1998 480DB Salon TV

[brimanst]

Well here is the first of many planned Modifications.
The goal: Update the surround sound system and find a way to put a larger TV in the salon.

The Research: Newer models of the 480's have a 27" flat screen in a cabinet hanging from the ceiling. My 480 had a 20" tube TB in a cabinet near the floor.

The solution: Use the narrow counter that is to the left of the cabinets for a 30" flat screen; put the new surround system in the cabinet near the ceiling which also frees up a fairly large space in the salon.

The first pic is the original setup. If you look close at the red circles in the third picture, you will see the size of the speakers on top, and the cool Ipod holder on the lower left. I used straps on the back of the TV to secure it to the shelf behind the TV. I snaked all the cables up and around in the salon ceiling. The surround sound system sounds awesome, but not quite as loud as I would care for. My future slip neighbors may disagree. All in all I was scared to make my first cut into the wood work, but I took it slow and it came out OK. I will be adding SAT TV in the future, so I may be cutting into the cabinets again.

 

[Jaws]

Personally I like what you've done. It's almost as if Sea Ray designed the '98 480DB for a futuristic flat screen television right where you placed it. It gives up some counter space and blocks a bit of the window but the viewing height is closer to ideal. The O.E.M. TV location of course went from low to high in 2000, I believe.

James

 

[chuck1]

Sure looks good. Now is the sound not being loud enough an age or a one to many concerts issue, or could it have something to do with the type of pipes you have on your chopper (Grin)

 

[Nehalennia]

I think that looks really good. Nice job. I hear you on the cutting into the cabinet issue.
It's not like you can run down to Home Depot and pick up a new piece of "SeaRay CounterTop"
Being a locksmith, I have done some very custom installations on extremely expensive doors. Making those first cuts and drillings is not always that easy or nerve~calming

".....I've cut this 3 times and it's still too short!"

 

[JAndrewG]

brimanst,

Your project came out nice. Not only will the larger TV screen be an improvement, raising it more to eye level when you're watching from the settee will be great.

The sound that you get from those Bose speakers is very good, and they're small and don't overpower the small spaces of a boat. Where did you hide the sub woofer?

Were you able to tie the stateroom TV to the new one in the salon? That's kind of neat to do too, but finding a good way to route the wiring can be really tough. When I had my cabinets out of my 340 I ran conduit up both sides, from the salon to the stateroom, to run the wiring I needed to now, and make it easier to make upgrades later.

Gotta love that iPod, huh? I take mine everywhere- home, the boat, my office, and my work van. Just over 2500 songs, 37 music videos, and a full length movie, and it's only about half full. And mine's only a 30 gig...

Thanks for sharing,

John