230 wake stereo upgrade

[cycleguy88]

well, I have swapped out the stereo system on my 2012 230 Wake and I figured I'd share some photos. The interior speakers were replaced with M770 JL Audio speakers, coax in front and components in rear. The Tower speakers were replaced with the Kicker KM6500.2 HLCD setup. The factory amp was removed and replaced with a JL MHD 900/5 for the interior sound, and a JL 400/4 for the tower system. I also added a 10" Cerwin Vega VMAX 102 in a ported box. Wiring the amps was the most painfull part, but once i figured out how to rout the wires, it was not too bad. I had to remove the rear driver's side cupholders and the speaker by the captian's chair, and feed the wires thru using a straightened coat hanger. I ran the power wires to the battery switch behind the driver's seat, and the ground to the battery. I had an extra battery added to the boat when i bought it, so i'm covered there. Here are some pics of the finished interior speakers. I'll add more pics later when it quits raining and I can take more.

 

[cycleguy88]

The KM6500.2 kicker tower HLCD's were not a "drop in" as you'd think. The tower speakers that come with this boat make it very difficult to change out. The speakers don't bolt onto the front of the can, and the cans are not just "hanging" there like most others. This meant that I needed to try and reuse the stock cans and modify the Kickers to fit. Here are some pics of what I had to do. The grills from the factory speakers had to be used on the mids, and then I had to cut a section of the mid speaker lip to clear the bolts on the inside of the speaker cans, where they mount to the tower. The tweeters had to be mounted using univeral Metra brand spacers and the "A" frame braket that holds it all in needed to be modified as well. They sound great, and they push the sound out really far, but the mids kinda suck. I would have just gone with Wetsounds tower speakers, but the problem is that the tower has mounts welded on for these cans, and it looks funny without them or with others bolted up there.

 

[cycleguy88]

I'll take some pics this weekend of the amps and the sub, as well as more of the finished product. I love JL stuff, but I really wanted HLCD tower speakers and the kicker were the only ones that would fit in the stock can setup. After everything, this thing is loud as hell. I am also adding this Wetsounds 420 EQ that I bought yesterday.

 

[RFoster130]

Looks good so far.

 

[bkounkel]

I just added to my 230 wake. I went wet sounds amps, comes with a micro for the side tower roswell r6's then I added two HLCD roswell 7.0s with a rockford t2 sub custom box behind the drivers seat. Went with the Wet sounds syn2 amps, one for sub one for tower speakers.... its class H, really efficient. 7.0's are loud and compliment the lcd's in the light tower... they are in the bottom of the speaker... its what nautique went with on there tower on the new g25. Added 2 10 inch shadow castors for leds in the transom for surfing. Pretty sick setup.

 

[cycleguy88]

Well I added the wetsounds 420 EQ and retuned everything and now it's nuts. The tower speakers are super loud and very clear. I didnt want any speakers hanging from the tower, cause I'm 6'1" and don't want to loose any clearance. Do you have any pics of the sub set up and the transom lights. How do you like surfing behind yours?

 

[cycleguy88]

I'm going to take more pics this weekend and i'll post them up when i do. I added the 420EQ and i put a 9" hole in the console area with a a JL subwoofer grill over it, so it can vent and get that bass to boom more. I'm also going to add a red LED in there, so at night it'll shine out of the grill. For anyone wanting to do the HLCD tower speakers, the kickers are awesome!

 

[cycleguy88]

Well i'm done for now, and here are the rest of the photos from the install. The WS-420 is the perfect tool for a complete install with tower speakers. This system is freaky loud and the tower speakers are crystal clear from 100ft back or better. I needed a vent on the compartment that houses the sub and the amps, so i cut a 8.5" hole in the side and covered it with a 10" JL sub grill. I figured that this would look better than a normal "grill" and i'm glad i did it. The actual sub is in a ported box next to the amps, and fires at the hull for a solid bass respons. After adding the grill/vent in the 4th pic, the sub sounds much better and the amps are staying a lot cooler. I'm going to add a red LED light strip in there to shine out of the grill/vent at night, for an exta effect.
e.

 

[cycleguy88]

here are some more

 

[cycleguy88]

after the EQ add on, and adjusting the gain on the amp better, the tower speakers are perfect with no distortion and the mids sound good now. Since the sub is run off the 5th channel of the JL HD900/5 amp, i had to use Y splitters for the front/rear inputs in order to use the EQ from wetsounds. The sub has it's own RCA's from the EQ and the amp needs either front only, front and rear only, or all used up. There's not a working combination for front and sub only, hence the use of the Y splitters and then the input is set to 6 channels. The bottom 4 channel JL amp is bridged to deliver a solid 200RMS watts to each set of tower speakers.

 

[cycleguy88]

here is one that you can see where i added the ipod cable to the stereo. I routed to here to keep my phone nice and dry while out on the lake. This is also a close up of where my EQ is mounted. I would've rather had it flush mounted in the dash, but there was no room. This turned out great tho, and it's out of sight, but still within easy reach.

 

[RFoster130]

:drool5: That boat is sick. Did you do the whole install yourself? Looks good. How much did it run you total?

 

[cycleguy88]

Thanks man. I did all of the install myself, and prob have around $3k in it. The JL HD amp was a lot and the rest was $300 here, $200 there type of stuff. I ordered most of the things off Amazon to save a lot of money too.

 

[davo]

Your boat's unreal!!

 

[cycleguy88]

I'll try to take a video of it next time i get it out of storage, for final winter clean up. Videos usually come out crappy tho.

 

[cycleguy88]

Thanks Davo, i'm a big fan of your set up as well.

 

[moochy]

Awesome setup cycleguy. Making the 850 mile trip upto Brisbane on Sunday to check out Davos setup so ill be able to report back next week!

 

[Sako7STW]

Wow, impressive setup. I have been very curious to how the Kicker HLCD's were stacking up. When I read your first post saying they didnt sound great I wondered if they just needed a good EQ put to them. Sounds like that did the trick. I am super impressed with that setup and I bet it is amazing sounding. Congrats!!

 

[cycleguy88]

Yes they needed a good amp and tuning. The tuning really did the trick and they also needed all the power you can throw at them. They sound great from a long way out now tho

 

[tmthunder]

Cycleguy,
Did you use the stock speaker wires for your speakers that you put in the stock locations? Your dual battery switch is it in the stock location? If so is it Perko that is the direct replacement for the stock switch in the 230's? I will need to install a second battery before the snow melts. I just ordered JL M770 coaxials for the front, components for the rear, M10IB5 sub, and their 700/5 amp with HD-RLC remote to power everything.

 

[cycleguy88]

i did use the stock speaker wire for the front, but the back had to be new wiring. The factory wire was only to the coax and not the tweater. The batter switch is not in the factory location either. The new switch is too big for the factory spot, so it's behind the net in the back under the seat in the middle. That set up you're going to run will be great. Just tune the amp to match the gain with the speakers and you'll love it. Post up pics when you're done.

the reason for not using stock wires for the rear components is due to the factory wiring went to the coax, and that had it's own hard wired lines to the tweeter. On the driver's side, i ran new wire, but on the passenger side, i just spliced in longer wire. Good luck.

 

[tmthunder]

Thanks for the input!!! I will get some photos after the install this will give me something to pick away at over the winter.

 

[tmthunder]

I know the amp instructions tell you what voltage to set the gains at. I am assuming that is what you mean by matching the gain to the speakers??? Also is there specific music to set the gains to? I used to have a CD when I was doing systems in my vehicles 15+ years ago. Now I would need something to download to my iPhone or a flash drive.

 

[BMANN06]

Nice rig! Whats the top speed of that huar??

 

[cycleguy88]

I know the amp instructions tell you what voltage to set the gains at. I am assuming that is what you mean by matching the gain to the speakers??? Also is there specific music to set the gains to? I used to have a CD when I was doing systems in my vehicles 15+ years ago. Now I would need something to download to my iPhone or a flash drive.

I used my iphone, since that's what i listen to out on the water. Just pick a good song with full range and tune it. You're going to want to get to the point that the speakers start to distort, and then back it off a touch. You'll see. The amp instructions give you a decent starting point, and you fine tune from there. If i can get a chance, i'll look and see what i put mine at.