speakers

[jsbbritt@aol.com]

Hi,

I have a non sailing question.  I have a 91 Catalina 34 ( with the step through transom) and would like some advice on where toplace speakers in the cockpit? Any help would be appreciated.

[Ken Juul]

The cockpit speakers on Luna Loca are located on either side just forward of the pedestal, centered on the slanting aft edge of the cockpit seats.  This makes them pretty much centered in the cockpit, but in a place where people won't sit in front of them.  I have also seen small box speakers mounted to the pedestal guard facing forward.  I would worry about the magnets interferring with the compass, and with the table, drink holders, GPS mount, etc on the pedestal, I think the speakers would make mine look cluttered.

[jbstack28]

Hey I simply mounted mine to the forward side of both Propane lockers.  Works great.  Good luck.

Charlie Stackpole
"DESPIDO" hull 1029
Tampa, Fl

[Roc]

I placed mine on the forward facing side of the covers for the rear storage area, on either side of the pedestal.  These are the seats that flip forward so you can get to the rudder quadrant, etc.  I bought poly planar low magnetic speakers.  They sound great because the locker area acts like a big speaker cabinet.  I mounted them as high up on the surface so they wouldn't be prone to being kicked when moving about the cockpit.  It was between this method and the new NavPod 'speakerpods' that they make to install speakers under the stern seats.  I didn't go with the speakerpods because I felt they would be more prone to sea spray while sailing.  The one's in the cockpit seem to be more protected.  Also, the wiring for the speakerpods would be harder because you need to fish the wire through the stern rail.  My installation was very easy to run wiring.

Roc-

[Stu Jackson]

One thing to be careful about is the potential of interference from your new cockpit speakers to your autopilot.  I installed our speakers on our Mark I in the vertical panel below the helsman's seat, and had to relocate my autopilot further away due to interference.  The speakers were the non-magnetic outdoors shielded type, but still gave our old Autohelm 3000 fits.  The autopilot was on the angled face of the starboard seat.  It's now up on the coaming, which turned out to be a much better and more accessible location for it.  Certainly a different cockpit layout than a Mark II.

You may have a newer autopilot with a remote fluxgate compass, so it may not be an issue.  You may want to wire up the speakers temporarily, turn them on and take a test drive just to make sure you have no interference.

[Roc]

My autopilot fluxgate compass is mounted in the cabin.  Port side, under the settee, near the holding tank.  That's how it came from the factory.
Roc-

[tassber2]

I mounted flush mount speakers cut into the forward facing section of the rear storage area below where the seats flip up  for access.  They are out of the way and sound great.

[vmenasce]

We Place them under the seats that are integtated into stern pulpit. The wiring is hidden inside a stanchion post.

[krafty81]

Old topic, anybody have poly planar speakers? Looking to replace original ones that hang down from pulpit seats.

[waughoo]

I have the tini ones.  They work well enough but arent big noise makers.  I mostly use the to listen to quiet music or podcasts while admiring the view.  I cant say they would work great at higher volumes.

[Stu Jackson]

Please note that this thread is now 22 YEARS OLD!  Glad we're all still around here for it. 

Anyway, I wrote this in my earlier post: "I installed our speakers on our Mark I in the vertical panel below the helmsman's seat..."

If I had a do-over I would never put holes like that in my boat.  While the sound from those 6 inch speakers is awesome, especially with the lazarette being such a big boomer, it just makes no sense in retrospect.  I never can crank them up to the threshold of pain anyway, and replacing them when the plastic covers get all dried up from UV even though the speakers may be working fine, or when one speaker goes scratchy or buzzy, is a PITA requiring a trip into said lazarette.

Smaller exterior speakers under perch seats would be my choice.

I also suggest consideration of other speaker choices than PolyPlaner.  They have "popular" name recognition but there are other choices out there for better speakers with improved frequency response.  IIRC, most Bluetooth speakers beat PP hands-down.  I personally haven't done the homework, but you should consider doing it.  I'm not suggesting BT speakers, although come to think about it, not a bad choice to save on wiring!    Depends on how your stereo is set up, right?

[Noah]

 I have Fusion brand speakers mounted on the port and Starboard cockpit walls aft of the wheel. They are nine-years- old and still work and sound great. However, if I was ever planning to cross an ocean I would NOT recommend that location because if the cockpit flooded and the speaker blew out or apart there would be BIG holes in the cockpit to flood the boat. I guess I could board them up "in anger" in that situation but it would not be fun.

[krafty81]

Thanks. What I like about PP is that they can fit on existing mounts under lazerette seats.

[waughoo]

There are other brands of surface mount speakers that are likely a significant improvement in aound quality.  I would encorage you to seach for other options if you have the space to mount them.

[krafty81]

There are other brands of surface mount speakers that are likely a significant improvement in aound quality.  I would encorage you to seach for other options if you have the space to mount them.

Thanks but looking for external mount speakers that hang from my seats in back aft.