These Kenwood Amps are a fantastic value..

[Chillypilot]

Thanks @Bruce @swatski @VONCE @firecap797 for all the input. I think I'm going to go the route Bruce suggested, adding RCA to the speaker outputs so that I have the same zone control as before. I don't have a fancy ass stereo just a fusion HU connected to 4 7inch speakers. I think this amp will give those speakers a little extra life.

 

[Bruce]

I took some benchmark readings on my current Fusion IP600 + 6 Infinity 6x9s tonight. With a voltage of 12.62 after the test I saw a 120 dB sound level reading inside the battery compartment with 6.72 amp of consumption. That is a total of 84.8 watts. The only items consuming power were the head unit and a Raspberry Pi 2b which was playing the music. The song playing during the test was the base filled Like a G6.

The plan, work allowing, is to install the two amplifiers then repeat the test.

The entire family participated while wearing ear protection. There was a lot of concern about why Daddy wants louder music.

@swatski these are the kind of numbers we were discussing.

 

[ToddW850]

Got both amps installed on mine. The 3004 to run my 4 speakers and the 3001 to run the subwoofer. The 4 speakers sound freaking great! But the subwoofer is not working. I believe it is going to be my head unit now, because I'm noticing other issues with it. It's at least 3 years old, so I guess that's about right. I've ordered a new head unit and hopefully everything is fixed.

 

[SeanPC]

Ok so started installing both Kenwood Amps tonight. Seems the front speakers and the tweeters run off the same speaker wire (front) and the rear cockpit and swimdeck speakers run off the rear line. Right now running front and rear speakers off different amps. If I connect rear pre-amp outs and use y-connectors to use all four channels, can I bridge the speaker wires out correct? Is that too much wattage running to the speakers? Given it's splitting wattage between 4 speakers is it still 50 watts RMS per speaker

 

[Jgorm]

If your deck only has one set of rca, and you plan on running multiple amps, I'd suggest upgrading to a deck with three pre amp outputs. Running multiple amps off a single pre amp deck is like running $4000 wheels on your 1990 civic.

 

[macnewbie]

Found this thread a few days ago and decided to take the plunge. Amps and wiring showed up yesterday and I am setting time aside this afternoon to do the install. Dummy question though - how do I gain access to the electronics at the helm? Do I need to remove the bow upholstery? Is there an access hatch I have overlooked?

thanks in advance!

 

[kthrash]

on the 21' boat you have to go into the helm through the front seat cushion.. helps to be under 6' and 200lbs.

 

[firecap797]

on the 21' boat you have to go into the helm through the front seat cushion.. helps to be under 6' and 200lbs.

I think the height/weight recommendation from kthrash should also apply to the 24 foot boats as well. Even going thru the side door, I'm 5'10" 240 and had an issue getting in. I believe I became a contortionist that day. The best access for me was opening the front cushion and going in on my back.

As far as wiring, I left everything long enough that I could pull the entire board out and wire it and then put it back neatly with zip ties for the slack.

 

[djetok]

Found this thread a few days ago and decided to take the plunge. Amps and wiring showed up yesterday and I am setting time aside this afternoon to do the install. Dummy question though - how do I gain access to the electronics at the helm? Do I need to remove the bow upholstery? Is there an access hatch I have overlooked?

thanks in advance!

On my 21 footer to get to the radio. You undo two wing nuts at the bottom of the back cushion that is in front of the helm. then push up the back cushion to remove and the back of the radio is right there.

 

[bronze_10]

for those of us who are amp challenged how sould these filters be set if the amp is powering 4 6.5 wet sounds speakers wired in parallel?

 

[robert843]

View attachment 70274 for those of us who are amp challenged how sould these filters be set if the amp is powering 4 6.5 wet sounds speakers wired in parallel?

Where these not 4 channel amps? If your not using a sub I would leave the filters off. Setting the gain is a little more indepth but if your setting by ear if you don't have the other equipment turn the head unit volume to about 75% keep increasing the gain till you start to hear the speakers clip or its louder then you would ever listen to it if you hear the speakers start to clip turn it back a little and leave it where they are not clipping.

 

[bronze_10]

Roger.. So the filters are for subs? This fall I am gonna add a sub and maybe two more 6.5 on the swim deck. I am putting it all tohether so I can easliy add a 2nd amp for when I add them. But without an amp just do the gain.. Got it! Txs

 

[tdonoughue]

So, basic filters: Filters are for specialized speakers that are tuned to certain frequency ranges. For example, a subwoofer is a specialty speaker tuned to low frequency. So, if you have a subwoofer, you want to send the low frequencies to the subwoofer and the other frequencies to the other speakers in the system. Otherwise, you waste energy sending high frequencies to the sub (which will only make it sound muddled, because it doesn't do high well) and low frequencies (which take a lot of energy) to the mid and high speakers (who don't do the bass well). A high pass filter allows high frequencies (beyond a certain cutoff) to pass through and cuts off the ones below that frequency. So for a sub, you are going to set the high pass on the 'regular' speakers (the mids and highs) and a low pass on the sub.

Basically, that is (many others have a much more advanced knowledge than I, but this gets you started). So you can see if you just have all of one type of speaker, you want those off. You don't have any specialty speakers where you want to isolate frequencies to just them.

 

[bronze_10]

Ahhhh... . I see. . That makes perfect logic! Txs

 

[bronze_10]

Finally...! I finally got that freaking amp in! Whew...

 

[robert843]

Finally...! I finally got that freaking amp in! Whew...

Pics or it didn't happen and how do you like it is there a cast sound improvement.

 

[bronze_10]

Well... My neighbors were not that happy I am sure.. It was much better and louder sound than just the fusion head unit.. It wouldn't power on at first.. The wire that I plugged into the amp on wire from the back of the head unit was dead. I had to connect it to a spot on the distribution block. But once it was on.. Whoa.. That tiny little suck can put out some power... I am taking my boat out tomorrow to make sure nothing is leaking from changing all the steering cables before I start the trim tabs.. I will get a pic then.

 

[captainhook]

Is anyone running 8 speakers on one of these amps? It should be possible as it supports 2 ohms. Just wondering how it performs in real world usage at 2 ohms.

 

[Hike]

I installed them behind the helm simply screwed to the fiberglass lip that stick up behind the speedo cluster.. View attachment 54198

@[U]kthrash[/U] I'm looking to install a Kenwood M8005 soon. I was going to mount in the same place behind the helm. How did you run the power cables to the battery? did you run the black ground cable to battery or did you tap into something behind the helm?

Did you add a second battery? if so, did you drill into the floor by the existing battery to lock it down?
Thanks!

 

[kthrash]

@[U]kthrash[/U] I'm looking to install a Kenwood M8005 soon. I was going to mount in the same place behind the helm. How did you run the power cables to the battery? did you run the black ground cable to battery or did you tap into something behind the helm?

Did you add a second battery? if so, did you drill into the floor by the existing battery to lock it down?
Thanks!

I installed a blue sea fuse block with positive and ground behind the helm.. and ran my power from there. all of my boats have come from the factory with 2 batteries.