Tower speakers with Head Unit?

[drifter136]

Would a 40x4w peak head unit be enough to power the tower speakers? I have 4 speakers for the tower and I was just going to use the 4 channels of the head unit to power them. Not going to have the boat speakers connected at all, they sound aweful anyway.

Would they be able to play loud enough to hear while boarding, yet not be damaged by the small amount of power? I'm trying to avoid using an amp if possible.

the speakers have a 91dB sensitivity, if that helps to determine if they are efficient enough to utilize the head units minimal power.

Also, I was thinking about having 3 pointed back towards the rider and 1 pointed down into the boat, so the people in the boat can hear a little better. Would this be a stupid idea? Would the passengers still be able to hear the music well enough if all 4 were pointing back (remember the in-boat speakers are disconnected)?

Thanks for any help anyone can give me!!!!

[k2_mn]

The head unit isnt going to push much in the way of volume. I would go to www.jcwhitney.com and look at their amps. They are off brands but you can get an amp to power your 4 tower speaker for less than $100. Use the head unit for the "in boat" speakers and the amp for the tower.

[drifter136]

The main reason I wanted to avoid an amp was because of the battery...These questions probably sound stupid, so sorry. But, What do you guys do to keep the battery from running down? We have an outboard, are outboard alternators as good at keeping the battery charged while connected to an amp as an inboard's is?

[George]

I am sure it would be fine for one amp, probably even two. But you will need to get an amp to hear them and they will sound lots better.

[Fishmaster]

Drifter,

I have an outboard and I run full gage, deck and 800w amp, depth finder and an occasional 12V blender and have not had any problems. When it's just the "older kids" the amp stays cookin hot! Go for the amp, they make a huge difference.

Bill