Spring Project

[trevorc5505]

Hi all! My name is Trevor and I am new to this forum. I have a 2007 Challenger 180 that I bought last July. I ran it almost every day after I bought it until I put it away last fall.

One of the things that bothered me about that boat was that it is really hard to hear the music while you are underway, and that you couldn't adjust the volume or song from the driver's seat.

I purchased 4 new speakers and a small amp for my set up. The project will consist of replacing the rear speakers, completely install new front ones and cut a hole in the dash for the new receiver.

Speakers: Polk Audio DB651 x4
Amp/ Remote: Kenwood KAC-M1824bt

Here is a picture of the progress I was able to make yesterday:

I was able to cut the mounting hole for new receiver and drill out the speaker holes for the bow of the boat. More pictures to follow...

 

[rcguy]

I upgraded my stereo and left it in the glove box but added extension controller for the stereo. Also added a 12 volt charger adapter.

 

[trevorc5505]

How long was the remote extension cord? Mine is not quite long enough to run through the gunwales of the front of the boat so I think I'm going to go to the electrical store and find a plug that fits so that I can run an extension through the gunwales.

 

[C9R0J0]

I'm looking forward to hearing how this project turns out for you as I plan on doing the same to my 06 shortly.

 

[trevorc5505]

So I was able to run my new front speaker wire from the glovebox where the other wires are to the new speakers up front! I used fish tape and the process was way easier than I anticipated. No drilling was necessary to get the wire all the way up there.



After I ran the wire I starting working on the harness. My amp came with a nice long harness and I just cut the female end of the old harness and used butt plugs and shrink wrap to get everything together.

On top is the connector that came with the boat stereo and below is where I cut and spliced it all in.
Note: the top connector did not come with a spot for the front speakers so I just spliced those in those separate.


The last thing I did for the night was hook the speakers up to make sure everything was set up correctly and test it out which it does. I can already tell its going to be loads better than it came from the factory.

Currently I just have the amp in the glove box. Tomorrow I am going to make an extension for the dash remote and mount the amp in the glove box as well as hide the wires. Thanks for looking.

 

[rcguy]

How long was the remote extension cord? Mine is not quite long enough to run through the gunwales of the front of the boat so I think I'm going to go to the electrical store and find a plug that fits so that I can run an extension through the gunwales.

My remote extension is about 20 feet long and I ran the cord through the engine compartment to the dash and it was long enough. The remote was about $70.00 extra and came with the extension wire. You can also purchase a splitter and a second remote for the swim platform. This may be my next project?

 

[trevorc5505]

Unfortunately mine was not so easy to run. It was 10 wires all in one and the company did not sell extensions. I just finished splicing them all in. I actually used Network cable for 8 of the wires and a speaker wire for the other two. The gauge on the wires were tiny so that should more than suffice.

I am absolutely blown away by the new stereo system vs the old. It is absolutely night and day and well worth the money and sweat.

Here is one more picture. I'll add more when I get some time.

 

[trevorc5505]

The new dash

 

[gb387]

Looks great, nice factory look!!

 

[trevorc5505]

Last projects for the speakers are to somehow hang the wires that hang in the center of the bow. Does anybody have any good ideas for this??? I need to get these up out of the way so that they will not snag on the seats up there.

The final project is to organize the new wires in the glovebox to the new amp. Does anybody have any input here? (This is not actually as bad as it looks. I was considering organizing the wire and then finding some more black felt to put on top of the wires to make it disappear? ) Please help

Otherwise I can't wait to finish up and enjoy my new speakers!

 

[C9R0J0]

Looks good!

I ordered some Polk MM651UM's for mine today. I'm going to try it with just the 2 in the back for now. I never have any passengers riding in the front so that might be good enough.

 

[trevorc5505]

Looks good!

I ordered some Polk MM651UM's for mine today. I'm going to try it with just the 2 in the back for now. I never have any passengers riding in the front so that might be good enough.

Two in the back would be a good first step to take. It should be there easiest and hopefully would yield good results. Do you have an amp?! That would be the next best thing you could do.

 

[pwgsx]

I got that same amp in my RZR, love it. Im using the MTX audio bluetooth adapter though. Works great!!

 

[C9R0J0]

Two in the back would be a good first step to take. It should be there easiest and hopefully would yield good results. Do you have an amp?! That would be the next best thing you could do.

I don't, but I do have a Sony head unit I'm going to swap with the stock one. I'll look into an amp if this doesn't yield satisfactory results. I have a pretty long list of other things I'd like to do with the boat this spring so I'm not going all out with the stereo at this point.

 

[trevorc5505]

I got that same amp in my RZR, love it. Im using the MTX audio bluetooth adapter though. Works great!!

What is the adapter you're talking about? I didn't know there were more options

 

[trevorc5505]

I don't, but I do have a Sony head unit I'm going to swap with the stock one. I'll look into an amp if this doesn't yield satisfactory results. I have a pretty long list of other things I'd like to do with the boat this spring so I'm not going all out with the stereo at this point.

Okay that's a fine plan! Just so you know, for this amp you don't even need to run a new power or ground wire for It and it makes a HUGE Improvement. But I'm sure the head unit will make a big difference as well.

 

[C9R0J0]

Okay that's a fine plan! Just so you know, for this amp you don't even need to run a new power or ground wire for It and it makes a HUGE Improvement. But I'm sure the head unit will make a big difference as well.

I'll defiantly keep this in mind. Thanks

 

[Nosnibor]

Nice job, looks good!

 

[trevorc5505]

Yesterday I did my best to hide the wires in the glovebox. I used a piece of felt that I ordered on Amazon and ended up seeing some Velcro on to secure it in my glovebox.


Here is the before:

Here is the after:

It still needs some minor finishing touches but I will do that out on the water some lazy Sunday!