Speaker Positioning in a Boat.

[oxarama]

I have remodelled our boat and have installed some pontoon boat seats in it. They have 11" high plastic bases that I would like to install four 8" (Rockford Fosgate M282) Coaxial Marine speakers in it. I have attached pictures of the layout. The main question I have is can the speakers be mounted facing each other directly across from each other (21" apart) or will they cancel each other out? The two back bench seats second from the back on either side are 36" long and I would like to put 2 there for sure. Should they be staggered?

The deck is a Clarion M309 putting out 50W or 20W(rms) by 4 channel. Lastly I know by the feet isn't ideal speaker placement but for a 1975 boat it should be an upgrade from the single speaker it had in the dash previously. lol

Any insight would be great.
Kelly

[brandes.cm]

You took away all of your locations by adding those seats. You may want to add an amp, it will take a bunch of power to get much sound in open air cruising.

Here is my thought for locations. Three along one side or two with one located in the back and one on the short side.

[Perry Babin]

If that's a storage area in the bow, installing the enclosure there would likely give you the best low frequency response. Use lightweight wood like birch plywood and use 3/4" dowels as cross-braces to stiffen it (if needed). A couple of good quality 8" woofers (like those from DD) on a moderately powerful amp will produce reasonably strong bass.

[jacco vermeulen]

Boat Audio, Yeeha !
I'm getting wet all-over.

[Glowbug]

We just want pictures of bikinis, er, the stereo when in operation.

[jol50]

They should work ok opposing, but yeah that is a tough layout. I'd be temped to take them or some bookshelf speakers and just set them around to test. My best guess is pair in back on each side, then one to the right of the driver low and one in the seat base across from it. Maybe one behind the driver seat if you can't make an enclosure or whatever. Otherwise second plan I'd try one pair left side and one right, it will not matter if the front is offset some. Try to figure where feet will be and not put them there, such as way in the back where everyone will be crammed in foot-wise. Go a couple foot froward. The issue with doing one side is people on one side of boat and other side will have a lot different volume levels, you want to spread it around. More is better, think about three pair or mount another set of something under the front dash they could be different.

Think about a tube sub, bought or DIY. In small boats they use them because they are the lightest enclosure. They make them out of concrete forms with ply ends. If it gets moisture you can coat it with resin, stick some carpet on it. I'd like to try one of the pyle tubes in a boat, even if they are not great they have to be better than nothing and are cheap. Another way is get the marine 10" subs and put them under the seat in their own section. They are IB don't need a box, pick the largest section, they work pretty good. Or of course the bow is a good place for a normal box. With the four 8" on an amp you should have reasonable bass. We used to run quad 6x9 and 7x10 all the time with good results on 300-400rms, but those boats had car engines and alternators in them. Just some ideas anyway.

Cost more but a class D full range or hybrid amp will take less battery power.

[oxarama]

Thanks for all the thoughts. This is what I think I will do with the speaker locations. Correct me if you think this is way out to lunch.

1st - in the front corner seat facing the driver.
2nd - in the lean back behind the driver facing passenger side.
3rd - in the front half of the back passenger side 36" bench
4th - in the back half of the driver side 36" bench.

Basically forming a diagonal pattern starting in the front passenger side. We will eventually get an amp but not quite yet. A lot spent on the boat reno already. It is not ideal but should still sound pretty awesome.

[jol50]

Sounds reasonable to me. If you don't have the budget, if you are here in the US anyway you can grab a say 4x50rms amp off ebay for $40 shipped if you shop a little. I just sold one for less. If you can keep it dry and fresh water a car amp will work for quite some time.

[1moreamp]

The main problem with any boat install is the lack of reflected sound. The sound carry's across the water so good that it all plays away from the area your trying to cover.

What ever you do, my opinion is that you should install to maximize reflected sound within the boat area. With the floor plan and the box areas below the seats you might be able to achieve this, but bear in mind once the sound gets above any reflective surface its gone across the water helping all the others on the water to enjoy your music.

Keeping this in mind might be helpful and also explain why so many boat owners add up to 1000 watts of reinforcement and still wonder why its not loud....Seen this a million times over the years. And I hope my old wisdom about this is helpful to you and your project......

PS Oh also water proof everything from the deck faceplate to the speakers, and use a remote when possible to control the deck. And remember that the amps if you use them will have moisture condense inside them no matter what you do. Something to do with the boat sitting in a giant kettle of water being evaporated by the sun makes for 100% humidity and 100% corrosion of all electronics internals.
Marine rated gear differs only by the fact they all the guts have been conformally coated and cured in an attempt to seal up all the electronics from the waters corrosive effects. The price differences is a matter of "you own a boat you can afford it" IMO...since it costs very little to do this and it still does not protect all the slide switches and buttons....Replaced a bunch them in my time...

[brandes.cm]

Perfect timing with this thread, I will be starting my boat install shortly.

The addage no replacement for displacement comes to mind when trying to setup my boat. 90% of my music listening will be riding in my boat, not at the beach. I built a portable boominator for that. I have the cuddy, which will hold my two 10's or 12's and a set of 6x9's. As far as the speaker location goes, I have a set of 6.5" already mounted and looking to mount another set of 6.5" components towards the front.

The main questions are: Do I mount them as close to the floor as possible or point them at the floor or at the seated people?

In the pictures you can see the rear mounted 6.5's and I was going to mount the components by the front seats only a little lower. In the cuddy you can see the mounting locations for the 6x9's, the subs will be housed under the bed area, my thought is to point them down, not sure.