A client from Shakopee contacted Sweet Sounds in Mankato about a serious Sea-Doo audio system for his 2014 RXT260 watercraft. Our team got together with the client, looked over the Sea-Doo with him and explored different ideas. From early on in the conversation, we knew this guy wanted a concert on the water. At the end of our consultation, we worked up a proposal that he liked, so we set a time to begin working on the craft.
A Big Challenge
As you can imagine, a Sea-Doo doesn’t come equipped with an audio system, so there is nothing to “upgrade.” We started with a clean piece of paper. Since this watercraft gets immense amounts of water sprayed on it, everything from the product to the build had to be designed for extreme duty. Fortunately, we love a challenge here at Sweet Sounds. Our design parameters were to make it loud, make it sound great and give it bass. Yes, we said bass!
It Starts With The Source
We began by installing a Memphis Audio 16-MXA1MC marine Bluetooth receiver. This unit looks like a small gauge and packs a radio tuner, Bluetooth music streaming and USB port. Our team flush-mounted it on the swim platform at the rear of the watercraft. We flushed a Sony RMX11M wired remote control up front for easy access by the driver. Doing it this way allows music control from two different areas of the Sea-Doo.
Where to Put Speakers?
Any good sound system needs a great set of front speakers, but where could we put them in this RXT260? Our fabrication department came up with the idea of using the mirror locations. We modified the mount to house the midrange and tweeter from a Focal PS165F3 component system. As you can see from the pictures, they looked factory-installed when our team was finished. Our techs flush-mounted the 6.5” woofer into the front sides of the Sea-Doo near where the client’s feet rest.
One Set of Speakers Is Good, Two Sets Even Better
Since we wanted this system to jam, we added a second set of Focal speakers, the PS165FX 6.5” component system, further back on the side panels, close to where a passenger may sit. The combination of two sets of the Focal Flax speakers gave this boat incredible output coupled with great musical detail.
Any Good System Needs Bass
We knew from the beginning that adding a subwoofer was a priority, but where could it go? After much deliberation, the install team decided to make a custom enclosure underneath the front storage area to house a Focal SUBP25F – one of the 10” Flax subwoofers. We made the enclosure out of Starboard, a composite material that is impervious to saltwater. In fact, anywhere we needed a custom mount, our staff used Starboard.
Power Makes It Come To Life
Once we had our source unit and all the speakers installed, the system needed power. We went back to Memphis Audio, choosing the MXA5.750 five-channel marine amplifier. It is extremely compact and packs more than 750 watts of clean power.
Custom Rack Holds Electronics
One of the hardest challenges to overcome was where to mount the amplifier and speaker crossovers. While these products are marine rated, they don’t like having water directly splashed on them. To make it more interesting, there weren’t any flat surfaces large enough to hold everything. We made a custom Starboard rack to hold all of this equipment in the watertight storage area underneath the seat.
Details Are Key
Since this watercraft was going to see lots of water, we soldered every single connection and applied protective heat-shrink everywhere. We loomed and securely fastened all wiring to allow for easy servicing in the future.
The Final Touch
For a final touch, we added a Memphis Audio MXALEDFOB marine LED accent lighting kit in key areas and controlled it with the wireless remote.
Client Was Blown Away By His Sea-Doo Audio System
When the client came to pick up his RXT260, he was blown away by the finished product.
When you want an incredible sounding audio system, contact Sweet Sounds HERE or stop by our store. We will help you design and build the stereo you have always wanted.
To see even more of this killer system, take a few minutes to watch this quick video highlighting the details of the system:
That turned out just sick!!!!! Awesome install guys!!!!! I don’t think it gets much better than that. I love how clean everything looks and I bet it sounds great considering the equipment you used. Nice work all the way around!!!!!