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Sub enclosure for 05 wakesetter


VLXWakesetter

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I’m wanting to get a subwoofer for my boat but not sure where to put it or what box would fit under the dash and was just wondering what set up and location people are running on their 05 wakesetter. I thought about getting a wetsound free air and just mounting it in that foot rest board under the dash but I’m afraid I’ll spend the money and it won’t be as loud or as good as I want it to be. Does anyone have this set up? If so how do you like it ?

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With the facade being open at the top, NO free air woofer is going to perform to its potential. You need a woofer thats designed for a small enclosure and go with a sealed or ported. 

The best setup, IMO, is going to be a custom enclosure that fits the available cavity, has the proper volume for the chosen woofer, and has the woofer radiating directly into the cabin. If you go with a pre-fab off the shelf enclosure, then it needs to be built for the humid marine environment. Then, you are searching for a woofer that compliments the enclosure's volume. Kind of reverse engineering.  

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You don’t want free air. While ported works well in a boat, it’s hard to fit without going custom. 
 

I prefer sealed boxes. While a custom box is the easy way, shops that do a good job are hard to find, and they are expensive. 
 

im a big fan of finding eBay or Amazon prefab boxes for your chosen speaker’s sealed size, and build some cardboard mock-ups. Remove the kick panel, and see what you can fit. Remember, you can always move the kick panel a bit, or eliminate, to gain more space. 
 

Have been able to fit good sealed boxes in 2 boats this way, both of which people said couldn’t be done without going custom.
 

sub selection is personal preference, for cost and brand.  Takes a solid sub and amp to sound good in a boat  

Good luck!

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Try to find a QBOMB or other prefab enclosure that fits your space.  Plenty good enough for a boat.  Don't worry about moisture under the helm.  Get a powerful amp.

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You can "tune" the internal volume of the prefab boxes by gluing insulation foam or something similar to the inside.  I've also put rubber feet on the box to keep it a half inch or so off the floor.

Simple and a lot cheaper and faster than a custom enclosure.

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On 5/15/2021 at 5:17 AM, minnmarker said:

You can "tune" the internal volume of the prefab boxes by gluing insulation foam or something similar to the inside.  I've also put rubber feet on the box to keep it a half inch or so off the floor.

Simple and a lot cheaper and faster than a custom enclosure.

Took the foot rest panel of and not much room back there due to my heater. Anyone have any relocation for it?

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Read MLA's post. It's solid advice. Btw, you want a marinized enclosure of some sort. MDF car boxes use a water-soluble composite that begins to deteriorate from the moment it's in the boat, especially in a damp boat with a cover over it, although the carpet covering may conceal that damage for several years. If you can't relocate the heater, you can space out a new facade with space underneath for extended leg room. Some 10" woofers that are designed for a sealed enclosure need less than a one cu.ft. exterior enclosure, and by no means does that enclosure need to be square. It's preferable to run a smaller 10" woofer in the optimum enclosure than it is to force a 12" woofer in an undersized enclosure. A ported enclosure works great, but to be at it's best that enclosure will have to be considerably larger than the sealed version for the same size of woofer. So if you're super tight on space, it's an easy decision to go sealed.  

I took my troubles down to Madame Rue, you know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth.

 

 

Edited by David
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I built exactly what you need to build. 12” sub facing the driver with a 6” flared precision port side firing into hull. I can do water tricks with the sub. Box is 2.8cuft net tuned to 34hz which is absolute max volume you can go under the helm in this boat. The sub is dual 2 ohm, 3” copper voice coil American bass XR12 it’s the one with the carbon fiber cone. Rms is 1100 watts im running it at a 1 ohm load total. Box is .75” mdf with a 1.5” baffle and has internal bracing etc, wood all sealed with helmsman polyurethane. The precision port is a 6” tube that flares to 9” on each end so no port noise and big big boom. Side firing against a surface with a ported enclosure is what is needed in an open air environment such as a boat you gain an additional 3db. Don’t want tune under 34hz either as diminishes returns. This setup is insane, def hardest hitting boat I have ever heard and I’ve seen a lot of custom setups. I used free software to design the box and tune it and model many different sub combinations to get the best result. Took me a month just to build the box but it’s worth it. And this sub is only around $200 and is built like a tank. Just FYI JL isn’t what the fanboys make it out to be. I’ve been installing car stereos since 1990 and JL was always just middle of the road never would see any of it in any competitions. Most of the top level stuff isn’t produced anymore as those companies couldn’t compete with cheap crap that being built now days.

 

Oh and David I read probably every post you had done and built this beast it’s all because of your advice on the web!

Edited by Jessdog77
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Thanks Jessdog77. You've learned well, Grasshopper.

To a degree we’re all fanboys of the products we buy. It's just a part of reconciling our decisions for whatever reason we made those decisions. There’s an iron law that applies to subwoofer design. No subwoofer of a given size will be the best in every aspect. Highest sensitivity/highest output. Highest power handling. Greatest excursion. Lowest deep bass extension. Lowest distortion. Most linear frequency response. You can either have 1) a balance between attributes, or 2) you can have superior performance in some area while making a trade-off with inferior performance in another area. You can’t have it all in the same product. That mythical product doesn’t exist.  

 

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5 hours ago, Jessdog77 said:

I built exactly what you need to build. 12” sub facing the driver with a 6” flared precision port side firing into hull. I can do water tricks with the sub. Box is 2.8cuft net tuned to 34hz which is absolute max volume you can go under the helm in this boat. The sub is dual 2 ohm, 3” copper voice coil American bass XR12 it’s the one with the carbon fiber cone. Rms is 1100 watts im running it at a 1 ohm load total. Box is .75” mdf with a 1.5” baffle and has internal bracing etc, wood all sealed with helmsman polyurethane. The precision port is a 6” tube that flares to 9” on each end so no port noise and big big boom. Side firing against a surface with a ported enclosure is what is needed in an open air environment such as a boat you gain an additional 3db. Don’t want tune under 34hz either as diminishes returns. This setup is insane, def hardest hitting boat I have ever heard and I’ve seen a lot of custom setups. I used free software to design the box and tune it and model many different sub combinations to get the best result. Took me a month just to build the box but it’s worth it. And this sub is only around $200 and is built like a tank. Just FYI JL isn’t what the fanboys make it out to be. I’ve been installing car stereos since 1990 and JL was always just middle of the road never would see any of it in any competitions. Most of the top level stuff isn’t produced anymore as those companies couldn’t compete with cheap crap that being built now days.

 

Oh and David I read probably every post you had done and built this beast it’s all because of your advice on the web!

Do you happen to have any pictures for reference or so I can get an idea?

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7 hours ago, Jessdog77 said:

Just FYI JL isn’t what the fanboys make it out to be. I’ve been installing car stereos since 1990 and JL was always just middle of the road never would see any of it in any competitions

Ive been a NASCAR fan since the late 80's, never seen a Cadillac on the track, so I guess they aint the car everyone makes them out to be. :whistle: And im not a JL guy by any means. 

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