Blessed! Are you out there?

jjker · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:41 am

Blessed, I have been modelling my upcoming stereo upgrade after yours ( viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2125 ) and I have a question for you:

It REALLY doesn't look like the 7.7" JL's are going to fit in my stock locations beneath the helm and passenger footwell. The location is the same as yours but my boat is a 200, not a 210. The apparent problem is going to be depth. Your boat has 2" more beam than mine - do you think it's all between the liner and the hull? I pulled the 6.5" Sony junk out of there, and I've traced the template to cut out the fiberglass to accomodate the larger speaker, but the hole really doesn't look deep enough, and I'd like to figure this out BEFORE cutting the hole larger to accept them. I know I can use spacers, but having those made is sure to be a pain. Making them from wood would be easy enough, but I don't like the idea of putting wood in the boat...

Do you (or anybody else) know if our boats are the same in this regard, and did you have this same concern before cutting in yours? The hole is going to get deeper with the extended cut - all the fiberglass that will be removed will reveal deeper and deeper depth, jsut because the outer hull and the interior liner aren't parallel, so I'm sure I have enough room at the top of the speaker, but I'm very concerned about the bottom.

Any advice/experience would be very apprecaited.

Thanks in advance.

aguyindallas · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:45 am

I am going to watch this one...

I want the same JL's and I wonder about them fitting both in depth and hole diameter.

jjker · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:50 am

Hey Dallas. I used the M650's in the bow because it was really important to me that they didn't overhang that styled curve in the fiberglass. They fit there perfectly. No cutting.

Also, there is no concern about diameter of the 7.7's in the cabin, and they may fit depth wise, we'll see. They are going in there one way or the other, it's just a question of whether I have to get some spacers made to build them out a bit or not.

cougarcruiser · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:47 am

I found there are 2 points of contention with going to the JLs in any of the FW boats.

1) That damn 'styling curve'. On my H240 - the curve was just barely big enough in the bow to let me use the 7.7s with no overhang. On the 318, that dang curve in the arch is too small and I will have to deal with an overhang.

2) Depth. You can't fix this any other way than spacers. 7.7s need about 3.25 inches I think. So - they either will or won't work.

The spacers part is a pain in the butt. I have seen people make them out of starboard - but it'd be tough to match with the color of the fiberglass. I am considering using clear lexan that is the appropriate thickness for the spacer.

That stuff is available everywhere and you can sand/polish the edges after you router it all out. Plus - that opens the doors for LEDs.

Good luck!

Blessed · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:56 am

Hmm, sorry not sure about that one on a 200, mines a 210 and I'm not sure where the 2" differnce in beam is. However, what I can do is go pop one out tonight and measure exactly how much depth you will need if that helps.
I can tell you that I had plenty of room to mount mine and I would say (cautiously) that I had better than an inch clearance when they were installed - but let me verify that one. I seem to recall laying out my cut template so that the enlarged hole started at the bottom of the existing hole (so I enlarged the hole upwards if that makes sense) but I have to dig out the pics from when I did it.
I'll try to get an answer for you tonight - shouldn't be a problem since it's not so bloody cold anymore and I am starting to enjoy playing up there again. Maybe now I can find the time to get my heater installed and extend my season

Blessed · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:03 am

Hmm styling curve in the bow. Yeah that made me nervous, but I was meticulous in laying out the (excellent) template provided by JL and cut with excessive caution.
For me on a 210 the speakers just matched the curvature - there is barely enough over hang to hook a nail on. They would have been absolutely perfect if maybe as much as an 1/8" in diameter smaller. They look great however; and unless I pointed it out (and even then) it is almost impossible to see it. The soft mounting gasket gives them a tiny space anyway.

jjker · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:18 am

I know how much I need, what I'm not clear on is how much I have. I'll have to screw around with a tape measure and figure it out. I was hoping you would say: "I didn't think they would go in there either, but they did. Keep going!"

No need to take one out. I have the speakers, so I can just measure them.

I'll keep you posted as to my (lack of?) progress.

Thanks.

Blessed · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:49 am

OK so why not do this . .
If you know you need say a minimum 3" (I don't recall exactly how much it is) then cut a rectangular strip of paper say 3 1/2" wide (1/2" for clearance . . . or 4" wide by this example if you want an inch clearance more then minimum) by a little longer than 20" long for the existing hole circumference.
Take your paper rectangle and roll it into a "short tube" - tape the short side to short side (enough so they won't twist) to represent the depth / space you want to occupy. Slide that "tube" of sorts into the existing hole and check out if its going to go without bottoming out. It will obviously have to slide in all the way so the edges are flush with the mount face for the speaker and if it does you're golden.
Since speakers are shaped somewhat like a cone and you will presumably be enlarging the hole upwards (and gaining clearance as you do so) the bigger speakers will fit right?
I'm not sure if I am making any sense but I often make paper / cardboard mock-ups of many things and see if they will fit before I commit to passing the point of no return. It only takes a few minutes of arts and crafts time to find out if you are going to make a mistake so why not right?
I didn't think mine were going to go - the holes are decievingly deeper than they appear but I certainly dont want to encourage you to cut before you know for sure - thats not going to make your weekend a happy experiance.
I can tell you for sure the the windshield for a 200 to 210 is the same because mine was pirated from a 200, so I would be inclined to think that the difference in width is in the gunwales not the liner but I don't know that for fact.

jmeirhofer · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:29 pm

You could use a polycarbonate sheet ( http://www.professionalplastics.com/cgi ... e=dispcart ) such as this to cut your spaces from instead of wood. A 12x12x.5 sheet is only $20. Cuts and sands much like wood too.

jjker · **Posted:** Fri Apr 03, 2009 12:17 pm

OK. Here goes: They don't fit. They won't fit. They are never going to fit. They do not like green eggs and ham...

I have resorted to spacers. I got away with a 3/8" spacer on the port side, but the starboard side is shallower still?!? I'm not impressed that the boat isn't even the same on both sides, but whatever. I'm up to 1 1/8" spacer on the starboard side, and it's going in now. I can't figure out why FW would put a speaker in a place that is so small. I know I'm trying to jam in a larger one, but there is no way even a decent 6.5" would go in there. Anyway, I had a local guy laser cut me some spacer rings, out of white "plastic". They are the correct color, and actually don't look too bad. It's not going to look stock, but it won't look that bad either. I am beyond the point of no return now, so this is pretty much my only option. I'm happy that this issue is located where it is. The speaker isn't that visible, and not many people are likely to even notice it's been built out.

So, unless you are prepared to use spacers (big ones!) do not attempt to put larger speakers in the stock holes in the cockpit of an H200.

Like Blessed, I had tons of room in the bow. You could fit a bazooka tube in there! Just kidding, but there is plenty of room (depth) for anything that will fit diameter wise.

That's it. Thanks for your help Blessed, and have a great weekend.

Jason.

Blessed · **Posted:** Fri Apr 03, 2009 12:40 pm

Wow - 1 1/8" I can say for sure that I never saw that coming. Well we now know where the 2'' in beam are (or rather are not). Hope you had a chance to get some pics during all the frustration - you are now the go-to guy for speaker upgrades in the 200. On the up side I smell an excellent oppertunity for some LED if you ever want to switch out the spacers for a brushed finish clear or a nice cloud acrylic . . . hmmm.
Feel bad for ya that it wasn't as easy as it should have been but after all is said and done I'm sure the improvment in sound will make you forget the struggle getting there.

mco804 · **Joined:** Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:38 pm **Posts:** 52

can you tell me if you think these speakers will fit please??

http://www.wetsounds.com/pages/products/XS-650.html

jjker · **Posted:** Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:11 am

I don't have pics yet, but I will take some and post them asap.

mco804 - I don't think they will fit. They are 3" deep, and the JL's are about 3.25". You should pull your speakers and measure to know for sure, as mine was different on either side. My spacers turned out pretty well, so that's always an option.

It sounds very good. I'm really pleased with that part of things.

jjker · **Posted:** Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:37 am

OK. It's done, and the mess is cleaned up. Photos have been taken. I know there were a few of you waiting for pictures, but I can't seem to post them. I'm a computer dunce, I guess. Email me at jjker@hotmail.com if you want pics, and I'll be glad to send them to you. Or, if someone can teach me to post pics, that would work too: I use flickr, and I post the url from the top of the page for each picture between the [img] signs, and it just puts the link in there, not the pic.

St. Louis Dave · **Posted:** Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:40 am

Don't use the top of the page URL from Flickr.

1. Upload pix into flickr
2. Hit the All Sizes button
3. Pick your size
4. Scroll down and use the URL under #2 -Grab the Photo's URL
5. Put that URL into the Image blocks on this site.
6. Open beer

www.iFourWinns.com

Blessed! Are you out there?

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