I'm looking at upgrading the lousy exterior speakers and upgrading them from 5 1/4 to 8 inch marine grade speakers. The problem I have is that the new speakers are too deep, so it looks like I will have to cut out a hole on the interior wall and build a small box and waterproof it to cover the backside of the speaker (luckily both will be in a cabinet). Is there any reason why I should not do this? Thanks.

I installed Sony Marine 200w and they are crystal clear. Love them.

Some of my friends in our group have done this and more, the sound.systems they have for us to enjoy are awesome to say the least...So when we all Kamp we have great music with clean, clear sound and deep bass....Check out Jaxclan " Marks " system if you can someday...

Heads up to to those that may come to comment from outside the Toy Hauler group, please realize many of the Toy Hauler owners do not camp in campgrounds, they are out in the middle of the desert camping with miles between other campers. So before you make issues about loud music etc. know that unless you go with them camping, you'll probably never hear them. Steve

Love the 'Heads up'Let's see if it helps. :)I would keep looking. Surely there are some speaker options that would not require cutting through the interior walls.

Eyetattoo wrote:I'm looking at upgrading the lousy exterior speakers and upgrading them from 5 1/4 to 8 inch marine grade speakers. The problem I have is that the new speakers are too deep, so it looks like I will have to cut out a hole on the interior wall and build a small box and waterproof it to cover the backside of the speaker (luckily both will be in a cabinet). Is there any reason why I should not do this? Thanks.Well, in my WW there is already a factory cut out and box made on the inside of the TH for the speakers. So can't see a problem if you have to make one yourself. Obviously, just do a quality job, since there will probably be a lot of vibration in and around that box. My speaker boxes are not inside a cabinet and are trimmed out with the same wall board as the rest of the inside of TH and look fine, don't even notice them. In fact took me months till I even noticed them and figured out what they were... loljmo

Upgrading the exterior speakers. | Good Sam Community

25 Replies

pronstar
Explorer
Jun 20, 2013
Eyetattoo wrote:
raroberts wrote:
another option is a ring you can get from car stereo install shop that goes between the speaker and the wall. It holds the speaker out far enough so it doesn't hit the inside wall.
Thought of that (my brother-in-law owns the stereo shop), but he thought that would be a possible water issue in the future. He felt the interior box would be better for keeping the water out.

I used speaker risers on my old toy hauler.
If you properly seal the riser to the exterior wall, then seal the speaker to the riser, I don't see how it could leak...

Mine never did.
BurbMan
Explorer II
Jun 19, 2013
I had the same issue on the TT. I installed PolyPlanar MA-905 marine speakers. They are dual-driver speakers with separate woofer and tweeter, and will fit in the little round hole that the cheapo factory speakers were mounted in.

I also got a Kenwood 200W power amp with speaker-level inputs and mounted it in series between the factory head unit and the speakers. They really pump out the volume when cranked up and they sound awesome!

These were the only speakers that I found that could handle high power for the beach and yet still fit in the factory mounting spot. I would highly recommend.

Only issue is that more bass = bigger woofers and for that you will be looking at mods to the trailer wall.
nayther
Explorer
Jun 19, 2013
katoomer wrote:
My motorhome didn't have outdoor speakers and i didn't want to cut holes in the sidewalls.
So I used a pair of Tera Outdoor speakers with a 1" tweeter and 2- 6.5" woofers. I just hang them on small metal clips and connect with banana jacks to outlets under the slideout when I set up camp. No penetrations so no water issues. Sound quality is much better than any marine speakers as they have a much larger enclosure. I mounted them about 4 ft off the ground. That also helps rather than have them mounted up high.
I have a Bryston amp for power and use uncompressed music.

I did something like that on my old Wanderer. It was wired for outdoor speakers under the trailer but nothing else. I bought a pair of KLH speakers and rigged up a bracket with magnets, set it up in minutes. My Ragen has boxes on the inside and regular automotive 6x9 cheapies behind doors, I need to upgrade them too.
katoomer
Explorer
Jun 19, 2013
My motorhome didn't have outdoor speakers and i didn't want to cut holes in the sidewalls.
So I used a pair of Tera Outdoor speakers with a 1" tweeter and 2- 6.5" woofers. I just hang them on small metal clips and connect with banana jacks to outlets under the slideout when I set up camp. No penetrations so no water issues. Sound quality is much better than any marine speakers as they have a much larger enclosure. I mounted them about 4 ft off the ground. That also helps rather than have them mounted up high.
I have a Bryston amp for power and use uncompressed music.
64thunderbolt
Explorer II
Jun 18, 2013
I have those on the rear speakers in the bed of my Arctic Cat prowler. Would work great. On the trailer the patches are inside a cabinet so who cares.
Eyetattoo
Explorer
Jun 17, 2013
raroberts wrote:
another option is a ring you can get from car stereo install shop that goes between the speaker and the wall. It holds the speaker out far enough so it doesn't hit the inside wall.
Thought of that (my brother-in-law owns the stereo shop), but he thought that would be a possible water issue in the future. He felt the interior box would be better for keeping the water out.
raroberts
Explorer
Jun 17, 2013
another option is a ring you can get from car stereo install shop that goes between the speaker and the wall. It holds the speaker out far enough so it doesn't hit the inside wall.
fly-boy
Explorer
Jun 17, 2013
Eyetattoo wrote:
fly-boy wrote:
Added 200 Watt marine grade Sony's two years ago and they are outstanding. They fit inside the existing space no problem.
Did your existing space already have a box for the back of the speaker?

Mine fit right in.
64thunderbolt
Explorer II
Jun 17, 2013
On my trailer the Sony's were 1/2" deeper than the oem but they were where a Cabinet is. Cut a hole in the wallboard inside the cabinet. Then covered the hole.
Eyetattoo
Explorer
Jun 17, 2013
fly-boy wrote:
Added 200 Watt marine grade Sony's two years ago and they are outstanding. They fit inside the existing space no problem.
Did your existing space already have a box for the back of the speaker?