Best Stereo Speaker placement for bowriders??

[Gods Favor VIP 1800]

Hey all you water jockey's - got's a question for yas! I just purchased a 4 channel CD player /radio for my 18 foot bowrider. I have only 2 speakers now,
one on each side of the helm seat. Where would be the best place to mount the other 2 for the best overall sound quality???

Got any ideas !

The Sea Hag- out!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Best Stereo Speaker placement for bowriders??

You have the priorities wrong. Determine "where" they will fit first. Then whatever sound quality you get is what you get.

 

[45Auto]

Re: Best Stereo Speaker placement for bowriders??

Most factory 4 speaker bow rider installations I've seen have 2 speakers up front in the bow seat area and 2 in the rear. You just have to adjust the front/rear balance so that when you crank up the volume so the driver can hear it over the motor it doesn't deafen the riders up front! The higher end 6 speaker installations seem to have the additional 2 speakers at the helm (midships) area so the driver doesn't have to blast it quite as loud to be able to hear it!

 

[Gods Favor VIP 1800]

Re: Best Stereo Speaker placement for bowriders??

Since the ones I currently have are 6" round flush mounts I can purchase any
type of speaker for the other pair. They can be bracket mounted or flush.
I figure anything close to the engine would be rather useless. I saw some
bracket mount 3 way's 60 watts I can mount up front that would be directional. And could be adjusted in the brackets for the best sound .
With these you don't have to cut out a big hole in wood or fiberglass for them to mount... These are probably what I will go with.

Thanks for the tips .... Yo-del-odel-a-di-who!

Sea Hag - out!

 

[PondTunes]

Re: Best Stereo Speaker placement for bowriders??

Like silvertip said you're probably going to have to find out where they will actually fit first.

Unlike home stereo or theater systems you normally don't have the option of sitting directly in the center of the music. The optimum sound would be you sitting equal distance from all four speakers so that the sound hits your ears from each direction at exactly the same time and thus the music seems to surround you or be coming from all directions at once.. In reality you will probably be much closer to one speaker and it will be the on you hear the most. Likewise your passengers will be sitting closer to OTHER speakers and they will hear them more than you do.

Since car/boat stereo's don't have expensive timing computers that can automatically compensate for distance from the speakers we are left with the fader/balance control that does at least allow you to adjust the volume of each speaker to not blast your passengers off the boat with the front speakers so that you can hear over the engine. The fader/balance is far from perfect but it will allow you and your passengers to listen to the stereo comfortably.

 

[Gods Favor VIP 1800]

Re: Best Stereo Speaker placement for bowriders??

I have replaced the pads along the bow of the front seating area with .50" thick
plastic panels that wrap around to the tip. I can mount my new speakers midway on these panels. Fine for people up front. The 6" rounds will stay
next to driver / passenger seats. This is my only option for mounting.
The big plus is that the 2 seats up front flip up and there is a big hole to run the
wires up from the bottom to feed the speakers. No hole cutting required. Only
2 small holes for the wires to be pushed thru....

Sea hag - out !