185 Sport. Subwoofer location recommedations

Scott, I found the easiest way of adding a quality sub was just putting a 10" or 12" box in the engine storage compartment. It offers you an unlimited selection of subs and amps and you get to use the highest quality components.

I have a 10" Polk Momo with 300W RMS. I have plenty of bass and the system sounds good. For comparison, I have (1) 12" Kicker Solobaric L5 with 600W RMS in my SUV. I probably only run it at 20% because the bass would be too much otherwise.

The draw backs are: decrease storage space and slightly muffled sound. I do notice an improvement in SQ when I open one of the sunpads. This year's winter project is to remove the port side cooler and cut a 9" hole in the fiberglass so I can mount a free-air sub. I need the storage space for ballast that I'm going to put in on both sides of the engine.
 
Hi I am new to this site and glad to be part of it. I own 08 195 sport and just recently purchased a alpine 5 channel amp,10" alpine sub and 4 tower speakers. I'm thinking of mounting the sub in between the two bench coolers but will it fit. Was wonder if you finished your winter project yet if so could you please post pictures THANKS.
 
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I have a 2001 185 and cano come upo with where I should put my subwoofer ! any ideas on good positioning ?
 
Not my boat but saw this picture on an EBay posting...I would have never thought you could have got them in there with the gas tank being right there....but here it is.

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Maybe they took out the coolers. That would def. free up some space there. Then again, maybe there is just enough room to actually mount those there without contact with the coolers.
 
Merge360 said:
I had a hunch that's where the sub would be.... And I figured it would be that style....

Don't know about you guys, but I have heard these type sub's and they just don't give the type "BASS" we are all looking for. Glad I waited... I'll be building a box soon for my 195 Sport...

As soon as i get going, I'll snap a few pic's and post them up....
Click to expand...

Mine has the factory sub and you heard right. The bass isn't that great at all. I am looking at an upgrade.
 
This is a photo of my 10" Alpine fits great with coolers under the seats.
 

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I'm a little late to this thread, but figured I'd throw my $0.02 in. I've got a 2005 185 sport that came only with the head unit and two cheap rear speakers. I had the dealer install the Clarion remotes at the helm and by the swim deck. After that, I installed the interior system with 4 speakers, sub, and large 5 channel amp. In '08, I had a tower added, so I put some speakers up there as well. Here is my setup.

This is under the passenger dash. You can see my front speaker (and enclosure) and the sub. Everything on the boat is Infinity. The speakers are marine, everything else is standard automotive.

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These are mounted under the rear bench seat -

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These two batteries are dedicated to the stereo. The engine battery is on the other side of the boat. There is an combiner between them that closes the circuit when the motor is running, thus charging both battery banks. When the engine isn't running, it keeps them seperate, so that I could completely drain the stereo batteries, but have no problem starting the boat.

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Here are a few shots of the tower and speakers -

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This is the interior lit up by the LED rope lights I installed. The camera really doesn't do it justice... it's not really this bright while sitting in the boat. The lights are all up under the sides, so you never see them directly. They give off the perfect amount of ambient light after dark.

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Gratuitous action shot -

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Great pics! I have the same model and was wondering where to begin with the sub placement as well as amps. Never thought about needing a second battery! Did you cover the sub box with any type of waterproof material? Also how is leg space with the box under the dash?
 
I am 6'5", and I have to really try to hit the sub box with my feet when sitting on the passenger side. It has never been an issue.

Nothing special on the sub box. I did have to cut a notch out of the front right corner (when looking directly at it) in order to get it to fit right, but after that, it fit perfectly.

I would definitely recommend a second battery if you plan on installing an amp. Before I put the second amp and tower speakers on, I had a single battery for the stereo, and it did a good job. Having two is probably overkill, but that's my style. I've run both of these batteries down in a couple of hours and cranked the boat right up.

Let me know if you have any other questions or want some more pics. I'm happy to help with this stuff.
 
TexasA&M, that is a super nice job on the boat! I don't have the same boat as u all. I have a cuddy cabin 240ov. But I have done very similar mods to mine. Towers, sound system add'l batteries, bigger alternator and interior LEDs. I went with green LEDs. And I agree, pictures do not do it justice. Sorry not trying to hijack the thread. Just complimenting the work
 
Thanks for the kind words. I've been EXTREMELY pleased with the entire setup. Going on year 6 now with the main system (year 3 on the tower system), and have had zero problems with it, other than a remote going out a few years back.
 
Really? I have had no issues other then replacing the head unit. I don't buy the marine decks. They probably will last longer. But this is how I justify a new deck every 3 years anyway.... Oh and I did blow one sub amp at spring break this year. Oopsy :). My system is is run on about 1500 watts total. 4 different channels between the cabin, cockpit, tower, and then the subs
 
I have the original Clarion unit that came in the boat. I replaced the batteries when I put the tower on; the originals were still good, but I wanted to add a third, so I made the change.
 
TexasA&M said:
I have the original Clarion unit that came in the boat. I replaced the batteries when I put the tower on; the originals were still good, but I wanted to add a third, so I made the change.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I added 2 more batteries, one for the insurance of having 3 to run the sound system and the isolated battery to start. 2 because I had the room to do it. But then obviously I needed to get a bigger alternator to handle the load of upto 4 batteries. Sure is nice being able to run the sound system and our swampy cooler movies lights etc. For a whole weekend and know I have 1 battery left to start the motor....

I am impressed with how clean an install u did on urs. Looks great!
 
I know this is an old thread, but I'm looking to add some bass to my boat. I'm thinking of putting a 10" sub in between the coolers under the rear seat. Seems like the best place, won't lose any storage and the whole cabin will hear it. Has anyone else done this?

Also, off topic, those coolers seem useless, any ideas on what else to use that area for?
 
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