Radio for a 228 seafarer

[Grady 228]

In your opinion, whats the best stero brand for use on a boat? Where is the best spot to put it and speakers on a 228 Seafarer? :?: Thanks in advance.
Bob

 

[JUST-IN-TIME]

i like alpine

 

[gradyfish22]

I second alpine head units, I have a kenwood currently, that is what Grady used stock for a while, not a fan personally. Check out crutchfield's website, they have a bunch of good stereo's to choose from and with ratings and owner comments, typically a good way to see what your purchasing, also go to a store who has them on display and fiddle with them to see if you like how it is controlled.

 

[G8RDave]

As for where to place the speakers, here is a picture of where mine are. Two up top next to the spreader lights and two in the inspection ports by the fish boxes. I don't know if its due to the cheap speakers I have or the fact that the bottom speakers get to use the hull for sound, but the smaller/lower speakers sound 10 times better than the bigger box speakers.

 

[kendcc]

G8RDave, I'm interested in your set up. I have a an '05 226 and have been leaning towards box speakers from the hard top, but haven't found a good quality speaker that's 4 Ohm to be driven from a solid marine/automotive amp (most good speakers I've found are 8Ohm and the amps are 4Ohm). Can you elaborate on your setup? Head Unit? do you run an external amp? etc, etc. I'd like to know what you have and what you really think of it.

I'm looking for a good set up that has a good amount of PUNCH!

Thanks!

 

[gradyfish22]

http://marine.jlaudio.com/products_encl ... page_id=79

Only boxed speaker I would spend my money on, JL makes the top marine speakers with a TON of punch, infact I dare you to find a better marine speaker out there. I work for a large boat builder and all our upgraded sound systems use JL's and these people want the best. The enclosure on the JL's are also small and designed for the speaker to sound it's best. also nice that they can clamp onto your pipework and be angled down to your ears.

 

[Grog]

In general automotive speakers are 4 Ohm, marine speakers are basically a carry-over from automotive. Going from 4 Ohm to 8 Ohm isn't going to cause any problems (it will not be as loud). Problems occur when you go less then the rated load. Lower tier and most med tier home audio amps cannot handle 4 Ohm loads, automotive/marine amps are made for 4 Ohm loads and many are stable to 2 Ohms.

All the amp needs is fused 12V supply, a line level input, and some may need a trigger input to turn on.

 

[kendcc]

Thanks fellas. Grady 228, didn't mean to hijack your post, sorry.

I'm pretty familiar with Automotive/home audio and know Marine is a specialization of automotive.

I guess I'm just not comfortable spec'ing out a box speaker that is 8 Ohm, to be driven by a 4 Ohm rated amp. I would likely turn the volume up pretty regulary and want to be sure I have a stable set up as to not blow the amp or the speakers. I freely admit I don't know enough about this load matching to understand if it posses a concern or not.

I'm looking to mount under my hardtop as G8RDave did. I did look into JL, but only saw the "Bullet" style enclosures and I think that would cause problems with the curtains. Any other brand/model suggestions for both enclosed speakers and AMPs are very much welcomed.

 

[Grog]

Don't worry about going up in Ohms, down is the problem.

 

[Parthery]

How about something like this? Poly-Planar MA850s...

 

[kendcc]

Those look like they'd fit, but how do they sound?

 

[Parthery]

Sound quality is decent. Nice thing about them is you can swivel them back and forth...if you are cruising, I would loosen them and aim them back toward the helm. If we were at anchor, I would aim them into the cockpit.

They are advertised as waterproof and never had a problem. Did have one grille fall off while trailering but Poly Planar sent me another one at no charge.

Installation was easy as well...ran the speaker wire in a loom along the inside (curtain side) of the top support....then into the upper ebox on the side. You would have had to look closely to find the wire.

One recommendation - be sure to use nylock nuts on the bolts when yo install them. There is a significant amount of vibration and regular nuts will work themselves loose.

 

[G8RDave]

You definitely don't want to take any cues from the quality of my set up. The positioning of the speakers is great (out of the way and protected to an extent) but the Pyle head unit, amp, and speakers are definitely bottom tier. You'd think that a system labled "Hydra" would be designed for water, but everything rusted pretty quickly (you can see some rust in the grill on the right box speaker). The boxes are 8ohms while the bottom speakers are 4ohms. I just have to adjust the fade to get the sound right. As was said above, going with increased ohms isn't an issue. It's when you go with lower ohms that the head unit/amp will have issues (lack of resistance) and require more power for the same volume.

One day I'll get off my wallet and go JL or Poly Planar. I'm not sure the bullet style speakers will work. They will either get in the way of the curtains or they will be too low since they hang from the bars and not the top. But, if you can get that style to work you'll have a ton more options since all wakeboarding boats use them.

 

[Grady 228]

Thanks all

Kendcc not a problem ,thanks for everyones imput. Some great ideas from this post

Bob

 

[PNW_Drifter]

It’s 10 years later and it seems options for “box” speakers haven’t changed. I bought a 228 with Poly Planner box speakers 4 of different sizes. With a nice fusion head unit. No surprise that sound adequate at best. I can’t afford JL but for some nice Polk 6.5s and an amp on the way. 4x100rms is the minimum I want on this boat.

My issue is I want to replace the box speakers under the rear of hardtop with a speaker that can handle 100 w rms and sounds good. Can’t find a marine box or a premade rectangle shaped speaker that actually sounds good. A 6x9 box would probably be the biggest that will fit. Wish they made a plastic box for that.

I could build one out of starboard but i don’t want to.

 

[Fishtales]

everyone raves about Fusion.

 

[Ky Grady]

I bought G8RDave's boat that's pictured above, back in '17 and promptly removed the hardtop mounted speakers. Not where I wanted them. Actually I gutted the whole system and went back with all new.

I'm running a Kenwood marine unit with West Marine box speakers mounted up under the sides in both footwell areas and went back to the inspection ports with Poly-Planar. The box speakers inside the helm area give me sound inside the enclosure unlike the boxes mounted on the hardtop, also cleaned up the hardtop without them hanging down. It's definitely not an audiophile setup but it works for me. The speaker screens played havoc with the camera, sorry.
I'm also running matching 8' Shakespeare antennas on the hardtop, one AM/FM, one VHF.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Thanks KY. I didn't know if I was going to get flamed restarting a 10 year old thread but all the issues/solutions still relate to current times. Thanks for posting your setup. Good idea stacking your VHF over your radio. My VHF has it's own separate speaker above it.

I have the Poly Planner box speakers that are only rated for 40w max. I need to replace them with speakers rated for 80-100 Watt RMS.

I'm 3d printing some speaker rings that will accept 6.5" speakers inside 6" PVC pipe caps. Was a great bullet proof marine setup in my Proline but it had more room in the hardtop since it was just flat fiberglass top.

I'll post pics when I'm done. It's going to be a medium budget setup. This will be my 5th marine audio system so creeping up on what I actually want.


Found these box speakers that have 6.5" speakers in them and 4 ohm instead of 8 like house speakers:
https://amzn.to/35Alsli

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Showing a 3D printed ring that allows mounting a 6.5” speaker in standard 6” pvc pipe cap.ill screw the underside of cap to hardtop then mount speakers.

Was a great setup on my last boat but I had more room so didn’t have to 3D print.

Starboard would work too if you used 2 pieces or had a big lathe.

I will share the file with anyone who wants it.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Shrunk photos to fit...