Upgrading the Stereo--Few Questions

Labatt911 · Newbie Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 9

Ok I have a 99 Pro Air Nautique. I am replacing the factory internal boat speakers with the Polk Momo's. I am planning on running them with the Clarion 480 4 ch amp. I have a self powering Bazooka 10" tube under the driver's kicker board. I am going to be adding 4 tower speakers (each in a separate can) which are going to also house Polk Momo's. My questions are 1. should I use another 4 ch amp for the tower speakers or use a 2 ch amp and just wire two speakers together for each channel. 2. I want to install a swith on the tower speaker amp remote wire so I can turn those speakers off when we are just lounging around in the boat listening to music. Can I wire it to the empty (factory) dash accessory switch or should I use a different aftermarket add on switch for this?

Get2TheRiver · Posted: Aug 05, 2005 5:35 pm Post subject:

I'm far from an expert, but based on my experience I would buy the second amp with 4 channels for the 4 tower speakers.

That's what I did and now my fader control on the stereo controls the volume between my 4 floor level speakers (front output goes to this amp) and my 4 tower speakers (rear output goes to this amp). I actually have 6 speakers on my tower and had 2 sets wired together (piggybacked) -- they all sounded like crap so I ended up unhooking them. It's a bad idea -- don't do it. Now I just run the 4 on the tower and the 4 at floor level. I also added a 1000 single channel amp with a 12" Pioneer Premier sub (1,000 RMS). It cranks.

Jensen · Posted: Aug 06, 2005 10:32 pm Post subject:

i think you should definitley have two seperate amps. both 4 channels. i suppose a switch on the remote turn on wires would be alright, i've never really thought about doing that. be sure to get a good amp, no sony. i highly recommend rockford fosgate and alpine amps. they run very smoothly.

nan0 · Criminal Joined: 08 Aug 2005 Posts: 55 City: San Jose

I agree 2 amps. I disagree that you need a 4 channel amp for the tower speakers. Either run a 2channel amp with the speakers wired to 2ohms, or a 4 channel amp with the outputs bridged (making it a 2 channel amp) and still run the speakers at 2ohms.

as for the switch, you can use the factory switch. Easiest way is to switch the remote turn on line going to the tower amp.

I also disagree that sony amps suck. There are so many amps/speakers out there that supposedly 'suck' cause they aren't brand names, they list dynamic power over rms power (all too common, even in the big names), or cause they are inexpensive. Look, you're not in an acoustically dampened chamber where you'll hear a pin drop. You're on a loud a$$ boat with tons of ambient noise. RMS power is your biggest concern.

Wallrat · Posted: Aug 08, 2005 4:58 pm Post subject:

I bad mouth Xplod stuff all the time, and not for the quality of sound reproduction. IMO their line is a lot like kit cars that used to be so popular. Oh sure it looks kinda like a Ferrari, but where it counts its still just a VW 1600 Dual Port. Sony stuff is cheaply made, and I've seen a lot of friend's that went that route have problems with their componants.

Just so's I don't completely hijack this thread...Labatt, why Polk Momo's?

Labatt911 · Newbie Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 9

Just like how they look mounted. Plus I went with the Clarion 4 ch for the interior speakers. the speakers are rated at 80 rms and the amp puts out 80 rms by 4. it was a good match.

Wallrat · Posted: Aug 09, 2005 9:55 am Post subject:

That's cool. Polk makes a pretty good speaker and their momo line does look pretty trick. I was only asking since there's alot of other brands out there. As far as your original question goes, it all comes down to how loud do you want/need the stereo to be? I've found that my HU puts out enough power for the 4 speakers in the boat so at this point I don't plan on getting an amp for those. Once I get the tower all finished however, I'm thinking that I'll need a little extra oomph to throw some decent sound out back. I'm probably only going to run 2 efficient speakers though since with the right speaker/amp combo this should be more than enough. Installing a switch on the remote line coming from the HU is definately the easiest way of doing things. The remote is very low amperage (usually less than .5A) so you're not going to burn up the switch by not using a relay.