12" Rockford M21S4 Sub woofer

[pknappe]

Was not very pleased with the factory tuning on the stereo. I have the RSX5000 with four Alpha II tower speakers and eight M262 B cabin speakers. I brought it to a local stereo shop and they tuned the outputs on the amps which really helped to kick in more bass. Then I took the current sub out to see if I could build a new sealed enclosure. The Rockford web site calls for a 1 ft3 enclosure. But between the heater box and ducts and the steering cable, there does not seem to be enough room under the helm to put such a big enclosure. Anyone built an enclosure for a 2014 VLX?

I also noticed that I do not have the blue tooth dongle for the head unit. My blue tooth is going thru the Malibu Gateway Unit which is hooked to the head unit. But I can't get this Bluetooth connection to allow me to change tracks from the head unit or the remote RFX-MR8. I can buy the Rockford Bluetooth unit on Amazom for $70. I was also considering putting in a WS-420 BT. Does anyone know if the Bluetooth on the 420 would allow me to change tracks on the HU or the transom?

[MLA]

With the heater, you may have to bring the facade out a couple inches. Have you taken some measurements to see what you can get?

I dont think Malibu was using the rockford BT in the 2014, but I think the black box has the input for the rockford BT. You would need to confirm this. The Medallion BT is interfacing with the black box's AUX, so no bidirectional control.

The WS-420BT would post-black box, so it would not be interfaced with the black box.

[David]

I'll just speak to the sub enclosure issue.

Subwoofers in a sealed box should be 'tuned' for a certain outcome. I hate it when a manufacturer gives you the box size for a given woofer without telling you what the outcome is. But since the manufacturer gave you a recommended 1.0 cu.ft. enclosure (although it sounds a little small for a relatively high 'Q' woofer), let's start with that. Add in the woofer displacement and in order to get a net internal volume of 1 Ft3, and using all 0.75" thick stock, you would have an enclosure with external dimensions of 14.25" X 14.25" X 14.25", or any other combination of dimensions that equal 2,894 sq.in. That doesn't sound too large for the underdash cavity with a little work.

In any case, you can substantially improve that RF sub performance with a new enclosure, and you won't get good results with a smaller enclosure from other 12" subwoofers.

[pknappe]

The RFX5000 does have an input for the Bluetooth. Think I'll buy that.

David, the recommended enclosure dimensions were 15.5"x17.63"x12"deep. These are outside dimensions for a 3/4" thick MDF. They list the F3 at 53.7 Hz, Qtc of 0.82. But I don't have the space for a 14x14x14 box. Only have about 9.5" of depth with the heater box. And then the steering cable is in the way on the port side.

[MLA]

You are not bound by their dimensions, but to achieve the outlined performance, you are bound the 1.0 ft3/.82 qtc. You can use what ever combo W x H x D needed to fit, that gets you those suggested parameters. You just dont want the magnet to close to the rear wall or a bunch of crazy appendages.

[David]

pk,

That box is a little bigger than 1.0 net, which I think is better. And the F3 and Qtc are dead on for what you should expect. That should sound good. So your new external enclosure is 3,279 cu.in. or any combination that will equal the same displacement.

It's some work but you should be able to achieve that.

Shoot a couple of pics of the empty under-helm cavity and post them. There's a wealth of experience here in accomplishing the same.

[Punyelroo]

The RFX5000 does have an input for the Bluetooth. Think I'll buy that.

David, the recommended enclosure dimensions were 15.5"x17.63"x12"deep. These are outside dimensions for a 3/4" thick MDF. They list the F3 at 53.7 Hz, Qtc of 0.82. But I don't have the space for a 14x14x14 box. Only have about 9.5" of depth with the heater box. And then the steering cable is in the way on the port side.

The RFX5000 has the bluetooth input - I added one - you can change tracks, stop and play on the head unit - well I can with an iPhone anyway. The only problem I have with this is I have that weird fade in/out phenomenon others have mentioned in other threads.... The BT on the WS420 seems fine by comparison

If you plug an iPhone in to the jack in the glove compartment using that special cable for the iPhone that came with the boat you can also see the track names etc on the head unit.

I guess its all dependant on whether you use an iPhone - we just have an old iPhone in the boat that the grommets update occasionally, as a 'boat' music source....

Edited April 12, 2015 by Punyelroo

[pkh]

You will get better sound quality out of WS BT then the RF one, but you will lose track change from factory controls.

[shawndoggy]

You will get better sound quality out of WS BT then the RF one, but you will lose track change from factory controls.

I dunno. I just had a really disappointing few hours with the Wetsounds BT unit. Super noisy. I had it powered it common with my EQ and also tried powering directly from the stereo battery. No joy either way. I put my miccus home rtx in and it's totally quiet and clear. dont know what's up with that, but I tried a bunch of different etc and the WS unit just wouldn't snop producing noise.

[pkh]

I dunno. I just had a really disappointing few hours with the Wetsounds BT unit. Super noisy. I had it powered it common with my EQ and also tried powering directly from the stereo battery. No joy either way. I put my miccus home rtx in and it's totally quiet and clear. dont know what's up with that, but I tried a bunch of different etc and the WS unit just wouldn't snop producing noise.

Doh, I wonder if its a bad unit? I maybe shouldn't have said as I don't speak from experience on the WS unit, just experience about how bad the RF unit is

Either way I am sure there are better ways to spend $70 then the RF dongle....

http://exileaudio.com/store/index.php/amplifiers/signal-processing/exile-premium-bluetooth-music-receiver.html?utm_source=Exile+Customer+List&utm_campaign=9823f6e951-BT2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0bf09fe863-9823f6e951-68761925

[Brianborder]

I am currently going down the same subwoofer enclosure issue because I have the heater in my boat as well. The stereo shop said they were going to relocate the heater further forward. Claim they have done this many times before. Perhaps that will give you the needed space. I should get my boat back next week and will update with photos of the install.

[pknappe]

So here are the pictures from under the helm. The speaker hoses can be moved, but the box is in the way at the back, there is a hose loop for the discharge of the tanks to the port side and also a small frp lip on the floor, then the steering cable loops in from the starboard top and into the hole in the floor well to the bilge. Seems awfully tight to get a 1 ft3 box in this space. Has anyone done this? Brianborder mentioned moving the heater box. Has anyone done that?

h

Edited May 16, 2015 by pknappe