Tower Speaker Wire Plug - Looking for Suggestions

[bergermaister]

One of my to-do's for winter/spring is to redo the way my tower speakers plug in. For the last few years I've had one of these style plugs and it has worked pretty well. It is almost unnoticed for the most part until you go looking for it.

http://www.bulletlines.com/universal...ng-kit-p/1.htm

You can kind of see where it is mounted in this pic. Left rear leg.



I have an older style tower with thin bars and I have to fold it down every single time I park the boat - the whole thing folds forward. Getting home really late one night last summer I forgot to unplug it before starting to lower the tower and screwed something up by stretching it to where connections on one side broke/died. In hindsight I maybe should have ran the wiring up the front leg of the tower, but in years past I've had to take the tower completely off for storage so that wouldn't have worked out either.

I could just pick up another plug like this one but I'd like to find something a little more low profile, possibly with a 90-degree male end so it hugs the hull closer. Needs at least 4 terminals.

Any suggestions?

[EarmarkMarine]

At least to my eye the SpeakOn/Neutrik connectors look massive and totally out of place coming out of the deckcap. Its fine for the floor of a prosound application where people are walking on them.
We like to use a small stainless steel deck gland to conceal and dress out the deck cap penetration. But not a clamshell. Then we use a Cole Hersee or Deutsch plug set in-line that is very streamlined. Once everything is loomed and heat shrunk you can barely notice the disconnects.

David
Earmark Marine

[dusty2221]

There ya go!

[bergermaister]

Cool - So I'm looking at deck glands (never heard of them) and Deutsch / Cole Hersee type plugs now trying to visualize how this would look. Any chance you could show an example David? I think I can picture it, just not 100% positive.

And yes, smaller would be better! It definitely needs to be a quick connect type of thing since I'm constantly un/plugging.

[wolfeman131]

Road trip to Dallas & let David do the install!

[bergermaister]

Right! 4,000 miles round-trip worth of gas towing with my truck I could practically replace the whole stereo!

So, is this sorta what you're talking about?



Depending on how small those plugs really are I could see that being pretty compact. Wonder if it would be a pain in the butt to unplug after having eleventeen beers and being out in the sun all day though. Some of the automotive ones like that seem to be tricky without the help of a flat screwdriver to pry 'em open.

[dusty2221]

Stop by and see me on the way thru!

[KG's Supra24]

David, want to do my install? Apparently Dusty doesn't help on competitors installs.

Berg, I had that same style plug on mine and it was sticky but if you do it often it should loosen up. Or just keep a flathead in the glovebox.

[cab13367]

Berg, one thing you might consider so you don't accidentally fold the tower again with the plug in place is to rig up a small stainess cable that is just slightly shorter than the electrical cable and attach one end to the tower with a quick connect (like the one on a bimini strap) and the other to the bottom windshield frame so that the steel cable will stop you from lowering the tower if you forget to disconnect the plug. Just a thought.

[EarmarkMarine]

Berg,
Sure, stop in the next time you're in the neighborhood.
You can see examples of the S.S. deck glands on a Sea Ray 200 Select or perhaps a Yamaha 212X within our installation gallery.
You can avoid all issues with the disconnect by placing it in-line within the harness rather than fixed to the deck cap.
The Deutsch connectors are high quality, durable and snap in one way only so it couldn't be more positive.
Deutch connectors have been an OEM for Moomba, Roswell light/speaker combo bars, Yamaha and MasterCraft to name a few.

David
Earmark Marine