Sub and Amp Suggestions ???

[Kevin_B]

Hey all,

I'm looking to add a Sub and amp to my current system. I currently have a 90 Sport Nautique and just installed a Kenwood KMR-700u headunit and have had 4 interior speakers (Polk db651). The new headunit is great and I cant say enough about it, and the speakers have been pretty awesome (especially for the price). The headunit alone has seemed to make an amazing difference in sound quality, but getting the bass out of the speakers and into a sub I think would help immensly.

My plan is to add a sub, probably 10" or 12" and then one amp which I can run 4 channels to the interior speakers and one for the sub. I know alot of the amp selection will depend on the sub so Im going to let you stereo fanatics help me spend some money. Obviously my wallet is a factor, and Im not looking to break the bank. If you guys want to put together a good, better, best breakdown that would be awesome.

Im leaning towards a 10" sub, because the space I think i would need to put it is limited. Lastly, I have heard a ported box is the best way to go but from my understanding they are bigger. What are the thoughts on this??

Thanks!

[TurboFan]

Get a ported box for the boat. Sealed boxes are for applications where you can have multiple drivers tuned to repsond at different frequencies. A ported box and driver will go lower, hit harder (watt for watt) and perform in a wider ranger of frequncies than a sealed box. A properly designed ported box will give you a 3dB gain over a similar sealed box. You would have to double the amp power to see such a gain from amplification alone. The only advantage of a sealed box is it will be tighter. This isn't a problem on a boat, you worry about the tightness for high-end home audio (and some comp car systems) when you have multiple drivers and soundfield callibration.

You only need about 1.5 cuft for a 10" sub.

Good - Any Infiniti, Alpine, JL 4 channel amp that can be bridged to 3 channel (I think all can from these MFG's)
Better - Alpine MRX-V60
Best - Alpine PDX-5 Or JL XD700/5. You could route two channels to a tower down the road if you so desire.

I don't have enough experience yet with WetSounds to recommend them, but so far I like their amps. Price-wise, they're up there in the "Best" price bracket.

[Kevin_B]

Thanks for the quick response. Any thoughts on subs that would be good?

[Cam003]

a great sounding and powerfull sub is a jl audio 10"w6, if that is too deep of a sub try a jl tw5 13.5

[CradGen2]

Kevin,

I have a Wetsounds XXX in a Sealed box. Kills most ported enclosures. Actually made my boat flex on the sides, so I vented the area it was in more. I also have it hooked to a SYN 1 AMP. Pricey, but I think it is the best I've heard.

[EarmarkMarine]

Kevin,
The subwoofer location is going to determine the available displacement and that will determine the best sub driver and enclosure type combination. Sometimes its sealed and sometimes its bass-reflex. To make a recommendation I would want to have the displacement figure first and know a little more about the location and its boundaries.

I'm generally less concerned with a woofer's power handling specs as a higher powered woofer can have a much lower internal efficiency which wastes alot of power. So if I am working within a budget I want to gravitate toward a woofer with lower mass and higher responsiveness. The particular woofer is going to dictate my amplifier selection.

In your situation the Polk dBs are sensitive with a thermal power rating of 60 watts rms, so they are going to be easy to drive. In any case I would recommend a highly efficient fullrange multi-channel Class D amplifier.

Relating to the question of sealed versus bass-reflex and which sounds better, that depends. A poorly executed bass-reflex or one that is primarily designed for maximum peak output isn't going to be much of a sound quality product. However, a well-damped bass-reflex alignment can have the same linear and SQ characteristics of a sealed enclosure. Actually the woofer will be better damped and exhibit less excursion in a coreectly designed bass-reflex enclosure. In fact, a vast majority of studio monitors and esoteric two-channel home speakers are bass-reflex. With certainty the woofer and amplifier combination that are operating more consevatively at a given output will sound the best. And, that is often bass-reflex. Woofer size and surface area is secondary to how much air you are moving and how much energy it takes to displace that air. The woofer and enclosure have to be viewed as a whole component. So we are really back to the location and available displacement first before selecting the best subwoofer option.

David
Earmark Marine

[CradGen2]

Dave @ Earmark - you can have all my business if you open in Pittsburgh

[TurboFan]

He ships from Texas, and as long as UPS doesn't screw the pooch it works very well!

[CradGen2]

Looking for an install person.

[Millar]

I just installed a sub and amp in my 216. The boat sounds like a concert. I'd highly recommend these for performance, sound and cost:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P86SMK
Rockford Fosgate Prime R500-1 500 Watt Mono Amplifier

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007WQ7JE
Bazooka BT1024DVC BT Series 10-Inch 4 Ohm Dual Passive Tube

[Super_sport]

I just updated the system in my 95 Super Sport.. I added 4 x Polk DB651 and a custom built ported (1.1Qf) sub enclosure under the driver dash. Running the DB's off the head unit (Jensen Marine 3007) and the sub is a Rockford Fosgate 10" P3D410 DVC 4 ohm. I run an Alpine MRP-M500 (mono D sub amp) at 2ohm load for 500 watts. The Sub runs about $150. The Amp runs about $160. The sound out of the DB651 6.5" are nice on the high - Mid side, not a lot of bass, but the Sub really makes it sound complete. You can tune the sub gain to adjust for balance with the DB's. The sound is incredible! I also have a JL10W0 4ohm I tried in the same ported box which runs at 300 watts out of the same amp. They both do a FINE job on the bass side, but I prefer the P3 over the JL for the added watts and higher bass it puts out. The P3's are relatively less costly than the comparable JL subs, but I have run them for many years without problems. I dont have a tower for speakers (yet)... so tower speakers would change my setup... my system works very well.