Off Season Stereo Build

[jhnmdahl]

Looks like a 3.25” hole for the Sony remote. Could probably put a Fusion or other marine remote there, as most are pretty large.

Edit: The Fusion needs a 2" hole, which would work with a shim plate except that the remote is only 2 3/4" high and won't hide it

[jhnmdahl]

I’ll throw in my two cents having sold stereo equipment for a decade after I graduated from college and dabbled in the car stereo competitions back in the day. I’m guess you could say I’m a pseudo audiophile with a $2,600 pair of Magnepan’s on my main system driven by a $2,500 preamp and $3,000 amp. Since the late 1980’s I’ve been installing separates from companies like Boston Acoutics or Focal in my cars. BTW, if you don’t want to drop $2,000 on a pair of Focal Utopias for your car or boat you can get similar sound from a little known company called DLS for about $500.

It’s important to remember that wattage ratings are not only exaggerated but have nothing to do with sound quality. 50 watts of clean power is a lot of power - enough to driver quality boat speakers to the point where you won’t be able to talk to anyone in the boat and will be heard miles away. JL makes some great stuff but ignore the wattage ratings. The more expensive JL’s will sound better than their cheaper ones. Getting a good quality amp is important as well and again let price be your guide. The better amps will look less powerful on paper but the will sound better and also be more expensive. Good clean bass in a boat is tough because you are outside rather the enclosure of your car or living room. It takes a ton of power and a very large, expensive driver to compress even a large living room - my home sub weighs over 100 lbs. The challenge in a boat is much greater and IMO it takes at least double the money on a sub/amp for a boat for good bass compared to a car. I don’t do it in my R5 because all it does is annoy other boaters, neighbors and makes it more likely that my college age son and daughter will be annoying with some of their crappy music!

I will be installing some new speakers and some 1992 Sony ES amps in our R5 next year that are rated at 60 watts per channel RMS. I bench tested them at 14.4 volts back when they were new and they delivered 283 watts RMS at 4 ohms and double that at 2 ohms. If you want that type of clean power now you will need to spend a lot of money. I’m still amazed that these amps have survived being installed in about a dozen different vehicles.

Sounds like Magnepan 2.7s perhaps? I bought a pair of MG10s shortly after getting my first "real" job in the Twin Cities, but the size of their better products isn't very living room-friendly if you have a family.

Never heard of DLS (and not too nuts about Focal pricing, although the speakers are great), but I've put Vifa (DST) and Hi-vi car audio speakers from places like Madisound in vehicles and feel like the price/performance is tough to beat. I'm working on doing the same in our boat, but my wife thinks I should have full-time employment first

John

[MnLakeBum]

The Maggies definitely have a low WAF(Wife Acceptance Factor) but so do stereos in general whether they are in boats, cars, or the home. I actually am finding a substitute for them that have a smaller footprint and will likely wind up selling them to my single brother who would love to have them. I’m not as picky on the boat with all the ambient noise and the fact that if I put some really amazing stereo equipment in the boat it only increases the chances that one of my college age kids will make to much noise and/or get pulled over.

[jhnmdahl]

MN, I know DIY projects don't catch everyone's interest, but check out Linkwitz's LX521 for a traditional driver-based speaker that has some of the Magnepan sound (radiates forward and backward at HF) at a price way less than Wilson and some of the other comparable exotics. If it's intriguing, there are plenty of resources out there making kits that are almost complete.

[ajcampen]

Looks like a 3.25” hole for the Sony remote. Could probably put a Fusion or other marine remote there, as most are pretty large.

Edit: The Fusion needs a 2" hole, which would work with a shim plate except that the remote is only 2 3/4" high and won't hide it

John I am pricing out a replacement panel. I’ll let you know how much it cost. From the firm that makes them from cobalt without the hole. Rockford fosgate would probly work too. I for some reason just want Fusion head unit

[Big Block Power]

Looks like a 3.25” hole for the Sony remote. Could probably put a Fusion or other marine remote there, as most are pretty large.

Edit: The Fusion needs a 2" hole, which would work with a shim plate except that the remote is only 2 3/4" high and won't hide it

John I am pricing out a replacement panel. I’ll let you know how much it cost. From the firm that makes them from cobalt without the hole. Rockford fosgate would probly work too. I for some reason just want Fusion head unit

AJ the nice thing with fusion is all of the zones it has. I'm with you on this.

[NautiGirl]

Your post is very timely for me. Thanks. I got 2 JLAudio 7.7 tower speakers for Xmas. Have a 2014 R3 with the upgraded audio which gives me a 600 and 800 watt amp for the vanilla cobalt installation. Adding the tower speakers I am told that the towers are pre-wired to their base and that I need to add another amp for them. Do you have a recommendation of what to add? and any other tips or recommendations?
jim

Hey Jim - went to the Louisville boat show tonight. They had an R5 surf there /w the same speaker setup as yours. Took a look at the amps, they were running one M600/1 for the Sub a M200/2 for the towers and a M800/8 for everything else. Attached a pic of how yours would look from the factory if you had optioned the tower speakers. Hope this helps your decision.

20190124_180825.jpg

[puttsputts]

Jeff, thank you. yes my top 2 are mounted the same but directly to the carpet with no fusing showing. I went to the Cinti show on Wednesday. Found a dealer willing to sell me JL at 25% discount. Leaning towards the M200 but with this discount, thinking about the M400 for any future needs. Going to their showroom next week after the show to work thru it with them and what they may have in stock.
Just got the wiring schematic from Cobalt for the boat.

Jim

[NautiGirl]

Jeff, thank you. yes my top 2 are mounted the same but directly to the carpet with no fusing showing. I went to the Cinti show on Wednesday. Found a dealer willing to sell me JL at 25% discount. Leaning towards the M200 but with this discount, thinking about the M400 for any future needs. Going to their showroom next week after the show to work thru it with them and what they may have in stock.
Just got the wiring schematic from Cobalt for the boat.

Jim

Awesome! Love spending others money. There is something to be said for shopping local, but I would shop it online as well. Most online dealers will do 20% off JL and you will save on local sales tax.

I feel sort of bad because I spent about 45 minutes listening to stuff at our local stereo place then bought everything online for way less money. Ended up saving about $1,000 - so while I feel bad about it, I don't feel 1k bad.

[Driller]

Jeff, thank you. yes my top 2 are mounted the same but directly to the carpet with no fusing showing. I went to the Cinti show on Wednesday. Found a dealer willing to sell me JL at 25% discount. Leaning towards the M200 but with this discount, thinking about the M400 for any future needs. Going to their showroom next week after the show to work thru it with them and what they may have in stock.
Just got the wiring schematic from Cobalt for the boat.

Jim

Awesome! Love spending others money. There is something to be said for shopping local, but I would shop it online as well. Most online dealers will do 20% off JL and you will save on local sales tax.

I feel sort of bad because I spent about 45 minutes listening to stuff at our local stereo place then bought everything online for way less money. Ended up saving about $1,000 - so while I feel bad about it, I don't feel 1k bad.

How bad do you feel? About a buck fifty?

[Big Block Power]

Jeff, thank you. yes my top 2 are mounted the same but directly to the carpet with no fusing showing. I went to the Cinti show on Wednesday. Found a dealer willing to sell me JL at 25% discount. Leaning towards the M200 but with this discount, thinking about the M400 for any future needs. Going to their showroom next week after the show to work thru it with them and what they may have in stock.
Just got the wiring schematic from Cobalt for the boat.

Jim

Awesome! Love spending others money. There is something to be said for shopping local, but I would shop it online as well. Most online dealers will do 20% off JL and you will save on local sales tax.

I feel sort of bad because I spent about 45 minutes listening to stuff at our local stereo place then bought everything online for way less money. Ended up saving about $1,000 - so while I feel bad about it, I don't feel 1k bad.

How bad do you feel? About a buck fifty?

He didn't feel bad because he got me to spend the other grand.

[SMandarino]

Sorry, I thought it was still the older style, Like this.
I'd still pull it and check.

Do we know how big the hole size is for this older style remote? I’m hoping for 1.5” or more. Got a fusion Apollo stereo with remote that I’m looking to install this weekend.

[Ytmsn]

Jeff, thank you. yes my top 2 are mounted the same but directly to the carpet with no fusing showing. I went to the Cinti show on Wednesday. Found a dealer willing to sell me JL at 25% discount. Leaning towards the M200 but with this discount, thinking about the M400 for any future needs. Going to their showroom next week after the show to work thru it with them and what they may have in stock.
Just got the wiring schematic from Cobalt for the boat.

Jim

Awesome! Love spending others money. There is something to be said for shopping local, but I would shop it online as well. Most online dealers will do 20% off JL and you will save on local sales tax.

I feel sort of bad because I spent about 45 minutes listening to stuff at our local stereo place then bought everything online for way less money. Ended up saving about $1,000 - so while I feel bad about it, I don't feel 1k bad.

How bad do you feel? About a buck fifty?

Ha! Driller, being the big hearted ole softie he is, is trying to help you out Jeff! Send him a buck fifty and he'll help you get over feeling bad over costing the other guy a thousand. Its kind'of a Texas version of "pay it forward",but it's more lateral. Or backwards. Whatever. Driller can help!

[Bfun220]

Sorry, I thought it was still the older style, Like this.
I'd still pull it and check.

Do we know how big the hole size is for this older style remote? I’m hoping for 1.5” or more. Got a fusion Apollo stereo with remote that I’m looking to install this weekend.

I'm not sure but I think it's a 1" hole and two smaller holes. Here's what the back looks like.

[NautiGirl]

Thought I would bump this thread and give Mr. NAUTI some props...

New stereo is AWESOME! I can now hear all my tunes with captains call on, standing up above the windshield while cruising across the lake!

I like my tunes LOUD but there is no reason to ever have the volume turned up to its max! We were in a pretty quiet cove on friday and I told Jeff to turn it DOWN! I didn't want to be annoying to others!

He did good! Always making me happy! Now if we could agree on the music!