Need a stereohead's expertise here...

[ZachD]

I have a 2008 SANTE 210 with and am looking to accomplish a couple things with the stereo. I'm not a techie though, so I need a little help from some folks who really know boat stereos inside and out. Ohms matching, bridging amps, Peak power, RMS power, pre-outs, gains, matching amps to speakers/subs, etc are all a little greek to me... I've never tuned or tested anything on the amps or speakers as I wouldn't know what I was doing. As an aside, this site has been a wealth of information and I sincerely appreciate anyone wiling to lend some expertise here. My apologies if these pics are not uploaded properly or are upside down.....THANK YOU!

1) I have an Alpine Type R 12 in sub that I would like to replace the factory sub (spec'd below) with for some more bass. I know it's not a marine grade sub, but (long story short) I don't care if it gets ruined. I'll do what I can to waterproof the box and keep it dry. I would also like to install an MTX Thunder 421D amp (that I already have) to push this sub. Knowing how this sounded in my old car, I feel like this would be a nice upgrade compared to what is currently in the boat.

2) I would like to have the 2 amps that are currently in the boat (spec'd below) dedicated to running the in boat speakers and the tower speakers. My hope was that by relieving one of these amps (which one I'm not sure exactly) of pushing the sub too, it might allow it/them to run cooler and extend the life or send more power to in boat or tower speakers.

My current setup is below with links to the exact model numbers. Pics of the amps are also attached in hopes that the way they are set up might allow someone to determine what is pushing what...Ideally, I'd like to do this without spending any additional money to replace any other components, as the stereo is not rockin, but is good enough for what we do on a regular basis. Suggestions are welcome, but my goal is to improve my system with this Alpine sub and MTX amp I already own.

Head Unit - Clarion CMD5

• http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2008/marine/source_units/CMD5/us-en-product-pf_1172385114092.html
• I would like to keep this head unit if possible as replacing it would also mean I would have to replace the wired remote by the driver's seat.

In-Boat Speakers (6) - Polk MoMo

• I am not interested in changing these
• I think the model is Polk MMC650
• http://www.crutchfield.com/S-a1pCY8AaMVa/p_107MMC650/Polk-MOMO-MMC650.html

Tower Speakers (4) - Polk MoMo 6x9 in Titan Alpha II Housing

• I am not interested in changing these
• I think the model here is Polk MMc690
• http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DrUZNnS4EeF/p_107MMC690/Polk-MOMO-MMC690.html

Sub - Polk MoMo 10in inside fiberglass/plastic white housing

• Polk MM2104 10 inch Sub
• http://www.crutchfield.com/S-jwIddWKU2ie/p_107MM2104/Polk-MOMO-MM2104.html

Amps - I'm not sure what is pushing what, but here are the two amps I have

• Memphis Audio 16 MCA150
  • http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_12334_Memphis-16-MCA150.html
• Clarion APX480M 4/3/2 Channel Power Amp
  • http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2007/marine/amplifires/APX480M/us-en-product-pf_1165294764541.htm

Here is what I have that I would like to swap out/add to my boat:


Sub in custom box - 12 in Alpine Type R

• Alpine SWR 1242D
• http://www.crutchfield.com/S-O5mkvpWDhCr/p_500SWR1242/Alpine-SWR-1242D.html

Mono Amp to push the Sub

• MTX Thunder 421D
• http://www.crutchfield.com/S-oKrzoFZziFo/p_236T421D/MTX-Thunder421D.html

Thank you again!

[ZachD]

sorry - here are the pics right side up

[MLA]

The Memphis amp indicates that the system is no longer 100% OEM. My guess would be:

Memphis 2 chnl driving the tower speakers
Clarion 4 chnl driving woofer on one half
Clarion 4 chnl driving 2 pair of in-boats in main cabin
head-unit driving bow pair o fin-boats.

The Memphis can drive 1-2 pair of tower speakers
The Clarion 4 chnl can drive all 3 pair of in-boats

One method to determine whats driving what, is to disconnect a pair of RCA cables from one amp, turn the system on and listen for which speakers are not playing.

[ZachD]

thanks MLA. when i determine what is driving what by disconnecting the RCAs, I'll report back. I appreciate your insight. thanks!

[ZachD]

So I think you're spot on with your assessment MLA.....I think I am going to replace the Memphis amp with a Polk 500.4 to push the 4 tower speakers and then use the Clarion amp to run 4/6 in boat speakers. I'll just run the bow speakers off the head unit. I'll then replace the head unit with a Kenwood KMR 700u (2 pre outs plus a dedicated Sub pre-out) and then hook up this Alpine Type R sub and mono amp separately. Can any stereo heads tell me if this setup should result in some improvement for me? I know it won't be the loudest on the lake or anything, but I figure the specs on this setup will be a nice, relatively inexpensive upgrade. It should allow everything to run at 4 ohms to run cooler as well. Thoughts? Anything I am missing here or other suggestions that would keep me in the same price point?