22 VLX Stereo install (newbie)

[wakebrdr94]

what are you doing for sub placement? I'm still thinking about a side firing sub with the plexiglass. I just haven't seen how much room is behind the kick panel yet

[IXFE]

what are you doing for sub placement? I'm still thinking about a side firing sub with the plexiglass. I just haven't seen how much room is behind the kick panel yet

wake... Weren't you working on that side firing sub last year? Or do I have you confused with somebody else? What's in your boat now?

I had a ported, side firing sub last year and it hit HARD! I'm torn this year.

[wakebrdr94]

It's side firing, working out the details on a 2015

[Fman]

Finished up my grilles, I ended up spraying them Gunmetal Gray to match the board racks and other gunmetal items on the boat. The "no bling" look is growing on me, I am starting to really like the gunmetal look.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Fman

[teamerickson]

Looks great!

But, they're not wetsounds!

[carcrz]

I used this blue tool. You just line it all up and hit HARD with a hammer. Then shrink/heat wrap it.

What's that crimped called? I looked all over online a while back & couldn't find it.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Wakesetter67]

Exile baby, nice choice!! Installing mine next month I will share pic's

[IXFE]

What's that crimped called? I looked all over online a while back & couldn't find it.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I wish I knew. I borrowed it from a buddy.

[MLA]

Finished up my grilles, I ended up spraying them Gunmetal Gray to match the board racks and other gunmetal items on the boat. The no "no bling" look is growing on me, I am starting to really like the gunmetal look.

Turned out really well, how did you prep them?

[Fman]

Prepped them with black 1500, followed by some rubbing alcohol. Pretty simple, took about four light coats to get full coverage.

[Fman]

I wish I knew. I borrowed it from a buddy.

Dave, I found this one on Amazon... I think its the same thing.

http://www.amazon.com/E-Z-Red-B790C-Hammer-Crimper/dp/B000M7LFKK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421551737&sr=8-3&keywords=0+awg+crimper

and this one...

http://www.amazon.com/Forney-57637-Lug-Crimping-Tool/dp/B003X51S00/ref=sr_1_47?ie=UTF8&qid=1421551867&sr=8-47&keywords=0+awg+wire+crimper

Edited January 18, 2015 by Fman

[Fman]

For anyone interested, here is the paint I ended up using to spray the grilles...

Edited January 20, 2015 by Fman

[Fman]

Finished up my brackets today. Coming from a competitors brand I was not sure what to expect from Exile, so far nothing but great quality is what I am seeing. These quick release mounting brackets are pretty sweet, and very well engineered. I can't think of anything like it on the market today, its pretty ridiculously easy to adjust or remove your speaker.

I also noticed on the back of the speaker they have an adjustment feature, I am thinking this is some type of reduction of the voice coil. This might be really handy for the lower mounted speakers aiming towards ears in the back seat to help eliminate this problem. Im already planning on angling upward 12-15 degrees to avoid direct targeting of people in the back seat and having speakers level when towing a rider. Maybe someone who has been running exile can explain the switch a little more in detail...

with cap removed...

Edited January 19, 2015 by Fman

[David]

It is a 1-ohm resistor in series with a 4-ohm tweeter. So by the numbers and by first hand experience you will only hear an extremely small difference at near field and in a perfectly quiet setting. Best to do the quick AB comparison on your own and see what you think.

I'm a fan of contouring the tower speakers with active equalization.

The idea of aiming the speakers slightly upward will help. But an issue that still exists is the staggered positioning on the forward leaning tower plus the lower speaker positioning. The energy from the forward speaker is reflected off the pod of the rearmost speaker and down into the boat.

[Fman]

My last boat I rotated the towers upward approx. 12-15 degrees and I felt it definitely helped quite a bit with reducing some of the harshness of the HLCDs in the back seat with the G3. I am looking forward playing around with the resistor on back of speaker, every little bit helps.... I thought it was a pretty clever idea.

[Fman]

Looking for a baseline setting for my amps, if anyone can please fill in the blanks for me with all these setting to start with that would be greatly appreciated. I realize it won't be tuned, but I really have no clue on what these setting should even be close to set at. I have two XM30 amps powering two pair of XM9's wired at 4 ohms. The Javelin amp will be powering 4 6.5" inboat speakers, and 4 8" inboat speakers, 12" sub.

XM30 Amp:

Javelin Amp:

Edited February 8, 2015 by Fman

[IXFE]

That's a Javelin amp, not a Harpoon.

Sorry I don't have any record of my settings last year. Maybe chech with Brian? I bet he could get you close.

[shawndoggy]

crossovers for towers and cabins high pass at 80-100. Sub crossover low pass at 100. That's where I'd start. Gains should always start at lowest setting and move up as you tune.

[Fman]

That's a Javelin amp, not a Harpoon.

Sorry I don't have any record of my settings last year. Maybe chech with Brian? I bet he could get you close.

Oops, my bad... correct, Javelin.

I pick up my boat Tuesday to bring it home, will be starting install this week. I was just in the garage today checking out the amps and figured I should probably try and get a baseline setting for these. Shawn, thanks for the info, I will start with that setting. I guess what I really need is to have a setting for each indicator. I am seeing more than just high pass, and low pass crossovers. If someone really got bored could they snap a pic of these and put a red dot on where each setting should go

What about Bass Boost on XM 30.2, and Config, Sens on the Javelin and all the other selection screws (whatever you call them with flat head setting) on those amps.

I'm trying to limit my lifeline contacts with Brian, the guy is busy... Although he always returns calls and emails. I can tell boating season is getting closer.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Fman

[Lance B. Johnson]

Oops, my bad... correct, Javelin.

I pick up my boat Tuesday to bring it home, will be starting install this week. I was just in the garage today checking out the amps and figured I should probably try and get a baseline setting for these. Shawn, thanks for the info, I will start with that setting. I guess what I really need is to have a setting for each indicator. I am seeing more than just high pass, and low pass crossovers. If someone really got bored could they snap a pic of these and put a red dot on where each setting should go

What about Bass Boost on XM 30.2, and Config, Sens on the Javelin and all the other selection screws (whatever you call them with flat head setting) on those amps.

I'm trying to limit my lifeline contacts with Brian, the guy is busy... Although he always returns calls and emails. I can tell boating season is getting closer.

Here is what I did. I have to assume everything but the gains is close.

Fman I am sure that if you looked or studied the paperwork closer you would be able to get everything but the gains done. All the other settings are explained in the paperwork. If you want I will go check where I put mine tomorrow.

With the gains I started low and realized I had to have the IPOD and stereo cranked to get any volume. So from there I just turned them up until the volume control on the remote responded the way I wanted it to.

From there your on you own I am driving mine to exile for a free professional tune 30 minutes away and close to a really good BBQ place.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Lance B. Johnson

[Brianinpdx]

Fman - looks like your install is coming along well. As to the amplifier questions:

XM30.2 is the tower amplifier your using. You'll like that Exile designed the crossover to start at 80Hz. So it makes it simple to use with the XM9 tower speakers. Just turn the crossover knob all the way down to 80 and your done. Bass boost 0, you don't need any of that. Crossover select switch on HF (high frequency).

XM9's - you might like to engage the 1 ohm switch. The circuitry has changed since earmark last used these speakers. It has a distinct impact that you'll definitely hear at wake range. Especially with 4 speakers. Since your speakers are new, they actually have a 1.6x crossover design that I think you'll enjoy as well. So you might not even want to engage these switches.

Javelin is the cabin/sub amplifier. You'll be driving 150W per speaker to your cabin speakers and 800W to your sub on the 5th channel. There is a lot going on here so you'll need to do some fine tuning later. To start: cabins will be HF / crossover to 100-110hz 6.5" speakers (down to 80hz for the 8" cabins), and gain about 20% (I think your using a preamp right? If not, gain at 40%). The selector switch for input config depends how many RCA cables you are having. If your using the ZLD preamp you'll drive 6 RCA inputs into the amp a pair for Front / pair for Rear / pair for Sub. With respect to your sub, its going to depend on what sub setup you have, but its safe to say, LF@70hz to start, gain will most likely be more 50% and bass boost off. It's not needed from a starting point.

@ Lance: always welcome to come by and we can walk you thru the steps to properly tune your boat. We've been helping boating community for years setup / tune their sound systems.. And it doesn't have to be just Exile gear and its free. Maybe you should bring BBQ with you though. ha!

-Brian

[Wakesetter67]

I took advantage of the free Tuning sessions on many occasions!!

[Fman]

Fman - looks like your install is coming along well. As to the amplifier questions:

XM30.2 is the tower amplifier your using. You'll like that Exile designed the crossover to start at 80Hz. So it makes it simple to use with the XM9 tower speakers. Just turn the crossover knob all the way down to 80 and your done. Bass boost 0, you don't need any of that. Crossover select switch on HF (high frequency).

XM9's - you might like to engage the 1 ohm switch. The circuitry has changed since earmark last used these speakers. It has a distinct impact that you'll definitely hear at wake range. Especially with 4 speakers. Since your speakers are new, they actually have a 1.6x crossover design that I think you'll enjoy as well. So you might not even want to engage these switches.

Javelin is the cabin/sub amplifier. You'll be driving 150W per speaker to your cabin speakers and 800W to your sub on the 5th channel. There is a lot going on here so you'll need to do some fine tuning later. To start: cabins will be HF / crossover to 100-110hz 6.5" speakers (down to 80hz for the 8" cabins), and gain about 20% (I think your using a preamp right? If not, gain at 40%). The selector switch for input config depends how many RCA cables you are having. If your using the ZLD preamp you'll drive 6 RCA inputs into the amp a pair for Front / pair for Rear / pair for Sub. With respect to your sub, its going to depend on what sub setup you have, but its safe to say, LF@70hz to start, gain will most likely be more 50% and bass boost off. It's not needed from a starting point.

@ Lance: always welcome to come by and we can walk you thru the steps to properly tune your boat. We've been helping boating community for years setup / tune their sound systems.. And it doesn't have to be just Exile gear and its free. Maybe you should bring BBQ with you though. ha!

-Brian

Ah Brian, thank you! I am running the Exile ZLD eq (no head unit), I have a long way to go on this... but mind as well get these to a starting point to work with. I really appreciate this....wish I was in your neighborhood, I will have to have you out when you travel through the Sacramento area!

Edited February 8, 2015 by Fman

[NWBU]

@ Lance: always welcome to come by and we can walk you thru the steps to properly tune your boat. We've been helping boating community for years setup / tune their sound systems.. And it doesn't have to be just Exile gear and its free. Maybe you should bring BBQ with you though. ha!

-Brian

Brian - That's great service, I'll stop by as well in the next month or two.

[IXFE]

Ah Brian, thank you! I am running the Exile ZLD eq (no head unit), I have a long way to go on this... but mind as well get these to a starting point to work with. I really appreciate this....wish I was in your neighborhood, I will have to have you out when you travel through the Sacramento area!

You're not that far, Trav... wait until early July, hook up the boat, and head on up with whoever in your family can make it. You have a room with your name on it at my pad, and we'll show you our favorite riding spots on the river. Then get your system tuned at Exile... shoot, I bet we could coax Brian out to the river with us; he's quite a surfer. [emoji39]