J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Radio speakers

Has anyone installed speakers in the cockpit in an original configuration (6 berths, no coamings) boat? I was thinking of adding a stereo for some cruising and for those long postponements. What size speakers did you use, and where did you mount them? How is the sound quality? I am thinking about mounting in the footwell, but I am worried about them getting kicked, and if the sound will be terrible. My other alternative is portable speakers that are not permmanently mounted.

Ed Austin
Chinook

We have basic West Marine waterproof 5 1/2" (I think) mounted just where you describe in hull #62. The job was nicely done (I didn't do it!). They are placed just foreward of the locker doors so that they do not show in the interior.

The sound is actually not bad, although it's real hard to hear on the rail in a blow without deafening the helmsman. We have a kill swith in the back of the cockpit in easy reach of the helm. Comes in usefull when you have a set lined up for just after the start. (I love my CD burner and MP3 collection. We've been making new disks for each race.)

Bose makes some nice (very small) fully contained speakers for outdoor use that we've been hallucinating about mounting on the underside of the spreaders. You could ensure that your competition gets to enjoy your music at important moments. Anyone ever seen a setup like this? I think it would be much easier to hear on the rail, and much easier on the helmsman's (my) ears! However, I fear that vibration in the rigging would make thse very short lived.

I've also mounted speakers in the footwell just forward of the lockers. The position provides decent sound but the speaker grills do take some abuse. I've thought about, but haven't actually gotten around to having a set of stainless wire guards made for them. One the specific manufacturers question ... first I had a pair of Sony speakers that only lasted a couple of seasons. Now I'm using the Standard Horizon speakers and they seem to be much better at resisting the elements. This season I have noticed that the plastic of the grill mesh has gotten brittle and cracked from being bumped. The drivers themselves seem to be fine. One issue to remember is that this mounting position isn't too safe if you're taking the boat offshore. If the drivers are punctured, water can get directly into the cabin. When we took Mondial to Newport for the North Americans in 1997, I replaced the speakers with plywood disks for the trip. For the wiring of the speakers, I used a Radio Shack fader control since I've got an old cassette deck without that control built in. I have a pair of speakers above the quarter berths that provide sound to the cabin. The fader allows me to move the sound from deck to cabin or to mix the two.

I mounted two waterproof box speakers right on to the stern railings on my J-30. I bought two Jensen speakers - actually they are for external VHF speakers. I bought them for $4.99 each from Boater's World. They sound pretty good actually. They are tucked up behind the backstays so they are not in the way.