gnc1017
Well-Known Member
A few weeks ago, my buddies and I finally got around to starting on the stereo upgrade we had planned since the time we placed our order but had yet to get around to. We only did the front of the boat now (time to use it again, not work on it) but we're pretty happy so far. We ordered the boat in 2015 with the Wet Sounds speaker upgrade but no amps or subs. While this definitely isn't for everyone, it may give some new ideas to those who want to do a custom system on their Bennington too. After all, future phase 2 (the rear of the boat) will likely be what Derrick did - mounting a subwoofer into the side of the rear lounger. We have been the beneficiaries of very good advice and info from the forum so just trying to pay it forward...
For this initial phase, we modified the port side table (a small table between the 2 captain's chairs on the RCWCP model or those that have the 'port table group' upgrade) to turn it into a subwoofer enclosure. Technically, we didn't turn the table into an enclosure (due to numerous application, sound, and reliability issues that would have come from that) so we had to get a little creative in the install and just made it look like that's what we did. In reality, we fabricated a sealed enclosure mounted inside but not fastened to the side of the table. Additional details are with the pics in my gallery. The subwoofer is a Wet Sounds SS-65 (since it has great specs and requires only a very, very small enclosure). Considering the location, we also wanted a grill. But since Wet Sounds doesn't make one specifically for this sub, Wet Sounds (thanks Joe!) hooked us up with a Rev 8 speaker grill that, after we made some minor modifications, finished it off.
We used a JL RD400/4 amp for this sub (and the 2 front Wet Sounds speakers that came with the boat). For the rear, we plan to use a JL RD900/5 so we installed the infrastructure now and left spacing for that as well (it will go just left of the RD400). Since we always trailer and keep a ton of stuff on our boat, space is a premium. Our goal is to capitalize on 'otherwise wasted and unused space' while still getting the quality sound we are looking for (and satisfying my OCD tendencies too). Best laid plans of course but so far, so good.
It's not the system we had in our last boat and we still have the entire rear to do, but considering we only have one amp and a single 6.5" subwoofer, we're pretty impressed with the sound and where this whole project is headed. If nothing else, it will definitely get us through until phase 2 next winter. It's not all Wet Sounds (sorry Derrick), nor all JL (sorry Spinzone) but hopefully you both would approve. B) Most of all, thanks guys sharing your experiences and wisdom!
/monthly_2017_05/large.Front_Amp_and_Cap.jpg.b3fc0ea26e7c65707e81d30dfcb46f63.jpg
And yes, it drives me crazy that the capacitor writing is up-side down (because of how we wanted to mount it) - even inside the helm where nobody will see it. I'm thinking a black vinyl wrap and a Bennington logo will take care of that pretty soon...
/monthly_2017_05/large.59247552f3953_TableSubwoofer(3).jpg.32002d08c1a62a1a08eea4850ec47820.jpg/monthly_2017_05/large.5924755648a89_TableSubwoofer(4).jpg.22cab283293ba4fe12ed75de4faa408b.jpg
For this initial phase, we modified the port side table (a small table between the 2 captain's chairs on the RCWCP model or those that have the 'port table group' upgrade) to turn it into a subwoofer enclosure. Technically, we didn't turn the table into an enclosure (due to numerous application, sound, and reliability issues that would have come from that) so we had to get a little creative in the install and just made it look like that's what we did. In reality, we fabricated a sealed enclosure mounted inside but not fastened to the side of the table. Additional details are with the pics in my gallery. The subwoofer is a Wet Sounds SS-65 (since it has great specs and requires only a very, very small enclosure). Considering the location, we also wanted a grill. But since Wet Sounds doesn't make one specifically for this sub, Wet Sounds (thanks Joe!) hooked us up with a Rev 8 speaker grill that, after we made some minor modifications, finished it off.
We used a JL RD400/4 amp for this sub (and the 2 front Wet Sounds speakers that came with the boat). For the rear, we plan to use a JL RD900/5 so we installed the infrastructure now and left spacing for that as well (it will go just left of the RD400). Since we always trailer and keep a ton of stuff on our boat, space is a premium. Our goal is to capitalize on 'otherwise wasted and unused space' while still getting the quality sound we are looking for (and satisfying my OCD tendencies too). Best laid plans of course but so far, so good.
It's not the system we had in our last boat and we still have the entire rear to do, but considering we only have one amp and a single 6.5" subwoofer, we're pretty impressed with the sound and where this whole project is headed. If nothing else, it will definitely get us through until phase 2 next winter. It's not all Wet Sounds (sorry Derrick), nor all JL (sorry Spinzone) but hopefully you both would approve. B) Most of all, thanks guys sharing your experiences and wisdom!
/monthly_2017_05/large.Front_Amp_and_Cap.jpg.b3fc0ea26e7c65707e81d30dfcb46f63.jpg
And yes, it drives me crazy that the capacitor writing is up-side down (because of how we wanted to mount it) - even inside the helm where nobody will see it. I'm thinking a black vinyl wrap and a Bennington logo will take care of that pretty soon...
/monthly_2017_05/large.59247552f3953_TableSubwoofer(3).jpg.32002d08c1a62a1a08eea4850ec47820.jpg/monthly_2017_05/large.5924755648a89_TableSubwoofer(4).jpg.22cab283293ba4fe12ed75de4faa408b.jpg