It's a BOAT! But it's also someones home. Figuring out the best speaker for this setup.

[rebulx]

Hey Guys,

I'm looking for some advice with this install. I see two paths. I can duplicate what is in the polk speaker photo which is in the line of sight of the captain or I can flush mount a driver (no larger than 3") and a tweeter in the windshield wiper box. The box is H 4 3/4" W 9" D 2 1/2". I can place an 8" sub in the general area as well.

Boat is a 2021 RangerTug R27.

 

[Eppie]

Speakers mounted in the wiper box will likely not sound any better than a portable radio. 2 1/2" is not a lot of depth. I would lean towards the surface mount but hard to say without knowing how much of the captain's vision will be blocked. There might be something out there with a smaller profile but the smaller you go the less bass it will produce. A sub would help in that regard. I have not seen many boat install questions before though.

 

[-Jim-]

Audio installations in boats aren't usually well done as the designers of the boat never allow enough space for them. Space is always at a premium on board. A buddy of mine sold his Cabo 40 Sportsfisher this year (which he bought new more than 16 years ago for over a million dollars => Canadian $ - not real money!) and the best "stock" system he could get from Cabo was a Bose Lifestyle Home Theater (5.1) set-up with those little dual cube speaker arrays. For a boat, and I've been on lots of them over the years, it wasn't bad but no where near audiophile levels. (Not even good car audio levels.)

Like @Eppie I'd suggest something like the those outdoor surface mount Polks but with a Sub integrated. Maybe a small in-wall sub? Close the Cubby door if you can to improve the Sub's performance in the main cabin. That's a very cool Boat!

 

[rebulx]

Appreciate the responses! Thank you!