Lets see some do it your self stereo installs.

Lets see the installs done by the average joe. NO shop installs wanted in this thread. Amp racks,boxes etc. All makes and models.

Only one I have at the moment. Batteries are under the speaker box. All of that is for sale now.

see that looks like its suppose to be there! I like those kinds of installs the best!

Here's a link to my current project. I work at a shop, but I'm doing all the work myself except for building the boxes.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/669792.html?1235575379

This is the before and after pics of part of a 2000 centurion air warrior elite v-drive project I've been working on. I have the hatch (door) removed in both pics. I have re-installed the door since then. I've been working on this (the boat, not just this compartment)for about a month now. It just got back from being fully re-upholstered. I ran the red positive cable across the box to match the red stripes on the amp. The amp is mounted off of the floor about an inch to help with cooling. Doing the tower now. Then I'll upgrade the ballast system.

Looks good guys! I know there are more people out there that did their own installs.

Jeff, nice looking install.How much did it cost to get your Centurion re-upholstered?

Just getting the pieces together on mine...should be done end of March

I just got the Motor for my sub...41 lbs before basket/top half is added.

i have a quick question pertaining to systems. When installing an amp what do you use for a ground?? My batteries are located by my engine in the back and im wanting to find a good ground under the helm. Its a 97 182 crownline if you need to know.. thanks guys

Baller on a budget stylze.....










I used to have LCD & DVD but I took them out cause I never used them and it limited how much I could get under the seat.

My winter project was the stereo last year...







This year's project was ballast.

about 2 grand.....the guy originally wanted $2500. Cash helps....especially the way things are witht the economy.

Question.

When you guys mount MDF against the inside wall of the boats hull how are you securing the board down.

Most folks use some kinda glue, 40-40 etc.

My Supra has vertical glassed-in panels that you can screw into (with shallow screws). You can see the panel and the screws in the last image I posted.

I've heard most strip away the carpet and use liquid nails. If I did my amp-rack over again, I would have used plastic instead of what I used... which was resin-coated MDF, as I've had a couple screws come loose in the MDF.

Another thing to consider.... when your installing your sub under the driver's side dash.... or anywhere for that matter.

I bought my boat with the sub box already built & installed. It's MDF coated with resin. I lost the heater core last spring, which is mounted up under the dash & behind the sub box. So when I replaced the heater core, I had to pull the sub out to get to it. And I noticed that the MDF has wicked up some water over the last year or two & is starting to expand..... even though it's been painted with resin when the previous owner had it built. I doubt it will last more than a year or two more before I have to rebuild it.

I think I'd make a point to built any sub up off the floor of the boat.... just like you do your amp installs off the floor. Just in case the boat gets water on the floor it won't get to the amp.

Bill’s point is dead on. While MEDEX or MDO would be the best choice (solvent-based construction versus water-based) for making a sub box, you can use MDF. If you use a resin or bedliner coating, use marine grade carpet for its rubber barrier and elevate it off the sole with ABS, HDPE or StarBoard mounting pads and you can have a longterm and reliable box.

Once the box is swollen the seams have already failed and the woofer is in jeopardy of fatiguing.

Dave, other than a sub box, MDF should never be used in a boat. Use resin-coated birch covered in a carpet that matches the boats or use a polyboard if ABS or another option is not accessible to you.

For adhering an amp panel to the hull, skin the interior and use a 3M DuraMax fiberglass body repair or plastic bonding agent to mount a thick picture frame that is contoured to the hull’s compound angles. Then mount the amp board to the frame.

David E.M.

(Message edited by 05mobiuslsv on February 26, 2009)

Nu Bu, you ace hole now we all have to slide the screen over to read this shizz!

I know I jacked that all up, oops. There you go you whiner .

(Message edited by 05mobiuslsv on February 26, 2009)

Really nice install Cal

that's nice Adam!!!

which pdx are you using for your inboats? pretty happy with it?

Nice work guys! They all look great!

pdx 4.150 on the towr ( threesome-wetsounds) pdx 4.100 on the inboat, 600.1 on a kicker 12 ( L7) mmats 1500.1 on another kicker 12 ( L7).

My alternator and my electrical system love the pdx amps...I've seen a huge diff in the current draw since switchign to the pdx amps.

Sound quality is good, but not to many people can hear SQ diff in a boat. I paid the $$$ for the pdx technology, not the SQ.

The reviews on the pdx are good and teh SQ is supposedly very good.

I was just as happy with the SQ of my $120 audiobahn amp

The cooling fans i've me peace of mind. I just left them in from teh last system in the baot..when I really needed them.

The pdx amps get warm, dont; elt anyoen tell you diff, I'd even say hot, but I never haev any overheating issues.

The mmats on the other hand runs very cool...almost like it's not even on. I can run it for hours 3-8) horus and it feels "warm" to the touch. Way "cooler" than the pdx.

Nice install Adam and I can verify Mmats not getting hot.

thanks adam. that's a nice looking setup. i thought about maybe a 4.150 for my inboats, but i think i'll probably go with the syn4 for continuity and also because the connections are on the side. that looks really sharp though.

^^^ If the wetsounds amps were out when I re-did this boat, I would have gone with them.

Nubu glad to see I'm not the only one running the rca volume controls. Makes instant control so nice. I will get pics of mine up once I finally get all my amps in and get them installed.

My first install:

Some real nice installs guys! Nu Bu thanks...

spOtts and you went big.... Spared no expense on that one...

Ewing, thanks for the compliment. SpOtts, impressive... lots of nice DIY jobs!

SpOtts, dress those bottom wires! Cant have that mucking the rest of that beautiful install!

Adam is that 2 or 4 gauge goin to and from the distribution block.(My dad thinks it looks like 4, I think it looks like 2)

Got most of mine done last night. Still waiting on another battery and need to build 2 boxes for a couple WS XS-XXX's. 2 Syn1's, 1 Syn6 on the bottom, and a Syn4 tucked into the side. The speaker wire hanging is for one of the enclosures when it gets done. Batteries were relocated to a storage compartment in the back.

that right there is purdy!

Nice work John looks great I bet that system is gonna sound phenomenal. The amps look really good, now why cant they do that with the speaker enclosures?

Thanks Hate! Those amps are tiny for what they're capable of. There's a dryer vent hose that goes down the left side of that amp rack that channels water down into the gunwhales, so I lost that space there.

This was my first stereo install in a boat. It was a fun project but VERY time consuming. I used over 1k individual LEDs hand soldered in all the speakers, sub, amp plates, cooler, transom lights, etc... I think next time I'm paying to have it done ;-)

Looks awesome!!!

Jason B, how did you do the amp mounts? Plexi? If so what are the details on the install of them. I am looking to do the same things actually.

David,
Use acrylic unless you are worried about abrasion. Acrylic is much easier to finish nicely but supposedly not as scratch resistant.
I traced the outline of the amp and cut it out, then cut out the middle leaving about 3-4 inches all the way around. I measured the inside opening and planned it out in clusters of 3 LEDs (because that is the brightest/most efficient way with the resistors I was using) soldered them all together and ran thin speaker wire as my power line. I installed a fuse box for all of the lights under my dash then put in green lit rocker switches on my dash to control everything seperate--in boat speakers, tower speakers, cooler, amp plates, hatch lights, transom lights, perko switches have lit-backing plates also. I'll try to find some pics of the plates before installing them.

It was fun and I get crap loads of compliments...I'm not sure I'd commit that much time to doing it again though. Using strips would have made it much, much quicker.

cooler is bad ass.. how did you do that

found them...

Very nice work!!

William,
I just epoxied about 250 LEDs around the inside lip pointing into the cooler..and then soldered for hours.

here are some pics of mine.

This is the day we bought the boat.


After I installed all of the new stuff.


cleaned things up a bit.

here are some pics of mine.

This is the day we bought the boat.


After I installed all of the new stuff.


cleaned things up a bit.

Nice work Aaron.! All you guys are making me jealous.

Almost done with my amp rack. Can't wait to get it in and fire up my new Wetsounds!



I'm trying to get by on a budget. Most of the money went to tower speakers. Next winter the amps and the in-boats will get an overhaul.

That Soundstream amp is a classic.... I sold those at a shop in 1997-2000.

^^^ I was gonna say that's old school. I know an installer that told me he used to run those at 1/4 ohm... Those were built like a tank.

Yup... When the Reference 1000's came out we went through those like crazy. They had some sort of problem and would blow the resistors out or something. I had a Reference 405 when they first came out with 4 SPL10's playing at 1 ohm mono on the sub channel. Drove an 18 hour trip to Florida with it playing the whole time and no problems. I've still got a Van Gogh 800.5 that I've been debating on selling. Can't find those anywhere to see what they're worth.

oh damn a old Vangogh, how about the tarantula..I still loved the old school Orions that were almost three feet long! I still remember the first time I saw a Chrome PPI amp and wanted nothing more then to own them.

Those were the days. We're a dealer for the new Orion amps now, but never had tried any. The PPI art series amps were pretty sick. Only problem I found with those is that when they were installed in lowered vehicles, the power/ground connections would back out of the connectors. I fried an amp that way in a lowered Mazda.

Mine is a Rubicon 502. From what I have read, they are a little more durable, but heck, it has lasted this long it must be good to go.

I got both it and the PG amp with my boat when I bought it. I got a second 502 off eBay. One will run my 485 and the other one will power a pair of Pro60's. I hope that is enough power for them.



I want to upgrade to something a little easier on amperage. If the Pioneer works out I plan to get three more of them and sale off the other amps. It is not a marine amp, but neither is anything else on the boat. Plus, the price is right on them.

(Message edited by Hunter660 on March 04, 2009)