Stereo advise For a 2000 196

[Smitty]

I have searched around for threads to see if I could find one that matches my questions, but couldn't get exact answers, so here goes.

I have a 2000 196 with factory stereo. I am looking at changing the head unit, speakers, adding amp and sub.

I am looking at 4 Polk mmc650's, an APX 480. I need advice on a sub, and how best to wire it into the 4 channel amp along with the 4 polks.

For the head unit I am looking at the 445 because of the factory hinged vinyl
stereo cover. Should I consider the CMD4? Can the cover come off?

Any wiring suggestions or help would be great. I have done plenty of car stuff, but I am new the the CC world and want to do it right.

Thanks ahead of time

Smitty

PS. Jeff I am near Bowie MD. I may need to find you some day to talk CC.

[NautiqueJeff]

Jeff I am near Bowie MD. I may need to find you some day to talk CC.

You're not too far at all. Ever make it down to Lake Anna?

[Smitty]

Never been there, but would like to come down. I go by the exit on 95 all the time heading to reserve duty in Newport News.

[mfloski]

Smitty, I am doing my own upgrade right now on my stereo..this is what i am doing...2 four channel amps, one for the four boat speakers that are being replaced with polk db675s...One for the four tower speakers. ...one MONO amp for my JL Audio 12"........I am running my power (0 gauge) into a 200amp inline fuse, then into a distribution block, out of the block will be 4 gauge running to the power of each amp. The ground (0 gauge) will run also into a distribution block out of which will again run 4 gauge to each amp. Hope this helps some..

[Smitty]

Im looking at staying with one amp, just want to know how to bridge the outputs. How are you running the RCA's from your head unit to your three amps?

[Rick]

Smitty I have a 2000 196 without stereo Do you want to get rid of the old one after you upgrade? PM me if you do

[MHayes]

Smitty, the front does not come off of the CMD4, it only flips down for access to the CD slot (i.e. the front keeps the inside dry, thus why they talk about it having an exclusive "marinized" front panel that features a water-sealed CD media access door). As for the amp, go to the following link which is the manual for your amp

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/MungoBl...80/APX480M.pdf

I would run the amp as a 2 channel stereo system with low-pass bridged mono channel, as depicted on page 9 of the manual. The only difference hear would be that your running 4 speakers on the rear instead of 2. Since this amp is stable at 2 ohms, and I'm guessing your Polks are 4 ohm speakers, just run them in parallel. Hope this helps.

mfloski, I'm in the process of upgrading the stereo in our 2001 Air and it sounds like we're taking about the same approach. Would love to see some pictures of the install.

[Mikeski]

Hey Smitty,

Run the XMD3 or CMD4 and abandon the flip cover, the face is splashproof so you won't need it. Not sure if I would give it a direct shot with the hose? In my 196 I ran 4 Infinity reference speakers behind the factory speaker nets. Had to shim them out with some vacuum hose so the surrounds didn't hit. I built a tiny little sealed box that went up under the bow behind the driver's foot support. It had a compound angle on the side that followed the angle of the bow, pain in the bott to build. It had 2 parts express Quatro 8" speakers that filled the little closed bow boat's cabin with a nice balanced sound. Those were my third set of 8's, I had tried some poly 8's with low excursion, they sounded bad. You could run a good 2 channel amp in mixed mode with passive crossovers but I would recommend a nice 3 or 4 channel amp. Run two of the channels to the 4 boat speakers and run the two rear channels to the subs. Set the boat crossovers in high pass at 100hz, let the sub run up to 200hz or so. The overlap in the 100-200hz range should give you some bumpy bass providing the illusion that you have a little more sub than a couple 8s. Send me a PM if you want more info. If I had another 196 I would do the same thing.

Mike
mikeskiw@gmail.com