Wiring an amp

[Mainah]

Here is a link to the mb quart manual for those that are interested. http://mbquart.com/media/mconnect_uploadfiles/n/a/na360-4_manual.pdf

 

[bumpy]

Can I also hijack please? I'm intimidated with the speaker wiring with my Claion CMD7 and 6 Polk DBs w/tower tweeters, can I just put 2 4 channel amps in and be done?

 

[Mainah]

Noticed that, too. So, if that knob is for the gain and not just bass control, that is a nice feature -- kind of like the WS420 indeed.

I agree about the DB651s, aren't those lovely?

--

The Polk DB651s really are a great value. They sound good but they aren't capable of the same sound pressure as the higher end stuff from Polk, Wetsounds, and JL Audio

 

[Mainah]

If I can hijack for just one moment? Any thoughts on this amp? I upgraded to Kenwood marine speakers last year and would like to have blue tooth and have wanted to add an amp. I thought this amp might be the way to go.

http://www.kenwood.com/usa/car/marine/kac-m1824bt/

Kenwood has a ton of product lines that range from ok to good to better. You don't need to match the brand of the amp to the brand of the speakers. That particular amp seems to have nice features like aptx for the bluetooth indicating bluetooth 4.1 which is important for the sound quality over Bluetooth. Notice that they recommend not exposing the amp to heat, humidity, dust, or water splashing. They basically took a car amp painted it white and threw in s waterproof remote. I am wary of using anything like that even though it may never get wet where you mount it. Moisture likes to build up in the compartments of our boats. Also if you are on salt water then I would say definitely not.

 

[Mainah]

Can I also hijack please? I'm intimidated with the speaker wiring with my Claion CMD7 and 6 Polk DBs w/tower tweeters, can I just put 2 4 channel amps in and be done?

This is an often asked question. I recommend levaing the stock speaker wiring in place and ruuning new wires from the amp to the main cabin and bow. Just insulate the ends of the old speaker wiring for the 4 speakers now on the amp. This leaves the swim deck and tower speakers on the head unit while taking a lot of stress off of it. Run the RCA cable off the front channel of the head unit to your anp and you even have fade control between the swim deck and cabin/bow using your head unit.

Good Luck

 

[bumpy]

This is an often asked question. I recommend levaing the stock speaker wiring in place and ruuning new wires from the amp to the main cabin and bow. Just insulate the ends of the old speaker wiring for the 4 speakers now on the amp. This leaves the swim deck and tower speakers on the head unit while taking a lot of stress off of it. Run the RCA cable off the front channel of the head unit to your anp and you even have fade control between the swim deck and cabin/bow using your head unit.

Good Luck

Thanks @Mainah, you are one of the best techies on the forum. I try to follow all of your posts, but you are way more informed than I. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[JTPain]

Well I've seen it happen to others on here and now its happening to me. Start out with a little up grade and now a bigger project!
Ill start with 0 or 2 gauge power wire to a distribution block so there's power to add more later. Most likely a sub.
I also want to add a couple of 6.5's on the rear swim platform. Probably just mount a couple of the stock speakers there for now.
We'll see how this Boss Audio amp does. It is a marine amp and it was only $45 bucks on amazon so any improvement is good.
Thanks again for all the good info.

 

[JTPain]

Also, i read somewhere, people are using welding cable for the power wires. similar to this…

https://www.amazon.com/TEMCo-WC0180-Welding-Battery-Copper/dp/B00LIB7O68/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1485100135&sr=8-5&keywords=2+gauge+wire

any thoughts?

 

[mark_m]

Also, i read somewhere, people are using welding cable for the power wires. similar to this…

https://www.amazon.com/TEMCo-WC0180-Welding-Battery-Copper/dp/B00LIB7O68/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1485100135&sr=8-5&keywords=2+gauge+wire

any thoughts?

I struggled with this, ultimately I didn't want to mess around with terminals, crimping connectors and the like. I measured and ordered from tinnedmarinewire.com with terminals installed, insulated and done.

 

[Jgorm]

I've been messing with boat stereos for over 20 years now. I think "marine" is a gimmick. I've had regular car stuff in boats docked in salt water and never had an issue. I'm 100% sure I won't be paying premium prices because it says marine on it, especially for an amp. The only difference I see with "marine" speakers is they have grills that are tighter. For a small 400w amp with a 15a fuse, there is no need to spend $200+ running 0g wire and distribution boxes. Just run 2 8g wires and be done. Don't buy a kit, they are ripoffs. I prefer welding wire because it's usually the actual gauge compared to the stuff you by with super thick insulation and tiny wire. If you plan on a big multi amp setup, then run 0-2g main feed and a fused splitter. There is no such thing as too big of wire. Voltage drop is always better with thicker wire. Cost is the only reason not to run thicker gauge.
This amp was mentioned. http://mbquart.com/na360-4/ Beware of any amp that doesn't provide both RMS and peak watts. that amp says 60w at 4ohm, but that's probably peak and only 30rms. Better than a stereo deck, but not by much. Pay attention to both rms and peak watts. Better amps will have a higher peak rating, but both metrics are important. I'm a big fan of JL stuff. Got a JL amp and 6" sub in my jeep, JL XR series with a 5ch JL amp in my RV. JL amp with XR series in my mustang, and my boat came with a JL amp and tower speakers. I bought a 10" JL sub off someone on here, and I'll probably get another JL 5 ch amp to run it, and the 4 stock speakers until I upgrade those. I have an old kenwood 100w (RMS) x 2 channel from 1995 that is powering 2 JL 6x9s in my vic and it has a surprising amount of bass for no sub. Shakes my mirrors a lot, and provides quality crisp sound. Generally I think buying better speakers is a better bang for the buck compared to buying better amps, but buying quality everything gets the best sound.

 

[Mainah]

The knukonceptz flexs wire is rebranded underwater welding wire. The stuff you get from tinned marinewire.com is also very good. The high strand count is just for flexibility which is needed for underwater welding. As long as you are using pure copper wire you are fine. Individually tinned stands of copper is even better and what I recommend. Whatever you do don't use CCA wire.

Don't trust the marketing and go straight to the manual for specs many times the marketing folks get it wrong or thitd parties are listing specs on a reseller website. Check out the manual and website on for the mb quart nautique amps and read between to the marketing bs. It appears to me as though rms power is what is being listed. Why else install dual 25 amp fuses? The fuses are supposed pop when too much current is being drawn so do the math and do it at worse case. 14.4 * 50 = 720. The mb quart appears to be a robust amp. Now if it constantly goes in thermal overload powering the the polk db 651s I will eat my words but there are a few things that lead me to belive this is a decently well built and specd amp based on my knowledge of the inner workings of electronics in general.

True marine grade items have seals around openings, knobs, switches, etc and/or coated/potted boards. This all depends on the level of water/moisture proofing. Yes some marine monikers are complete ripoffs. Others are real.

Why does it matter? In a class D amp there are many intergrated circiuts and other small digital components. What happens when a contact on the of these componets degrades or is exposed to moisture over time? Sure car amps will may never have an issue during tour length of ownership but I only want to spend my money and time once so why risk it? Do you buy life insurance? Do you plan to die tomorrow?

JL audio marine amps are hands down the very best mass produced consumer marine amps. Wetsounds is also top notch. Exotic hand made sports cars are also the best so why does everyone not buy the best? Use case, budget, etc. When it come to marine audio stay away from boss audio and pyle you are likely doing ok.

So on to speakers. Is there a difference in a marine speaker? If you want to find out take a uncoated paper cone or cheap voice coil full range speaker and put in an uncovered boat for a season. Of course that is the other extreme but the are a few key differences. The truth is most mid grade and up car speakers will hold up just as well during your period of ownership. Polk make the db speakers for both cars and boats as an example. The db speakers are however built well.

Frequently we have to ballance wants and needs with budget. I think it is great we have so many choices in marine audio. Do your own research amd make your own informed decisions on what is best for you. Most of all don't take any advice you receive online from anyone online including me as gospel. I am well intentioned in my advice and comments but I human and prone to error.

 

[FloJet]

I think so. Are the

Noticed that, too. So, if that knob is for the gain and not just bass control, that is a nice feature -- kind of like the WS420 indeed.

I agree about the DB651s, aren't those lovely?

--

I think so. lol. Are the DB651 the ones in the 2016 AR?

 

[swatski]

Are the DB651 the ones in the 2016 AR?

Nope. Those are stock in premium trims like x and e- series.
AR and SX come with whatever they call the white things - seaworthy or something. Kind of a joke.

--

 

[FloJet]

Oh gotcha

 

[Scuba_ref]

Kenwood has a ton of product lines that range from ok to good to better. You don't need to match the brand of the amp to the brand of the speakers. That particular amp seems to have nice features like aptx for the bluetooth indicating bluetooth 4.1 which is important for the sound quality over Bluetooth. Notice that they recommend not exposing the amp to heat, humidity, dust, or water splashing. They basically took a car amp painted it white and threw in s waterproof remote. I am wary of using anything like that even though it may never get wet where you mount it. Moisture likes to build up in the compartments of our boats. Also if you are on salt water then I would say definitely not.

@Mainah I realize I don't need to match the amp brand to the speaker brand. I am looking to add an amp and would also like to add BT functionality and thought this might be a good route to go. I appreciate your feed back and as others have mentioned you are one of the more technically skilled contributors on the forum and so your opinion carries weight!

 

[swatski]

@Mainah Wonder if you have an opinion on an amp with a PA microphone? The one system has been the WS 420, of course, the idea being that you can yell at your kids through the tower speakers without straining your voice..
Here I stumbled on something interesting, IF it actually works:
https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/rxm-f4/
Any thoughts/opinion would be much appreciated!

--

 

[Mainah]

@Mainah Wonder if you have an opinion on an amp with a PA microphone? The one system has been the WS 420, of course, the idea being that you can yell at your kids through the tower speakers without straining your voice..
Here I stumbled on something interesting, IF it actually works:
https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/rxm-f4/
Any thoughts/opinion would be much appreciated!

--

Very interesting however that is a class A/B amp. You only want class D in a boat if you care about battery life. The ws420 is basically a mini marinized mixer and I am not aware of anything that replicates it cheaper. There are apps for your phone if connected over bluetooth that will allow your phone to act as the microphone but you may have to stop the music from playing. If you are connected through the aux in there are other cheap methods like a gain adjustable headphone spliter with a mic pluged in on one side. None of those options work as well as the ws 420.

 

[swatski]

Very interesting however that is a class A/B amp. You only want class D in a boat if you care about battery life. The ws420 is basically a mini marinized mixer and I am not aware of anything that replicates it cheaper. There are apps for your phone if connected over bluetooth that will allow your phone to act as the microphone but you may have to stop the music from playing. If you are connected through the aux in there are other cheap methods like a gain adjustable headphone spliter with a mic pluged in on one side. None of those options work as well as the ws 420.

Oh, okay, thank you for chiming in! Soudns kind of what was thinking.
I had the WS420BT in my 190, it was cool. BUT I would like the simplicity of an amp with a mic (that automatically lowers the music volume whne you press the mic button). Unfortunately, there is just a weird shortage of attractive offerings in that niche.
The merits of class D are undeniable, it was only the MB Quart discussion that kind of opened the door for A/B amps.
I think I'll just stick with my original plan for now: sets of micro Clarion XCs amps coupled to 2-4 DBs (per amp).

--

 

[Mainah]

@swatski - now I am eating my words. You made me look again and the quarts are class a/b which explains the price point and fuse rating. I partly rescind my recommendation of that line of amps. They are still likley good amps. They are just going to be less efficient and that should be known going in.

 

[swatski]

@swatski - now I am eating my words. You made me look again and the quarts are class a/b which explains the price point and fuse rating. I partly rescind my recommendation of that line of amps. They are still likley good amps. They are just going to be less efficient and that should be known going in.

Okay - that explains it, LOL. You were giving me a whiplash!!!!

---