Wetsounds Project '09

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 10, 2009 8:09 am Post subject: Wetsounds Project '09

As you have seen im sure, my interior speakers, amp, and tower speakers that I ran last season are all up for sale. I ordered a set of Pro80's, A Syn 2 Amp, A Syn 4 amp, a set of XS650's, a WS420, and a XS-10FA. Lots of equipment to install. I also decided instead of cable ties everywhere, I am wanted to Loom everything and have a single loom cable going from the EQ to the amps. I am holding these hidden and out of the way with the Velcro "cable ties" , that way If I need to get to something its alot easier than breaking a cable tie. All the connections for the in boats, amp powers and grounds, connections to the WS420 have all had heat shrink to them as well. I have used about 45 feet of Loom so far and think I am close to done on the wiring. I am running 4ga power and grounds and 12ga speaker wire throughout. I wanted to show some pics of my install so far and update as I go on...I hooked the XS-650s up last night as a test and they sound AMAZING! They are retarded loud and crisp, clear and just mind blowing! I can only imagine what the Pro80's will be like! Anyways, I wanted to mount the EQ up there without drilling into the dash or cutting. We put screws through the cup holders and made a bracket underneath and used a spacer to line the EQ up to flush on the dash. It sagged a little in the front from lack of support so I took a cable tie around the two cupholders at the top and another cable tie (low profile and not visible) around the EQ and the cupholder cable ties and when I pulled it up, it flush mounted...here is everything so far, minus the XS650's in their spot...didnt get pics of when I did that yesterday...
Let me know what you think!

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 10, 2009 8:15 am Post subject:

another 5

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 10, 2009 8:19 am Post subject:

4 more

jonyb · Addict Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 844 City: Paducah

What happens when water gets in those cupholders?

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 10, 2009 8:26 am Post subject:

we don't store cups or anything with water or liquid in the cupholders...when the radio tray flips down, it renders the cupholder useless for drinks or cups...I also put some of those absorbant cup trays at the bottom....We only put the Ipod and cell phones in there. The boat has another 9 cupholders so losing out 2 wasnt a big deal since we couldnt use it and never have..we also silicon sealed around it so that if for some weird reason water was to get near it, it wouldn't go anywhere..

jonyb · Addict Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 844 City: Paducah

aaah.... I could just see you getting caught in a rainstorm and filling up those cupholders. Looking good so far.

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 10, 2009 8:33 am Post subject:

haha nah, I have a bunch of peoples docks I could pull under if that happens, I also keep a full tarp the length of the boat on board so if a bad storm comes, I can cover the whole boat up...and anchor down until it settles, we have been pretty good at getting that together, about 3 minutes and the boat is covered with the tower the highest point running water off the sides lol
Thanks for the comment too, still a long way to go, but im beginning to see light Very Happy

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Looking good!

BrentC5Z · Posted: Mar 10, 2009 10:25 am Post subject:

Right on!

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 10, 2009 7:56 pm Post subject:

Another step to progress...now to turn em on and tune em..

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 10, 2009 7:57 pm Post subject:

A far view...still look great!

jonyb · Addict Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 844 City: Paducah

Looks pretty good.... How's it sound?

Commodore · Ladies Man Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 11636

SilverMustang35, not to nag on ya, cause it looks like your doing a good job. But be careful with those cupholders. They weren't desgned for that kind of localized load. And running in some good chop can make that WS-420 drop right off of them. I might recommend bigger washers to spread the load on those screw heads.

I don't remember how much those WS-420's weigh, but they can't be light. So just be heads up on watching those cupholders in heavy chop.

How do you like the 650's?

jonyb · Addict Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 844 City: Paducah

Haugy you'll have to hear the 650's in mine since they replaced the Kenwoods. Huge difference in midbass and overall sound quality.... I'm sure silvermustang like's his pretty well too.

Commodore · Ladies Man Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 11636

Damn, that was fast. Are you following me? Laughing

Guess it's a good thing I know ya, right ole buddy ole pal? Mr. Green

So when I need some WS someone might be able to help me with that. Wink

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 11, 2009 6:33 am Post subject:

Hey Haughy,
no worries...I don't think you're nagging on me about it. I welcome any advice to make sure it all goes right. Funny enough we changed out the cupholder washers since that pic and it is really stable now I believe. That was the other reason for doing the cable ties to the front, to ensure that the bottom screws from the cupholder didn't take all the shock and carry the weight. Heavy chop was a reality that I wish didn't exist, especially in our lakes. The good news about it is that the cupholder bottom is about 1/4 inch thick plastic too so I'm hoping it will hold through. We also put a washer on the other side just for dampening.
And Jony you are correct about the 650s!
Haughy, you wouldn't believe the difference...They are so loud, clear, and just amazing all the way around. I don't think i'll ever run them full end loud because it is so loud, but they best thing is there is zero distortion and they sound like they could take more, just don't know that my ears want them to Very Happy

...guess that means im startin to get older lol...But seriously, the XS650's rock and sound amazing. Worth every penny without any questions. The sub absolutely hammers and is great sound all the way around..
Unfortunately I havent had a chance to test the pro80's yet. Got them mounted and wired up around sunset so didn't get a chance to fire them up. I cant wait though, im sure they will sound great too

Commodore · Ladies Man Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 11636

SilverMustang35, thanks for the info. I am wanting to do 4 - 650's inside the boat, with amp. And then a new sub box with a good sub and amp.

No tower speakers for me at this time.

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 11, 2009 7:04 am Post subject:

i've only got 2 xs650's in mine, and wanting to put another 2 in the box once I cut the holes..so as you can guess i've been hesitant to do that...the Syn4 amp I have powers the in boats and has the capability of running 4 in boats on ch 1/2 bridged and the sub still on 3/4 bridged and I believe it. These amps are definitely work horses and are very efficient.

jonyb · Addict Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 844 City: Paducah

If you power 4 650's, they'll have to be on channel 1/2 in stereo mode. The sub will be on 3/4 in bridged mode Wink

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

haugy, what do you have now?

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 11, 2009 8:27 am Post subject:

Jony, err yeah, sorry thats what I meant...too much wiring and setups running around my head lately lol

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 15, 2009 6:32 pm Post subject:

Ok, so The project is finished!! They sound amazing! better than I could have ever guessed. I had the music ehoe-ing from each hill back and forth with a literally 2 second difference lol...Thought i'd post some pics up of the completed install. Sorry for the low quality pics, camera phone without flash...Also the wires that go in front of the amp are from my battery jump pack, wanted to make sure I didn't kill the battery when testing..

Crookcatchr · Newbie Joined: 09 Jul 2006 Posts: 43

Quick question regaurding your amps. How will the heat be from the engine and the amps? Do you think that the amps will get to hot and overheat next to the engine? The reason I am asking is it looks like a great place to put the amps, a place that I did not think about and now I am thinking about trying. Looks good.

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 16, 2009 5:58 am Post subject:

Hey Crookcatchr,
I have had 2 other amps mounted there from the previous setups in there and since the other amps didn't have any type of cooling fan inside it, I had to mount a 120mm computer fan in with them. The fan blew air across the top of them and they never overheated. Those amps also had alot less vent holes (car amps) than these Wetsounds amps do. It worked out great for the location and my power and grounds are right beside the battery on that side which is my secondary battery that only drives the amps. If you are mounting an amp that has no fans internally, you may want to consider placing a small fan outside of it that just blows air across it. We tapped a line into the ground on the amp and the remote for the fan and it worked great. The boat has 2 in vents and 2 out vents in the middle back on ours so I don't know if that helped air circulation or not. Good luck if you do it, just make sure to cool it properly if you're not going to have internal fans in your amps.

Sharkbit · Newbie Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Posts: 3 City: Kingsport

First post, but its nice to see a local in the sport! I saw your boat on Boone last year, looks killer. I was jet skiing last year, in the fall I bought a boat, and im going to try to get into wakeboarding. I bought my tower last week, installing it this weekend, also waiting on some decent weather to do the stereo. Nothing as extravagant as yours, but it should sound ok for what it is. Maybe we will see each other on the lake sometime.

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Mar 16, 2009 7:56 pm Post subject:

Hey Sharkbit, thanks for the compliments. We usually just hang out on Boone since it is so close to where I store the boat. We have a jet ski too, but it hasnt been cranked for about 9 months now. I plan on running it maybe this weekend just to make sure I havent messed anything up. Glad to see you are getting into the sport too. It is addicting though for sure! Awesome that you got a boat and putting the tower on. If I can help ya with anything let me know. Not a big community around here of ppl that board, seems to be just little clicks of everybody. Gimmie a yell if you see us on the lake. I am guessing the yellow sticks out enough to know its us lol...I always wondered if anybody would be able to spot us out on the lake Very Happy

SilverMustang35 · Posted: Jun 05, 2009 10:39 am Post subject:

Well, I decided to add more again, seems a week cant pass and im adding or changing something here and there. I put 2 XS650s in the front now too. Me and Sharkbit cut the holes and got them ready. I wired everything equal as the others, wire loom throughout. Thought I'd post the pictures of the progress. They sound just great. We were worried about imaging and the XS650s are good to go! John, thanks for helping me get past that stage of worrying about cutting into a new boat lol...Led's were put in the week before, depth finder a week before that and I just ordered a heatercaft 4 vent heater...yay for another project...guess im keepin this one for a while since the wake is now dialed in too lol...

jandfhuff · Newbie Joined: 29 May 2009 Posts: 1 City: Atlanta

Great setup!!

I had some ws650s put in my boat last year and am adding more this year. I put 6- 650s and the 12" sub. I'm installing a wake board tower in a few weeks and am going with either a pair of pro 485's or the 3 Some package for the tower. I'm also getting the ws420 EQ. I should have it all done by first part of July and I'll post up some pics.