Dedicated Amp for Sub? 2nd Q - Wire Upgrade?

[darreng]

I have a 1999 Air that I upgraded the stereo this past fall. Got a full JL Audio package off their website which included 4 6.5" Marine Speakers, the 6600 Amp and the Sub. I had Car Toys install as I was pressed for time and they were down the street. The system is a major improvement over the one it replaced but I'm curious about the following:
- Should I get a dedicated Amp for the Sub, i.e. the M1700, or am I fine running it as is?
- Not sure what the wiring was before but all Car Toys did was replace the components and used existing wiring, should I invest in upgrading the wiring and having it redone (and if so with what wire gauge/brand)?
- Lastly, this is all running off the main battery/power, I'm assuming I should go to two batteries and a switch correct? Again, recommendations welcomed

[AuMDLST]

What model sub?
Are the speakers individually wired or are they in some kind of series or parallel configuration? (you will need to verify)
If individual they probably have 14 ga wire and is sufficient (can be replaced if corroded with any decent speaker wire)
Do you sit and listen to tunes or are you running and listening? If running and listening one battery is fine.

[MLA]

Yep, knowing what model sub you have will help, as well as knowing whether it's bridged on 2 chnls or driven off just one. I'm hoping it's a 4 Ohm sub and it's bridged, but even at 200W's @ 14.4V's & 150W's @ 12.5V's, that's not a lot of bass for the open environment of a boat. Knowing what sub you have will determine whether is will even handle/benefit from additional power.

For the four cabins, the M6600 has respectable power (75W's x 6 @ 14.4V's & 55W's x 6 @ 12.5V's)

The JL M6600 needs at least 4 Ga power/ground wire, but the length from the battery to the amp needs to be factored in as well. As for your cabin speakers, 14 ga will be fine. If the current speaker wires is old or even the original wire, I would pull new wire. Speaker wire is cheap, its just a little time consuming to re-run.

[SuperDave]

I agree with MLA... 4 ga for power and ground to power block and i would use 8 ga or 10 ga at least to each amp.. Good Luck

[darreng]

It is the JL M10W5 Sub. Speakers are individually wired.

[MLA]

Tough call. Looking at the specs on JL's site, the sub it rated at 250W's rms (continuous power) and further down the page it has a scale that shows anything over 250W is in the "voids warranty" zone. I'm not real familiar with the JL marine, so I dont know if they like to be pushed a little beyond rms or not. As it is now, with the engine running (14.4 volts) the specs are on target at 200W's, but with engine off and running on battery (12.5 V) the rms from the amp is only 150 watts rms.

I guess give it a listen on the water and see if you are happy. If your wanting more bass, then see about trading out the 6 chnl for a 4 chnl for the in-boats and a mono that will give you a solid 300W rms @ 4 Ohm for the sub.

[darreng]

Thanks for the thoughts/help. Much appreciated.