Again, my research on the technical aspects of sound (I am NOT a pro), combined with one installer I found that had actually installed one, says the Kicker MWLE will provide more bass than the tube. But, installing 2 tubes - one in the helm one under the SB, properly tuned....more is better? You just can't find this type of real world comparison.
Thank you for sharing! This looks into the helm, steering on the right. What is the installed item top left? Love the double stack on the amps, and sound material on the "ceiling" great custom solution. I think I would have an issue with the Tube in my SB, which is the aluminum siding riveted to the aluminum framing (same as siding).
The black item on the top left is the armrest/cell phone holder for the seat in front of the helm with the wireless charger that is very picky on phones. My boat has the same aluminum skin. Doesnt really rattle. the latch for the helm access does the majority of rattling. The grey board on the ceiling was oem
Just bought the Kicker 10" 2ohm tube.. cant wait to get it wired up... putting it under the swingback... Hopefully not to hard to wire the speakers wire
I've been contemplating my hardware choices since putting the boat away last season. I was lucky enough to get all of my LED lighting done and the amp wiring and distribution block done under the helm. While I was looking again, I came across an amp that is either newer or I just missed it when looking before:
KICKER produces high-performance car audio, vehicle specific solutions, marine audio, home and personal audio, and power sports products since 1973.
www.kicker.com
It's not a marine amp, but for the price point, capability, and simplicity I'm really leaning towards giving it a go. 125 x 4 @ 4ohms that will match very well with the RF M2 6.5's that I'd like to replace the front speakers and rear SB speakers with. 65 x 2 @ 4ohms for the remaining 2 front SB speakers that I'll probably leave the stock RF 6's in place. Plus 550 @ 2ohms to drive a decent sub.
LD50 - Same here! Expanded research suggested the big benefit with Marine Amps is a protective coating they have on the circuit board that prevents damage from moist air. So in hot, dry places like AZ, it's possibly less of an issue. In places like Florida, they will not last. However, in Havasu AZ I was NOT able to get a consensus, or find other than a few people that went the Car Audio route vs a true Marine Amp. Buy Once, Cry Once? But the LX series with DSP - WOWZA!!!! I even considered purchasing, cracking open the case (warranty void), and spraying with a protective coating.
Got my subwoofer installed today... sounding good.... Definitely more bass than the factory installed one... I need to play around with the amp setting to dial it in... it was a pain to run the wire...
Ok. Love the subwoofer in the back of the boat... now the front is lacking. Id like to figure out do i add another 10" tube and amplifier.. or save some money and utilize the existing factory sub and just add another amp for it...
Issue with the front compartments - they are not open to the flooring. As I understand it - While the plywood will transmit the bass, the rotomold seat bases will absorb a significant amount of the bass waves. Your best bet would probably be the Helm, maybe downfired. Or, try the Benny sub under the seat vs under the helm - that is the comparison we would ALL be interested in!
Ok. Love the subwoofer in the back of the boat... now the front is lacking. Id like to figure out do i add another 10" tube and amplifier.. or save some money and utilize the existing factory sub and just add another amp for it...
After a lot of back and forth, I made up my mind and ordered the final pieces to upgrade my stereo. I ended up going with non-marine amplifiers and a Kicker 12" L7T in a truck box. I had already pulled the power wires at the end of last season and ended up pulling new wires to the forward facing swingback speakers that ended up being wired in parallel to the front helm speakers. I also played with location of the sub and ended up settling on placing it in the rear swingback compartement, where it mostly tucks away in space that wouldn't be very useful anyway. Besides, that rear storage in the swingback is a PITA due to the weight of the lid. I'm storing mostly items that don't get used frequently in there. I had originally planned to put the sub in the helm; however, there's too much wiring and other components in there. My first test run made it evident that the sub would need to move as the helm sounds like the trunk of an '85 Cutlass when you start to push it.
For a sub amp, I went with Rockfords R2-1200x1. The biggest decision I had to make was the amp for the interior speakers. I stumbled across Audio Control and found the best match that I've seen yet so I decided to go for it. I installed their D 6.1200, which runs 6 channels at 125W @ 4 ohms. It also has an integrated DSP. The DSP is a little clunky as it doesn't have bluetooth or an app to tune it. You need to use a USB cord and laptop, but IMO it was worth the effort. Once I set all the crossovers and gains and ran the tuning setup for the 30 band EQ, it made a significant difference in sound quality on the Rockford M1 6.5 factory speakers. Overall, I'm very happy with the new setup. I'm going to give it a bit and see if I want to start upgrading the interior speakers to the Rockford M2's.
If anyone is interested in purchasing the factory Rockford sub that Bennington uses, message me. I was thinking I'd run it in addition to the the Kicker to fill in some mid base, but I've decided against it. I'd rather not have the additional power draw and tuning the 6.5's with the DSP helped take some of the harshness out of them and added a lot to the mid range.
New member here just now getting to the speaker situation. I have a ‘21 Bennington SSRX with the 4 factory LED kicker speakers and the KMC45 headunit. I have a basic understanding of sound systems and wiring.. Talked to Crutchfield and just ordered the Kicker KMA600.6 amp and wiring to see how the stock speakers sound amplified, with the intention of adding two more speakers in each rear bench seat. As far as I know, this amp only needs one RCA input to run each channel.
Am I better off just using the free rear RCA input from the KMC45, or trying to get the speaker output wires from the harness?
Will this setup work for now?
Also, for whatever reason, best I can tell before really getting into the wires, the factory speaker wires are left empty? Looks like whatever power is going through the LED harness. Not really sure.
Adding photos of speaker and headunit in question.
I would REALLY appreciate any guidance anyone may have as I hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew. TIA.
From your picture, it looks like you have 4 wires run to the led harness of your speaker, which is appropriate. It is usually a single ground wire and 3 positive wires, one for each led color. It looks as if the speaker isn't even hooked up. Those spade connectors should be what is powering the speaker itself. Running the RCA output from your head unit to your amplifier is usually the best method. Using the speaker outputs from the source to the amplifier (hi level) is generally reserved for applications where the head unit or source does not have RCA outputs or a remote wire to turn the amplifier on.
I do have one question. You mention using the rear RCA. What are the front RCA's currently run to?
Your setup shouldn't be too difficult. I'm sure you can manage and there's plenty of help here if you run into some bumps in the road. Your biggest task will probably be pulling an the appropriate power wiring from the battery to the amplifier. I would give that some thought before you move forward. If it's even a possibility that you might expand your system in the future with something like an additional amp and subwoofer, you should plan for that now. Running a power wire of sufficient gauge to support future expansion and possibly a distribution block would cost a little extra but would make things a lot easier in the future.
the oem plugs are 6 wires. 4 for rgb light, 2 for speakers. Install the amp near your head unit and run a set of rca cables from the head unit to the amp. the remove the 4 pairs of speaker wires right after the oem plug on the radio and figure out what one goes where with a 9v battery to the wires. then land them on the corresponding spot on the amp
My stock Kicker Stereo bit the dust so I ordered a new Wet Sounds #WS-MC-2 Receiver for my Tritoon. The feedback looked better that on thye Kicker so I'm giving it a try. 3 year warranty, power is about the same! Time will tell, it is coming from Crutchfield tomorrow! I also got a Powered amp #HS-10 Kicker for under the helm.
