Easiest way to add/amplify music at the helm

[Julian]

I just ran out to the boat again and removed the cupholders to measure the depth of the inset. It looks like both sides have about 1 1/4" clearance depth. With using a 1" spacer that would give me 1/4" left. So I may try that route.

My JL 6.5" speakers are nearly 3" deep....so a 1" spacer wouldn't do it for them. Which speakers are you putting in that have 2" depth only?

 

[fraserjr]

My JL 6.5" speakers are nearly 3" deep....so a 1" spacer wouldn't do it for them. Which speakers are you putting in that have 2" depth only?

Just the stock Polk Dn651's.According to Crutchfield the surface mount depth is 2".

 

[MattFX4]

Here is a picture of the JL 6.5 vs the polk 651 for comparison.

 

[Drift Away]

My JL 6.5" speakers are nearly 3" deep....so a 1" spacer wouldn't do it for them. Which speakers are you putting in that have 2" depth only?

Where are you trying to mount these? I have the same speakers throughout my SX240 and i did not use spacers any where

 

[Julian]

Where are you trying to mount these? I have the same speakers throughout my SX240 and i did not use spacers any where

The Starboard side is easy as they will fit by your feet, and with the E-Series perhaps right below the throttle?
The port side of an X is tricky as there is little space to put a speaker...I may try putting a Polk in above the garbage can now I know they are an inch shallower.....need to measure the depth there though.

 

[Mainah]

@fraserjr - You won't be able to use the stock wires for the rear cabin speakers because of the swim deck being run in series. You may end up harming the swim deck speakers. Sure you can use it for the rest but why not make sure your amp is as efficient as it can be by running good sized high grade speaker wire?

 

[Drift Away]

The Starboard side is easy as they will fit by your feet, and with the E-Series perhaps right below the throttle?
The port side of an X is tricky as there is little space to put a speaker...I may try putting a Polk in above the garbage can now I know they are an inch shallower.....need to measure the depth there though.

Ok i got it now. Right below the drivers feet kinda up in the corner there should be more than eoungh room. I think mkst people put the other speaker under the cup holder on the passanger side with no problem but getting it up around the trash can net will be a little tricky

 

[Mainah]

@Drift Away - We want pics. Especially if you make a bezel and during the install process. Kinda wish I had thought of that before. You should have one heck of an impressive system once you are done.

 

[Julian]

Ok i got it now. Right below the drivers feet kinda up in the corner there should be more than eoungh room. I think mkst people put the other speaker under the cup holder on the passanger side with no problem but getting it up around the trash can net will be a little tricky

Yup...no room for me to put it under the cup holders on the X as there is already a sub woofer in there.

 

[MattFX4]

I am waiting on santa to bring me my JL 7.7 to replace my swim deck speakers. Then i am gonna move my JL 6.5's up in the same spot you put yours, add another 10" sub and another JL 6 Channel amp. Bringing the grand total to 6 6.5, 2 7.7, 2 10" subs and 2 6 channel amps. My audio guy here in Tarpon Springs FL is looking for a spot to put a set of 8.8's to use up the last 2 channels on the amp. Moderation is not my strong suit. View attachment 49322

Not sure if mentioned, but you should look in to the 8.8 tower speakers for the remaining two channels. It was between them, and the Rev 10's for me. I decided on the Rev 10's because I wanted to project sound to wake board distances. Also, let us know how mixing the 7.7's with the 6.5's sound. I was advised that I would not benefit by mixing, and the 7.7's would play down to the 6.5's. I'm not an audio expert so didn't understand that one.

 

[Drift Away]

Not sure if mentioned, but you should look in to the 8.8 tower speakers for the remaining two channels. It was between them, and the Rev 10's for me. I decided on the Rev 10's because I wanted to project sound to wake board distances. Also, let us know how mixing the 7.7's with the 6.5's sound. I was advised that I would not benefit by mixing, and the 7.7's would play down to the 6.5's. I'm not an audio expert so didn't understand that one.

I think with the 7.7 in the back it will project out farther. They will definitely carry more low-end Bass than the 6.5 I've looked at Tower speakers but I have the SX 240 with no wakeboard tower. I'm definitely looking at the 8.8 just not sure where I'm going to put them

 

[fraserjr]

OK, so I think I have decided to get the MB Quart 6 - channel amp that @Mainah suggested. Also after removing some cupholders in the mid-cabin section I am pretty sure I can put the additional Polk db651's into the black inset plastic on either side possibly even without spacers. This will bring them up much higher and should improve the sound level rather than having them down by our feet.

Also, after I discovered that the Polk HU is mounted in the port storage area, it probably makes the most sent to mount the amp there as well, correct? That way I have shorter power runs and a shorter run to the HU. If I were to rewire all of the speaker (minus the tower tweeters) is it suggested that I just run them all in parallel? And if so, how much speaker wire should I look at getting?

If I run all the speakers with new wire to the amp, is there any way I can control each channel volume independently via the connext?

 

[FloJet]

To be honest, mount the amps to where you feel comfortable with. Rule of thumb is, as long as you can get a 3 to 5 ft RCA cables to the head unit you are okay. The head unit will not get any power from the amps except thru the RCAs. I wouldn't recommend adding extensions to RCA cables as you might have some signal loss.

If you ran all your speakers in parallel, with a 6 channel amp, you will be able to power 3 sets of speakers. 1 pair for each channel. You can series them to hook up more speakers but in the expense of losing wattage.

To control all your zones, lets say cabin speakers, tweeters, subs and maybe tower, you will need to get a multi-zone equalizer. I would look into the Wet Sounds 420 edition. There are other good brands out there too that can offer you more independent zones. You can also hook up line drivers but the easiest way is to get an EQ.

 

[fraserjr]

To be honest, mount the amps to where you feel comfortable with. Rule of thumb is, as long as you can get a 3 to 5 ft RCA cables to the head unit you are okay. The head unit will not get any power from the amps except thru the RCAs. I wouldn't recommend adding extensions to RCA cables as you might have some signal loss.

If you ran all your speakers in parallel, with a 6 channel amp, you will be able to power 3 sets of speakers. 1 pair for each channel. You can series them to hook up more speakers but in the expense of losing wattage.

To control all your zones, lets say cabin speakers, tweeters, subs and maybe tower, you will need to get a multi-zone equalizer. I would look into the Wet Sounds 420 edition. There are other good brands out there too that can offer you more independent zones. You can also hook up line drivers but the easiest way is to get an EQ.

Actually, I guess I will have to power two pair in series unless I left one set of speakers on the HU. Since I am adding the mid cabin speakers, I will technically have 4 pair (swim deck, back seats, mid cabin, and bow) Any suggestions on how to wire them? I am thinking maybe keeping the bow speakers and tweeters on the HU but I am open to whatever makes the most sense.

As for the Wetsounds 420, at this point I don't think I can justify $400 for an EQ, I am trying to keep the budget as manageable as possible for now - hence why I am leaving in the Polk speakers. It just would have been nice to turn up the mid cabin speakers a little bit louder if I wanted to...

 

[FloJet]

Yes you can series 2 pairs but they won't get as much power as the others not in series. I wouldn't recommend leaving a pair on the HU. You will get too much distortion out of them when you try to play loud. The other speakers on the amp would be able to handle the power but the ones connected to the HU will not be able to. You only other option you could do is series them all.

 

[Av8tor07]

I'm following this thread closely. I have a question for you guys. My 2016 212x comes with 6 speakers, I'm not into really loud music at all, but while at cruise I would like to be able to hear some music. Will it be enough to just add an amp to the existing set-up? Also, will I need a 6 channel amp? I've read about wiring the speakers in series to use a 4 channel amp. I'm really not to well versed in the sound system world. Thanks for the help.

 

[FloJet]

@Av8tor07 to keep things simple I would just get a 6 channel amp. I'm not sure how the 21 ft x edition speakers are wired up. Sometimes they are in series already and others in parallel. I'm sure an X owner will chime in soon on how those speakers are wired up. The AR240s are in parallel because there are only 4 speakers.

If you look at classifieds, I have a Wetsounds SD6 amp for sale and could throw in a 10"inch sub with enclosure if you are interested? The subs will give you a nice clean bass. The SD6 might be little of over kill for you but will make it where you system is upgradeable over time.

 

[tdonoughue]

There are others much better versed than I am on this, but my understanding...

Adding an amp should usually be your first step. The reason is that right now you are driving your 6 speakers with the ~50W from the head unit. That can be done (of course), but you are basically then running your HU (head unit) at the upper part of what it can put out. That does not create a volume problem--it creates a clarity problem. Essentially, you start to get muddled sound as the HU starts to reach its top end.

Adding an amp provides you with much more wattage, not so that you can hit that top end again, but so that during normal listening you can be sitting at the bottom half of the capacity. The amp will provide the required ~40-50W very easily and cleanly.

Then, as to how many channels you want on your amp, that depends upon your setup and particularly whether you have (or will want) a subwoofer. A subwoofer is beneficial because bass notes require a lot of power to generate properly (envision the big sub speaker as compared to the tiny tweeter--the big one takes more energy to move). As you can imagine, by stripping the bass out from your 6 'normal' speakers, you have removed a big energy load (thus making them work much better on the sounds they are better at making) and moved that energy load to the sub. That is great, but that will usually take 2 of your amp channels to accomplish (you will put them together to get the energy for that nice sub). That then leaves 4 channels left on a 6-channel amp (in my boat, 2 for the 2 front speakers and 2 for the 2 aft speakers). In your setup, you could run 4 speakers off of 2 of the channels. The down side to that, primarily, is that you cannot adjust the balance between those speakers--they will all be adjusted together (and will run at 1/2 the amps, so you will need to have the appropriate speakers for that).

If you go without the subwoofer, then you can run your 6 speakers on a 4-channel (same issues as above) or on a 6-channel (where you can balance all of the speaker sets).

Then, of course, you could do a 6-channel for your 6 speakers, and a separate 2-channel for a sub. Or, you could.... (this is where the possibilities start to get infinite)

Hope that helps some...

 

[fraserjr]

For those who have already added an amp and run new wire in a similar setup, are you just disconnecting the old speaker wires and letting them hang?

 

[tdonoughue]

Yep--mine are just sitting there, hanging...