Stereo Upgrade - Amp & Sub: SubWoofer Design & Installation

[LD50]

Makes sense. I hadn't considered an Aux in when I saw that connection. Yep, you should be able to run everything from the rear out.

I'm not an expert on the appropriate wire gauge to run, so I'll defer to anyone else with more expertise in that area. This is a source that I used to give me an idea of what I'd need for wire:

Essential Wire Gauge Chart: Understanding AWG and Ampacity Basics

Learn the basics of AWG and ampacity with our essential wire gauge chart. Understand wire sizes for safe and efficient electrical projects. Read more!

ampedupcaraudio.com

I went 1/0 with mine because I knew I was going to run at least 2 decent sized amps, plus it's a lengthy rum from the battery to the amps as well as the fact that you need to pull the ground that entire distance unlike grounding to the frame in a car. I also fused both of my amps at the distribution block with a lower amperage fuse than recommended, in addition to putting a resettable breaker near that battery that's at a lower amperage than what the wire should be able to handle. Probably overkill, but I'd rather trip any of those safeties than have something melt.

 

[22dmetz]

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.

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LD, how did you mount the boards under the helm that the amps are mounted to? I’m not with the boat till next week otherwise I could look at my own a little closer.
Do your screws/bolts go through to the outside of the helm? How’d you cross that bridge?? TIA.

 

[LD50]

There's an area in the front and rear of the helm where you can see that material is significantly thicker. It looks like they fiberglassed over a piece of plywood or other similar material to reinforce those areas. The area in the front is where they mount the factory stereo to. I ordered these sheets of ABS to use as the mounting boards:

Amazon.com

I would have preferred something a little thicker, but these worked just fine and were the best deal I could find in the size I needed. I cut the pieces of ABS to be larger than the reinforced are of the helm to given me more room to mount the new amps. I got some half inch stainless screws, pre-drilled holes in the ABS and used a countersink bit so they would screw in flush and just ran them into those thicker areas of the helm. The screws they used to mount the factory stereo were signficantly larger than the ones I used. The screws do no go through the helm and I intentionally went with the shortest screw and could and used more of them to avoid causing cracks in the gel on the exterior of the helm down the road. I learned that lesson from previous boats.

 

[Seadoorxpguy]

LD, how did you mount the boards under the helm that the amps are mounted to? I’m not with the boat till next week otherwise I could look at my own a little closer.
Do your screws/bolts go through to the outside of the helm? How’d you cross that bridge?? TIA.

I ended up marking the holes out. Taking the seat back off, drilling holes. Then installed long 4" stainless bolts that faced into the storage compartment. then stacked my amps.