Cockpit Speakers

[Cam]

Where is the best place to put outside speakers in the cockpit of a new 26M? I know some have attached them to hinges on the inside of the cabin but i would like mine to be permanently installed in the cockpit. Any ideas?

Cam

[hart]

Can't say for sure on the M but one thing I can say for any boat. Don't mount them in the coamings. One of my boats, the PO had installed those round speakers right in the middle and they were a real pain in the back. Plus, if you have or want to use cushions in the future the speakers will get in the way.

[NiceAft]

Cam,

I have an 05 M and here is where I mounted the cockpit speakers.
click on photo to enlarge
I have another pair of speakers mounted below deck, and far forward in the V berth. The cabin speakers are not marine speakers. No need for it inside. They are conventional car speakers. The stereo is also a car stereo that I mounted in the cabin (to the right of the switch panel you can see in the photo) and operate with a remote. The access to the cockpit speakers is through the two mirrors in the aft part of the cabin.


Ray

[Derrick]

My wife and I always have tunes playing and like good quality sound, especially out on the water. I actually bought some boat speakers to install in the cockpit, but was looking for something better for the cabin and then stumbled across some outdoor home speakers at Home Theatre Direct on the web.

Bought a pair of the Q50 model and hung them inside the compaionway under the electrical panel and under the access hole on the opposite side. I used some aluminum bar inside the cabin liner (installed through the electical panel access and the similar access hole on the opposite side) for extra support to hold the speaker with the U bracket mounts that come with the speakers.

They are hooked into a Pioneer car stereo (can't recall the model) that has a remote that works from the cockpit (also bought a hard wired remote to wire at the helm but have not wired it yet).

The sound is so awesome that I am not even going to bother with my plans to put the Sony boat speakers in the cockpit.

The quality of sound with these speakers is incrediable for like $89.00. They are outdoor speakers and should last a while in the marine enviroment and for the price I paid I can replace them every few years, but I am figuring they will last longer than that. You will not find boat speakers cheaper than this or that sound as good.

[hvolkhart]

we installed our speaker under neath the stearn seats.
nicely protected and perfect sound.
the speakers i got from West Marine for about $50.
Speakers

[John McDonough]

Years ago a close friend installed a Cockpit speaker next to his steering wheel. In his bulkhead Similar to where the Mac Gas tank sits. It screwed up his Compass. We thought we were heading directly North to Canada but the compass had us going 30 degrees North East. Our 10 hour estimated sail turned into a 18 hour mistake. It was a good mistake. Glad we were on a Sailboat and not worry about fuel?

[Catigale]

Its good to remember that speakers have big magnets in them and of course, those reek havoc with your compass. Be careful where you put them if and swing your compass after installation

[eric3a]

..

[Terry]

Even though I have not installed a stereo yet I have to agree with this statement:

The sound is so awesome that I am not even going to bother with my plans to put the Sony boat speakers in the cockpit.

Logic tells me that the boat would become one huge speaker cabinet, hense the awsome sound!
In our first year I carried around a type of boombox style sound system which ended up rolling around below and eventually suffered from salt air corrosion as the volume and other controls became very tempermental. It was cheapo anyway but still the experience indicated to me that a marine quality system was warranted. I have to wonder how long those non-marine systems spoken of here will really last.
Also, there were very few occasions that we actually used it, most of the time we enjoyed the tranquility of the natural environmental sounds or conversation. I actually posted the question on this board some time back as to if folks actually use their sound systems and was surprised at how many do.
I now have one of those new Sony red & black workshop boom boxes on my garage work bench/table, supposedly works in the rain and is somewhat water resistant. I tried it out by placing it down on the the lowest floor of the boat just in front of the daggerboard trunk facing aft. All that is required is to place a 2" foam brace on each end to hold it there. Sounds awsome cranked up, hear it clearly in the cockpit, no need for external speakers. Speaking of which... wouldn't the sound quickly dissapate into the vast expanse of openness out there? I have not tried my boom box out on the water yet, my test was done in the driveway. Still not sure I need tunes out there but next season I will give it another try.
Sony also puts out one of those under the cupboard TV/Stereo units with a flip down screen for watching your favourite show while doing dishes. It would fit nicely adjacent to the daggerboard trunk (starboard) mounted on the cabin ceiling to flip down while on the hook. Not marine quality though so pretty risky, might want to mount it on a bracket so it can be removed and only placed in the bracket when on overnight trips while having a second bracket at home under the kitchen sink cupboard.

[baldbaby2000]

I mounted speakers on brackets attached to the stanchions by the winches. You can just barely see one to the right in the photo in this mod: wind system mod.. I also have interior speakers and a sub woofer mod..

I put them on the stanchions because I didn't want to cut big holes. They're OK but do get in the way occasionally.

Daniel

[Harrison]

We mounted ours on the crutch ($29 from WM). The wires are ran inside the crutch. Takes 2 min to install or remove them.



---Harrison

[baldbaby2000]

Harrison,

Good idea. I might think of moving mine.

Daniel