One of our long-time clients contacted us about upgrading the speakers in his Sportsman Masters 247 boat. As many do, his Sportsman came equipped with some JL Audio speakers, but he wanted more output. Our solution was to upgrade the speakers and radio and then add amplifiers and subwoofers. The client liked our plan, and we scheduled his appointment for the Sportsman JL Audio marine speaker upgrade.
JL Audio MediaMaster Radio Upgrade
We started the work on this Sportsman by laying down our marine floor liners. While they may look like ordinary pieces of cardboard, they are really high-tech custom protective coverings. These proprietary floor protectors help keep footprints off the boat floor and protect it from accidental damage.
With the floor protected, we moved on to our first project, installing a new JL Audio MM105 radio in the boat’s console. We also knew we would add a subwoofer level control, so we integrated both pieces into a single plate. We custom-cut and engraved the black acrylic plate on our CNC laser cutter. We added a Sportsman logo to give the plate a factory look.
Marine Amplifiers
While working on electronics in the console, we moved to the amplifier installation. We would be adding three JL Audio M series marine amplifiers. A M400/4 amplifier would be used in bridged mode to power the two M3 10″ subwoofers we were adding. Two M600/6 amplifiers would power the M6-880 speakers in the boat and M6-650 speakers in the canopy. We normally used bridged channels to power the M6-880’s for maximum output.
The amplifiers were mounted inside the electronics area of the console. We made a two-layer amplifier mounting board to house the three amplifiers. Two amplifiers were mounted below and one above the plate. The amplifiers were neatly wired for the new speakers.
Sportsman JL Audio Marine Speaker Upgrade
Our next step was to upgrade the speakers in the boat. The boat came with the JL Audio M3 speakers, but they were not enough for our client. The cure was to upgrade the speakers with JL Audio’s M6 series. We replace the 6.5″ M3 speakers in the overhead canopy with the 6.5″ M6 speakers—the bow and stern we going to be a little different, though. The client wanted even MORE output than we thought the M6-650 speakers could provide, so we moved him up to the M6-880 speakers. These speakers are some of the loudest and cleanest available. The bow speaker replacement wasn’t too bad; we used our laser-cut template to enlarge the speaker holes and installed the M6-880 speakers. The stern speakers, though, required some extra work. The OEM M3 speakers protruded through a plate in the engine compartment. Sportsman put a plastic cover over the back of them. The M6-880’s would protrude even further. To complicate things even further, the rear board is mounted at an angle, making the hole needed to clear the speaker an oval. Our solution was to cut the front and back holes, and then make a white acrylic trim ring on our laser for the rear hole. This gave the installation a polished look, without a plastic cover affecting the speakers’ sound.
Marine Subwoofer Addition
The remaining piece of this upgrade was to enhance the low-frequency output of the system. The client is a long-time audio enthusiast, so we knew he would need some subwoofers for his upgrade. The preferred location we use for subwoofers in these types of boats is in the stern. This would place the subwoofers between the two M6-880’s. The problem we found, however, was that the floor curved upward to the back panel, not giving us enough height for the subwoofers. Our solution was to create a two-layered adapter plate, that would let the subwoofers sit further out, to the flatter part of the floor, thus fitting. The top plate was made from 1/2 inch HDPE. We used our router to cleanly cut the piece out and give the edges a slight chamfer. The second plate was a black acrylic plate that we cut using our CNC laser cutter. This plate was not really needed for the installation, but we added it as a cosmetic accent. The black layer added a buffer layer between the white of the boat fiberglass and the HDPE board, as well as tying our color scheme in with the boat’s color scheme.
Marine Audio System Setup
After a full day of work, it was finally time to power up the audio system for the first time. With the audio system playing we adjusted the numerous controls on each of the three amplifiers, making sure to maximize the output of each speaker. We walked around the boat, listening to the various speakers at the different spots. We wanted to ensure everyone in the boat had a great audio experience.
Our final step was to clean up the boat. Thanks to our proprietary floor protectors, that was an easy job!
When the client picked up the boat we reviewed with him how to operate the new radio, he was thrilled with the audio upgrades and couldn’t wait to get the boat out on the water.
If you need some audio upgrades for your boat, give us a call, or contact us here.
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