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Stereo Upgrade - Amp & Sub: SubWoofer Design & Installation

I suggest you summarize your system (amps and speakers, with model numbers and quantity), and then ask AI how much power it will use at various levels you expect to use. Without any specs, assuming a class D amp, 30% volume maybe 400w per hour, at 60% volume maybe 800w+ per hour (30-70 amps per hour). I am still in the planning phase and working through system design, assuming I can't recharge every night, which means I have to actually move the boat more...Darn, LOL.
 
I have the following
Kicker kmc100 head unit
Kicker kxma 800.5 amplier
That drives 6 speakers and a Kicker 10" 2 ohm tube
Mb quart na4 400.1 amplifier driving the factory Kicker 8" sub in a box.

Thats all
 
Little update. Finished my amp install over the weekend and ran amplified stock kickers for a short amount of time until I got antsy and ordered the Rockford M1 6.5’s. Crazy how much of a difference there was in the speakers, it’s night and day. Also picked up a 10 inch comp c sub from marketplace to use in the interim because I have an extra channel on the amp. Pretty good sound honestly IMO.

Next step is adding 2 more Rockfords in the rear then another amp with a new sub. Where are y’all adding 2 more speakers in the rear? In my 22SSRX, the similar mounting area for the rear, in relation to the front, is really not a flat mounting surface for speakers.
 
22dmetz said:
Little update. Finished my amp install over the weekend and ran amplified stock kickers for a short amount of time until I got antsy and ordered the Rockford M1 6.5’s. Crazy how much of a difference there was in the speakers, it’s night and day. Also picked up a 10 inch comp c sub from marketplace to use in the interim because I have an extra channel on the amp. Pretty good sound honestly IMO.

Next step is adding 2 more Rockfords in the rear then another amp with a new sub. Where are y’all adding 2 more speakers in the rear? In my 22SSRX, the similar mounting area for the rear, in relation to the front, is really not a flat mounting surface for speakers.
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Any pics on how you retrofitted the M1's? Did you have to do major rewiring or was it plg and play

Post some pics...
 
I was so excited to add another amp and sub... but now I am having anxiety.. second guessing all of it.. from running the 6 awg wire... the power connections from 6 awg to 10awg. ( i just used wire nuts than wraped that in electrical tape. Wasn't sure where to run this huge cable)
The drain on my battery.. Will i be able to recharge the battery..
My mind is running rampant...
 
andremike said:
Any pics on how you retrofitted the M1's? Did you have to do major rewiring or was it plg and play

Post some pics...
Click to expand...
No major rewiring.. all 4 of my speakers were wired solo from the helm. I just cut out positive and negative speaker wire from factory connectors and hooked up to the rockfords. Same size cutout is used as factory , so I just secured the Rockford speakers with screws that were provided. I used 4 gauge amp wiring as crutchfield recommended. I don’t have any real photos of the install just yet
 
22dmetz said:
No major rewiring.. all 4 of my speakers were wired solo from the helm. I just cut out positive and negative speaker wire from factory connectors and hooked up to the rockfords. Same size cutout is used as factory , so I just secured the Rockford speakers with screws that were provided. I used 4 gauge amp wiring as crutchfield recommended. I don’t have any real photos of the install just yet
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So you dont use the RGB lighting
 
So if you plan on being at the sandbar with the engine off you should make sure to have you're battery switch set to only one battery. The battery specs will determine runtime of the radio. What are you putting wire nuts on? The cable size doesnt matter on how difficult the run is. The first one i pulled through my boat I did at a sandbar with a metal fish tape. The second one I ran I did on the trailer. So going from 6 to 4 is not crazy. If I had to re do it from the start Id probabbly run ! single 2 ga from the battery location to a amp power distribution block under the helm then run 4 or 6 ga to each amp from there. I keep telling you to run a acr because its fool proof and you will never strand yourself if you forget to turn the current battery selector you have now. When I get down to my boat this weekend Ill pull a speaker out and take pics of what I did. I dont remember having to cut any wires off and the speaker location and I have the factory rgb
 
The new amp had a 10 awg harness vs running the 6awg power right into the amp.. .. I was trying to use a mechanical connector but it wasn't grabbing the 10awg wire... so i connected them with a wire nut.
 

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On the speakers... I was referring to replacing the factory ones with the rockford M1's .. its not clear to me. If they are plug and play to the new ones, or if i need to rewire it all.
 
Seadoorxpguy said:
Thats the Mb quart na4 400.1 power connection?
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Yes. They use a harness with a disconnect. They dont have a direct power connection to the amp

The red and black is the power and the blue is the remote turn on. So i needed a way to connect the mb quart power 10awg to the 6awg wire so I just used wire nuts vs a distribution block. But could change it if I find something better. But as you can see my 6awg wire with the white pvc jacket is quite heavy..
 
andremike said:
I was only wondering how long you guys are running your radio before killing the battery.
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For reference, I'm running a 1200 watt 6 channel that's effectively running around 725 watts @ 4 ohms and a 1200 watt sub amp that's doing 800 rms @ 2 ohms. The dealer added a second battery to my boat at time of purchase that's the same as the factory starting battery. It's an off brand that I've had trouble actually finding specs for but it doesn't look like it's a powerhouse of a battery.

We spent the week on Lake of the Ozarks and on most days I spent anywhere from 3-5 hours running stereo at probably between 25-40% volume. I had no issues at any time, but I also installed an ACR on mine and we were probably running the boat at least 1 to 2 hours each day. Normally, I would plug my boat in to top off the batteries at the end of each day, but we weren't able to do so on this trip. I was actually expecting to have issues as this was the first real test of the battery since I did the upgrades. Voltage remained within an acceptable level but I had also thrown my jump pack in the boat just in case there was an issue with the ACR working as it should. I'm also running 0/1 guage wire, so I'm not worried as much about voltage drop between the amps and battery.

In the end, none of this will give you great idea of how long your stereo will run or how well, as there are too many variables. You'll mostly want to keep track of the voltage from your house battery at the amplifier, as running the amps hard when voltage sags will lead to their premature death.

I definitely second Seadoo's suggestion on considering the ACR, especially for anyone that adds extra electrical load. It makes things dummy proof and it's a lot more convenient than having to manually flip the switch to ensure your boat will start at the end of the day. Not to mention, I've also got a swingback and opening that heavy compartment lid multiple times each trip was a pain. I ended up relocating my battery switch when I installed the ACR just to avoid having to do that even to turn that batteries on and off.
 
My R23 has a little cushion that lifts off to reach the battery selector switch.. my Kicker media center also displays the voltage so I can keep an eye on that.
 
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