Adding Speakers

[Monterro]

Anybody know if I can move the exhaust hose to the other side of the engine compartment. I looked at the other threads of people installing them behind the cushions and it seems as if the other boats may have a little bit more space to work with. Not sure of the exact hole I will need to cut yet for the 6x9s but seems that I may be need to cover up one the holes on each side for them to fit. Here a some quick pics I took.

 

[Julian]

The air flow is designed for the air to come in one side and to get blown out the other side...not sure how much difference it will make to change that flow, or to restrict the incoming air by eliminating holes.

 

[Monterro]

The air flow is designed for the air to come in one side and to get blown out the other side...not sure how much difference it will make to change that flow, or to restrict the incoming air by eliminating holes.

Thanks. After doing some research it seems as if they work in conjunction with the blower. By covering up one of the holes on each side would just effect clearing out any vapors in the engine. I trailer my boat and engines are typically off for at least an hour after fill ups. I will still try and drill out new holes if I have the space for them after installing the speakers.

 

[OCMD]

4 polk speakers to replace the garbage Yamaha provided.
Is this amp wiring kit sufficient?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Gauge-Amp...tem3ce58cd69e:g:N8oAAOSwv-NWURrp&vxp=mtr#rwid

And is this cheapo amp workable? I am not looking for much at all.
Just a bit better sound then the stock crap.

http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-Elect...F8&qid=1463597545&sr=8-1&keywords=clarion+amp3LKV0

Seems like an easy install....is it? Any threads? Thanks!

 

[swatski]

4 polk speakers to replace the garbage Yamaha provided.
Is this amp wiring kit sufficient?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Gauge-Amp...tem3ce58cd69e:g:N8oAAOSwv-NWURrp&vxp=mtr#rwid

And is this cheapo amp workable? I am not looking for much at all.
Just a bit better sound then the stock crap.

http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-Elect...F8&qid=1463597545&sr=8-1&keywords=clarion+amp3LKV0

Seems like an easy install....is it? Any threads? Thanks!

That amp is actually a pretty decent class D amp, would be very hard if not impossible to beat for the price. Several members have that same installed, some installs even cited in this thread.
With the wiring kit - it gives you everything you need, almost. The ground cable provided is very short, suitable for chassis connection, while for the boat you want the same length as power wire (to ground to the battery). Also that CCA (copper clad aluminium) is not very good and can break, most prefer stranded copper wire or OFC (oxygen free copper or something). For this amp though I'm sure it will be okay, or something in the 6-10AWG range bought by foot at Home Depot.

 

[Monterro]

@OCMD I ended up not going with an amp wiring kit. The amp comes with a 25 AMP fuse and I will be installing very close to the battery. The stock wiring is 10 AWG and hopefully is all I need. Maybe adding another foot or so but that should be it. You will a substantial difference in just upgrading the speakers and the amp will give it another boost. I upgraded to Polks last year with no amp and loved it. I will probably be adding another Clarion amp to those shortly after installing the swim platform speakers. For the price its a no brainer. I should be doing the install tomorrow. Will update the thread on how everything went.

 

[mark_m]

4 polk speakers to replace the garbage Yamaha provided.
Is this amp wiring kit sufficient?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Gauge-Amp...tem3ce58cd69e:g:N8oAAOSwv-NWURrp&vxp=mtr#rwid

And is this cheapo amp workable? I am not looking for much at all.
Just a bit better sound then the stock crap.

http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-Elect...F8&qid=1463597545&sr=8-1&keywords=clarion+amp3LKV0

Seems like an easy install....is it? Any threads? Thanks!

I used tinnedmarinewire.com for wiring, you can order custom length by the inch or by the foot with terminals included, shrink wrapped, etc. It was cheap and shipped fast.

 

[Monterro]

I used tinnedmarinewire.com for wiring, you can order custom length by the inch or by the foot with terminals included, shrink wrapped, etc. It was cheap and shipped fast.

+1 on tinnedmarinewire.com I ordered from them last week and received 3 days later for my dual battery install. Came out to about $50 for all the cabling. They did a great job.

 

[swatski]

@OCMD I ended up not going with an amp wiring kit. The amp comes with a 25 AMP fuse and I will be installing very close to the battery. The stock wiring is 10 AWG and hopefully is all I need. Maybe adding another foot or so but that should be it. You will a substantial difference in just upgrading the speakers and the amp will give it another boost. I upgraded to Polks last year with no amp and loved it. I will probably be adding another Clarion amp to those shortly after installing the swim platform speakers. For the price its a no brainer. I should be doing the install tomorrow. Will update the thread on how everything went.

I would say add the amp, it is a no-brainer, has been discussed here many times. I was on the fence at some point, and was debating all the silly HU pre-amp numbers, that is all just useless. These Polks come alive with a little bit of extra juice, your HU just DOES NOT have it, specs schmecks as they say.

 

[jlcj7]

Thanks for the recommendations. I just ordered the Clarion Amp. Just to make sure I have everything needed for install. I will need:

2 Polk DB691
Clarion Amp XC1410
Speaker Wire (Oxygen Free) - Speaker to Amp
RCA Cables (Oxygen Free) - Connect Amp to HU
Power Wires - Should I mount it close to battery so I can decrease the length of the power wire or should I mount it closer to the HU. I was thinking of mounting it close to the battery compartment and buying long RCA. Also what gauge. Seems like the amp comes with 14-16 gauge. I seen people recommend 4 gauge. How to do I about stepping that up?

Anything else I should need? I think this covers everything needed for the install. I already have connectors and hole saw to cut thru fiberglass.

I used 16 gauge speaker wire and 10 gauge power and ground wire. I mounted my amp directly in front of the driver/helm area in the very back of the front under-seat storage area. I ran the power and ground wires around the back through engine area to batteries. I used 6' RCA cables to run to the amp.

 

[Monterro]

I would say add the amp, it is a no-brainer, has been discussed here many times. I was on the fence at some point, and was debating all the silly HU pre-amp numbers, that is all just useless. These Polks come alive with a little bit of extra juice, your HU just DOES NOT have it, specs schmecks as they say.

Went ahead and ordered another Clarion amp to run the Polk speakers. Can't wait to hear the additional boost

 

[2nazt]

Let me know as I am running the DB's also and want to add the set to the cabin for now. I may upgrade later to better and bigger amp but that is later as I've spent a lot of money already.

 

[Julian]

I went with an 8 gauge wire on my amp install as it was only 3 feet from the battery....8 gauge will take you up to 40 amps within 10 feet! I didn't pay attention to the type of wire I ended up with...so probably was CCA...but it ran fine for years. I think I paid $10 for the kit.....it was one time I decided...."its massive overkill at 8AWG....so how much difference will the wire type make?"

 

[Monterro]

I went with an 8 gauge wire on my amp install as it was only 3 feet from the battery....8 gauge will take you up to 40 amps within 10 feet! I didn't pay attention to the type of wire I ended up with...so probably was CCA...but it ran fine for years. I think I paid $10 for the kit.....it was one time I decided...."its massive overkill at 8AWG....so how much difference will the wire type make?"

If I understand this chart correctly then I would be okay running approximately 15 feet of 10AWG cable from my helm to the battery since this is a non critical system.The amp has a 25amp fuse on it so the current should never exceed that in a normal condition. The amp for my swim speakers will be close to the battery but the amp for the speakers inside will be located somewhere near the helm. That way I only have to run the power wires throughout the boat.

 

[Monterro]

Received the Polks in the mail but didn't want to have to drill out holes big enough to accommodate the 6x9s. Ended up going to West Marine and picked up the JL MX650. Smaller speaker but everything I read showed they are better the the Polk 6x9s.

I didn't have my son with me so getting to the rear screws for the seats was a pain. I chose not to remove all of them but just enough to fold the seats back. Since there was already a hole there I couldn't use my hole saw. Having never done a job like this I thought my Dremel could do job. Ended up burning a bit with 20sec of trying to enlarge the hole. Went to lowes and picked up a jigsaw. Not the prettiest way to do it but it was effective. Cut through the fiberglass very easily.

I use my hole saw to make the new holes for the intake and exhaust. Trying to rush through the job I didn't realize that the intake hole is larger than the exhaust. I have to find a bigger blower exhaust fitting later to accomadate the larger hole. Just put some cardboard to fill the bigger gap since that's all I had at the time. I was working on my boat at my storage lot.

Still have to finish running all the wire and hooking up the amp. Ran out of time yesterday and it's pouring today. Hopefully I can finish everything up on Sunday. Now I need to find a gooddeal on 4 JL Mx650s so I change out all my interior speakers . .