The issue you are dealing with is unfortunately a speaker product supplied by a lowest-cost provider to the boat manufacturer, combined with a mounting location that facilitates ease of manufacturing. Apparently it is also prone to physical damage by guests and flying objects.
That is what is best called an entry-level generic loudspeaker, made for
sale to the marine environment but not
made for the marine environment. Note the color change that took place between what we can assume are the before and after pictures? You see the yellowing that UV has caused; what you also see indirectly is the brittleness that the UV caused. The brand new speaker probably had grills that were more flexible, but they became brittle over a very short term that the grills also turned yellow.
I assume by your comments that these are probably smaller speakers in the 4" to 5" range? Most of tthe high-quality speakers available are larger, in what we would call a 6" or 6.5" size. By high quality, I am implying rugged grills that will stand up to kicking, made in a materail that is UV stable and don't yellow or get brittle over time. I will also tell you that real high-quality marine speakers are going to cost at least $100.00 a set and many are in the $149 - $199 a pair price range. If those speakers in the picutrre are roughly 4" in size, I know of a new high quality 4" speaker that will be available in March. If your current speakers are roughly 5" in size, I don't know of a good speaker replacement at this time.
Your comments about foot traffic damaging them in two outings tells me that your primary speaker location is as much an issue as speaker selection. Move or remove the speakers and the damage in the current speaker location will simply go away. Let me explain: Based in some threads elsewhere in the SBO forums, I would probably first recommend a novel approach a few have used with great success. Take a look at tactile transducers. A tactile transducer is sort of like a speaker without the cone or the grill; it is a device you can attach directly to your fiberglass,
inside the boat, that turns the surface you mount it to into a loudspeaker. A common location to use is the vertiucal wall that is adjacent to your calves when seated in the cockpit. Parts Express is a common provider of these and I have provided a link to the probable page wher you would select one from. The units shown are all 8-ohm transducers, which will allow you to use two transdures on each side of the cockpit.
http://www.parts-express.com/cat/ta...eca:matches(.,"P_Searchable","1")]&PortalID=1
Here is a thread where TED, a C&C owner, went down this path and installed a set of the HiWave model HIAX32C20-8 transducres in his boat.
http://www.parts-express.com/hiwave-hiax32c20-8-32mm-self-supported-exciter-8-ohm--297-2114 If you scroll through the thread you will find pics of his installation and a YouTube video as proof of performance.
In order to address the holes that are already in the boat where your current speakers are, I might consider purchasing two screw-in inspection ports to permanently cover and seal these two speaker holes.
Without turning this into an ad, know I work for a mobile electronics company. I am the product line manager for marine products and the salesman to the OEM marine markets... I probably have a speaker that would replace the ones you have currently that would last longer. That being said I am a firm believer in the tactile transducer approach, especially in a sailboat. It is for that reason that I write so thoroughly about the tactile transducer option first.
Phil
