After purchasing my Malibu in 2014, I installed an Exile ZLD in it. It made a big difference in the sub and cabin speakers but I could tell that the tower was extremely lacking. After talking to Brian with Exile in January 2015, I decided to install the Exile Hybrid system. I also figured that I would upgrade the sub and cabin speakers since I was going to be working on it anyway. I started work on it in late February 2015 and finished up near the end of April 2015. Except for some help with a few things, I did all the work myself. Brian was great to work with and I really think he (and Donovan) wrote the book on customer service.
So here goes...(Some of you may have already seen this thread on TMC.)
The first five pics are of the old Kicker tower and cabin speakers, Kicker sub (I had already moved the sub from the observer's compartment to underneath the helm after I purchased the boat.), and the observer's compartment. After removing the batteries I was left with this mess of Kicker automotive amps and a terrible wiring job. I swear a four year old wired the original system.
I built two amp boards out of plywood and carpeted them with some cheap, black carpet from Menard's. I then spent quite a bit of time cramped up in the observer's compartment with my daughter holding a flashlight for me. I now have a dedicated amp for the sub and one for the cabin, along with two amps for the six tower speakers.
The cabin speakers were easy enough to change. Luckily, I did not have to remove the windshield, as I borrowed a small ratchet with a phillip's head screwdriver on it and was able to remove the dash speakers.
I redid the sub box with fiberglass resin and spray truck bed coating. I also made a panel from 1/4" HDPE to go in front of the sub. You can also see the ZLD in the pic of the sub and panel.
I was able to use existing wiring for most of the the speakers but had to run new speaker wire for the wake speakers in the center. It was a trick to get it through the Illusion X tower but I was able to get it done using a straightened out coat hanger and a couple extra hands. i also added a Zone Controller for the two wake speakers. That way I can turn them down if we're surfing or turn them up if we're wakeboarding or tubing. It's difficult to see in the pic but it's just to the left of the old remote. I have since moved it beside the ZLD.
I initially installed an Exile Bluetooth adapter but after realizing that I never used the head unit, I added the Exile DMC in 2017. I used the mount for the factory remote but found that the DMC was much smaller so I cut up an Exile koozie and placed it behind the DMC.
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