Transom Speakers or Improving Tower Speaker Direction?

[andylatham99]

I have a friend who has an epic wakeboat and i like the ability for the rider to be listening to the music and the driver and crew to be able to talk, which is not really possible over tower speakers cranking to 80'. has anyone done this? is there a potential DIY for this?

I was thinking some wetsounds xs-650's or 808's installed in the transom storage, but unfortunately I do not have the boat to measure and tinker with since the boat is stored in another location.

We have a '13 23LSV.

I would love to hear some opinions!

additional opinions apprectiated: how to have tower speakers push music to reach the rider with ease yet not make the person sitting in the back seats have bloody ears by the end of the day. thanks!

Andy

Edited May 14, 2013 by andylatham99

[Ndawg12]

Love the look of the G3 but I know a guy that carries earplugs in his boat because of this

Please post pics when you start carving 6" holes into the transom of your 2013 boat

[nyryan2001]

Andy- its your boat buddy, but highly reccomend you proceed with caution. regular coax speakers back there arent going to project 80ft to the rider. and cutting 5-7" holes in your transom WILL get you a serious hit in resale...I'd estimate $5k+ off the top if you are lucky..when compared to an otherwise identical boat. That would certainly be a niche modification, 99.9% of folks buying a Malibu dont want to see that. Also, depending on your mounting location... you are going to have to mount them low towards the platform in order to get 6-8" of flat fiberglass. at 21mph thats angled down quite a bit.

The only coax that come close to doing that and folks are happy with are the JL7.7s.

Reccomend you take it the other way...and add some value to you boat vs a depreciating niche mod. Rev10s on 400w each. that will get you good sound back to the rider at around $1500 for Revs and amp.

[jeepdude2]

I've owned an Epic and the transom audio is the best part of that boat.

It is definitely the part of the boat I miss most. it is beyond nice to have the music blaring out the rear and able to hold a convo in the boat

There are a few other people on this site that have ridden this boat, and will tell you the same thing.

If you do it please take photos.

The last thing i will say is, yes, those speakers are low, but they are also very well protected and are sitting higher than you think.

[andylatham99]

thanks everybody! yea I know it's a rather big step and not sure if it is the right one to make but we shall see. if the we start cuttin' i'll start snappin shots haha.

nyryan2001 - we already have the rev10s pumpin and you are right, the rider can hear well! unfortunately after a set, those in the boat are unable to do so.

just contemplating from here i suppose but if there is anyone else out there who has attempted something like this on an older model or boat hit me up!

Thanks!

[TrickyNicky]

I really like the idea and think that if you pull it off professionally it would be a selling feature! Very recently there was a thread about someone putting speakers in the transom vents, may be a start but I'm sure for rider projection youll need more room to work with.

Really excited to follow this and think if your willing to put the time effort and money into it that it needs than you'll be starting a trend.

Edited May 14, 2013 by TrickyNicky

[chadwick02]

mount some to the inside of the rear locker hatch. Open the hatch when you want to blast the rider, keep it closed and out of the way when you dont. Behind the crew in the boat, higher than in the transom, and no major modifications to the boat.

[shawndoggy]

You could always get a stripper pole and mount some speakers to that?

[TrickyNicky]

mount some to the inside of the rear locker hatch. Open the hatch when you want to blast the rider, keep it closed and out of the way when you dont. Behind the crew in the boat, higher than in the transom, and no major modifications to the boat.

Not a bad idea as a prototype, but your not going to continuously ride with your rear hatches open?

You could always get a stripper pole and mount some speakers to that?

If I installed a stripper pole in my boat I would not have speakers mounted them!

[jetskipro550]

I wish more boat makers had transom speaker options...I hope in 15 years well look back at speakers on the tower and laugh. Speakers BEHIND the passengers just makes more sense. Some sort of mini-pole over the ski pylon with speakers would work as a prototype. Ideally there would be some sort of cross bar on the transom with quick release speakera mounted

Sent from my GSIII

[WakeGirl]

mount some to the inside of the rear locker hatch. Open the hatch when you want to blast the rider, keep it closed and out of the way when you dont. Behind the crew in the boat, higher than in the transom, and no major modifications to the boat.

I was actually thinking that if you could fab up some sort of quick attach/release system, that would be the best. Some sort of bracket that would attach to the inside of those compartments & still allow the hatches to close, & have the speakers mounted to them on the outside facing rearward. I'd bet that somebody like martinarcher could fab up something that would work.

And yes, why more manufacturers haven't begun designing this into at least some of their models is beyond me.

[shawndoggy]

I like the idea of something that clamps onto the tow bar. Of course it'd better float.... I'd hate to see $1500 worth of speakers descending to davy jones' locker.

[jetskipro550]

If anyone from Exile, Bullets, Wetsounds, Kicker, etc.. is listening. You can use our boat to test out different setups...all equipment stays with me once tests are completed

[skyskier]

I'm thinking Cadillac tailfins with REV 10 tail lights.

[Earmark Marine]

I'm thinking Cadillac tailfins with REV 10 tail lights.

Yes, if you added red LED light rings to complete the afterburners.

[skyskier]

Yes, if you added red LED light rings to complete the afterburners.

BAM!

[robtr8]

No reason in the world why you can't mount some flush fit deck mounted rod holders in the back corners. Mount the Rev 10's on a close fitting pole that slides into the rod holder. Pop them off when you store the boat. Probably wire them to a set of banana connectors. You can ditch the stern light holder by installing the tower light all around.

OK, just thought of a reason, opening the back locker might be interesting with the big a** REV10's in the way, but I still like it.

Edited May 15, 2013 by robtr8

[martinarcher]

I was actually thinking that if you could fab up some sort of quick attach/release system, that would be the best. Some sort of bracket that would attach to the inside of those compartments & still allow the hatches to close, & have the speakers mounted to them on the outside facing rearward. I'd bet that somebody like martinarcher could fab up something that would work.

And yes, why more manufacturers haven't begun designing this into at least some of their models is beyond me.

Totally agree....that would be my approach as well and could be a killer set-up that would allow the best of both worlds without making the fiberglass fly.

[saskicker32]

The simplest way I see that being accomplished would be almost like a c shape, so the lower part goes under the hatch, the hatch can be closed and the speaker mounted on the upper part. hope that make sense, I just googled epic boats to see the transom speakers, great idea, but i don't think it looks very good.

[skyskier]

Take a look at the transom on the Malibu Corvette boat for a little inspiration.

[Levi900RR]

Someone needes to build some waterproof wireless headphones that fit in a wakeboard helmet...

[skyskier]

Good luck with getting a wakeboarder to wear a helmet. Not trying to start nuthin'.....just sayin'.

[Levi900RR]

Good luck with getting a wakeboarder to wear a helmet. Not trying to start nuthin'.....just sayin'.

After 30 staples and 4 titanium plates in my head I wear one... just sayin'

[River Monsters]

After 30 staples and 4 titanium plates in my head I wear one... just sayin'

Was that behind a boat or a cable park?

[Ronnie]

I really like the two piece hatches on the newer boats. They are big and heavy but they make a great sun pad. Why not make the hatch the size it is now and have a smaller hatch in the rear hinge side that lifts up with the HLCD of your choice mounted on the underside of the smaller hatch. This way the large hatch isn't open all the time. You just have a 12"X12" hatch that opens to blast a wakeboarder. You could even make the smaller hatch lock to the larger hatch. With this setup, you can run a "Surf" speaker setup on the tower if you wanted in addition to the hatch speaker, controlled separately of coarse. The audio companies could sell more product so they would be happy. Even Malibu could add on Sound pack 4...

Would suc for the skier that likes to be pulled from the pylon though.