I decided on speakers and sub for AR250 - what tuner and amp or amps?

[thedon]

I have been all over the place trying to figure this but here is what I have decided to go with.
JL m3 6.5 speakers x 6 - to replace all factory speakers.
Hertz HRM 50 - this has 6 x25 watts rms so this could get me started along with the speakers. I was going to go with a JL head unit but the amp question makes this less attractive as it doesn’t have a built in amp. If I need multiple amps anyway then maybe I would change.

Later on I will add a JL 10” m3 sub and amp - the question are :

for 50 to 60w rms x 6 plus 150-175 watts rms for the sub - is there one amp that will work? Or am I locked into a 7+ channel amp?

If I add 2 8” speakers to the cabin (and use my original 6 channels for those + 2 cabin + 2 bow) could i just use the head units 25w / channel for the swim deck? I don’t think this needs to be as loud because we only use this when the boat is off .

I am not thinking about tower speakers for now - the only pulling we really do is for little kids on a tube.

I put a nice system in my truck - Kenwwod + Focal speakers , JL amp and 2 JL 12” subs but the multiple channels and zones have me confused for the boat

Thank you

 

[Dave burke]

I wouldn’t use the HU to power any speakers. I think you’ll be disappointed, Particularly if you’re using good speakers like JLs. I have 3 amps to power 8 speakers plus a Wetsounds soundbar and a JL sub. I havent looked up the specs for the JL speakers but my guess the recommended power is in the 60-75 W RMS range.

I did look up the specs for the HU you picked out. Nice looking unit but from I can tell the power is 4x25w. That’s peak (their term) power probably not RMS. So you really need probably 2 amps I think. Not sure I’ve seen an 8 channel amp plus a sub channel so you might have to get a 5 channel amp plus a 4 channel amp.

 

[thedon]

I wouldn’t use the HU to power any speakers. I think you’ll be disappointed, Particularly if you’re using good speakers like JLs. I have 3 amps to power 8 speakers plus a Wetsounds soundbar and a JL sub. I havent looked up the specs for the JL speakers but my guess the recommended power is in the 60-75 W RMS range.

I did look up the specs for the HU you picked out. Nice looking unit but from I can tell the power is 4x25w. That’s peak (their term) power probably not RMS. So you really need probably 2 amps I think. Not sure I’ve seen an 8 channel amp plus a sub channel so you might have to get a 5 channel amp plus a 4 channel amp.

Thank you - I checked and it is 25 w rms x 6

 

[Dave burke]

Interesting. I read their website wrong, I didn’t see 4x25w peak, I saw 4x50w. See the technical data sheet.

https://static.hertz-audio.com/media/2022/02/HERTZ_Marine-HMR-50-Tech-Sheet.pdf

But either way it really doesn’t matter because neither 25w RMS nor 50W peak power is enough to properly power those speakers imo and from everything I’ve researched. From what I can see your speakers are rated for 65w RMS.

 

[thedon]

Wow - interesting. I have been looking at the specs on Crutchfield. thank you for posting that

 

[jcyamaharider]

Not a huge fan of using one amp to do everything. I would use a mono block amp for the subs and a multi channel amp to power everything else. There are decent amps out there for cheap. We run some NVX amps in our Maverick X3 and it sounds amazing. One mono block amp running to 2 10" kickers. Another 4 channel amp running to 2 8" kickers and 2 6.5" kickers. We have a Rockford Fosgate head unit powering 2 4.5" kickers in the dash.

 

[Dave burke]

Not a huge fan of using one amp to do everything. I would use a mono block amp for the subs and a multi channel amp to power everything else. There are decent amps out there for cheap. We run some NVX amps in our Maverick X3 and it sounds amazing. One mono block amp running to 2 10" kickers. Another 4 channel amp running to 2 8" kickers and 2 6.5" kickers. We have a Rockford Fosgate head unit powering 2 4.5" kickers in the dash.

Interesting. Never heard of NVX. Are they truly marine grade like JL or pretend like my Polks? Polks sound decent but they can’t handle the moisture.

How would NVX compare with JL?

 

[jcyamaharider]

Interesting. Never heard of NVX. Are they truly marine grade like JL or pretend like my Polks? Polks sound decent but they can’t handle the moisture.

How would NVX compare with JL?

JL is still better but we put our side by side through some muddy and wet terrain and pressure wash the inside and they have held up for 2 years.

 

[Weeb]

I used a JL Audio M800/8v2 it works great. I just bridged the last two channels for the sub.

 

[SCP1]

I used a JL Audio M800/8v2 it works great. I just bridged the last two channels for the sub.

I have an 8 channel JL amp, powering 8 JL 6.5M3’s and one JLM6 10’ sub and am very happy. However I still want tower speakers, lol.

 

[thedon]

I have an 8 channel JL amp, powering 8 JL 6.5M3’s and one JLM6 10’ sub and am very happy. However I still want tower speakers, lol.

this sounds like exactly what I would want....how many watts to each speaker and to the sub?? it seems lik you got more than 8 channels out of it? need 60 x 6 (8?) and the rest for a sub lol. Is this doable?

 

[SCP1]

this sounds like exactly what I would want....how many watts to each speaker and to the sub?? it seems lik you got more than 8 channels out of it? need 60 x 6 (8?) and the rest for a sub lol. Is this doable?

I have the sub bridged and then 4 speakers on two channels - the cabin speakers. I did almost all the install with some help from some friends and then had a dealer tune it (to get all the settings right). The dealer was the one who said to use the 8 channel amp to get what I was trying to accomplish done. The front and the rear speakers have their own channels. I did run all new speaker wire as well, if you have more questions let me know. One final note I can’t tell any difference between the 4 speakers running on two channels vs 2 speakers on two channels. Adding the mid cabin speakers was a game changer for hearing the music while driving and not blasting others out. Don’t quote me on the specs but by bridging you get 200 watts to the sub which hits plenty hard in my opinion. Depending on the song it might even be a little too much for me if I really turn it up. When you run 4 speakers off two channels I think you end up around 50 watts per speaker. This is where I think the tuning really becomes important. If you are doing it yourself I would be more than happy to take the cover off and take some pictures of the tune settings.

 

[thedon]

I have the sub bridged and then 4 speakers on two channels - the cabin speakers. I did almost all the install with some help from some friends and then had a dealer tune it (to get all the settings right). The dealer was the one who said to use the 8 channel amp to get what I was trying to accomplish done. The front and the rear speakers have their own channels. I did run all new speaker wire as well, if you have more questions let me know. One final note I can’t tell any difference between the 4 speakers running on two channels vs 2 speakers on two channels. Adding the mid cabin speakers was a game changer for hearing the music while driving and not blasting others out. Don’t quote me on the specs but by bridging you get 200 watts to the sub which hits plenty hard in my opinion. Depending on the song it might even be a little too much for me if I really turn it up. When you run 4 speakers off two channels I think you end up around 50 watts per speaker. This is where I think the tuning really becomes important. If you are doing it yourself I would be more than happy to take the cover off and take some pictures of the tune settings.

Thank you that would be great ! I wont be doing this until Spring summer so no hurry at all

 

[SCP1]

Thank you that would be great ! I wont be doing this until Spring summer so no hurry at all

I will tell you if your only going with one sub and sticking with JL the dealer highly recommended going with the M6 for the sub vs the M3.