How are you powering your 6 in-boat speakers?

[Sac Surfer]

Hey Planet,

I just picked up a pair of wetsounds rev8's and a syn 2 plus a ws420. NOW I need some Help!

I have a 2010 210 TE with 6 in boats plus the 10" polk sub. (level 1 stereo package)

My conundrum is how are you guys powering your in-boats? I don't see an easy solution other then leaving it wired as is.

I have the 500.4 polk amp (http://www.polkaudio.com/caraudio/pa....php?s=pa500_4)

pushing 4 of inboat speakers Here-=> (http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107MM65...=0#details-tab) and the 10" sub.

Polk Momo 10" Sub-=>(http://www.crutchfield.com/S-kFOR0AX...MO-MM2104.html)

The bow speakers appear to be wired off the Clarion head unit (Clarion Marine CMD6 http://www.clarion.com/xe/en/product...476123524.html)

I wasn't able to find a wiring diagram for the 2010 210 but it looks very similar to the 2012 wiring diagram on the PlanetNautique index page -=> (http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/content.php?59)

Realistically I see the in-boats/sub as now the weakest link in the system. I was looking at a 6ch amp but they appear to be much larger and usually a 4ch with 2ch for a sub.
http://www.jlaudio.com/m600-6-marine...plifiers-98272

To use all the ws420's features I would need a 3 amp system as outlined in the instructions. Would it be wise to add a sub or in-boat amps now? or save up this season and add next year? I really only have about another $500 in the budget that could be used for amps in the next 2-3 months. Would it be wise to get small sub amp for the 10" and leave the inboats on the Polk 500.4?

The 2nd part of my post is what RCA lengths are you running? ( around the bow or under the belly) to wire in the WS420 on the driver's side. I did some searching around the forms here and wakeworld and a lot of people seem to like the Stinger ones here -=> (http://www.darvex.com/store/pc/RCA-I...nnects-c53.htm)

Any help is appreciated, as I was thinking when I ordered the tower system I would just wire all that up and be good to go. In fact it seems that I have just uncovered a larger system design flaw for what I'm trying to do and have hit a road block. Looking for any suggestions from you guys that have gone though this process before, or any amps that your friends are using in their boats to power all 6 in boat speakers.


Thanks,

Mike Haseck

[TX-Foilhead]

Adding a 6 channel amp leaves you with a sub amp that isn't being fully used. Move the inboats to that amp with the bow off the head unit and then add a sub amp. You should probably put the sub in a proper sealed box as well. Having just added a pair of Rev 10's and an HD 750/1, your inboats are not going to get somewhat useless and your your sub will probably sound very weak. I haven't had time to tune or do any on the water testing, those are just my initial impressions after firing everything up at a moderate level and waking about 100yds down the street.

[gride]

I'd add power to the bow speakers. A 4 ch. can usually power 6(actually 8) speakers assuming the amp can handle 2 ohms. Do a ported box for the sub. Perhaps a powerful 5 channel is what u are looking for. Use shielded rca's. Call earmark marine. I believe they still offer a 10% discount and they know how to get you setup correctly and won't up sell you for fun.

[Chad52]

I just reworked my stereo over the winter. For speakers, I have the basic 6 Polk Momo 6.5"'s, on the tower I have 2 Rev10's and a Pro485 (hybrid 3-some set-up), and a WS-XXX for a sub. I built up an amp board that has a SYN1 pushing the sub, a SYN4 going to the REV10's, another SYN 4 going to the 485, and the stock 2 Clarion amps (APX280M and APX 480M) powering the 6 internals. The 480M pushes the 4 cabin speakers and the 280M pushes the 2 bow speakers. All of this is controlled via a WS420. IMHO, using my existing Clarion amps and Polk speakers has turned out well so far, as I got to use existing equipment.

[core-rider]

The best solution is to add an amp for the sub so that it is properly powered, use the Polk 500.4 for the in-boat speakers, and an amp for the tower. Wire the in-boat speakers so that each bow speaker is on it's own channel, then wire the rear cabin speakers in parallel (2 left, 2 right) for a 2 ohm load on the other 2 channels. You will not have quite as much power at the bow since they will be running 4 ohms, but do you really need maximum output in the bow?

[lucky7t]

agree with core-rider. My configuartion o my 2007 is as follows:
Clarion 4 channel running all 6 interior (I added the bow speakers as they were not amplified)
Clarion 2 channel running 4 tower speakers (factory)
Digital designs mono block 1000 down to 1/2 ohm running 10" kicker sub in ported abs box

I have rear rca cables to towers and all interior except bow so when you fade it it will sound great without making someones ears bleed up front. I used an rca adapter to give me 4 males so i could run all inputs on amps

Sounds great

[lucky7t]

correction...
My digital designs mono block is at 1 ohm not 1/2

[Sac Surfer]

Thanks core-rider!

That really helps and that's the route I'm going to go. Would this amp be a good match for the stock 10" polk sub in the factory location behind the driver seat? http://www.ebay.com/itm/PA600-1-POLK...0d1cd9&vxp=mtr

Also about the RCA cables, should I try to run them in the belly of the boat or around the bow?

Thanks,

Mike

[core-rider]

Thanks core-rider!

That really helps and that's the route I'm going to go. Would this amp be a good match for the stock 10" polk sub in the factory location behind the driver seat? http://www.ebay.com/itm/PA600-1-POLK...0d1cd9&vxp=mtr

Also about the RCA cables, should I try to run them in the belly of the boat or around the bow?

Thanks,

Mike

Looking at the sub you listed above in your original post I think the PA600.1 would be over-kill, but you can just turn down the gain and have a good amp for upgrading one day. As far as the RCAs I ran mine around the bow, but I have a 2003 SAN. The 2010 may have a different route. I will let someone else chime in on that.