Amps and Tower Speakers

[Treybizttu]

Looking for some input....

I've got a newer clarion headunit in my boat.
No clue on what the 4 in boat speakers are but I've got 4x Alpine SPS600s new in the box.
I've got a wetounds 12" pulled out of a newish malibu.
I re-did the wiring last year from the batteries to the amps so it's in good shape.
My amps only work when they want to so it's time for an upgrade.

We are mostly with the kids so it doesn't need to be super loud.

I was thinking either:
6 Channel for Inboats and Tower
Mono for Sub

or
5 Channel for In-boats and Sub
2 Channel for Tower.

I've had great success with JL and RF amps in the past. Any recomendations either way? I like being able to "turn off" the tower speakers as well.

As far as tower speakers: Like I said it's just mostly us and the kids. I would like to hear it outside the boat when floating around but I don't need to wake the neighbors.

[Stevemo14]

I just did all new Wet-Sounds in my boat and am very pleased with my setup. Here is what's in mine.

6 Revo 6's In Boats
2 Rev 10's on The tower
Revo 12 FA Sub

I am controlling everything off a Rockford Fosgate RFX-5000 Head Unit

Inboats and Sub run off a Punch 1000x5
- Bow Speakers on Channel 1-2 @ 4ohm
- Rear In Boats on Channel 3-4 @ 2ohm
- Sub 500w RMS @ 2ohm

Tower Speakers run off a Punch 600x4
- Bridged to 2 Channel 300w RMS @4ohms

I Have a Wet Sounds WS-420 to control the zones and adjust the EQ's

This system can get as loud as anything you would need, but sounds great at all volume levels too. I got a nose complaint at my campground the fist weekend i was there. i had the stereo on while cleaning the boat, and i guess the Rev 10's carried further than i thought.

[MLA]

Wet Sounds HTX-6 for 2 pair in-boats and one pair Icon-8. Thats 100W rms to each

Wet Sounds HTX-2 for the 4 ohm Revo-12HP. 600W rms to it.

Head unit FADE can be a crude zone control, but the WS-420SQ or BT would give you 3 zone control + master volume, right at your fingertips.

[Treybizttu]

I just did all new Wet-Sounds in my boat and am very pleased with my setup. Here is what's in mine.

6 Revo 6's In Boats
2 Rev 10's on The tower
Revo 12 FA Sub

I am controlling everything off a Rockford Fosgate RFX-5000 Head Unit

Inboats and Sub run off a Punch 1000x5
- Bow Speakers on Channel 1-2 @ 4ohm
- Rear In Boats on Channel 3-4 @ 2ohm
- Sub 500w RMS @ 2ohm

Tower Speakers run off a Punch 600x4
- Bridged to 2 Channel 300w RMS @4ohms

I Have a Wet Sounds WS-420 to control the zones and adjust the EQ's

This system can get as loud as anything you would need, but sounds great at all volume levels too. I got a nose complaint at my campground the fist weekend i was there. i had the stereo on while cleaning the boat, and i guess the Rev 10's carried further than i thought.

Rev 10s are a little much for me I think but I like the rest of it.

[Treybizttu]

Wet Sounds HTX-6 for 2 pair in-boats and one pair Icon-8. Thats 100W rms to each

Wet Sounds HTX-2 for the 4 ohm Revo-12HP. 600W rms to it.

Head unit FADE can be a crude zone control, but the WS-420SQ or BT would give you 3 zone control + master volume, right at your fingertips.

Right on thank you.

[Stevemo14]

Rev 10s are a little much for me I think but I like the rest of it.

if they are a little too much you could do rev 8's or icons.

[Treybizttu]

Plan for now:
4 CH for In-Boats
Mono for Existing Sub
Nothing planned for Tower Speakers or amp to power them at the moment.
We'll see how it works this season and revaluate later.

[distinguishedmotorsports]

JL m700/5 sounds right up your alley. Also very efficient and low current draw. it doesn't sound like you need two amps with no plans for towers.

[MLA]

R.E. M700/5: Thats only 180W rms to a 4 ohm woofer with a 500W rms/1000W peak potential. A ton of performance left untapped.

[Treybizttu]

R.E. M750/1: Thats only 180W rms to a 4 ohm woofer with a 500W rms/1000W peak potential. A ton of performance left untapped.

I didn't notice a 750/1 on here? but could missed it. I ended up ordering an R1200-1. It was a smoking deal so I couldn't pass it up. Figured even if it fails in a few years it'll work for now.

[MLA]

Typo on my part, is was a 700/5 suggested, which would only deliver 180W rms to a 4 ohm woofer

[Treybizttu]

Typo on my part, is was a 700/5 suggested, which would only deliver 180W rms to a 4 ohm woofer

Understood... Everything in this so far has been a budget build. I was trying to get it functional for now since I just bought a tower.

Should sound good for the time being and I don't have much in it.

[bturner]

Unless you're building an over the top sound machine try to consolidate your build and think things out ahead. Most people get sideways on their sound system builds by not having a plan and piecing together components that are mismatched. For most of us not looking to "light up" the sand bar a reasonable system would look something like this.....

Speakers

• 2 Pair - JL MX770s for the cockpit (https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item...t-Grilles.html) These speakers will provide plenty of sound for a reasonable cost without going over the top. They're high quality and will last in even some of the toughest environments.

• 1 Pair - JL M880 tower speakers (https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item...Xv3-SG-TK.html) If you're looking for reasonable sound for surfing or wakeboarding a pair of these will do the trick for most people's taste, again without going over the top. They're a great balance between quality, performance and cost.

• 1 Subwoofer - JL M6-818 (https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item...-S-GmTi-4.html) This is where many will part ways and get crazy. This again is an area where you have to set reasonable expectations. This 200 RMS @ 4 ohms subwoofer will provide very reasonable punch without going full on nuts.

Amps

This is yet another area where people part ways, and that's fine. I like JL for their quality (without going over the top), performance and size. You could switch any of this out to any other quality vendor but since I'm trying to keep it simple I'll stick to the JL gear.

• 1 - JL 600/6 (https://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_...mplifiers.html) - This 600 watt, 6 channel amp is small and powerful. I've installed about 6 of these with pretty much the system speakers above with excellent results. For this installation I run a 100 watt channel to each of the cockpit speakers and bridge 2 - 100 watt channels to feed 200 watts RMS @ 4 ohms to the subwoofer. This is pretty much max for this subwoofer and provides plenty of punch.

• 1 JL 400/4 (https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item...io-M400-4.html) - This is a 400 watt, 4 channel amp from the same series as above with all the same features. I like to run this as a second amp as it gives me options for expansion. In this system I'd start by bridging the channels like I did for the subwoofer and run 200 watts to each of the tower speakers. The option here would be to install bow speakers and split the channels later or live with the added power to the tower speakers. I'm currently running my 880s with 100 watts a channel and have no issues hearing them at all.

Required Accessories

• 1 - JL CL-RLC (https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item...ne-Driver.html) - This is something I do on all my builds that everyone seems to like. I always install a tower speaker line driver remote at the helm. This allows you to control the volume of the tower speakers at the helm for when your not boarding or behind the boat. JL has an exceptional solution for this that is small, easy to mount and is designed to work with a single connection at the amp and bypass connections to the speakers.

So that's my basic system which I've used several times in complete and as a basis for a "build over time" system for friends. I've found staying in a single family of components delivers an easier system to match and integration for items like the line driver or feeding the sources to the amps to be much easier. Also with the above system you can still get away with a single battery (I'd prefer a dual battery system but sometimes that's not possible) if needed and there's no need to upgrade the charging system on the boat.

Now all this ASSUMES you have proper power, cabling and if you're running dual batteries a set up with an isolator. But that would be a whole different topic and something that I've found myself correcting on every used boat (and some new boats) that I've bought that had either a dual battery system or "professional" sound system installed from the local marina or car audio shop. Unfortunately, it's rare that people will actually install or pay to have these systems installed properly. It's even more unfortunate the number of hacks out there that will charge for a professional build and not deliver it.