Easiest way to add/amplify music at the helm

[fraserjr]

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

So I assume you left the speaker wire harness attached to the HU as well?

 

[Av8tor07]

@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.

I wasn't looking at spending that kind of money, but I may have to. Will that amp and the stock (Polk, I think) speakers work good?. How big is the subwoofer? Not sure where I can put it.

 

[OperationROL]

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?

I ran new wires everywhere except the swim platform. Since the rear cabin speakers and the swim platform are wired in series from the factory, I just disconnected the wires from the rear cabin speakers and jumped them to the wires that extend to the swim platform so that they are now wired in parallel, but using the factory wiring. All other locations are new wire runs, however, the typical non-audiophile will not notice the difference. I also left the tower tweeters connected to the HU, but disconnected them at the crossovers. I may add another cheap amp and remote control to add the tweeters back in, but right now they sound too tinny and I can't turn them down independently.

 

[tdonoughue]

So I assume you left the speaker wire harness attached to the HU as well?

That is a fair question. I debated cutting between the speakers and the harness (in which case you can swap the HU with another stock one easily) and cutting between the HU and the harness (which eliminates one connection and is a bit easier on the install (because you don't need to trace wires through the connector). I *think* I decided on the first option... but I have slept since then.

 

[Av8tor07]

Does anyone have the stock Polk speakers hooked up to an amp? I was wondering how good those speakers are.

 

[FloJet]

I do on my AR240 and they sound amazing. Honestly not sure why folks upgrade it. But I do have tower speakers but when I don't want to play the towers, the 4 cabin speakers still get the job done even when moving. But I also have specially tuned by system too so not sure what the results will be for others. To this day I still haven't been able to turn my cabin speakers all the way up as it's plenty loud.

 

[OperationROL]

Does anyone have the stock Polk speakers hooked up to an amp? I was wondering how good those speakers are.

I do as well. They sound pretty good. JL's sound even better, but my polk DB's do a great job.

 

[Av8tor07]

I do as well. They sound pretty good. JL's sound even better, but my polk DB's do a great job.

Thanks. I really didn't want to replace all 6 speakers. What kind of amp are you running?

 

[FloJet]

JL Audio MHX280/4

Not a big amp but gets the job done. Eventually I want a 400 watt amp to push to my cabin speakers but like I said, they do amazing job right now.

 

[FloJet]

Honestly main reason I put an amp on my cabin speakers was so I can control them individually thru my equalizer. I wanted the ability to turn them off if need be or be able to adjust sound on them to compliment my tower speakers. It gives me flexibility in how I want to entertain my guests.

 

[Mainah]

My opinion on a couple of the topics from today.

• Running new wire - I highly advise it if you plan to run the swim deck of the head unit. I also advise it in general when adding an amp for lower resistance amd better efficiency.
• You can power the 6 cabin speakers from an amp and leave the swim deck and tweeters on the head unit as a good budget upgrade
• Don't just leave the old wires hanging if you run new wire. Insulate and label the connecters and secure the looose wire. Even if you completely disconneofrom the head unit this is a good practice to get into.

 

[OperationROL]

Thanks. I really didn't want to replace all 6 speakers. What kind of amp are you running?

I run a Wetsounds HTX-4 for my tower cans, a Polk PAD 5000.5 for my cabin speakers and sub and a cheaper JBL MA 6004 for my bow speakers and swim-deck speakers.

 

[tdonoughue]

My opinion on a couple of the topics from today.
<snip>

• Don't just leave the old wires hanging if you run new wire. Insulate and label the connecters and secure the loose wire. Even if you completely disconnect from the head unit this is a good practice to get into.

You are, of course, exactly correct. I did use electrical tape on mine, but I didn't label them (the manual, stored in the boat, has the color of the output wires--easily traced again). But I certainly agree your practice there is the superior one.

 

[fraserjr]

OK, so assuming I rewire all of my speakers and add the two mid-cabin speakers, how should I rewire my speakers with the MB Quart 6 - channel amp. I am thinking swim deck and back seat speakers on channel 1/2 in parallel, mid-cabin and bow speakers on channel 3/4 in parallel and leave the last two channels for expansion of a sub or tower speakers. Then I would disconnect the tower tweeters based on everyones recommendations in other threads. Does that sound right?

 

[MattFX4]

@fraserjr Honestly, in my own opinion, if you are going to go through the all trouble of running new wires and upgrading your system, then you should do it right the first time. If I were in your shoes I would run new wires to the rear cabin and swim deck speakers first. Then I would install a JL m800/8v2 amp to provide each individual speaker a true 75 watts of power. Do not disconnect the tweeters. Once you add the mid cabin speakers, and amp them up, the tweeters will fill in the highs nicely. You know what they say...you get what you pay for. Give that $67k boat what it deserves!

 

[Mainah]

OK, so assuming I rewire all of my speakers and add the two mid-cabin speakers, how should I rewire my speakers with the MB Quart 6 - channel amp. I am thinking swim deck and back seat speakers on channel 1/2 in parallel, mid-cabin and bow speakers on channel 3/4 in parallel and leave the last two channels for expansion of a sub or tower speakers. Then I would disconnect the tower tweeters based on everyones recommendations in other threads. Does that sound right?

You want plenty of headroom with a busget amp that does not have thermal rollback. Not to mention avoiding impedance issues. If you are still looking to do a budget upgrade with a 6 channel amp then IMO each cabin speaker should get rewired and leave the swim deck completely untouched aside from the series to direct splice being needed. If you are considering something different then @MattFX4 has a good point.

My guess is that the 6 channel budget upgrade will run you less than $500 all in where even double that budget might not get you that much more (except a sub and better amps) as my 1k audio thread demonstrates. Point being aside from the sub a normal person would be hard pressed to hear the difference. Putying a dedicated amp behind the the polk db's will be the single most effective way to hearing the sound at crusing speed. Anything past that will cost lots more dollars per decibel.

I will have about $2.5 in my system by the end of 2017. Is this overkill? For some of course it is for others they are just getting started. Do what is right for your listening habits and budget.

I think you have mentioned finding that your head unit was located in the battery compartment which is the first I have heard of that. Being the case however this does make running power and future upgrades easier when mounting the amp there as well.

Good Luck with the decision making as I know it is hard not to splurge when it comes to toys.

 

[tdonoughue]

Of course @MattFX4 is exactly right. That said, if you don't have those funds and are going to do the 6 channel you proposed, I would group the front cabin to 1/2, mid and aft cabin speakers to 3/4 and the swim deck to 5/6, with the tweeters still hooked to the HU. My reasoning is that you want to be able to adjust the speakers in the same area together, and the aft cabin is the most contiguous space. I also would not leave part of the amp unused waiting for a subwoofer. Use it all and rewire when you get the sub or get the sub with a 1 or 2 channel amp.

 

[Mainah]

Of course @MattFX4 is exactly right. That said, if you don't have those funds and are going to do the 6 channel you proposed, I would group the front cabin to 1/2, mid and aft cabin speakers to 3/4 and the swim deck to 5/6, with the tweeters still hooked to the HU. My reasoning is that you want to be able to adjust the speakers in the same area together, and the aft cabin is the most contiguous space. I also would not leave part of the amp unused waiting for a subwoofer. Use it all and rewire when you get the sub or get the sub with a 1 or 2 channel amp.

This is good in therory. Howver in this case the "budget" amp I recommended matches the RMS specs of the speakers exactly. While the amp is 2 ohm stable the speakers would be about 50% under powered meaning the amp may heat up and trip the thermal protection shutting it off with volume turned up to hear at cruising speed which is the primary goal of the project.

If lower volume is desired at the bow than that can be accomplished by running the front and rear rca outputs to the amp as it does have seperate outputs and using the fader on the head unit to adjust.

 

[fraserjr]

This is good in therory. Howver in this case the "budget" amp I recommended matches the RMS specs of the speakers exactly. While the amp is 2 ohm stable the speakers would be about 50% under powered meaning the amp may heat up and trip the thermal protection shutting it off with volume turned up to hear at cruising speed which is the primary goal of the project.

If lower volume is desired at the bow than that can be accomplished by running the front and rear rca outputs to the amp as it does have separate outputs and using the fader on the head unit to adjust.

So @Mainah, since I am keying off of your amp suggestion and now have your Polks (thanks!) from your boat. How are you suggesting I wire everything up?

 

[Mainah]

Glad those db's will see some use. AMP wiring I recommend is one channel per 6.5 polk db. My RCA wiring recommendation will depend on your use case. Personally the bow and cabin in my boat all stay at the same volume and the fader in connext (really just a visual representation the head unit) will adjust the bow, cabin, subwoofer (on amps) vs the swim deck (on head unit). This works quite well for my use case. Another option is that the fader could control the swim deck and the bow vs. the main cabin. Yet a third option is the bow vs. the main cabin and swim deck. Once you figure that out I can complete my recommendation. Nothing changes as far as keeping the stock wiring harness connected and fixing the series connection on the stock wiring for the swim deck. I still recommend new wire runs from the amp to the 6.5 speakers as it is either that or new wiring to power the swim deck and new wiring is better put to use on the amp.

Keep in mind that I have no experience with that particular amp and my recommendation was made from just doing a quick search and seeing one that had a good brand reputation and the description seemed to be accurate for what it is rather than a bunch of trumped up marketing and specs. I honestly think you will be happy with that amp for your specified use case and that it will hold up in a marine enviroment well. Might well be one of the best deals in marine amps that I have ever seen but again I have no first hand experience so hard to say.