www.iFourWinns.com

New boat means new stereo equipment. I'm sure most remember my H260 upgrade. Loved it except for how hot the amps would tend to get. Discussed the issue with the shop that sold my gear and he basically said the slash series amps I had were super "clean" and and produced very high quality sound. But at a price, those amps will run hot. They needed fans. But in the end they only shut down a couple times. This time, he recommeded going with the new HD900/5 amp. 500 watts to the sub and 100 x 4. Much cooler, less power draw and more powerful than the 2 separates I had. The size of this amp for as powerful as it is, is amazing. But pricey!

So, here's what I got. Went with coax speakers instead of components.



Same 10 inch sub.



Stock speakers were tiny and useless.



Decided to go with stock location for the 2 in the arch for now. Wasn't sure I could make them fit but I did. Also wasn't sure if I wanted them behind the fabricate panels.









More to come later this week.

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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

Looks great!

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

Nice work Cincy! Looks like I should have invited you over for beers when I was doing my install. I could have used your expertise. Good job.

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Norris Lake, Stardust Marina, Andersonville, TN
2005 Four Winns 230 Horizon 5.7L Volvo Gi/DP
2001 Maxum 1900SR 5.0L V8 (Sold)
2011 Nissan Armada Platnum

Very nice, although I'm looking at the size of that hole you cut for the sub and I'm thinking that it might have been a better investment if you purchased and installed Firecadet's old 5K BTU A/C unit in that spot. Just a thought.

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2006 Vista 258
2007 Yukon Denali

And yes........ Nice work Cincy, that will sound great.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Darn! I could have used that idea to keep my old amps cool, maybe? Btw, that isn't the sub hole! Oh, wait til you see the hole I have to cut for that. Ouch.

_________________
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

Just about done! All that remains is tuning the amp, getting the cabin speakers off the front fader and wiring to the battery switch. (Temporarily had it on a battery last night).

Wow, it was hot yesterday but my admiral was a real trooper and really helped me out fishing wires, cut holes etc.

Got the subwoofer installed where I originally wanted it. Rear facing under the helm. Had second thoughts because coolers reside there sometimes but shouldn't interfere. Port facing was a no go because the base is not perfectly flat to the top and it would have had a gap. Love how it turned out. Ran wire back to engine compartment and up the port side. Piece of cake with a second set of hands.

Cutting the holes was a breaze once I was confident I had it the right position. Turned out perfect!

Got all the wires run to the amp with no trouble.

Had to pull some big panels off to get to the forward most speakers. The starboard speaker removal and install was a B!TCH because I couldn't get a cordless drill in there because of the seat or even a real screw driver. Struggled with that for quite some time. Enlarging the mounts that the speakers go in wasn't hard, just time consuming.

All in all, my boat is a mess right now but will be cleaned up tonight. Can't wait to get the amp dialed in. So far, its an incredible difference. Some pics:

Love these plugs JL uses. Much easier than wiring directly to the amp.




Small hole in base of electrical closet for all the wires. Amp will mount right in there. sorry about the pic quality.



RCA's for all speaker outs to the amp.

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww23 ... 6f8a2d.jpg

The birds nest behind the electrical panel. Forgot to take a pic of the stock amp before pitching it.



SR didn't use the plastic "pins" here and put a screw that was unbelievably hard to get out. I had to use channel locks and that screw driver. Toook me 20 minutes to remove one screw. Had to remove cupholders too.



Old v. New




Here's where the fun began . . .









Not bad, huh?



Time to dial it in.



So, it looks completely stock except for the sub and the amp hidden in the closet.
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_________________
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

Very Nice. I bet it sounds fantastic. I'm taking notes for my upgrade in the off season.

What did you use to cut the big hole for the sub ?

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Thanks.

A brand new roto zip borrowed from Sunday Dinner. Those things cut through it very nicely. Just enough resistance to keep it under control but not so much that it takes for ever. That fiberglass will wear out the cutting bit though so if you are making a bunch of holes you may need more than one.

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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

Excellent choice of sound system and the install looks great. I'm a big fan of JL Audio and once finished installing the last 2 (of 6) speakers in my Funship 264 am going to use the 6 channel JL to run them. All ready have a older Sony Xplod for the sub. I wish I had a nice location like that to install the sub. I had to build a box under the rear storage and due to the small opening, had to "IKEA-ize" it to final assemble it and seal it once in place. Not fun...

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2003 Funship 264
Volvo 8.1Gi DP
2007 Lincoln Navigator tow vehicle
Weekends on Lake Norman

Yeah that area was just begging for a sub. Finished everything else up and the boat is all back together.

Used some rubber pieces to help mount the amp.





Bass knob.





I was happy to keep the overall stock look.

_________________
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

I love the stealth look.

That's awesome! fantastic work!

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