Forums, Electrical Systems, Navigation and Safety equipment, cockpit speakers

George Isted at 31/08/2012 12:59:40
Where do people have them fitted, what works well? The best options in the cockpit seem to be 1. in the coaming at the front of the cockpit 2. in the coaming at the back of the cockpit 3. in the back of the pockets Inside I’m thinking to hide some speakers in the book-shelf on either side of the cabin. Any better suggestions before I start cutting holes (will need bravery pills for that) I suppose I could fit some speakers into a washboard and slide into place when needed but not so convenient as fitted speakers.
Edited: George Isted on 2012-08-31 14:03:43

waratah912 at 31/08/2012 22:23:46
George,

To avoid cutting holes, I used the following solution :

In the saloon, two car speakers from the “old days” when you had speakers in enclosures sitting on the parcel shelf. These sit on the flat surface in the corner of the backrest at the forward end of the bunks and are just velcroed in place. No need to even drill holes for the wires as you can just run them behind the backrest. Could equally well use a computer set.
Cockpit solution is similar, using two old wedge shaped car enclosures in the cubby holes and the speakers replaced with waterproof ones from eBay – significantly cheaper than those from the chandlery – not concert standard but you’re probably going to be listening to MP3 anyway?

Tim H at 01/09/2012 15:58:17
Hi George,

In the cockpit our’s are mounted in the back of the pocket, the advantage is they’re neat and out of the way, disadvantages are the sound isn’t brilliant (because they’re in the pocket) and the speakers have got a bit knocked around by winch handles thrown in.

In the saloon we have two brackets so no cutting required i have e-mailed you a photo.

Hope it helps

Tim

George Isted at 03/09/2012 10:04:59
Thanks chaps some good options there. Like you, I’m not keen on drilling big holes so may go for something like this fitted internally in each bookshelf/cubbyhole

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pyle-PDWR30B-3-5-Inch-Waterproof-Speakers/dp/B000MCKAU6

I’m still undecided about the outside speakers and where/how to fit them.

moongirl at 04/09/2012 21:45:13
Hi George
A number of boats seem to have speakers let into the fwd part of the winch handle pocket but by definition, unless you use handle pockets, the speakers are vulnerable. Muscadet has a single speaker in the sbd locker which is used purely for VHF and has remain undamaged for quite a while.
Regards

moongirl at 06/09/2012 20:05:09
Hi George
I was on Muscadet this morning. She has a speaker in the sbd Winch Handle locker – its very small and is not mounted in a hole but on a ‘U’ shaped bracket so only small hole for cable with grommet plus screws for bracket.
I didn’t have my camera with me & it was too dark for an iPhone with no flash. Will have camera at Cowes this weekend so will take a shot & try to see if there is a model number.

Regards

moongirl at 06/09/2012 21:46:23
George
I had a look on the Net & think that Muscadet’s speaker is from NASA available from Force 4 Chandlers

Regards

George Isted at 07/09/2012 09:41:00
Thanks Colin,
I already have a small speaker fitted inside the starboard pocked for the VHF and that works well.

I’m looking for the best position for music speakers, I guess they will be anywehre between 5" and 7" in diameter to get decent sound out of them. Unfortunatly I think the best solution is to cut some big holed in the coaming (eeek!)

cheers

Kemah at 10/09/2012 21:01:42
Hi George,

About the speakers inside the boat. After some consideration ( I did not want to drill two 100 mm holes) I found out that the little ceiling in the bookshelf on port and starboard had enough space between the ceiling and underside deck to mount a flush speaker. I made some nice new ceiling panels to acomodate the speakers. It looks and it sounds great .
If you want I can send you some pictures

Regards

Rob
Kemah