Woofer and enclosure recommendations for pontoon boat needed

[nunyagd]

I've got a pontoon boat that has proven to be a challenge in terms of getting good bass response (open air = no cabin gain). I'm going to overcome this if it kills me and I need your advice to put the party in this party boat. For reference, we have the mid and highs covered - I run 2 Behringer B212XL's (http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-B215XL-Passive-Speaker-Pair-501604-i1433170.gc) and 2 EV ZX1-90's (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/electro-voice-zx1-90-8-200w-passive-pa-speaker). I need a sub setup that will keep up with these cabinets.

So far, I've tried:

• 4 JL 10w3's sealed, 1kw power -
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This sounded ok if you were sitting within 5 feet of the box. However, if you left the boat (we beach ours on an island and party), no bass at all. A couple of guys on our lake with go fast boats has the same configuration but got much more output because they were able to fire against an opposing surface but that was not an option on our boat

• I built a horn loaded 12" cabinet (http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/T39.html) with 500 watts. This killed the 4 JL 10's but I still needed more output. Also, this cabinet took up a lot of space in a hatch I didn't want to give up
• Currently I have 2 12" Kicker CompVR enclosures that I got off of craigslist just to have some sound (http://www.kicker.com/Comp_Loaded_Enclosures). They do surprisingly well, equaling the output of the horn sub but using a lot less space. However, I still need more!

What I have to work with:

• A hatch that is roughly 48.5 D x 37 W x 18 H.
• This hatch needs to hold 2 or more woofers and an amp rack with 4 amps. Ideally, I'd like to limit the enclosure to 5.5 cf or less but could be flexible if it guarantees results!
• Budget - I'm willing to spend up to about $2500 including an amp for the subs, subs themselves, etc.
• Power - I'm planning to upgrade the battery bank to hold at least 3 large deep cycle batteries. I currently have 1 and can run at near full volume (about 2k watts, all amps class D)for about 2.5 hrs before voltage drops too low. I also have access to shore power for charging so currently not thinking about upgraded alternator

So, what would you guys suggest for subs, enclosure specs and power? I'd like to go ported for the extra gain unless the experts recommend otherwise.

Thanks!

[Triticum Agricolam]

Considering what you are trying to do, your requirements have a lot more in common with PA system subs than car audio. I don't have any quick solutions for you but I would look more in the direction of some of the DIY PA cabs. Here are a couple of links just to give you an idea.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/190635-th-18-flat-35hz-xoc1s-design.html

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/170771-single-sheet-th-challenge.html

[nunyagd]

You're right, PA cabinets, especially horns, provide a lot of output. The issue that I have is that they require a lot of room that I don't have (especially on the width) and the hatch would have to be open all the time to allow the wave to escape.

The kicker 12's have proven to me that the right way to go is bass reflex because they're providing a lot of bass given their size and the amount of power I"m throwing at them. Now I'm ready to ramp it up - say a couple of 12's or even 15's with more capability and at least 2x the power.

So, what do you guys think... if you were going ported and had this kind of room what would you put in there? Should also mention that the subs need to fire left to right or right to left (not up against the top of the hatch) based on some testing I did with the kicker cabinets.

Thanks to all