Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

**ryanandrews** · 10-08-2006, 10:34 AM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

proud- you might want to check out infinity kappas, they are a better speaker than the polk momo and much better than the db series. look at the ratings between the two
as far as sub(s) again the infinity kappa is a very good sounding sub when powered correctly. jl is also good but imo overpriced, and needs a lot of power. as far as amps you will not find a better amp than us amps. expensive but worth every dime, looking at around a buck a watt.!

**Mikeski** · 10-10-2006, 07:15 PM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

You might need to open up the holes a little bit but I think the db675's are the best deal in marine rated speakers. I ran infinity's in my 196 for years without any trouble but that was a closed bow. Bow speakers subject to random dunking, go marine. Put a plug in the glove box with both inputs and outputs just incase you run into a buddy on the lake and want to tie your systems together.

**Proud2BeCC** · 01-31-2009, 08:41 AM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

In going from the XMD1 to the CMD5, do I need to change out my wired in dash remote? Also any comments about the speaker size of my original rear mounted speakers with the mesh covers? How difficult is it to replace the originals (especially bow and drivers cockpit area)? Decided to not do the tower speakers or the sub this year. Considering only a new HU (CMD5?), in dash remote?, replacing six original clarions speakers, and an amp. I want to be budget minded and only do what makes sense to update and improve the sound quality without going overboard. I want to add a Tower Binimi as well this year.

**TravisFling** · 01-31-2009, 09:39 AM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Proud - you should have 6.5's in the boat and they should already be Polk's, not Clarions. I believe the headunit and amps are clarion and speakers should already be Polk's. I have the db 650's in mine (four interior and two on the tower) run off a kicker 700.4 and an infinity sub with a pioneer amp. I have never been a big pioneer fan, but this amp was a cheapy and has kicked for years without any complaints. I always say I'm not a fan, but I've never had any trouble with it, and it works flawlessly.

**TravisFling** · 01-31-2009, 09:44 AM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

You may also want to run an amp to your speakers. Without a sub you'll frankly be asking a lot out of 6.5's to produce good sounding music. They simply aren't designed for much bass response. Even a little sub will make a notable difference, with a little power to it, and is something I would suggest. You have to remember that you're in an open air envirnment, so it's easy to lose sound once you're under way. I would suggest a decent four channel amp with your in cabin speakers running in parallel to channels 1 and 2 and run the bow speakers by themselves to channels 3 and 4. If you decide to do a sub - I have mine in a box firing downwards, which seems to make a big difference and I put rubber feet on it so that it's up off the wet floor. Seems to work wonderfully for me.

**Proud2BeCC** · 01-31-2009, 10:58 AM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Travis....Thank you for the post. I'm basically looking for clean sound while relaxing, swimming, etc.. I'm going to do some poking around my boat this afternoon.

**Mikeski** · 01-31-2009, 01:18 PM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Travis, the boat is a 2002, I believe they were Clarions and rear mounted in 2002 (I believe the same as BKHallpass's).

Move them to the front, open up the holes and install Polk or Infinity's. Note the Inifnity Kappa's are 2 ohm so you will need to run new wiring and connect them correctly to avoid overloading the amps. I like both speakers, no mistakes here. For my money, ease of installation, and weight on the boat panel I actually prefer the Polk db series with the integrated crossovers. Mounting crossover boxes is a pain and I don't like hanging them from the wires the way CC does it at the factory

Definately agree with Travis about the sub. Almost a necessity to make it sound decent. Keep in mind that almost every car now comes from the factory with a dedicated subwoofer with the premium sound systems. Even rock and country music is recorded with lots of heavy bass notes these days.

**Proud2BeCC** · 01-31-2009, 04:15 PM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Did check out under the panels. Can't see much as they have the 6" mesh covers and the rear plastic covers that fully cover the rear of the speaker. I put a flash light up to the mesh and all I could see was a white cone material with a silver tweeter. Didn't see any writing on the front of the speaker under the mesh. Couldn't tell the size of the speaker either (i.e. 5.25" or 6.5"). Anyway, looks like a project.

**Nautibouys** · 02-01-2009, 12:14 AM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Proud, you will need to remove all the stainless nuts and washers off the back of the combing pads and pull off the combing pads to gain access to remove the plastic covers on the back. The speakers are actually screwed into the plastic covers from the front. Take a picture or a mental note of the direction of the plastic covers and how they are mounted to the combing pad to save yourself time trying to figure out which way to put them back on when you change out the speakers. The most time consuming one is on the drivers panel. I couldn't figure out a way to gain access to the back of the panel, so I pulled the seat out and then removed the entire panel. Fortunately for me, I had to any way because I replaced the head unit, but talk about a pain. Word of caution, be extremely careful with the combing pads when pulling them off. The threads of the screws tend to get hung up on the fiberglass and you can crack the combing pad or pull out a screw if you are not careful. Be prepared for plenty of fiberglass scratches on this project, its a fun one.

**Nautibouys** · 02-01-2009, 12:16 AM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Ps. Those speakers you were looking at were Clarions, same as the ones I pulled out and they are 6.5's. The polks sound much better.

**Proud2BeCC** · 02-01-2009, 12:50 AM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Thanks so... much for the advice. Was the project worth it in the end?

**Nautibouys** · 02-01-2009, 10:54 PM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Totally worth it, sound is so much better. Its an easy project for a skill level just time consuming as nothing is easy to get to. Driver's panel takes the most time, mostly because its hard to know how many screws and bolts are attached. If I remember correctly there are 4 bolts on the top of the panel, 1 small screw on each end of the panel and 2 larger screws on the front of the panel, and 1 into the floor in the little pocket below. You will need to remove the netting from the storage pocket (just stretched on with little hooks) to get at the back bolts and the front ones from up under the dash. Take out the seat, and loosen and pull forward the dash (just 4 thumbscrews) to give yourself some room to work. To get off the throttle, take out the screw in the center of it and remove the allen screw on the bottom of it when its in neutral position. It will then just slide off. Cover up your seat base bolts with a towel so you don't scratch the side panel when you pull it off. It will take a little determination and a couple choice curse words but it will come out. Sort of at an up and then bottom out direction. Key is to push on the bolts from the underside as they tend to get hung up. The combing pads are a breeze to take off, and those three speakers will take about the same time as the front driver side one. The could have made this process a lot easier for everyone if they just front mounted them in the first place. If you have questions when you get into it, PM me.

**Proud2BeCC** · 02-01-2009, 11:00 PM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Thanks for all of the input guys. Do you all recommend making them fronts or keeping the mesh? One last one....How about the bow speakers?

P2BCC

**TravisFling** · 02-02-2009, 04:11 PM

RE: Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

I am so sorry about that. I can't believe I didn't notice the year on there correlating to the speaker manufacturer... Glad to hear it worked out well!

Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

Considering Upgrading 2002 Sport Stereo System

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