Homemade Wakeboard Speaker Pods on a 175

[zuhl]

Here is a project I started a couple weeks ago. I am almost finished, just have to run the wires now. Anyway, since I have an '95 I am not inclined to spend a lot of money on it. When I saw the price of tower speakers I almost had a heart attack. So I decided to make some of my own with an old pair of 6.5s I had laying around. All it is made from is a piece of 6" sewer pipe with the speaker set in one end and a wooden plug on the other. I routered the pipe so the speaker would set recessed slightly and the speaker grill fit like it was made for it. The wooden plug was covered with fiberglass resin to make it more waterproof. It hangs from a 90° shelf brace, and the connections are made with $1 speaker jacks from radio shack. Sounds really good with my other speakers. Now I want a sub....

 

[tdappleman]

Looks nice - good job. Any pictures of how the speaker itself is mounted to the pipe?

 

[everthing's irie]

Nice job! they look great!

 

[billandamy]

Very good job!

Can you hear them on the tow?

 

[wish2fish]

I would like to see pics if possible of the routing job and how that worked.

did you spray paint the grills?

 

[zuhl]

Well, I would post a picture of how I did it but this rediculous site says I have exceeded my limit. How lame is that? 5 pictures posted and that is it for life? How are we supposed to share anything?

Anyway, I mounted the speaker in the tube by using a router to recess a small lip into the edge of the pvc. I had to use a router table and set the fence just right and pray. I will try to post a picture later if I can figure out how to get more server space. The lip was just wide enough and deep enough so that the speaker sat in there snug and perfectly flush with the edge of the can. Then I just glued it in with silicon. The grill snapped on perfectly and I glued that on too just to make sure.

Not the ideal mounting solution, I know, but it came out clean, and it was relatively easy.

 

[billandamy]

Well, I would post a picture of how I did it but this retarded site says I have exceeded my limit. How lame is that? 5 pictures posted and that is it for life? How are we supposed to share anything?

Use photobucket to upload your pics and the tool here to link them. That is unlimited.

If you want almost unlimited storage here, you need to join as a sponsor...see the little silver thing near my screen name?

You also have access to "club level" thread, which you are not seeing as of now. There are lots of naked women and unlimited beer in that thread.

 

[zuhl]

Oh, grills we painted with a Krylon paint made for plastics. The whole thing is painted though it is not as dramatic on white PVC. But the color is just very slightly off-white and matches the boat absolutely perfectly.

 

[gravity]

Nice, your one handy guy

 

[zuhl]

Here is a photobucket link with pics of how I made the tubes.

http://s805.photobucket.com/albums/yy334/zuhl555/

 

[tdappleman]

Nice job on routing the groove into the PVC. Don't think my hands or router table are stable enough to do that one! Looks like a side business....sell them loaded with speakers or empty so someone could put their own favorite speaker into it....

 

[wish2fish]

Good Stuff!

 

[zuhl]

Hell, if I thought I could make money at it I would try it. If I even sold them for $3- or $40, that is a hell of a deal considering how much these cost.

The hardest part, believe it or not, was not the routering. It was cutting that giant pipe to have a straight edge on it. I have a 12" miter saw, but that was not enough. I had to use the table saw and but it up against the fence and spin it on the blade. Not the safest operation ever. OSHA would shut me down!

 

[gravity]

i would love to see a pic of you under the tower. hows the clearance

 

[zuhl]

If we go out again this year I will take one. It has been raining here for 3 weeks without stop! I am 6'1" and I can walk under the main beam freely without having to bend down at all. I would say it is probably 5-6" over my head. The speaker cans are over the side seats, out of the main path so they are not an issue either. The bimini is so big that it still gives good shade even at that height. I think my favorite thing though is that it does not act like a parachute behind me when I am on plane. My old bimini would cause so much drag I could only get up to about 35mph with it up. This one will let me get up to 40, which is about all this boat can do anyway.