More stereo advise for a rookie Nautique owner

[Rangertrace]

I recently purchased a 2004 SV-211. The stereo was the Clarion head unit with Clarion speakers in the hull. No amp, no tower speakers. The CC dealer threw in the Polk Momo tower speakers and a 160 watt, 2 channel Clarion amp. The amp only drives the tower speakers. They sound fine, but you can just barely hear the stock speakers. I have purchased (on Ebay) 2 sets of the 6.5 Polk Momos to replace the stock Clarion speakers. I am shopping for a good deal on an amp to drive the cabin speakers, but am not sure how many channels, etc. I shoud get to work with my current set up. I don't want to waist the Clarion amp if possible. I will probably add a sub next year. Are the Pyle amps worth anything? They are very cheap on Ebay. BTW, my local CC dealer will be doing the install so, I am just checking his info against you pros on this site!! Thanks for the help.

[Andrew]

RE: More stereo advise for a rookie Nautique owner

for the polk 6.5's u'll want atleast a 2 channel that is 2ohm stable and can push about 160 watts per channel. another clarion apx280 would work fine. with this setup u'll need to wire each pair of 6.5's in a parallel circuit, but to add a sub to ur system, u'll need another amp. OR u could find a 4 channel amp like the clarion apx480 and wire each speaker to an independent channel. in my honest opinion though, the 480 would be a waste of time for just 4 6.5's, but since ur planning to add a sub in the future, it would be ideal. when u add the sub, u'll want to wire each pair of 6.5's in parallel and just run them off of 2 channels on the 4 channel amp. then wire u sub to one of the remaining channels and bridge the channels. to get the most out of ur amp i would recommend a dual voice coil sub or two single voice coil subs. this way, u can utilize both of the extra channels on ur 4 channel amp to power each voice coil on the sub. if u do go with the apx480 two 150 watt single voice coil subs or one 300 watt dual voice coil sub will be the biggest u can run. if u think u'll want more bass, then i would recommend powering the cabin speakers with a 2 channel and buying a mono channel amp to solely power the sub/subs

the clarion amps aren't necessarily THE amps to have, but they have proven to perform fairly well in the marine enviroment and can be found for $100-$200 on ebay. i personally wouldn't waste my time on any pyle products, but i can't honestly say that they aren't any good from experience.....

[Rangertrace]

Andrew, thanks for the info! Your were right, my current amp is the Clarion 280. Will they be able to leave it wired to the tower speakers? I have been able to find the Clarion 480 for around $200 including the shipping. I have found the Polk momo (? model #) for around 250 not including the shipping. Do you think the Polk is worth the extra money? Would it be as water resistant as the Clarion?

Thanks again!

[Mikeski]

My 211 system:

Clarion XMD3 (IPOD to Aux input)
Soundstream EQ
Maxxbass processor to tower amp
Avionixx 800.4 (4 x 200W to boat speakers)
Avionixx 800.4 (2 x 400W bridged to tower speakers)
HiFonics 1500 (1 x 1500W split between subwoofers)
Six Polk MMC-650 in stock locations
Two Wetsounds Pro-485 tower speakers
One Wetsounds XS12 subwoofer at drivers footwell in a sealed plastic box
One custom vented sub box w/6x6.5" TB long throw subs under "ironing board seat"

Two golf cart batteries run the system for 2-5 hours between charging (depending on bass setting)

If I did it over I might opt for some different interior speakers, the Polks are a little bright on the high end and lack some midrange.

[Mikeski]

Pictures

[Rangertrace]

Mikeski,

Just curious........how much do you have invested in your system? Where do you store your golf cart batteries? Thanks for the pics.

[Mikeski]

Clarion XMD3 (IPOD to Aux input) - $400
Clarion remote $75
H2Owaves remote $130
Soundstream EQ - $100
Maxxbass processor to tower amp - $100
Avionixx 800.4 (4 x 200W to boat speakers) - $250
Avionixx 800.4 (2 x 400W bridged to tower speakers) - $250
HiFonics 1500 (1 x 1500W split between subwoofers) - $300
Six Polk MMC-650 in stock locations - $300
Two Wetsounds Pro-485 tower speakers $1800
One Wetsounds XS12 subwoofer at drivers footwell in a sealed plastic box - $300
One custom vented sub box w/4x6.5" TB long throw subs under "ironing board seat" - $300
Two golf cart batteries - $150
Yandina C150 combiner $100
Probably about $400 in wiring and audio cables.

Figure about $5k in parts alone not including the LEDs. I consider mine a simple system. It's easy to see how guys spend over $10k on boat stereo systems. I probably have well over 100 hours into the installation (maybe 50 of it head-scratching). Granted I do things like re-install the stock speakers so the crossovers are not hanging from the wiring harness.

There is one golf cart batt in each side in the stock locations. The starting battery is a small Optima red-top relocated to the dead space under the front of the walk through (on it's side). I originally had both golf carts on the driver's side but that caused the boat to list to that side. Moving the batteries over leveled the boat out. The 211 seems to like a little more weight on the passenger side to run level.

[Rangertrace]

Another question. If I wanted to add bow speakers, would the Clarion APX280 and a Clarion APX480 be able to run everyting? (With the addition of two bow speakers I would have six 6.5 Polk Momos cabin speakers, two Defcon tower speakers that contain a total of four 6.5 polk momos and one 10" Polk momo sub)

[Mikeski]

You can run everything off the 280 and 480 but you will get much more if you swap the 280 out to another 480.

There are lots of options, several are better than leaving the bow speakers off the deck like the factory does.

280/480: You can do a series/parallel combo to run all six cockpit speakers off two channels of the 480, run the tower off the other two channels of the 480, run the sub off the 280.

480/480: First 480, two channels to the bow, two channels to the cockpit (2 ohm load). Second 480, two channels to the tower, two channels to the sub (bridged).

Getting the bow off the deck allows you to enable the crossovers so you can get the most out of the speakers without distortion. Sub: lowpass @ 80hz, everything else highpass @ 100hz.

[Laptom]

Ranger,

I'm now running 480/480 Clarion Amps.
Did a bit differently then Mikeski suggestion, although his wiring solution is a little better.

First 480: 2 channels for parallel (2ohm load - 4 speakers) cockpit speakers and 2 channels brigged for 1 sub.
Second 480: 2 channels for parallel (2 ohm load - 4 speakers) tower speakers and 2 channels for the 2 bow speakers.

This way I can fade the tower speakers by the clarion radio and just use the cockpit system with normal sub activity. That the bow speakers are also faded doesn't matter to me to much. This is not a multi k dollar system, but it works quite good.