Thinking about adding a JL MX500/4 - Opinions?

[toddaltpeter]

I'm thinking about adding an amp to my AR190. I already upgraded the speakers to 150W Kickers. Now I'm looking for something to pump them up a little. Don't want to rock the sand bar, mainly want to get load enough to hear it over the engines. Also thinking about mounting it the cabin behind the dash.

This should give me 70 to 90 amps of power vs. the 15 that the head unit kicks out.

1. Will I have heat issues?
2. Anyone got a better suggestion

 

[mark_m]

I'm thinking about adding an amp to my AR190. I already upgraded the speakers to 150W Kickers. Now I'm looking for something to pump them up a little. Don't want to rock the sand bar, mainly want to get load enough to hear it over the engines. Also thinking about mounting it the cabin behind the dash.

This should give me 70 to 90 amps of power vs. the 15 that the head unit kicks out.

1. Will I have heat issues? Nope. JL marine amps are fantastic
2. Anyone got a better suggestion

Give Odin a ping at Earmark and see what he thinks. He can help you match up the right amp for your configuration.

 

[BlkGS]

I have rockford amps and love them. JL makes great stuff, but is spendy. Infinity, rockford, and lots of other companies offer high quality gear at lower price points.

As an aside, all your terminologies were wrong and gave me a headache, lol.

 

[adrianp89]

You will get ~70 watts RMS per speaker with that amp. Depending on your Kickers, that may be perfect or a tad underpowered. Either way it will be a big upgrade from ~17 watts you are getting now. Also should have no issue installing at the helm.

This should help with hearing underway, but for you personally - adding a third set of speakers in the center of the boat is a good way to go. Alternatively, adding a Non-BT Wetsounds Stealth 10 sound bar would provide significantly more sound, and isn't too much more than the JL Amp.

 

[toddaltpeter]

As an aside, all your terminologies were wrong and gave me a headache, lol.

I had originally typed that I was looking to install it in starboard helm stowage, but I felt that was a little too pretentious for the average internet user

 

[mark_m]

I'm not familar with the speaker arrangement for your boat. Can you share how many speakers you have and are you looking to push a sub? That could help shape the recommendation on amp.

For example, my boat has (4) 6.5"in drivers and a 10" subwoofer in the main cabin (tub), zero in the bow and (2) 6.5" drivers on the swim platform.

I have a 800/8 JL Marine amp driving the setup running in 8 channel mode, with each 6.5" getting 75 watts per channel and the sub is running bridged with 150 watts.

 

[2kwik4u]

Alternatively, adding a Non-BT Wetsounds Stealth 10 sound bar would provide significantly more sound, and isn't too much more than the JL Amp.

This.......We love our WS Stealth 10 Ultra-HD. Not much bass, but TONS of volume from it.

Rest of the system is the stock head unit pushing a whopping 17W to (4) Polk DB651s's. It's honestly a TINY little system, but we can hear the music at WOT even with my head in the wind over the windshield. It's really pretty decent overall, and we have very little cash in it. The clarity is great, the volume is amazing. It's seriously crystal clear sound a good 15-20ft behind the boat when floating. If we turn up the gain (volume) on the sound bar a shade, I can hear it while riding the wakeskate. Not super loud there, but loud enough to know what's playing.

The only thing really lacking is the bass response. Might add a 10 or 12in free air sub next spring to help there, otherwise we're REALLY pleased with this setup for us.

 

[toddaltpeter]

I'm not familiar with the speaker arrangement for your boat. Can you share how many speakers you have and are you looking to push a sub? That could help shape the recommendation on amp.

I'm running the stock Jenson JMS32 head unit with the standard 4 speaker set up (2 in Bow and 2 in cockpit). I upgraded all 4 speakers to be
Kicker 45KM604WL's (6.5" 150W Max) at 4 olm. Possibly going to add 2 more cockpit speakers or towers in the future, I'd probably try to drive the cockpit off the same amp, but If I go towers I'd add a second amp to drive them. No sub and I'm not planning on one at this time. I'm old and I like my bass, just don't need to be beat up by it!

I was contemplating the Clarion XC2510 which would give me 50Wx4 + 200x1 if I did decide to go with a sub (It's <$200)
or
Stinger SPX700x4 which is 125Xx4 ($320)

But will all of the love that JL gets on theses boards, the Mx500/4 was only a little more expensive @$399. So that why I was leaning that way

 

[white2kstang]

You should not have heat issues. My M800/8 is mounted in the under helm storage with two other amps and it runs for hours floating in 100* heat.

 

[212s]

This should give me 70 to 90 amps of power vs. the 15 that the head unit kicks out.

If you wire one speaker to each output from the MX500 you will get a very solid 60 watts per speaker when floating which is actually quite loud. I'm running the same amp with 8 speakers in the boat, two pairs in the cockpit on the front lines, and bow/stern on the rear so I can isolate the areas when needed. Powering the stock Polk DB652 speakers, they rock and are plenty loud - my wife says to turn it down all the time when floating. Originally was running the stock 6 speaker setup, but added another pair of 652's to the mid-cabin area to pump up the sound while driving and they do pump. Had people at the docks walk over to see where all the sound was coming from since we don't have towers or sound bars and it's "just a Yamaha". They were impressed with the output from the cockpit without a sub too:

1. Will I have heat issues?
2. Anyone got a better suggestion

No heat issues - these digital amps run warm, but never hot even when pumping the tunes for hours. I have it wired in parallel with 4 speakers on fronts, and 4 on the rears - just gets warm. Mine is mounted beside the batteries under the port seat to keep the power wire runs short - speaker wires are cheap and can run long lengths without issue. Great little amps with lots of grunt that don't take up much room:

 

[TTU14]

I have the MX500-4 and an MX500-1 mounted in the helm storage of my AR192. The -4 pushes two 6.5in JL M3 speakers in the front and two of the 7.7in M3s in the rear. The -1 powers a 10in kicker tube sub mounted under a seat. No issues with heat or excessive battery draw and it sounds really good.