alindquist

Figured someone might be interested in how I did the stereo on my 2006 330SS.

I went back and forth between Wetsounds & JL but the black Friday 20% deal that Wetsounds was doing was too good to pass up so Wetsounds it was... Then there was the issue of the head unit, I really liked the zone control feature on the Fusion stuff and since there was already holes cut for remotes I need a deck with good remotes too. Fusion got the nod and I went with the MS-AV700i head unit and 2 of the NMEA remotes (1 for the helm, 1 for the transome)
Head Unit Installed

Helm Remote

Transom Remote:

While I was at it I put in a new TV since the previous owner decided to rip the old one off the wall, seriously I'm not sure if it was stolen or what but it was literally ripped off the wall
After:

Deck and remotes installed time to move onto the amps...
There was a factory installed Kenwood 4 channel amp that was installed in the closet. Since I wouldn't have room for the other amps in the closet I decide to move all the amps to area under the helm, aft of the cabin... Once I pulled out some "beauty boards" they was actually quite a bit of room under there. I pulled all the wiring form the 12 volt panel and the deck along with pulling speaker wires all over the boat down to this area. Pulling all the wiring and making it look like it was factory rigged was a big job. I'll bet I had at least 2 days into doing this alone but I'm kind of picky about wiring and I don't want to ever do it again so it was worth the time to do it right.
Basically what we have going on is the Kenwood is running the 2 cabin speaker (XS-65i) on 2 channels and I have 2 open channels if I ever wanted to put a sub down stairs (unlikely but you never know).
I have a SD4 running the cockpit speakers, 2 XS-650's and 2 XS-808's
I have a SD6 running the 2 FA-10 (bridged) and the 2 SW-808's on the transom


(that wiring has been cleaned up so don't judge, just don't have a pic)
Overall I'm pretty stoked on the amps, they were expensive but they do seem pretty solid.

On to the speakers.
In the cabin I did a set of XS-65i in the factory locations, I didn't snap a picture but trust me there there...
I replaced the 2 factory 6x9's with a set of XS-808's. This presented a few challenges but I'm happy with the solution that I came up with. Basically I didn't have the mounting depth for the 808's so I got out the router and machined spacers out of 1/2" starboard and I also put 1/2" acrylic rings for LED's This gave me an extra 1" of mounting depth and after trimming away a little bit more fiberglass they fit perfectly and look like they grew there.
Front Speaker:


Rear Speaker:

RGB LED's around these because why not...
There was originally only 2 6x9's in the cockpit and they are mounted low so I wanted to add a set of XS-650's in the arch. Formula did put in deck plates to access some wiring so It made sense to take the deck plate out and drop in a speaker, after a little trimming I think they fit pretty good.
Original Deck Plates:

Port:

Starboard:

RGB LED's around these and disco...
After going back and forth about the sub locations I ultimately landing on putting 2 of the FA-10 under the helm seat. There are 2 pieces of 1/4" starboard screwed into the base that I used as templates to cut out 2 1/2" pieces and then cut holes for the subs.

Finally came the most terrifying part of the install. I needed some type of transom speaker or tower speaker since we are at Crab Island every weekend. I really didn't want to do tower speakers since I wasn't sure on mounting them and I think they might look stupid on a boat like this. I decided that I was going to put a set of 808's on the transom.
I used my acrylic rings as templates and router guides:

Measure 50 times and cut once:

No turning back now:

Almost there:

Success:

Lights on:


Just for the hell of it I added a few RGB LED strips down in the cabin



Overall I'm pretty happy with everything, let me know what you think or if you have any questions.
Aaron

CBlakeNS

Very nice! How do you like them? I was looking at Wetsound (had a buddy that had some brand new that he bought that he didn't use). I went with Polks marine line up and I am very happy with them!

alindquist

I had Polk momo's in my last boat and I loved them, but I wanted to try something different this go around. I think the Wetsounds sound awesome. I'm really impressed with the 808's...

tpenfield

Very nice. . . . makes me think about doing the same.

4mulafastech

alindquist - Great job on the install. Nice selection of components and everything looks really clean. Cool having the LED accents. I can only imagine the stress of making those holes in the transom! It turned out great and bet it sounds awesome when outside the boat.

My 2006 292 came with a Kenwood KAC-8402 amp which looks like what you got powering the XS-65i's. That 4 channel amp is 60W per channel, but you can bridge it since you not using the other two channels and get two powerful 180W channels. I attached a pic from the Kenwood manual on the set-up. Just thought I would throw this out there since those XS-65i's like some power rated 120W RMS and 240W peak.

Enjoy the new tunes!

alindquist

Those 65i's scream the way it's setup, I can't imagine giving them anymore power in that little cabin. I might do a little 8 or 10 down in the cabin, might be cool if I want to watch a movie....

macjazzy

Great install. I had a 2005 330ss, that I put a monster stereo in, My install looked very similar to yours. My head unit was left side of the door as you walk into the cabin though. I used Polk's for the cockpit speakers, just replaced the stock 6x9's on the floor with Polk 6x9's, then added 6.5 polks with separate tweeters in the arch. I also added wake board speakers that I put on a removable mount that I would attach the the outboard hand rails on the arch with a speaker jack down at the bottom of the arch on the inside. I used JL audio subs in the same place you mounted yours, and on the rear JL audio 7.7's but for reasons I can't remember now I mounted both on the panel to the right rather than the way you did yours more evenly spaced across the back like that. I seem to remember it had something to do with getting the wires to the speakers, can't remember now. I used (2) 4 way Kenwood 100watt per ch. amps and 2 mono 500watt amps for the subs mounted in the little cubby hole under the cockpit floor like you did. You are right, there is a bunch of room in there once you take the divider for the table storage out. I ran the interior speakers off the head unit. Having the fusion head unit is a better than the Kenwood I had. Because it became an issue having the stereo rocking good and loud at a raft up, when people on my boat in the cockpit making food or drinks they get blown out so they would turn it down but 10 or 15 other boats were at the raftup listening to my stereo. If you set it up right you can use the Fusion head unit to just turn down the cockpit speakers if you want and leave the outside ones kicking.
Great install, those 330ss's are awesome party boats.

alindquist

I'm using 3 of the 4 zones. One for the cabin, one for the cockpit & subs, the other for the transom. You can have the transom blasting and if the cockpit speakers are turned down you can hardly hear it in the boat. This is a super nice feature and the main reason I went with Fusion. My last boat had tower speakers but the way they were positioned if they were turned up you were not getting out of the way no matter where you were on the boat.

Br1dgemann

Awesome set-up, Aaron. The trick to any kicking stereo install is to make it look factory, and I believe you did an outstanding job.

Since I see you live Florida like me, I must ask you and anyone else out there: typically how long do your speakers last? I seem to always have failure of the speaker cone surrounds after a couple of years. I have used Kenwood, Clarion, Sony and Infinity marine speakers and always have the same failure issue. Any secrets to success here??

alindquist

Br1dgemann: My last boat had Polk Momo's and they last about 6-7 years before I finally blew them up, I replaced them with Wet Sounds 65i's and they are still working. As far at the cone goes they were still in good shape. Provided I don't blow these speakers I would think I should get 5-7 years. Hopefully at that point the boat will be sold and I'll be on to something bigger.
Aaron