www.iFourWinns.com

Cool. I'm looking forward to the install pics especially the larger speaker openings. I'm gonna wait to order mine until I can measure and see how they will fit in there. Be sure to take before and after pics of the hole sizes.

As far as the sub location, you won't find much if anything between in the mounting hole and the outter hull. Just the wires to the sub, a bundle of wires from the other speakers I believe and throttle and steering cables are in there somewhere. I wonder what JL says about the benefit of adding sound deadner behind that sub in light of the type of "enclosure" its in?

_________________
Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

Drilling into your liner doesn't typically need to involve a lot of the detail & precautions that drilling into your hull does. If you were to take the screws out from the stock speakers from the factory, you'd see that they simply chucked in a drill bit, drilled the holes, and drove the screws. No special screws, no relieving of the gel coat, nada. Countersinking to relieve the gel coat is probably overkill, I just think it's a smart step to help prevent any future cracking due to stress.

Drilling backwards is just a way to start the bit so it doesn't wander. For your small diameter screw holes it probably isn't necessary, but it can't hurt. Once there's enough of a dimple to hold the bit in place, switch to forward and finish the hole at medium speed with light pressure at first until you get through the more delicate gel coat, and then moderate pressure to get through the actual fiberglass.

I added an mp3 port last fall (just like Cincy's I believe) which involved drilling a hole in the port gunwhale with a hole saw. I was surprised at how much of a non-issue it was, although nerve-racking. Just apply blue masking tape at each hole location, and take your time. Another thought would be to put a stop collar on your drill bit to help make sure you don't go any deeper than necessary until you know for sure there's nothing back there to hit.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Cincy --

The front speaker openings are going to be interesting to open up because of the cushions. I'll be taking lots of pictures along the way.

The 7.7inch JL's are pretty darn big. I must say the magnet on the back is substantial. There is actually an external crossover mounted to the frame of the mid though. JL provides "jumpers" to go from the crossovers to the mid and tweeter separately.

The version of the speakers that have separate tweeters - i really don't think you get any benefit from just getting the built in ones. The tweeter is just mounted in the front. Everything else looks to be the same.

Now... the 6450 amp... holy crap that thing is a paperweight. Not only is it almost 20 inches wide, but it is HEAVY.

My main concern is how much 4 guage power/ground wire I will use. I have to go from the batteries on the rear port side, across the boat, and then up the side. I ordered 27 feet of power... and 27 feet of ground... and 1.50 a foot - that was the major expense of the wiring. I thought about mounting the amp behind the cooler - but then I would have had to run 25 foot RCA cables... and the Sony deck doesn't have 4 volt pre-outs - so I was worried about loss of signal by going that far. Now I just have to worry about electrical interference from the power and ground wire.

_________________

2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Enlarging existing holes is one thing... creating new/significant holes with things like a hole saw -- I'd be sweating bullets. Especially if it were in an area that was visible to everyone...

_________________

2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

I was planning to go with the 7.7 component speakers because that's what i already have. Otherwise, I'd have to fill the small exisiting holes that are there for the tweeters. I'll have to measure to see if those holes will be gone if I open up the speaker hole to fit the 7.7 coaxials. Ive heard those 7.7 are big and will make a substantial difference compared to 6.5's. I'm anxious to see how they fit up front. I also want to see what you do with this support piece for this rears:



I just noticed on JL's website new product info for 2008. Looks like they have a new speaker grill design and new number for the amp. Haven't compared specs yet. Notice any differences?

I used 4 guage wire for the ground and power. Expensive stuff. Coincidently its JL.

_________________
Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

Oy, looks like there's a plywood backer behind the stock speakers, I didn't realize that...

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Depending on how big that trim ring is will determine how much of it will be "left" after enlarging the hole.

From JL's website, the hole needs to be 6.25 in diameter.

From Crutchfield, the similar stock Sony speakers need 4 15/16.

So you can imagine that I have to pull a strong 5/8 and a hair all around. If that ring is 1'' (which it probably is, I don't know if it will be useful for anything to screw into. That's fine though - it just means i'm cutting out the ring also and doing some different.

_________________

2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Does Crutchfield or somebody make different sizes of backer rings? I'd kinda like the idea of having them back there if the factory thinks they're worth having. Especially if you're going with even heavier magnets than the stocks. But it may not be necessary at all.

Someone with a router table or band saw could make those out of 1/2" plywood, and then cut them in half to make it easy to put them through the hole and epoxy into place. Hmmm, I wonder who might have a router table & band saw around here, hmmmm...

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

For the rear ones I would probably do what Mike says, cut some new pieces then seal and paint them. Probably glue them in place. Since you access these under the rear seats its real easy to get to. the front might be a bit of a challenge. How about using machine head screws with a large flat washer on the backside and nylon threads? That's the only thing that holds the bimini mounting bracket on the side (see below) secure to the outter hull which seems to be under a great deal of stress. I know this because my mounting screw broke and I had to replace the hardware.

_________________
Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

If there is anyone at their boat anytime soon... and if they want to take a quick measurement... I'd be curious as to what the total outer diameter of those rings are to see if they will be useful or not...


anyone?

_________________

2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

I'll probably be out to mine before too long and will measure.

_________________
Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

First step was to get all the speakers and amp.... and I ordered up all the wiring I would need to do the job... I forgot how expensive 4 guage wire is! holy cow!

Here's what I ordered to finish the job:

27' 4 guage Stinger Pro Series Red power wire
27' 4 guage Stinger Pro Series Black ground wire
80' 16 guage Stinger Pro Series white speaker wire
6' Stinger Pro Series 12 guage black speaker wire (sub)
2 6' sets of Stinger Marine RCA cables w/ integrated switch wire
1 Stinger inline fuse block (60amp rated)
4 Stinger 60 amp fuses (gotta have a few extra
2 pair of Stinger battery ring terminals (couple extra - just in case)

It finally arrived after a week on the UPS truck... ordered online from what turned out to be a great site -- hifi sound connections. Priced VERY well compared to the car audio shop down the road. I wouldn't buy speakers or electronics from them - but I got exactly what I ordered for the wiring....

Counting down the days to the install... March 29. (Week after Easter)

_________________

2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

For any of you guys with the 240/260's... or who has seen the Clarion sub... how deep is the sub?

I was just glancing over the JL and it appears that it is SUPER deep. I'm a bit concerned there may be a depth issue on the sidewall of the boat.

Anyone know? Crutchfield lists the depth as 5 7/8... so at least 6 inches is obviously preferable. Other subs are also AT LEAST 5 inches... but the JL seems to be one of the "deeper" ones.

_________________

2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

I've seen mine, Cougar. I'm going a bit from memory here, but if you plan to put that sub in the factory location I think you very well might have a problem. If not, it's going to be close.

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Yeah Mike - I'm a bit worried. THe new MTX sub that they are using with the 08's are very shallow - like 4 and a half inches deep. The JL needs 6 inches. Only a 1.5 difference, but that could be enough to make me move the sub to another part of the boat. I'm curious what his behind the helm at foot level -- that bulkhead would seem fairly sturdy and a sub would stay out of the weather there.

Other alternatives -- on the passenger side over by the cooler firing towards the passenger.

We'll see... I hope it fits in the stock location though. If it's that close, I could always cut out a ring with starboard.. sand it down, and use that as a spacer.

_________________

2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA