and do awesome work, I will give them that.

"BECAUSE I think some shops are better depending on how much money your willing to spend"
I think Grant has a good point here. I was thinking kind of the same thing but worried I might offend someone. Since Grant already opened this box, I'll put my $.02 in.
Having seen work from all 3 of these shops, I'd put it this way:
1) Neptunes: Jim and Chas are definetly a cut above the average shop and have extensive experience around boats from basic systems to elaborate installs with LED and Video. Excellent quality work and will get you sounding awesome in short order.
2) Clay at Sound Illusions is an artist with great vision and craftsmanship. If you want to have some extra "Show" to your install and recognize the value of good work, Sound Illusions is hard to beat.
3) Scott Babson at Kustom Kar is also an artist and is likely the prmier fabricator in the business. Like Clay his attention to detail is endless. The thing that I see from Scott is that he can do the "Show" install (and has, see the next issue of Car Audio Electronics) or, he'll design it such that you'll be wondering where everything is.
This is just my opinion based on what I've seen. Each of these guys have access to the same electronics, it's what you do and how you do everything else that separates these guys from everyone else.

(Message edited by nvsairwarrior on November 01, 2006)

IMO,I think the majority of boaters including Ken would want a nice clean sounding system with good quality installation. I would think you would have to pay an "artist" much much more money for the same work that a good quality shop would perform. That is why I chose Neptunes. Good clean sound with good installation quality and you don't have to mortgage the house .

JTW I would agree there are many different levels of participation when it comes to sound systems . Many are budget driven many are not typicaly the budget minded group is the most vocal claiming they got more for less etc .Ken I myself would take it to whom ever I felt comfortable with you will not get 3 people on a wake forum to agree on who or what thats for sure.I know several of the people posting or mentioned on this thread ,Bling for one is a living audio dictonary a true enthusiast with a ton of talent his grass roots efforts rival any of the top shops . Jerry Ponte lives and breaths audio every thing he drives has a full tilt Kustom Kar system .Sound Illusions Clay even though I do not know him as well as some mentioned he is always up to speed with the latest and always looking for new ideas .I would talk with Duane from NVS he works with all the shops he would be a great source of info Duane has several new state of the art features coming out soon also .Mikeski definetly knows his stuff from a technical stand point he is one at the top .For a state of the art no compromise system Babson would get my vote good luck Joe

Money is almost always the limiting factor for us werkin stiffs.


If I wanted to low-buck it, I would get some amps (Kraco!) and speakers off ebay and do the install myself. I have installed several car systems in my own vehicles and have been pretty happy with my own work.

This boat is another matter. I just spent big money on the boat/trailer and was appalled at the stock, craptastic stereo system Malibu used. I have seen a lot of other boats (in person and pictured on various sites) and their sound systems.

The problem I am running into is if I want to be a DIY guy and install a really nice system, I will have to pull my boat home each weekend to work on it and return it to storage. This will cost a bundle in terms of time and gas money just getting the boat back and forth from storage to my house. Not to mention how pissed the wife will be if I spend the next couple of weekends on “yet another project”. Then there is the poor weather coming up (don’t like installing outside in the rain).

Also, to be honest, I have never installed a stereo system (with amps and such) in a marine vehicle before. I really don’t want to “experiment” on my new Wakesetter.

What is my price range? Well it really depends on the equipment (amps and such) the shop carries. Also, I really don’t know what I want exactly, so I will be looking for some ideas from the installer. No, I don’t have a blank check for a billion dollars to let an installer freely express his artistic side. I do have enough money to get some quality components with some left over for labor and some custom craftsmanship where needed. I just want a solid system that sounds awesome. I am not interested in getting gear in my boat just to show up the “fellas” on the lake.

I am being a little vague on the price here because I feel my bottom line (of what I want to spend) is a private matter between me and the installer.

But again, thanks to all who have responded. At least now I have a couple of names/shops to look at!

Wow, this thread is getting thick. I even made the list and I don't even work in the industry! I am good buddies with Grant and Clay so I usually recommend others to go to Sound Illusions, this case would be no different. But as Grant alluded to, it depends on what you want to spend. As you can see in pictures posted on this webboard there are probably 5 or more shops posting pictures of nicely done systems, most of them could probably meet your needs and budget constraints if you are clear with your direction. If a shop is limited on space and you want a simple system then they might recommend you shop elsewhere, but winter's coming so I would expect nobody will be busy come December.

Duane is in the industry on the supply side so his input here is very insightful.

From my experience people are probably looking at a starting point of around $1k per amp for a clean simple system. Start adding extra's like custom tower boxes and LED backlit sub enclosures and the prices go up from there. Almost all installs will include custom fabrication for some or all of the components. This takes time and translates into money.

For the basic system you describe above I would expect a minimum cost range to be between $5-10k if you use an off the shelf tower solution. If you want to add a custom fabricated one-off tower solution that could add another $5k alone by the time it's finished with a custom paint scheme.

Before you run out and sign up for a stereo installation you might want to take a little time and think about how you will be using the boat with your family. Ask youself questions some questions:

Are the tower speakers for the boat or the rider?
Is sound level or sound quality more important?
Do you need heart stopping bass or is a nice full sound adequate?
Is the stereo for hanging out, cruising, or riding?
What percentage of the time will your listening be done while the motor is running?

I find it's the little things that really make the difference. It's things like the stereo not shutting off every time you turn the key on or off, things like the remote being in a convenient location so you can turn the volume up/down when needed, things like your favorite music selection getting you amped up to a wakeboard set.

Based on your list:
-2 Optima Batteries with Perko switch (replace stock battery)
-Replace Kicker speakers (x4) with more efficent ones (priority 3)
-Add 4 tower speakers (priority 2)
-Add Sub under the dash (priority 1)
-Add 3 amps (1 4 channel for in boat speakers;1 4 channel for tower speakers; 1 mono amp for sub) (priority 3,2,1 respectively)
-Add Sony XM module for head unit (priority 4, get an Ipod)
-Add a couple of tower lights (priority 100, I think tower lights are useless, but that's just my opinion)

Modify these priorities to suit your needs then go shopping.

Good luck

hey clay i was just messin with u. ive seen your work and its real nice clean and the tower box you just did was dope. any installer building tower boxes, dope sub boxes out of glass i give props too. i know how much time it takes to build one of these boxes. bling i think your a real cool dude and know that you do know your stuff about car and boat audio plus when i met u you were hella cool. the reason why i think so much of kustom kar and most of all babson is because of all the years ive seen the work come out of that shop. the workmenship is second to none. not to diss any other shops but kustom kar is just on another level not another price level. just because they do big jobs doesnt mean that their expencive. ive heard the 2500 systems to the 25,000 systems and they are both impressive. its about placement plus power no matter if you have 199 amps or 900 amps. these guys do both very well. and to ken yea its important to not tell people how much you want to spend because some shops are crooks if you tell them u want to spend 10 grand they will find a way to raise the labor or materials. just start low then if you can afford more just ask hey how much more would it be to add another amp or sub. they love to up sell so like i said start low then add it makes them think that they real good at sells. but if you want above the rest or equal spend your hard earned money the right way and thats a shop that has expierence. thats kustom kar thanks you will be pleased 527-5000

Enriched Mobile Electronics
707-585-2400
www.enrichedaudio.com


Ya call "Bling It" Grant West, we will just call everyone else and ask them how to do the install.

Tidal Audio
1-877-569-0763
www.tidalaudio.com

What would be super cool is a "Installer Challange" Like they do at the C.E.S show in Vegas. Check out Select Product's website for details on how they do it. But what I was thinking is somthing like Biker Build Off on the Discovery channel. Take some diffrent shops and give them a new wakeboard boat and let them build a system and let the people decide who's install is the best. It would be a blast to be involved with.

(Message edited by grant_west on November 02, 2006)

Either that or we could let the Santa Rosa installers get in a cage and bare fist thier differences... LOL

Mike,
We know your loyalties but that's way out of character.
Even the Installer Challenge is a cool idea but who's going to fund such a thing.....Andreas, you out there?
You guys are set with the major manufacturers or reps of equipment, convince them to throw down some gear.
I don't thing you'd have any trouble in finding a few boats looking for kick a$$ systems, thats the easy part.

(Message edited by nvsairwarrior on November 02, 2006)

Since this is going way of topic, sorry Ken, Grant if you're serious, start a new thread. You may be surprised and actually get what your talking about!

Just thinking about it I came up with this Idea.
Each of the big 3 could supply a boat. Example
MC=Xstar CC=220 BU=VLX or what ever, you could have an Audio equipment sponsor the installer challenge. They would provide the same amount of equipment for each installs. You could only use the equipment the Audio sponsor provided. The boats would do the boat show circuit together where all involved got coverage. People attending the shows could vote for their favorite set up.

This years boat soundoff at lost isle was a great event.
Id definitley like to see something like this.

Just wanted to update my original post (third from top) Went and saw Johnny at the Liquid Trends in San Jose at lunch time. No hassle exchange for my slightly cracked speaker box (said it looked like a bad mold). Super cool guy, nice looking shop and he had a lot of good pointers for DIY guys like myself. Also threw in some extra hardware/clamps and a speaker grille for the one my son stepped on. I am sure there are a lot of good shops out there but based on my experience with them they have my business for life.

Duane,
Sorry if that was out of line but it's too late to delete it now (you know I have been there before). It was just what came to mind, I was thinking about the previous thread about the Enriched boat where the Santa Rosa rivals were poking at each others eyes, Lance Doggie's post to Grant took me there.

I have seen examples of beautiful work posted here from both Santa Rosa shops. Lots of happy customer posts too. Still nothing revolutionary or unique enough for somebody to claim that others only copy. Putting off the shelf car speakers in a fiberglass box isn't rocket science...

hey bling why didnt you guys have the chance to go to the lost isle show buy the way the neptunes put on a dope show. yo mikeski yea your right bolting speakers to a fiberglass box isnt hard but do you know that the box enriched built was a custom box. dude i hope you dont think that that just looks like a regular box if you do dude dont post on audio stuff. and buy the way all you people who enjoyed the santa rosa stores going at it need to see that we are all friends and we were just messin with each other. but to let you know the two best shops to have a system installed by would by far be kustom and enriched. hey boys when you mess with nor cals two dope shops better bring you a games. lets do it bring the biggest and baddest systems, oh yea kustom kar has won round 1 and when you find a bad boat then kustom then will roll out the arc audio boat dam there goes round 2 for kustom. you guys this is what makes us take stero systems to another level peace 139.8

Bling it, your talking about having a boat build off. There are a couple problems ...

1.) Ebay isnt going to sponsor equipment for you, isnt that were you get all your gear? Second hand, or handed down from Arc? ...

2.) Like Ponte says, stick to lighting, you cant touch the top 2 Audio shops in Santa Rosa

Guys,

Let me be clear. I have no monetary interest in any stereo shop. Clay is the owner of Sound Illusions, Grant is good friends with Clay, I am friends with Grant. I am also friends with Duane, I have met the Neptunes guys at shows, etc.

Lance, you are way out of line. You are slighting Clay's business based on a single conversation you had with his friend Grant. Clay is an authorized Arc Audio dealer like you. If Arc saw your comments above I might think you are jeapordizing your dealership with your comments. This is a public forum, not a few guys having a casual conversation over a beer.

I am an electrical engineer, not a stereo installer, fiberglass fabricator or painter. I enjoy doing some of this stuff on my own boat and I provide advice to people when asked by people that do not have an understanding for thing like I do. Based on my education and experience I most likely understand things like pulse width modulation signal amplification versus analog amplification better than any of the installers in this thread. But, that doesn't I am smarter than anybody, I always enjoy learning about different things from people that have more real experience with this stuff.

So, please don't go slamming a shop based on my comments when you don't even understand who you are talking about.

Both of you guys, your comments are completely inappropriate and out of line.

If you would like to take this conversation offline, I would be happy to discuss the problems I have with Enriched's Centurion and why I think a db meter is completely inappropriate for judging a boat's sound system. My e-mail address is: mikeskiw@gmail.com, or we could just meet at the lake sometime, I'll even bring the beer. That's how I roll.

Mike,
Did you say you'd bring the beer? I'm in (as long as it's near DBay. I don't trailer my ride anymore except for the spring ride.
Tomorrow at Sugar Barge, say 1:00 pm....it's game time.

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quote:

So, please don't go slamming a shop based on my comments when you don't even understand who you are talking about.

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Good call Mike and IMHO it's really bad business to bad mouth your peers even if it's true.

Off topic but I've noticed over the years that people/companies that are really good at what they do don't bash other companies. Monster tower is a great example of this and I've always taken notice that they only have positive things to say about their competitors.

Just food for thought.

yo guys to get it right im a customer of kustom kar and good friends with the guys at enriched now when some people get sarcastic i can get the joke but other people cant like bling i think he is hella cool but when he jokes with lance lance dont get it he dont know him so what do you guys expect when lance my of said something wrong about the 3 hour blue tops people get on his back,people relax. when someone spells wrong or mis informs theirs always some smart allic ready to bash a guy. yo mikeski im glad your smart about what you do but lighten up why would talk smak about the enriched boat you didnt pay for it take it for what it is a dope install not overtaken by leds. just say good job and then do something different with your boat. i know enriched posted the picts of the boat because they worked hard on it and it came out dope. and lance does know that sound ill just became a dealer for arc. we know that they got stuff off e bay or the customers did then they installed it which is ok we all have to start somewere. why do you think that judging a show with a mic is wrong. it was fair everyone put the mike at the same place. even with a car you can debate the way they judge. lets just wrap up the boats for winter and the dope systems and get ready for next year. all that money to sit for too long. but i would like to kick it with all you guys and have a jager party peace

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS WORLD!!!

WHERE ARE THE GRAMMER NAZIS!

Someone sign a brother up for an english course!
(They are only $26 a unit at your local Community College by the way)

Luke,

... Not only was the grammar bad, (I could almost tell what he was trying to say), but his spelling is pitiful. I had to read it about three times, before I could figure out what he was trying to say. .. Then I laughed.

"me fail english? that's unpossible!"

hey guys sorry for the grammar problems. i didnt know that i was taking a test. yea your right i cant spell good but i sure can add when it comes to moneyso try to buy a boat with your grammar and ill pay cash.

hey you guys are right i cant even read that crap and i wrote it. just my mind going fast but my hunt and pecking cant keep up.

Hey Jerry do you ever "Huff" the paint you spray?

I just became a dealer for Arc huh??? News to me, as far as I know I have been a dealer for them since day one of opening. Can someone give me the number to the "real" Arc Audio so that I stop ordering from the Ebay Arc Audio. Thanks to anyone that gets me hooked up with them.

To anyone that thinks that I buy my equipment off ebay, lets get this straight. When I first started business, for some reason people would think that it would be better for them to buy the equipment of their choice and then bring it to me to install it, I dont do that anymore because it comes back to haunt me when something fails, they think that its my fault that their used equipment went bad. Hope this clears up any misleading comments.

Clay: I don't think there's need to clarify anything , most people will stick with you on this, as I do.

Thanks Luciano!

Looks like the forum needs spell check. When I first started posting all people do is joke around on the forum. So get used to it, that all we are doing is joking around.

Mikeski (mikeski, I down to drink some beers and talk about boats, we are always at the lake. And im not an ARC Dealer, just friends with D. So use the centurion that we built, as an example of what "not to do" and build the dopest boat on the water.

"Looks like the forum needs spell check."

This forum has spell check.

What was this thread about again? LOL.

Oh yeah, we need to demand the F7 spellcheck feature! Woo Hoo!

If nothing else, this thread made for some interesting reading.

This forum has spell check.

Oh I know. It was a poor attempt at humor.

hey clay if i made a mistake about the facts im sorry. i just never seen any boats done in arc gear and ive visited your site. the only arc stuff ive seen is on that naut 210. like i said sorry man. buy the way bling i dont sniff paint its all the piles of cash

craig thanks for the info now i can look smart

Hey Jerry its all good, I have done other boats in Arc and a bunch of cars and trucks in Arc equipment, I dont post every install on my site, sorry for the mislead info from the site.

The site has spell check, but doesn't show you the correct way to spell the word.

Clay did mine in ARC...

Richard's Boat HUMP's. I love thoes signature edition ARC Amp's. Im gonna switch out my XTR's for thoes.

What a great place to put them too!!!

Is there a plexiglass cover, to keep them dry?

Robb- no Plexi cover, I we were afraid of overheating issues. The placement worked out great except for that one issue, just something you have to take precaution to.

Richard- I didnt realize your pictures werent on the SI site, I will have them added today. Thanks for the post.

Nice install. I like the amp placement

(Message edited by enriched on November 07, 2006)

Just curious why you are using Signature series amps on Polk speakers?

Ba
BA
BOOM

I ran out of money...not really. Just haven't changed yet. I will probably switch over to MBs. I am actually surprised at how the Polks sound with power to them. I also liked the grills that are on the Polks. I was originally going with NVS with matching grills and then I decided to go with the wetsounds for the quick disconnect feature. I have to remove the speakers every night when I put the boat in the garage.

Lance- why do you ask that. These are the stock speakers that come in the Nautiques and Richard wanted to leave them in there.

Is that a speaker in the box with a grill over it under the port?

That is actually the finish panel for the box. That is a speaker, and that is not the port. Who ever did the last install on the boat tore the heater hose, so I had to order a new one with the outer ring. So that thing you think is a port is the heater vent.

Awsome speaker placement