Best way to switch from bow speakers to stern speakers?

[JWPrendergast]

I recently installed 2 speakers on the swim platform and plan on adding 2 more to the cockpit. This will give me 8 speakers with a 6 channel amp. Im looking for the best way to switch between 2 sets, since the only time the stern speakers will be on, we will be hanging out back. I figured I would install a switch like a 4pdt to switch the power from bow to stern. Anyone (Mel) with experience care to offer some advice?

 

[drjames1107]

Depends which stereo you have? And which amp you use? If you the Clarion CDM7(stock on the 242ls) it has front and rear outputs so the fader could be used(but it is only 4 channel). The Wet Sounds HT 6 allows multiple inputs. These are what I have. You could wire the swim platform to channel 5 & 6 and the remainder to channels 1-4. This allows me to have the front (cockpit and bow) speakers on "front fader" and the swim deck speakers on "rear fader".

but you have 8 speakers? with a 6 channel amp. I think you need to do some series or parallel wiring here which is beyond my skills.

 

[jawsf16]

Why not hook one set of speakers up to the HU directly?

 

[drjames1107]

@jawsf16, yea thats a good idea! I originally left my tower tweeters hooked up to the HU, but the sound was to harsh. But in this situation it could work perfectly. The fader should still work to separate the stern from the rest of the boat. There you go @JWPrendergast

 

[JWPrendergast]

That might actually be a good route to go. I just want the ability to turn off the swim speakers when we aren't out there. Would there be some kind of switch I could put inline with the head unit (cdm7) that would turn on or off the swim speakers at the flip of a switch?

 

[octavio3311]

If you're gonna add another set to the mid cabin giving you 8 speakers total, you can hook up a relay switch to switch power from 1 of the cabin pairs to the transom and back&forth. Or you can run the bow off the head unit and the other 6 off the amp and then use the fader.

I added a set to the mid cabin, it made a world of difference.

 

[drjames1107]

@JWPrendergast, whats the reason for wanting them off? I don't think 1 little pair of 6.5" coaxials will use up that much power.

 

[JWPrendergast]

drjames1107, Im wanting another set in the mid cabin, and always want the cabin speakers to be on. Im not concerned about the power consumption, just the ability to run all 8 pairs without having to get another amp. The little 4" speakers on the swim platform wont be able to take the same amount of power as the 6.5"s in the cabin, so I got a knob from JL that can attenuate a channel thats connected to the amp. My thinking was to have a switch that would alternate power between the bow and swim platform, and adjust the knob to which ever speaker set is running.

Having read all the responses, I think I could wire the swim platform directly to the HU an bridge the left channels to the left swim platform and the right to the right side. Would still need a way to turn em off though.

 

[Andy S]

@JWPrendergast this is what I did for extra speakers, https://jetboaters.net/threads/6-speakers-and-no-amp.1004/#post-13623