speaker mounting

[jdp_509]

I have a 04 22ZX . Has anybody mounted some 6x9 speakers below the bench seat. If so I would love to see some pics before I cut some holes. Another question is , on the dash to the left of all the guages there is a blank plate with Perfomance series ZX wrote on it. Is there some kind of option that could go there or is it some kind of access panel ?

[cneidhart]

I have a 04 22ZX . Has anybody mounted some 6x9 speakers below the bench seat. If so I would love to see some pics before I cut some holes. Another question is , on the dash to the left of all the guages there is a blank plate with Perfomance series ZX wrote on it. Is there some kind of option that could go there or is it some kind of access panel ?

My 97, has a digital depth finder and a 12V outlet.

I'm ready to put in a super system also. I can't find a speaker placement either. I'm interested in what you decide.

[mikev]

i put a couple of 6x9 in my regazza by putting them in those carpeted premanufacuted boxes and just set them on the shelf running down the side of the gunwale not sure if they have little storage shelf in the zx's or not but works nice lots of bass and no holes cut

[txtaz]

Can't help with the speaker placement, but when your ready for amps go with Pyle marine 1000 watt amps. Awesome and inexpensive. Also a MP3 head unit is the way to go.
Wes

[Splash]

Wes,
I have a 26ZX and installed a fairly good size stereo this winter. I added two 10" subs, 2 6.5" Mid Range, fosgate amp and a new Sony head unit with cover. I have pictures of the speakers and will get one of the amp this weekend. I'm not sure if you will have the same amount of room but maybe it will give you a couple of idea's. The amp I went with was extremely large, almost 33" long, its a 4 channel amp pushing about 2,000 watts. Its not recommended to mount them in the engine compartment so I put it in the cabin right below one of the two bench seats. I had to run 20' or so of 0/1 gauge wire which cost a bit but the amp sounds great. I'm going to replace the set of sony 6.5" I still have in the cockpit since the MBQuart sound so much better. One thing I can recommend is to run the speakers in the cabin directly off the stereo unit and the cockpit speakers off the amp, that way you can still talk in the cabin with the strereo jamming. I also have a circuit breaker on the amp so if I want to shut the amp down and still listen to music int he cabin I can do so. Here are a couple of pics.
The amp is in the lower left corner of the first picture.

[Splash]

Wes,
I found a pic of the amp, let me know if I can help since I spent way too much time reasearching this stuff.

Thanks Jim

[txtaz]

Hey Splash,
Nice install and cool pics. jdp is the one looking for help. I have all mine crammed under my deck in the 18. Talk about tight work.
jpd, Hey dude you're in TX. Get that stereo installed and get to TR4. It's going to be a great turnout this year.
Welcome to the board.
Wes

[Richard McCoy]

I took out my 3000 watt system. Installed 4 6" Marine Bose's. The big system kept draining the batteries. You need 2 awg cables. The plate to the left has the boose gauge and fuel pressure gauge also depth gauge. Whatever speakers you use be sure that they are for marine service and can get wet. I'm on my third Radio CD player. What ever I installed I can't hear over the engine noise anyway. The Bose's work well at the dock.:lightning

[txtaz]

Yup, I can't hear mine at speed either. So I just turn it off and listen to the sounds on the horses.
Wes

[Richard McCoy]

Round speakers are better because you can use a large hole saw cutting backwards to make the holes. Inside space under the rear seat is going to be a problem unless you are willing to cut the storage box. There is a flat space right under and towards the bow of the rear cup holders. This space a 6" speaker fits fine. Make sure that you use the correct size hole saw and in the right location. To fix a mistake is a large problem. The saw turning backwards makes a cleanhole. Take your time tape the hole location. :smile:

[The Hedgehog]

How well do your speakers image down low like that? I have two on my 27zx that are installed directly below the seat. They sound like they are under the seat as well. I am adding two in the cockpit and are looking for better placement options. Any trick to cutting into the vinyl?

How well does the battery hold up with 2000 watts? Can you hear it over the motor when running?


Wes,
I have a 26ZX and installed a fairly good size stereo this winter. I added two 10" subs, 2 6.5" Mid Range, fosgate amp and a new Sony head unit with cover. I have pictures of the speakers and will get one of the amp this weekend. I'm not sure if you will have the same amount of room but maybe it will give you a couple of idea's. The amp I went with was extremely large, almost 33" long, its a 4 channel amp pushing about 2,000 watts. Its not recommended to mount them in the engine compartment so I put it in the cabin right below one of the two bench seats. I had to run 20' or so of 0/1 gauge wire which cost a bit but the amp sounds great. I'm going to replace the set of sony 6.5" I still have in the cockpit since the MBQuart sound so much better. One thing I can recommend is to run the speakers in the cabin directly off the stereo unit and the cockpit speakers off the amp, that way you can still talk in the cabin with the strereo jamming. I also have a circuit breaker on the amp so if I want to shut the amp down and still listen to music int he cabin I can do so. Here are a couple of pics.
The amp is in the lower left corner of the first picture.

[The Hedgehog]

As long as it does not get in the way of the beer holder. I got some 6x9' already in a box for my wife's convertible. I think that I will give it a shot this weekend.




i put a couple of 6x9 in my regazza by putting them in those carpeted premanufacuted boxes and just set them on the shelf running down the side of the gunwale not sure if they have little storage shelf in the zx's or not but works nice lots of bass and no holes cut

[Splash]

The sub woofers really help with the sound, if you can fit them I would recommend going with them. I only have (4) 6.5" speakers in the cockpit with the sub woofers and you can hear it pretty good while cruising. The only draw back is if I start hitting some good waves the CD starts to skip
so I end up turning it off. I put a better Ant. on the radio but it still doesn't pickup radio stations very well. I have two batteries and I upgraded the battery that the radio and bilge pump work off of to the largest deep cycle battery I could fit. I have yet to kill the battery and only once did I switch over to both to start the engine. I primarily run off the deep cyvle which I will get a picture of since I used some nice connectors to hook up the 0/1 gauge wire. I do have a large cap that I didn't install yet but I have yet to have the amp cut due to power loss, my volmeter gauge hardly moves when I crank the amp up. Make sure to use a large enough breaker, I orignally had a 120 amp breaker and had to move up to a 200 amp, Fosgate wanted a 250 but I could only find a 200.


Cutting the holes was fun, I had this 6" hole saw I bought at Home Depot for some recess lightening I put in. I drew out the hole on the vynl and then cut it with a razor, after that I slipped the hole saw in pass the vynl I was able to cut it out. I still needed to do some trimming but I kept the vynl hole a little smaller then the hole I cut in the fiberglass. The woofers were pretty tight as well, another member had already installed the woofers on his 26 so I knew they could fit, the magnet on the woofers are just about touching the storage box under the seat so you really have to install them as low as you can to the floor.

The last thing I will say is if I could of installed the speakers higher I would of, if you notice on any of the new boats even some of the Donzi's they have them set really high in the cockpit. I didn't feel like going with component speakers but that is good option since you can mount the tweaters just about anywhere.

Good luck.

[DJ13]

Is it possible to mount 2 (shallow) subs towards the outer edges of the back seat box, missing the storage compartment? I'm thinking 2, 8" mounted back there if I can find them less than 4" deep. What about shimming them with a "spacer" so they are out a little farther than a flush mount and not cutting into the storage box?

I really need an upgrade to my existing setup and want to put a couple amps in, 2 subs and 4, 6.5s. I plan to go with MB Quart NKD 116's and 2, 8" bazooka marine subs, Clarion amps and upgrade my batteries to deep cycle.

[joseph m. hahnl]

just curios are you guys running your FM receiver or just the cd player?

i put a light outlet wall box. installed a flexable short antenna and screwed it to the side of the stereo . it all fits under my dash. and the fm comes in great.

joe

[jdp_509]

Great info about stereo speakers but what is the TR4 ?
Hey Splash,
Nice install and cool pics. jdp is the one looking for help. I have all mine crammed under my deck in the 18. Talk about tight work.
jpd, Hey dude you're in TX. Get that stereo installed and get to TR4. It's going to be a great turnout this year.
Welcome to the board.
Wes

[farmer tx]

jdp, Welcome aboard. I think this is what Wes is talking about http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=39101

[Splash]

Joe,
I put one of those short rubber Ant's on as well but I don't have the heart to mount it in the cockpit. I have a storage box below the radio that I leave it in and when we stop I just stick it out the hatch. The Ant. does much better then the wire type but I would love to find some type of booster ant. that would allow me to mount it out of sight but still have it come in good. The Cd's do sound much better but some times the radio is just easier.

DJ13, the Clarion 10" subs I used were just under 4", I was able to just clear the Storage box but had to mount them really low. I couldn't go wide like your suggesting since my battery switch is on the Starboard Side. I went with the NKD 116's and have been really happy with them and will be replacing the stock sony's this winter.

Jim

[joseph m. hahnl]

[QUOTE=Splash]Joe,
I put one of those short rubber Ant's on as well but I don't have the heart to mount it in the cockpit. I have a storage box below the radio that I leave it in and when we stop I just stick it out the hatch. The Ant. does much better then the wire type but I would love to find some type of booster ant. that would allow me to mount it out of sight but still have it come in good. The Cd's do sound much better but some times the radio is just easier.


all you need to do is mount the antenna to the "home light box" and screw the box to the side of the radio. they usually have short screws that come with the reciever and a few hole configurations on the side of the radio. it is neatly tucked up under the dash so you never see it. it comes in as good as if it where above the deck. being bolted to the radio also grounds it.

joe