Rev 12 on 2023 GX tower?

[JeffK]

Has anyone mounted a set of rev 12s on a 2023 GX tower? I have the swivel clamps from wet sounds, but I am told there is a mounting bracket that Malibu makes that goes in between the tower and the clamp. Has anybody done this yet? The current swivel clamp will not match up.

[MLA]

2 hours ago, JeffK said:

The current swivel clamp will not match up.

To the tower or the speaker pod? The speaker manufacture offers a direct-mount swivel bass, as opposed to the swivel "clamp" that would go on a tune tower bar. Unless Malibu is no offering the particular speaker and size you are asking about, then I doubt Malibu offer an adapter of any kind. 

[JeffK]

This is the mount i have. 
 

https://shop.wetsounds.com/adp-tc3-sxm-wet-sounds-stainless-steel-swivel-surface-mount-no-clamp-w-hardware/

[JeffK]

34 minutes ago, MLA said:

To the tower or the speaker pod?

The swivel mount will not match the mounting holes on the tower. 

[IXFE]

@JeffK, you and I need to talk. This was weeks of trial and error. But I finally got it just the other night. PM sent!  

I was planning on doing a write up but haven’t had time, and it’s not super straightforward to explain without a chat. 

Needless to say, Wetsounds put less than zero thought into this application, which is disappointing.

[IXFE]

Okay, haven’t heard from Jeff so I’m just gonna start typing….

Before we get to the mounts, I feel the wiring should be discussed. The factory wiring in the Gx tower is 14g and it’s wired in parallel. So there’s only ONE set of speaker wire going up each arm of the tower. That’s fine if you’re trying to power the entire tower with a single 2-channel amp, but is that really possible with four Rev12’s (I just realized I don’t know if Jeff is planning two or four)…? They need more power than any single 2-channel amp can provide. So if you’re running four Rev12’s, plan on using TWO amps, which means you need two sets of speaker wire going up each arm (ie dedicated runs to each can).

I’ve run speaker wire through lots of G3 towers, but had issues with a G4 many years ago. So I was super intimidated by the Gx. But it wasn’t as hard as I imagined. Just pop off the the inside panels and you’ll find a nice channel to run more wire in (pic 1). The only blind part is going through the base. I used a fish and came up through the bottom and pulled the wire through (pic 2). I used 14-4 speaker wire and zip tied it to the wire already in there (pic 3). Screw the panels back on and you’re done! (Pic 4). You will notice I left the factory speaker wire in place; I plan to repurpose it for the LED’s built into the Rev12’s (just the blue). 

Edited April 25, 2023 by IXFE

[MLA]

10 hours ago, JeffK said:

The swivel mount will not match the mounting holes on the tower. 

So it sounds like Malibu has migrated away from the commonly used 2.5" hole spread? 

[IXFE]

3 hours ago, MLA said:

So it sounds like Malibu has migrated away from the commonly used 2.5" hole spread? 

Yes, pic 1 is the “bolt pattern” used on both the G5 tower and optional GX tower (well sort of, more on that in a bit). These towers with these threaded bolt patterns haven been in use since 2020 model year, so four years now! I call it the “trapezoid” pattern. Lol 

 

Pics 2 - 3 are of the the Wetsounds adapter designed specifically for the G5 tower (but no mention of the GX tower which is what I have and what this thread is about). It’s a nice solid piece of billet anodized to match the rest of hardware in a modern day Malibu.

 

Pic 4 is me holding up the Wetsounds G5 adapter to my GX tower (port side, upper location). Looks like it will fit, right?  I mean, that looks like it was designed to go there, yeah??

Not so fast…

[Slurpee]

Cliffhanger.  Gimme! 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Slurpee

[Brandonloos21]

It wouldn’t be a Malibu project without a completely random unexpected curveball!!!

[JeffK]

I have the "factory" Malibu OEM adapters coming (should be here in two days) so I'll add to this when I get them in.  I have the WS swivel clamps that I'll try out first, then go to the X5 clamps if these don't get it done.

[IXFE]

So you really have two choices when it comes to adapters to mount a Wetsounds tower speaker to a Malibu tower.

1) Wetsounds G5 adapter (the one I introduced in my previous post) I’m going to dedicate this post to that adapter, and the issues you WILL run into when trying to use it on a GX tower 

2) Malibu’s proprietary GX adapter (in other words, Malibu does NOT use the WS billet adapters at the factory when they mount factory-supplied Wetsounds Rev10’s). In my next post, I will address this Malibu GX adapter, and the issue you WILL run into when trying to use it with Rev12’s.

So, let’s talk about that Wetsounds G5 adapter. Why doesn’t it work on the GX tower…? Simple, the “trapezoid” holes drilled thru that adapter do NOT match up with the threaded “trapezoid” holes on the GX tower!  And it’s soooo close… Ugh! WTF!! In fact, it is so close you will swear you’re doing something wrong. But you’re not. Don’t beat yourself up!  It’s not you, it’s THEM!! I tried from several different angles. I tried all four of my WS adapters in all four of the different locations. I even measured with calipers. They are simply off by about 0.5mm (pic 1, comparison pic showing top bolt holes on tower & adapter, measured inside edge -to- inside edge). This is just enough to prevent the bolts to line up with the threaded holes. (pic 2, notice the scoring on the tower where the bolts want to go). And there is ZERO room allowed for play or slop in these adapters; if it doesn’t line up perfectly, you’re screwed. AND THESE DO NOT LINE UP!

 

Now I know what y’all are wondering… whose fault is this?  I spent a bunch of time pondering this. There are really only three options: 1) My Wetsounds G5 adapters were drilled too wide, 2) My GX tower was drilled too narrow, or 3) Malibu really does have a 0.5mm difference in bolt pattern between G5 and GX tower + Wetsounds really did make these adapters ONLY for G5 and completely ignored the GX market  

At the end of the day, trying to solve that mystery wasn’t getting me any closer to mounting the Rev12’s so I gave up. I’ll let y’all ponder it and speculate it. 

Moving onto solution space, I wondered to myself if simply drilling out the holes in the G5 adapters would give me enough play to line up the bolts with the threaded holes in the GX tower (pic 3, imagine drilling out the material where the red circles are drawn).

 

But before I permanently maimed those beautify hunks of billet, I decided to first do a test fit. I mean, you don’t need all four bolts to test fit an empty GX can, right?  Two should be sufficient!

My worry here was simply, was the Rev12 can too tall?  When mounted to holes intended for Rev10’s would the tower crossbar interfere with the larger Rev12 can… 

Let’s take a look (pics 4-6)!

As you can see, the Rev12 cans fit!  With about 3/16” gap to the cross bar. I was surprised by this because I seem to recall a similar gap on my factory mounted Rev10’s. I remember this because it’s not always easy to get my Speakersox on thru a very narrow gap to the crossbar. In the next post this mystery will be revealed (hint: it has to do with Malibu’s GX adapter).  

So now I know the spacing works with the Wetsounds G5 adapter (at least for the upper cans), but what about the lower cans.  Well, unfortunately this is where you run into spacing issues. Fitting TWO pair of Rev12’s is just too much to ask of bolt holes intended for Rev10’s.  Using the Wetsounds G5 adapters in the bottom location doesn’t work… you can’t bolt up the lower can; it interferes with the upper can (sorry, no pic to show this, you’re just gonna have to trust me)

Plus, even in the upper location, I still have the issue of the bolt holes not lining up. Before I drill out those Wetsounds G5 adapters, I decided to try the Malibu GX adapters. So I ordered them from my dealer and waited a week for them to arrive. My thinking was that if the Malibu GX adapters work, I can return the $400 Worth of Wetsounds G5 adapters. So don’t drill yet!

Stay tuned for the next episode…

[IXFE]

Okay, this isn’t the next episode, but before moving on from the Wetsounds G5 adapter, I did want to call out Wetsounds here…

I did call them for help and got connected to their head install guy (as have many others on this forum). I quickly learned they really don’t know these boats at all. They are just reading product descriptions and regurgitating them back to you. “Mr. IXFE, you have a GX tower and these adapters are meant for G5 towers.”  Uh, thanks, Captain Obvious! When asked why the #1 marine audio company didn’t spend an extra few hours to design an adapter for the upgraded tower at the #1 wakeboat company, all you get is silence. Ooops!

I also caught them in a lie… they claimed that the reason they don’t have a Rev12 / GX adapter is because the GX was introduced AFTER the Rev12. Nope, try again. 

I had to send them a bunch of pics so they even knew what I was talking about. To their credit they did offer to drill out my G5 adapters if I shipped them in. I didn’t take them up on that offer though. I wanted to try the Malibu GX adapters first. 

Bottom line, Wetsounds dropped the ball here. It’s clear to me they launched these Rev12’s without thinking thru the full solution (I would imagine the same is true for other tower manufacturers, but I didn’t check).

So now you got a bunch of finance guys doing R&D in the field. Lame…

Edited April 25, 2023 by IXFE

[IXFE]

Okay, I’m back. Let’s talk Malibu GX adapters. It’s a super interesting design. I’m not sure why Malibu developed their own adapters instead of just using the Wetsounds adapter. My guess… either cost (per unit) or simplicity (to assemble in high volumes). 

The best way to show you this two-piece design is with a video. So I made this for y’all. Unfortunately, the adapter is upside down in this video. 

Note: if you want to replay the gif, just reload the page. 

The piece in my left hand bolts to the GX tower. The piece in my right hand bolts to the Rev10/12. Then you slide them together.

Heres another pic… 

Once installed, how do you keep the Rev 12 from sliding off?  Simple, there are two holes running across the combined pieces… 

Malibu drives a #10 x 1.5” screw into those holes which is just fat enough to wedge those two pieces together. Then the my cover the open ends with black plastic caps. These next two photos are courtesy of @Stevo

 

 

Here’s a better view of those plastic caps. Note that they are recessed to swallow up the screw heads. 

Edited April 26, 2023 by IXFE

[IXFE]

So now that we all understand how that Malibu GX adapter works, let’s evaluate its use as a solution for the GX / Rev12 situation…

First, does it bolt up to the GX tower or does it suffer the same issue as the WS G5 adapter (holes drilled too wide)? The answer is… 

it works!  Not too wide!

Look at this comparison (Malibu GX adapter lined up over the Wetsounds G5 adapter)  

 

With that bolt pattern issue solved, there are others to address. The biggest being the angle!  Did you notice it?  By my math it’s about 11°…

… and it pushes the cans UP, which is kind of a problem when you’re trying to mount BIGGER cans and space is at a premium. Here it is on the tower (starboard side)

The test fit proved it. I couldn’t slide the Rev12’s all the way on before they hit the cross bar. 

So the angle of the Malibu GX adapter kinda makes it useless for the Rev12 application… 

Or does it…?? 🤔

[IXFE]

Let’s review and start to wrap this up… basically each adapter solves a problem the other has but introduces a new problem. In other words, what you need is BOTH, but modified!

Said another way… what if you took the angle of the Malibu GX tower adapter that’s working against you, and instead made it work FOR you…?

So here’s what I decided:

TOP: Wetsounds G5 adapter, with drilled out holes to allow bolts to line up to GX threaded holes. After all, we know the Rev12 cans fit in the upper location with this WS G5 adapter. We just need to solve the bolt pattern issue. 

BOTTOM: Malibu GX adapter, flipped upside down to get that angle working for you (ie pushing the lower Rev12 can down a bit ti clear the upper Rev12 can). But to flip them upside down, you need to drill FOUR new holes precisely in the right spots. 

Here’s a view of the final spacing this setup produces between top and bottom cans… 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by IXFE

[IXFE]

A few wrap up items…

I used the X mount on the Rev12 (x mount sits between the Rev12 can and the tower adapter). You can also use the swivel mount, I suppose. But I never tested that. 

It’s actual amazing to me how many gadgets Wetsounds requires to install their tower speakers. But I digress. Pics of X mount… 

On the advice of @Brandonloos21, I drilled out the integrated wires to instead just pass my wires thru and make the connections inside the can… 

 

Speaker wire from the tower (with WS plug soldered to the end) hanging out the front, waiting for driver. LED wire from tower already plugged in and stuffed to the back of the can… 

 

Anyway, I hope all this helps.

Thanks again to @Stevo and @Brandonloos21

Edited April 26, 2023 by IXFE

[hethj7]

Wow, I would never have the patience to figure all that out!  Nice work!