Tower Speaker Install

[cab13367]

The weather was pretty crummy today here in the NW so I decided to install my tower speakers. I ran the wires down the port side leg of the tower as suggested by others on this forum and I'm glad I did. Below are some pics. This is on a 2006 LSV.

In the pic below, I've removed the lower half of the tower to get access underneath the front tower foot and drill a hole for the wires. I understand that on the 2007's the tower tubing can be unbolted from the tower feet so it's not necessary to remove the lower tower section but on mine, it's welded so it has to be removed.


Below is a pic of the hole I drilled under the front tower foot for the speaker wires to pass thru.


This is what it looks like from underneath after the wires have been passed thru and the lower tower section bolted back in place.


Below is a pic of two holes I drilled in the tower tubing to go around the front pivot similar to what the factory did on the starboard side for the wires that run to the light on the tower, except that I drilled 3/8" holes whereas the factory drilled 1/2" holes.


Looks like we are limited to 4 pics per post so see next post for continuation.

[cab13367]

Here's what it looks like around the pivot once completed.


This is the hole I drilled (one on each side) for the wires to come out and connect to the tower speakers. I decided to drill it under the oval cross tubes to minimize the possibility of rain water getting in there.


Here's what it looks like all hooked up.
Starboard side:


Port side:


See below for third and final part.

[cab13367]

This shows the positioning of the speakers on the tower.


Here is where I installed the amp. I wanted to make sure that it did not take up any usable storage space. The amp is old school but works great. It's a 4 channel amp and is driving all 8 speakers.

The three screws on top are attached to a backing bar that the rubrail screws into. The one screw in the bottom is screwed to the hull. Be careful when drilling for this hole as the hull is only about a 1/4" thick in this area (found this out later when I switched out my thru hull ballast drain fittings). I used a really short screw, drilled about 1/8" into the hull and stopped.


Hopefully, that will help someone who is thinking about doing the same thing.

Al

[byronkoz]

Good job Cab, looks great.

[csmsk]

Always nice to see install pix. Thanks for the post!

[cfdrews12]

Nice neat job. Looking to do the same and your posts really helped give me a visual of what I may do. Just a quick question. Any specific reason why you brought to wire out the front cross member and then hung your speakers on the back cross member of the tower? I was thinking of having the wires come out just above the speakers so my wiring is minimized? What are your thoughts.

[tlatoani]

I dont think you could get the wire up the back tube, and hanging the speakers on the front tube kind of looks funny. It also works better for headroom to have them back farther.

Just a guess.

[cab13367]

Nice neat job. Looking to do the same and your posts really helped give me a visual of what I may do. Just a quick question. Any specific reason why you brought to wire out the front cross member and then hung your speakers on the back cross member of the tower? I was thinking of having the wires come out just above the speakers so my wiring is minimized? What are your thoughts.

Thanks. I mounted the cans on the rear tube because they would interfere with the bimini if they were mounted on the front tube since I open the bimini fully extended (gives me 6' of head room underneath). The cans hang down a couple inches below the bimiini. Even mounting them on the rear tube, I had to slide the bimini mounting collar about 1-1/2 inches forward so that they clear the cans.

I have the wire coming out of the front tube because it would be difficult/impossible to fish the wire from the front leg to the rear tube. I am guessing that there is no opening into main tubes on either end of the oval cross tubes.

Hope that answers your question.

Al

[JesseC]

Every case may be different on the location of the speaker cans! I had to mount mine on the front tube to allow the bimini to open and close on mine. Always test mount your accessories to check for any kind of interferance before drilling holes! Different bimini styles and different mounting locations can and will be different on every boat.