A local client recently brought his awesome Dave’s Custom Boats Mach F26 to Sound Depot and Performance in Gainesville for a marine audio upgrade. The client test drove the boat on the famous Lake Havasu before having it shipped to Florida. We’ve established a great understanding of how he likes to listen to his music and applied that to the sound system design in this unique 26-foot catamaran.
Raymarine Integrated Marine Source Unit
As this boat is somewhat unique, the client wanted the sound system to be equally special. In the design stage of the project, we suggested that we could combine a Raymarine 7-inch multifunction navigation with a Rockford Fosgate marine source unit to provide him with a unique control solution. We mounted an Axiom 7 display on the dash in front of the passenger side seat and wired it to a Rockford PMX-8BB hideaway AM/FM Digital Media Receiver. Rockford’s PMX-CAN interface allows the source unit to communicate with the Raymarine system using the NMEA2000 communication bus.
We added a Rockford PMX-3 remote control to the dash beside to provide the captain with easy control over the sound system. The remote is mounted directly to the right of the steering wheel and includes a 2.7-inch color LCD display that makes it easy to see what’s playing.
JL Audio Marine System Amplifiers
All of the amplifiers were securely mounted and neatly wired.
The next step was to mount the trio of JL Audio marine amplifiers we specified for the system in the cuddy at the bow of the boat. Our fabrication team created a mounting panel for the amps and covered it in carpet to mimic the factory upholstery. The system includes a JL M1000/1v2 to power the subwoofers, and an M800/8v2 and M600/6 to power the speakers in the cockpit area. The M1000/1v2 provides up to 1000 watts of power to the subs while each of the full-range amplifiers is wired in a bridged configuration to serve up an impressive 200 watts of power to each of the three sets of speakers we installed.
Premium Marine Speakers from JL Audio
To ensure the client would be able to hear his music, even with the throttle pinned, we installed three sets of JL Audio M880-CCX-SG-WH white sports series 8.8-inch coaxial speakers and an extra set of M100-CT-SG-WH component tweeters. The front speakers are mounted on either side of the captain and co-pilot seats with the extra 1-inch tweeters mounted forward of them.
As space is limited in the cockpit, we created a mounting panel for the second set of 8.8-inch speakers on either side of the rear seats using Starboard material. Starboard is a composite plastic that is designed for use in marine applications. It won’t fade, chalk or crack when exposed to UV radiation from the sun.
The final set of speakers are mounted on the underside of the engine compartment cover. Our fabrication team created a set of custom fiberglass enclosures for the speakers and finished them in gray carpet to match the underside of the cover. The client can lift the cover when docked to enjoy extra music.
12-inch Marine Subwoofers
The last part of the project was to install a pair of JL Audio M12IB6-CG-WH 12-inch subwoofers in the cuddy. Holes were cut in the forward panel for subwoofers from a previous system. We removed those and added new mounting adapters for the JL subs. The mounting baffle is heavy-duty multi-layer plywood and once we removed the original enclosures from behind them, the new infinite baffle JL subs worked perfectly in this location. Factory trim covers partially conceal the subs and give the area a tidy look.
High-Performance Marine Audio Upgrade by Sound Depot and Performance
With equipment installed and this marine audio upgrade configured, it was time to turn this project back over the to the client. He was thrilled with the way the system sounded and was anxious to get his new toy out on the water. If you are in the Alachua County area and are looking for an audio system upgrade for your boat, drop by Sound Depot and Performance and speak with a member of our team. We’d be honored to design something for you. For more information, give us a call at 352-374-7700 or send us an e-mail using our contact page.
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