Adding an amp and subwoofer

lgarripee

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Trying to wrap my head around what I need to upgrade my system. I have a new 2018 SSBXP23 swingback (which I'm absolutely loving).

I did get the Kicker KMC10 stereo upgrade along with swingback stern speakers. I've been searching and see that the KMC10 includes front and rear preamp outputs.

My questions are:

1/ How is the KMC10 driving 3 pairs of speakers? I haven't figured out how to adjust the fade to the rear facing speakers.

2/ What amp (or amps) configuration would be recommended to drive 3 speaker pairs and a sub?

3/ Where to locate the sub? I see several references to "under the helm" which I assume is inside the storage area accessed through the door. Would the sub be better served mounted with the speaker exposed or does it not matter when driving the lower frequencies?

I know these are noob questions but I would appreciate any help.

Thanks
 
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The KMC10 by itself has 4 speaker outputs (RF, LF, RR, LR). So, if you've got 6 speakers (3 pairs) then obviously they've got 2 pairs wired together. The easiest way to determine what is wired to what is by checking the fade (hold down the audio button for a second or two and the audio settings menu will display).

I have friends who have the factory Kicker/Amp set-up with 6 speakers and sub. The factory had it wired similar as your head unit with two pairs wired together. That's fine to do as they are 8 ohm speakers and wired together it only presents a 4 ohm load which the deck/amp can handle no problem. I did rewire the pairs of speakers because the factory had the rear deck speakers wired with another pair. I wired it so the deck speakers were by themselves and the other 4 together. That way they could fade (turn down) the 4 speakers in the passenger area but turn up the rear speakers when people were hanging out in the water behind the boat. Then when under way they could completely turn the rear speakers off and have everything faded to the front 4. The 10" Kicker sub was mounted under the forward starboard seat. Adding a 5 channel amp and sub to your boat would be pretty easy to do.

My boat came with the KMC10, Kicker 5 channel amp under the helm, Kicker 10" sub under the front Starboard seat and 4 Wetsounds speakers. I added a second 10" Pioneer sub to the rear seating area and two remotes (one front and one rear).
 
The KMC10 by itself has 4 speaker outputs (RF, LF, RR, LR). So, if you've got 6 speakers (3 pairs) then obviously they've got 2 pairs wired together. The easiest way to determine what is wired to what is by checking the fade (hold down the audio button for a second or two and the audio settings menu will display).

I have friends who have the factory Kicker/Amp set-up with 6 speakers and sub. The factory had it wired similar as your head unit with two pairs wired together. That's fine to do as they are 8 ohm speakers and wired together it only presents a 4 ohm load which the deck/amp can handle no problem. I did rewire the pairs of speakers because the factory had the rear deck speakers wired with another pair. I wired it so the deck speakers were by themselves and the other 4 together. That way they could fade (turn down) the 4 speakers in the passenger area but turn up the rear speakers when people were hanging out in the water behind the boat. Then when under way they could completely turn the rear speakers off and have everything faded to the front 4. The 10" Kicker sub was mounted under the forward starboard seat. Adding a 5 channel amp and sub to your boat would be pretty easy to do.

My boat came with the KMC10, Kicker 5 channel amp under the helm, Kicker 10" sub under the front Starboard seat and 4 Wetsounds speakers. I added a second 10" Pioneer sub to the rear seating area and two remotes (one front and one rear).

Could you post a picture of how the kicker sub is mounted in the front. I am interested in upgrading also. Thanks
 
I can upload a pic but it's pretty basic. 10" Kicker sub in an enclosure sitting under the front Starboard seat.
 
Here's a few pics...

front sub
Front Sub.jpeg

rear sub
Rear Sub.jpeg

front remote
Front Remote.jpeg

rear remote
Rear Remote.jpeg
 
Thanks for posting the pictures, Randy! Nice set-up you have there. Rock on...
 
Thanks, I do just about every opportunity I can get...lol

Pearl.jpg
Pearl MCX outside 6 3105.jpg
 
For real!
 
Cool, didn't know they made an indoor / outdoor version! Haha I used to play in school, but realized that my body had no way of having each of its limbs doing something in its own time separate from the other on a full set so gave it up! Played a mean bass drum though! Haha
 
The KMC10 by itself has 4 speaker outputs (RF, LF, RR, LR). So, if you've got 6 speakers (3 pairs) then obviously they've got 2 pairs wired together. The easiest way to determine what is wired to what is by checking the fade (hold down the audio button for a second or two and the audio settings menu will display).

I have friends who have the factory Kicker/Amp set-up with 6 speakers and sub. The factory had it wired similar as your head unit with two pairs wired together. That's fine to do as they are 8 ohm speakers and wired together it only presents a 4 ohm load which the deck/amp can handle no problem. I did rewire the pairs of speakers because the factory had the rear deck speakers wired with another pair. I wired it so the deck speakers were by themselves and the other 4 together. That way they could fade (turn down) the 4 speakers in the passenger area but turn up the rear speakers when people were hanging out in the water behind the boat. Then when under way they could completely turn the rear speakers off and have everything faded to the front 4. The 10" Kicker sub was mounted under the forward starboard seat. Adding a 5 channel amp and sub to your boat would be pretty easy to do.

My boat came with the KMC10, Kicker 5 channel amp under the helm, Kicker 10" sub under the front Starboard seat and 4 Wetsounds speakers. I added a second 10" Pioneer sub to the rear seating area and two remotes (one front and one rear).
Hey Havasu. I’m getting ready to hook up an amp to my swingback with the kicker kmc10 head unit. Being that it sounds like the rear stern speakers are connected to the rear speakers inside the boat how did you separate the signal. I also want to have the stern grill speakers on the rear channel and the 4 inside speakers on the front channel.
 
Well, what type of amp will you be adding? Mono amp for a sub, 4 channel for just the speakers or a 5 channel for a sub and speakers? If you're adding the 4 or 5 channel just wire the speakers appropriately like you want. The rear speakers on their own channels and the fronts wire together. Most new amps nowadays can handle low impedance loads (less than 4 ohm) so wiring the speakers together won't hurt anything. Years past you really couldn't do that because the amps couldn't handle it. Usually not a problem now.
 
Well, what type of amp will you be adding? Mono amp for a sub, 4 channel for just the speakers or a 5 channel for a sub and speakers? If you're adding the 4 or 5 channel just wire the speakers appropriately like you want. The rear speakers on their own channels and the fronts wire together. Most new amps nowadays can handle low impedance loads (less than 4 ohm) so wiring the speakers together won't hurt anything. Years past you really couldn't do that because the amps couldn't handle it. Usually not a problem now.
I have the JL 5 channel 1000 watt amp. Am I going to need to run new speaker wire to the stern speakers since it sounds like there taped into the rear interior speakers?
 
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If the stern/rear speakers are connected together at the speakers then yes. Usually it's done at the deck/amp. I'd be surprised if Bennington taped into the rear speakers. You'll need to confirm that. The other Bennington I did some wiring on had all the splices under the helm. Nothing at the speakers themselves.
 
If the stern/rear speakers are connected together at the speakers then yes. Usually it's done at the deck/amp. I'd be surprised if Bennington taped into the rear speakers. You'll need to confirm that. The other Bennington I did some wiring on had all the splices under the helm. Nothing at the speakers themselves.
I disconnected the connection from the kmc10 and there were only 8 speaker wires coming out. I ran 2 new sets of speaker wire from the helm to the stern speakers. I have the channel 1&2 running the four speakers in the boat and then hooked up the stern speakers to channel 3&4. When I use the fade to the rear I can still hear music coming out of the inside speakers though. Not as load as the stern but I was hoping to isolate them. Here’s a pic of the JL Amp installed. I don’t have the sub hooked up off the Amp since I also hooked up the Powered Rockford Foscate 12 inch sub under the front portion of the swing back. In the future I might add another sub to the front bow using my amp. Sounds awesome for now!
 

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Hmmmm, if wired correctly you should be able to isolate the rears. Double check the wiring and the settings on the amp. I had those JL amps in my Malibu and they are very good. I just don't remember all the possible amp settings.
 
Also, did you run two sets of RCA's from the deck to the amp or just one? Basically, separate RCA's for the front and rear.
 
Also, did you run two sets of RCA's from the deck to the amp or just one? Basically, separate RCA's for the front and rear.
I did run 2 separate RCA. There feeding channels 1&2 for the speakers in the boat and then 3&4 for the stern speakers. I have the amp set to 4 channel. Not sure why I can’t isolate them. They do fade but not enough.
 
Hmmmm, if wired correctly you should be able to isolate the rears. Double check the wiring and the settings on the amp. I had those JL amps in my Malibu and they are very good. I just don't remember all the possible amp settings.
I followed the wiring diagram for the KMC10 and then ran the new separate wires to stern.
 

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Wow, this forum is crazy. I've ran into a bunch of Michiganders already, then I run across this thread.. To the OP. I grew up in Pinckney down Farley Rd. If you need some assistance with this, shoot me a message. I do custom audio video for a living, and a good friend is the Business manager at CarTunes.
 
Wow, this forum is crazy. I've ran into a bunch of Michiganders already, then I run across this thread.. To the OP. I grew up in Pinckney down Farley Rd. If you need some assistance with this, shoot me a message. I do custom audio video for a living, and a good friend is the Business manager at CarTunes.

I grew up just north of you in Howell
 
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