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Trying to fit REVO XXX12 subwoofer under helm


Brandonloos21

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We are putting our order in for our 2021 23 LSV, and I want to put a Revo XXX12 sub in a ported box under the helm. What’s the biggest box that’s been put under the fiberglass helm without having to cut out the whole panel? Has anybody built a box inside of the fiberglass helm compartment, if this won’t work, how did you guys cut the helm out. I have seen SLURPEES post, and while I like the idea, I’d love to keep the stock look with the faceplate. 

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There are several thread on here with people doing similar things in 23 and 25 LSV's.  I don't know of one from a '21 23LSV.  Both @IXFE and @Slurpee have done some very good documenting of such things.  The only way you're going to know is to pull the panel once you receive the boat and see what your space is.  Then you can determine what space that sub needs and if you can fit a box in there to house it.  

 

Good luck and keep us posted. 

 

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59 minutes ago, Brandonloos21 said:

We are putting our order in for our 2021 23 LSV, and I want to put a Revo XXX12 sub in a ported box under the helm. What’s the biggest box that’s been put under the fiberglass helm without having to cut out the whole panel? Has anybody built a box inside of the fiberglass helm compartment, if this won’t work, how did you guys cut the helm out. I have seen SLURPEES post, and while I like the idea, I’d love to keep the stock look with the faceplate. 

Thanks for the tag @Slayer

I've done two sub projects in these boats (i.e. two-piece, newer Malibu LSV's) over the last two years.  I'm not the only one.  @G Spot had done similar projects and @Slurpee is basically Yoda.  

Neither of my recent projects are exactly what you're looking for, but hopefully still helpful. Here's what I think you're going to find as you dig in... (links to projects below)

  • To retain factory look you'll have to procure (via your dealer) a factory billet grill + the soft touch cover (in your matching color).  In my experience this isn't super easy.  Of course, if your boat was ordered with a factory sub already then you already have these pieces and you sleep easy knowing you paid $1000 for a speaker grill. :rofl:
  • You're going to have to be comfortable cutting a big fat hole in the fiberglass of your new boat.  Measure twice, cut once (using up SEVERAL jig saw blades).
  • Once inside you will quickly realize there are several constraints you have to navigate. 1) The size of the hole you just cut will only allow a certain size box to pass through. Want a bigger box? Need a bigger hole, but then you can't use the factory grill you like and you're looking for custom options. 2) The depth of your box is constrained by a big hole in the floor and ballast hoses hoses coming up through the cavity.  The depth will vary slightly from boat to boat, but in my experience it's going to be aprox 12".  3) If you have a heater then you're going to be even more constrained as the heater core is mounted backside of that helm wall (just above where you cut the hole) and the pull out tube for the walk thru is also in there.  
  • For these reasons, you will not be able to able to fit a ported box inside the helm cavity. I say this without checking what the XXX calls for int terms of enclosure dimensions.  But I've built ported boxes before and they are a lot bigger than sealed.  There's just not enough space in there, and even if there is, you couldn't fit a ported box through the small opening that a factory sub cover would dictate. 
  • My advice to you is to stick with sealed box, but get TWO (this is what I did last year, second link below)

 

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1 hour ago, Slayer said:

There are several thread on here with people doing similar things in 23 and 25 LSV's.  I don't know of one from a '21 23LSV.  Both @IXFE and @Slurpee have done some very good documenting of such things.  The only way you're going to know is to pull the panel once you receive the boat and see what your space is.  Then you can determine what space that sub needs and if you can fit a box in there to house it.  

 

Good luck and keep us posted. 

 

Will do! I’ve also seen @IXFE post. He did a very clean install as well! 

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13 minutes ago, IXFE said:

Thanks for the tag @Slayer

I've done two sub projects in these boats (i.e. two-piece, newer Malibu LSV's) over the last two years.  I'm not the only one.  @G Spot had done similar projects and @Slurpee is basically Yoda.  

Neither of my recent projects are exactly what you're looking for, but hopefully still helpful. Here's what I think you're going to find as you dig in... (links to projects below)

  • To retain factory look you'll have to procure (via your dealer) a factory billet grill + the soft touch cover (in your matching color).  In my experience this isn't super easy.  Of course, if your boat was ordered with a factory sub already then you already have these pieces and you sleep easy knowing you paid $1000 for a speaker grill. :rofl:
  • You're going to have to be comfortable cutting a big fat hole in the fiberglass of your new boat.  Measure twice, cut once (using up SEVERAL jig saw blades).
  • Once inside you will quickly realize there are several constraints you have to navigate. 1) The size of the hole you just cut will only allow a certain size box to pass through. Want a bigger box? Need a bigger hole, but then you can't use the factory grill you like and you're looking for custom options. 2) The depth of your box is constrained by a big hole in the floor and ballast hoses hoses coming up through the cavity.  The depth will vary slightly from boat to boat, but in my experience it's going to be aprox 12".  3) If you have a heater then you're going to be even more constrained as the heater core is mounted backside of that helm wall (just above where you cut the hole) and the pull out tube for the walk thru is also in there.  
  • For these reasons, you will not be able to able to fit a ported box inside the helm cavity. I say this without checking what the XXX calls for int terms of enclosure dimensions.  But I've built ported boxes before and they are a lot bigger than sealed.  There's just not enough space in there, and even if there is, you couldn't fit a ported box through the small opening that a factory sub cover would dictate. 
  • My advice to you is to stick with sealed box, but get TWO (this is what I did last year, second link below)

 

I’m going to do some investigation. I know Bryan Guy fit a nice 15” ported xxx sub, but I’m not sure if he has heater core. My dealer reccomend a that I don’t order heater core on build sheet, but order it through them, and they would install it aftermarket for same price, with tubes in our preferred location. Maybe they could install the core in a different area then??

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29 minutes ago, Brandonloos21 said:

I’m going to do some investigation. I know Bryan Guy fit a nice 15” ported xxx sub, but I’m not sure if he has heater core. My dealer reccomend a that I don’t order heater core on build sheet, but order it through them, and they would install it aftermarket for same price, with tubes in our preferred location. Maybe they could install the core in a different area then??

Yes, your dealer can mount the heater core elsewhere.  I would also avoid a walk thru pull out hose.  Those pull out hoses have hard sleeves behind the wall, which takes up space under the helm.

I'm not saying a ported box s impossible, I've just never seen it done within the contraints I listed above.  If you remove some of those constraints (e.g. a larger cutout and custom speaker grill), then maybe it's possible with a really complex shape (you still have a depth constraint of 12" declining to 9" on the far right side as the LSV hull converges toward the center).  Also, I don't know who Bryan Guy is, but is it possible he did it in an MXZ?  If so, that's a whole different ball game.  Lots more room inside the helm cavity of an MXZ plus theres a much bigger hole (from the bow side) to pass a box through.  

That said, I have never seen a 2021 23 LSV, much less cracked one open and looked at that cavity.  It's possible (although unlikely) there's more room under there than in the 2018 - 2020 23 LSV or 2019 - 2021 25 LSV. 

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3 minutes ago, IXFE said:

Yes, your dealer can mount the heater core elsewhere.  I would also avoid a walk thru pull out hose.  Those pull out hoses have hard sleeves behind the wall, which takes up space under the helm.

I'm not saying a ported box s impossible, I've just never seen it done within the contraints I listed above.  If you remove some of those constraints (e.g. a larger cutout and custom speaker grill), then maybe it's possible with a really complex shape (you still have a depth constraint of 12" declining to 9" on the far right side as the LSV hull converges toward the center).  Also, I don't know who Bryan Guy is, but is it possible he did it in an MXZ?  If so, that's a whole different ball game.  Lots more room inside the helm cavity of an MXZ plus theres a much bigger hole (from the bow side) to pass a box through.  

That said, I have never seen a 2021 23 LSV, much less cracked one open and looked at that cavity.  It's possible (although unlikely) there's more room under there than in the 2018 - 2020 23 LSV or 2019 - 2021 25 LSV. 

His is a 25 LSV. It is the black one in this link. 15” XXX although he completely removed the front helm fiberglass. And yes, we would probably opt out of the walkthru, as I saw that in your post

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I put a ported XXX sub (round precision port) under my 2017 22mxz, but....there is more space there and yes, I barely squeezed it through the bow side. (no heater either)

 

Bummer because I just ordered a 23lsv and now I'm worried the XXX won't fit. The dual slot will for sure not fit.

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23 minutes ago, Brandonloos21 said:

His is a 25 LSV. It is the black one in this link. 15” XXX although he completely removed the front helm fiberglass. And yes, we would probably opt out of the walkthru, as I saw that in your post

That build is on another level from a customization perspective.  And it's way way way beyond the constraints you implied in your original post. I've been answering as if what you posted is what you wanted.  Silly me.  

  • "What’s the biggest box that’s been put under the fiberglass helm without having to cut out the whole panel?"
  • "I’d love to keep the stock look with the faceplate."

If instead you want what's in that link, I suggest you find the best marine stereo shop in your area and bring a BIG check. 

Looking at those pics and knowing how tight the hoses are under that helm cavity, I'm not sure how they got that 12 in there sideways.  I'd bet $'s to donuts that box is pushing hard on the ballast hoses behind it. And stating the obvious... they cut the entire helm wall out to make this possible, not to mention custom grills, vents, combing pads, amp board, head unit, LED's, etc. etc.

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21 minutes ago, tjklein said:

I put a ported XXX sub (round precision port) under my 2017 22mxz, but....there is more space there and yes, I barely squeezed it through the bow side. (no heater either)

 

Bummer because I just ordered a 23lsv and now I'm worried the XXX won't fit. The dual slot will for sure not fit.

If it’s the box build that wetsounds provides I have the same one. Do you have any images? How did you secure it to the ground. 

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13 minutes ago, IXFE said:

That build is on another level from a customization perspective.  And it's way way way beyond the constraints you implied in your original post. I've been answering as if what you posted is what you wanted.  Silly me.  

  • "What’s the biggest box that’s been put under the fiberglass helm without having to cut out the whole panel?"
  • "I’d love to keep the stock look with the faceplate."

If instead you want what's in that link, I suggest you find the best marine stereo shop in your area and bring a BIG check. 

Looking at those pics and knowing how tight the hoses are under that helm cavity, I'm not sure how they got that 12 in there sideways.  I'd bet $'s to donuts that box is pushing hard on the ballast hoses behind it. And stating the obvious... they cut the entire helm wall out to make this possible, not to mention custom grills, vents, combing pads, amp board, head unit, LED's, etc. etc.

Correct! Trust me I’m trying to do this at home, and not have to spend thousands for custom fabrication. I was just sharing based on a size perspective, that he was able to fit a 15” ported box. Worst case scenario the whole face would need cut out and I would fab a faceplate like slurpee has, but if we opt out of heater core under the helm, I am thinking I could utilize vertical space and maybe go in through the bow hole. The 2021’s also do not have the walkthrough speakers, which may help with size as well

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1 hour ago, Brandonloos21 said:

Correct! Trust me I’m trying to do this at home, and not have to spend thousands for custom fabrication. I was just sharing based on a size perspective, that he was able to fit a 15” ported box. Worst case scenario the whole face would need cut out and I would fab a faceplate like slurpee has, but if we opt out of heater core under the helm, I am thinking I could utilize vertical space and maybe go in through the bow hole. The 2021’s also do not have the walkthrough speakers, which may help with size as well

25 LSV doesn't have walk thru speakers either, so you're not gaining anything from my perspective (i.e. I'm already comparing against a 25 LSV).  Also, in my experience, going through the bow hole doesn't offer anymore room than going through the helm hole.  The bow hole is smaller (unless they enlarged it on the new 23 LSV).  

I think your best bet, if you're committed to a ported box, will be to just cut out almost all the fiberglass below the helm. You only get to make those cuts ONCE so be sure you have well thought out plan before you do. Honestly, that takes more courage than I could ever muster.  

Take pics and keep us posted on your progress!  TMC loves a good stereo build thread.  

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1 hour ago, IXFE said:

25 LSV doesn't have walk thru speakers either, so you're not gaining anything from my perspective (i.e. I'm already comparing against a 25 LSV).  Also, in my experience, going through the bow hole doesn't offer anymore room than going through the helm hole.  The bow hole is smaller (unless they enlarged it on the new 23 LSV).  

I think your best bet, if you're committed to a ported box, will be to just cut out almost all the fiberglass below the helm. You only get to make those cuts ONCE so be sure you have well thought out plan before you do. Honestly, that takes more courage than I could ever muster.  

Take pics and keep us posted on your progress!  TMC loves a good stereo build thread.  

Will do! Thanks for the help, your build inspired me. Something about that xxx12 in a ported box I already fell in love with, so I don’t think I could bring myself to change what isn’t broken. I think if I were to have to do a full underhelm cutout, a grill like this would look really sharp, and possibly be one of the easier grills/covers

Mesh Grill

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3 hours ago, Brandonloos21 said:

Will do! Thanks for the help, your build inspired me. Something about that xxx12 in a ported box I already fell in love with, so I don’t think I could bring myself to change what isn’t broken. I think if I were to have to do a full underhelm cutout, a grill like this would look really sharp, and possibly be one of the easier grills/covers

Mesh Grill

 

I stopped by my audio dealer today and listened to a couple different woofers. Honestly, the XXX sounded the worst and it was a built to spec box. It's range is narrow. That's been my experience as well in my old 22mxz.

The JLw6 and the Treo 12" sounded better. The range on them was superior to the XXX. Thee XXX pounds, but limited frequencies IMO. If only I wasn't so OCD about all my equipment matching!

 

Edited by tjklein
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4 hours ago, tjklein said:

 

I stopped by my audio dealer today and listened to a couple different woofers. Honestly, the XXX sounded the worst and it was a built to spec box. It's range is narrow. That's been my experience as well in my old 22mxz.

The JLw6 and the Treo 12" sounded better. The range on them was superior to the XXX. Thee XXX pounds, but limited frequencies IMO. If only I wasn't so OCD about all my equipment matching!

 

I am also OCD about having all WS, I feel like they are supposed to pair together. I will have to look into the JL. I honestly don’t think I would prefer to go with non marine, and wetsounds makes highest output marine sadly :(

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For what it’s worth, had the JL 12w6 v3 in my 2016 22LSV and would never install anything else if going custom again!  I would not be too concerned with matching sub with the coaxial in boats, as plenty of custom systems, whether they be home, car or boat have a different brand sub that compliments the entire set up!  

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2 minutes ago, ctvandy23 said:

For what it’s worth, had the JL 12w6 v3 in my 2016 22LSV and would never install anything else if going custom again!  I would not be too concerned with matching sub with the coaxial in boats, as plenty of custom systems, whether they be home, car or boat have a different brand sub that compliments the entire set up!  

What was your exact setup? Any pics? Did you have to cut to fit box?

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I kept the stock Rockford Fosgates for in boats, went with two pair of the Exile Surf 9s on the tower and the JL sub.  I built my own box per the specs on the JL website.  I ordered boat without sub and cut my own whole, but on the 2016s the sub set up was different. Just checked and I can’t find any pics of my sub, but again that year did not have a flat billet grill like now.  I simply used the JL grill.

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