Spectre 32CS - Built For Speed And Sound

Marine Gear1. With all the features you'd expect from a car product (MP3/WMA playback and the ability to add on sat rad, HD Radio and an iPod), the KTS-MP400MR ($300) from Kenwood also stands up to tough marine environments. Add on the optional KCA-RC100MR hard-wired remote control ($100) for more functionality.www.kenwoodusa.com

2. Don't ignore those passengers you're dragging a few yards behind the ship. Kicker's KMT6 long-range tower system ($350) brings the music to everyone through dual 6.5" midrange drivers flanking an exponential-horn-loaded, titanium-dome tweeter.www.kicker.com

3. Coated to resist mold, mildew and moisture damage, the circuit boards in Clarion's M475 ($250) will last this year's season and then some. The single-DIN receiver features MP3 and WMA playback, CD mechanisms that minimize mistracking and the ability to upgrade with sat rad, iPod, etc.www.clarion.com

4. Outfitting a popular speaker for wet conditions, Alpine gave the SPS-M600 ($120) Centrex 813 coated grilles, ABS frames and Santoprene surrounds. Topped off with a PEI dome tweeter, this coaxial combines crisp highs with marine resistance.www.alpine-usa.com

5. For use with JL Audio marine speakers, these billet aluminum covers from Xtreme Audio (starting at $100 per pair) provide a custom look. With their unique mounting system, you don't have to drill additional holes. If the T6-6061 aluminum doesn't suit your look, they can also powdercoat and anodize them in various colors.www.xaudiocovers.com

6. With a polypropylene cone and rubber-edged surround, Arc Audio's AMC 6.5 coaxial ($149) stands up to sun, sand and surf. A 2" PEI soft-dome tweeter provides the higher frequency on this speaker with a RMS power of 40 watts.www.arcaudio.com

7. You'll appreciate MTX's TM6502WB-B 6.5" wakeboard tower speaker ($380) because of its gold-plated terminals, stainless steel hardware and sealed PVC basket. It keeps the boat rocking, and that's a good thing.www.mtx.com

Waves Of BassUpon its maiden voyage, the craft set sail with just one Polk Audio MM2104 10" subwoofer. For the average angler this might suffice, but not for a Polk Audio demo boat. Two Polk Audio MM2124 woofers were loaded in the rear side storage compartments in Audio Formz enclosures painted GM Victory Red. The center rear seat was swapped for an enclosure fabricated my Mike Bobelak of Polk Audio, which houses two Polk Audio MM2124 subwoofers. Who needs to sit when there's so much sweet sound?

Providing amplification are two Polk Audio Momo Carbon-series C400.4 amplifiers, which send power to the speakers in the body and tower of the boat, and three Polk Audio C500.1 amplifiers, which handle the subwoofers. All of the amps are stored safely in a hidden compartment.

Visualize ItSince you can't ogle the bikini babes on shore all the time (not without getting arrested, anyway) you're going to want something else to keep your eyes occupied, and that's where two Directed Electronics 17-inch monitors, mounted in a rear access panel over the engine compartment, come in. They're supplied video signal by the aforementioned video iPod, as well as a Directed Electronics DVD player, which is housed in the amp compartment.

The only spot for the Zapco C2K 9.0x amplifier (for the subs), Zapco C2K 6.0x (for the midbasses), Zapco C2K 4.0x (for the horns) and Lightning Audio caps was in the storage area near the batteries. Instead of using wood panels with fiberglass resin, Lopez mounted them in a metal frame rack to save weight, be very rigid and provide room for heat to dissipate. To allow adjustment from the top, all amps were lined up with power connections at the bottom and signal and speaker wires at top. With over 4,000 watts of power, heat would be an issue. A custom cover houses fans and a switch that turns the rear deck speakers on and off. Five cross-flow fans at the bottom blow air upward and a large oval opening covered with metal perforated screens tops it off.

Rounding out the install are a Viper 5900 security system, complete with SST technology, two Optima BlueTop Marine batteries in stock locations and a generous helping of Monster Cable twisted 12-gauge speaker wire.

Polk Audio would like to thank Marine Audio; all the fine folks at Correct Craft; professional wakeboarder Adam Wensink; Hyperlite; EZ Loader Custom Trailers; Audio Formz; Monster Tower; Monster Cable; CS Soundoff; Matworks; Mothers; MOMO; Optima; Weld wheels; BFGoodrich; Directed Electronics; Sirius Satellite Radio; and Steve Whitmire and Charlie Garnes of CS Soundoff in Byram, MS, for all their help in making sure the installation was complete by the deadline.

Shop:CS SoundoffByram, MSInstallers: Steve Whitmire, Charlie Garnes

Patel decided to place an array similar to the ones in the side panels under the rear storage compartment cover. With the cover open, Alhadeff can turn on the dedicated amp and blast the sound out like a big boom box. The enclosure was fiberglassed in as if it were part of the deck lid. The equipment includes four Image Dynamics CX64's, a pair of Image Dynamics CD1PRO horns, a pair of Selenium tweeters and a Zapco Competition C2K 4.0x amp. Custom gas stainless steel shocks keep the lid up when opened.

Since the boat has curvy lines and the side panels need to keep the flow, mounting the custom array of two Image Dynamics CX64 6.5" midbasses with one Image Dynamics CD1PRO mini horn and a Selenium super tweeter (per side) was not easy. Patel and Chambers chose this array because it would provide great midbass with the wide dispersion of the horns, and since the horns have a natural roll-off, the super tweeters would give the system a boost at about 10kHz on up. A custom grille covered with grille cloth hides the mouth of the horn. Some of the speakers were angled to help the dispersion out of the boat. Courtney from Turin Model in Irvine, CA, upholstered the side panels around the speakers.

Auto Extras in Placentia, CA, painted the panels metallic silver to accent the seats. The white rear deck matches the inside panels. The panels were also heat treated after being fiberglassed so that they would not warp or shrink. The trio of installers fired up the system and within five minutes Chambers and Lopez jumped off the boat leaving Patel and Auberlen going deaf trying to adjust the limits of the system. The work was done at Precision Offshore, a custom speed shop specializing in hot- rodding boats.