Upgrade dilemma AR190 speakers

[AJACHIM]

So I’ve seen that everyone recommends upgrading the speakers and getting an amp for our boats. My question is with the 2018 AR190 I have the marine audio 200 head unit and marine audio speakers that come standard. If you could only upgrade one for right now to make the most difference, would you get an amp to power the stock speakers or upgrade the speakers? Looking for input and suggestions thanks

 

[swatski]

If your speakers are still those "Seaworthy" white things - I would start there. First thing, throw those out, those are truly worthless. You can find Polk DB651s or similar for about $50 a pair, so $100 total for direct replacement. It will be a huge improvement even without an amp.

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[chrisinslc]

I just did what you are talking about on my AR190. I swapped out the speakers with the Polk Audio DB652's. I do have an amp for it but I don't have it installed yet. Just the speaker upgrade running from deck power is an enormous upgrade.

 

[2kwik4u]

I've been considering the same question.

Solved the problem of tunes at anchor last year with the Stealth 10 Ultra HD Soundbar. i can hear music OUTSIDE the boat now. Was debating doing ONE of the following
- Replace stock speakers
- Add amp to stock speakers
- Add amp/sub combo

The last option has the potential to expand in the wife approved "One audio upgrade per year" rule. If I add a 6-ch amp, bridge two channels to a sub and route the other 4 channels to the stock speakers it would be a "two fold" upgrade in one purchase. If I could get 4 new speakers for $100 or less, I might be able to sneak that into the budget under the guise of "The stockers won't work with the new sub" mentality......

Either way, it's gotta be a single receipt and can't be outrageous expensive. The soundbar was skirting "expensive" at $600. If one of the audio guru's could piece together an amp/4-speaker/sub combo under $500, I'll pay a small commission. Maybe a couple beers at the next gathering?

 

[swatski]

piece together an amp/4-speaker/sub combo under $500,

That's not trivial but here is an idea. Not to sound like a broken record but I really can not see you being compeltely unhappy with 4 DBs ($100) powered by the clarion xc1410 (those come on sale for as low as $70... not bridgeble and a bit of a PIA to connect but work great and won't kill your battery), and then add something like the Infinity BassLink for $200 - if you can find one on ebay (powered, no extra amp needed). Just thinking out loud. This would not light up a cove but would be more than adequate for in in-cockpit - for most.

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[seanmclean]

4 (or even 6, if a place to cut in an extra pair) DB651s, a Rockville 8ch amp, and a nice JL sub could all be had for probably <$600.

 

[2kwik4u]

Was crawling around in the boat yesterday afternoon starting my spring modifications (first time it's been over 50 on the weekend for some time now) and noticed a few things, and have generated some questions.

If I'm just replacing the stock speakers with some Polk DB651 units (I assume these are the right ones?) Will the stock AR190 "Marine Audio" head unit drive them adequately? I know most put an amp in front of them, so keep in mind I'm not after perfect acoustic reproduction, just a little more clarity and volume without distortion.

If they need an amp to run properly I have a couple questions. I'm currently running the single set of RCA outputs to an RCA-to-3.5mm adadpter that is the input on my soundbar. Can I just use some RCA Splitters to solve this problem? I'm not really looking to upgrade the head unit anytime soon (this one has bluetooth and n FM Tuner that works fairly well). If that doesn't work do I need an amp with speaker level inputs to the amp? Do they make amps with RCA (or 3.5mm) outputs for the soundbar? Whats the right way to handle this? Hopefully the new speakers can just run off the head unit and I'll be fine for now, but a new sub will dictate I solve this at some point.

Thanks for the help as well. I always get the feeling these systems need to be really well "matched" to get good results, and I just don't have the time to take a deep dive on the specs to get a really good solution in place.

I wouldn't be scared to rebuild an engine, but pretty much anything with wiring/electricity/resistance tends to trip me up. You should see the mess I've made out of 3-way switches in the past

 

[seanmclean]

You can use RCA splitters to drive the amp and soundbar, or also many amps have an RCA in and out, so you can daisychain them.

 

[smurf00]

4 (or even 6, if a place to cut in an extra pair) DB651s, a Rockville 8ch amp, and a nice JL sub could all be had for probably <$600.

I did the same thing on mine minus the sub. Ended up replacing 4 speakers with polk MM1's. Just got a set of Polk DB651's I need to add to the tower. Running them on a Rockville amp which does just fine for me.

 

[ncinthenext3]

Was crawling around in the boat yesterday afternoon starting my spring modifications (first time it's been over 50 on the weekend for some time now) and noticed a few things, and have generated some questions.

If I'm just replacing the stock speakers with some Polk DB651 units (I assume these are the right ones?) Will the stock AR190 "Marine Audio" head unit drive them adequately? I know most put an amp in front of them, so keep in mind I'm not after perfect acoustic reproduction, just a little more clarity and volume without distortion.

If they need an amp to run properly I have a couple questions. I'm currently running the single set of RCA outputs to an RCA-to-3.5mm adadpter that is the input on my soundbar. Can I just use some RCA Splitters to solve this problem? I'm not really looking to upgrade the head unit anytime soon (this one has bluetooth and n FM Tuner that works fairly well). If that doesn't work do I need an amp with speaker level inputs to the amp? Do they make amps with RCA (or 3.5mm) outputs for the soundbar? Whats the right way to handle this? Hopefully the new speakers can just run off the head unit and I'll be fine for now, but a new sub will dictate I solve this at some point.

Thanks for the help as well. I always get the feeling these systems need to be really well "matched" to get good results, and I just don't have the time to take a deep dive on the specs to get a really good solution in place.

I wouldn't be scared to rebuild an engine, but pretty much anything with wiring/electricity/resistance tends to trip me up. You should see the mess I've made out of 3-way switches in the past

I know this has been out there awhile......did you ever make this change to the Polk's with the factory Marine Audio head unit? Just curious as I was thinking about making an updrade without dropping the huge cash. Also, I'm open to any recommendations for the audio. I, too cannot hear music outside the boat. Also, has anyone ran a remote to the sundeck? The 2017 AR190 didn't come with that. I imagine it wouldn't be tough to do as the head unit is pre-wired for it. I just don't know if I would need wire that should I upgrade elsewhere. I'm pretty basic when it comes to hooking things like this up.

 

[2kwik4u]

I know this has been out there awhile......did you ever make this change to the Polk's with the factory Marine Audio head unit? Just curious as I was thinking about making an updrade without dropping the huge cash. Also, I'm open to any recommendations for the audio. I, too cannot hear music outside the boat. Also, has anyone ran a remote to the sundeck? The 2017 AR190 didn't come with that. I imagine it wouldn't be tough to do as the head unit is pre-wired for it. I just don't know if I would need wire that should I upgrade elsewhere. I'm pretty basic when it comes to hooking things like this up.

I moved all 4 speakers to Polk DB651s's. It's a decent upgrade from the stock setup. It's louder and clearer than before. LOTS of 24ft guys have those speakers stock and sell/give them away here for free or for just shipping when they upgrade.

I put a Wetsounds Stealth 10 Ultra HD sound bar on my tower. It throws a TON of sound (but very little bass) out behind the boat. Great for sitting at anchor and hanging out. The wife and I love it. I can explain more if you're interested.

 

[CaTiRo]

For now I'm wanting to just upgrade the 4 stock factory speakers on my 2019 AR190 and use the stock Clarion head unit to drive them. The Polk DB651s can be found for pretty cheap. I'm also looking at speakers from Clarion, Kicker, Alpine, and on the higher end Wet Sounds. Am I correct to assume any of these would be a "huge" improvement over the stock MA speakers?

 

[2kwik4u]

For now I'm wanting to just upgrade the 4 stock factory speakers on my 2019 AR190 and use the stock Clarion head unit to drive them. The Polk DB651s can be found for pretty cheap. I'm also looking at speakers from Clarion, Kicker, Alpine, and on the higher end Wet Sounds. Am I correct to assume any of these would be a "huge" improvement over the stock MA speakers?

Hard to say if ALL of those would be a big improvement. The stock speakers are not great, so getting anything with a higher efficiency would help. IN concept you're converting electrical energy into physical movement, so if you can make that happen easier it should produce more sound per watt input. That's wildly oversimplified, but the general idea.

I've only got experience with the stock "Marine Audio" components, and upgrading to the Polk's.

 

[adrianp89]

For now I'm wanting to just upgrade the 4 stock factory speakers on my 2019 AR190 and use the stock Clarion head unit to drive them. The Polk DB651s can be found for pretty cheap. I'm also looking at speakers from Clarion, Kicker, Alpine, and on the higher end Wet Sounds. Am I correct to assume any of these would be a "huge" improvement over the stock MA speakers?

Yes.

 

[Rob2336]

For now I'm wanting to just upgrade the 4 stock factory speakers on my 2019 AR190 and use the stock Clarion head unit to drive them. The Polk DB651s can be found for pretty cheap. I'm also looking at speakers from Clarion, Kicker, Alpine, and on the higher end Wet Sounds. Am I correct to assume any of these would be a "huge" improvement over the stock MA speakers?

I added a 4x90 watt rms amp to the factory speakers on my 2019 sx195. That upgrade alone was a massive improvement since the factory speakers can push 100 watts rms and are only getting about 7 from the head unit.

 

[Epsmith19]

I moved all 4 speakers to Polk DB651s's. It's a decent upgrade from the stock setup. It's louder and clearer than before. LOTS of 24ft guys have those speakers stock and sell/give them away here for free or for just shipping when they upgrade.

I put a Wetsounds Stealth 10 Ultra HD sound bar on my tower. It throws a TON of sound (but very little bass) out behind the boat. Great for sitting at anchor and hanging out. The wife and I love it. I can explain more if you're interested.

Can you run the wetsounds stealth independent of the cockpit speakers?

 

[CaTiRo]

The 195 has upgraded speakers over the 190 right. Are they the Polk speakers?

 

[Rob2336]

The 195 has upgraded speakers over the 190 right. Are they the Polk speakers?

They're the Polk DB652's

 

[2kwik4u]

Can you run the wetsounds stealth independent of the cockpit speakers?

Yes, but I have to provide a source. The Ultra 10HD can take bluetooth as an input or 3.5mm "Aux" in. You can switch between the two easily. I have the 3.5mm input driven from the RCA jacks on the back of the head unit via a short adapter cable.

I've only run bluetooth to the Sound bar as a test. Never found the need for two different sources.

 

[Epsmith19]

Yes, but I have to provide a source. The Ultra 10HD can take bluetooth as an input or 3.5mm "Aux" in. You can switch between the two easily. I have the 3.5mm input driven from the RCA jacks on the back of the head unit via a short adapter cable.

I've only run bluetooth to the Sound bar as a test. Never found the need for two different sources.

Cool. Thanks. I really like the looks of the soundbar vs the tower cans