CONTINUOUSWAVE

Hello. I am giddy with excitement as the days count down until I am back in New Jersey and the [MONTAUK 17] goes in the water. I have been looking into speaker for the boat. In the past I used a Jawbone speaker, but it was not loud enough when underway. I have no desire to cut holes in the console. I have been checking out motorcycle audio systems as an alternative, and I like their potential. http://www.sharkmotorcycleaudio.com/products/complete-4ch-1000-watt-motorcycle-audio-systems-control-with-quality-speakers.html. I figure I have two options for mounting these speakers:

--get a system that has four speakers and I mount them on the console rails; two facing aft, two facing fore. I would mount the amplifer inside the console. There is a hole in the console from an old fish finder that is no longer there, which I could use to run the speaker wires from inside the console up to the speakers; or,

--get a system that has two speakers and I mount them on the rails at the aft of the boat. Again, I would mount the amp in the console. I would have to get a longer RCA male and female cables and then run the cables down the tunnel to the rear of the boat, and then run them to over to the rails. I would face the speakers towards the front of the boat.

I like the option of having four speakers on the console, but I am concerned that the wires will not look all that great, even if I zip tie them to the console rails. I avoid having that problem if I mount the speakers on the aft rails as the speaker wires can be bundled up with the outboard controls on the starboard side, and hidden along the battery box on the port side. I do wonder if it would be advisable to hook up a second battery to power this system. Thoughts?

Opinions on each option are welcome. And as always, thanks for your insight.

The best position for a loudspeaker to convey sound to a human is to locate the loudspeaker in front of the human and at about ear level. But I would not put my communication loudspeaker directly in front of me. I prefer the loudspeaker to be off to one side--my right side because that is my better ear. I also like it below my ear level. In that way I can immediately locate by binaural hearing the source of the sound from the speaker as coming from my right side and below my ear level. This means it is coming from the radio. The importance of this sound locating aspect of the speaker location is to immediately identify what I am hearing as coming from the radio, not from the boat or from someone on the boat. Since the communication radio is squelched up about 90-percent of the time, the speaker does not interfere with my other hearing, so I can be alert for any aural cues.

What am I listening for? Any change in the sound of the engine, any sound that might be another boat coming up from behind. Any one hailing me from another boat.

I agree with you that using some sort of in-ear speaker ( like a Jawbone) is a bad idea on a boat if you are the helmsman. The helmsman should never be distracted with any unnecessary aural stimulation. He should always be alert for the sounds of other boats.

I also agree: I would never cut a hole in my Boston Whaler boat to mount a loudspeaker. That is just not in my playbook.

In the case of a MONTAUK, I think I would install the loudspeaker under the starboard gunwale, abeam the helmsman's position, using a mounting bracket. Angle the loudspeaker upwards so the center axis of the speaker is aimed right at the helmsman. If that means running a long speaker lead, just use some speaker wire that is larger than normal.

By the way, I use a MOTOROLA communication speaker from an old MOTRAC commercial radio. It will play so loud you cannot stand to be within 20-feet of the boat. There is never any problem to hear a radio call over any boat noise, no matter what throttle setting.

When I built my console I had the luxury of placing things where I wanted. The only place I could locate the West Marine 6x9 tri-axial speakers was on the sides close to the deck. I figured the sound would bounce off the gunwales and I was right. Works well.