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Sterio Upgrade - Amp & Sub: SubWoofer Design & Installation

LaurencetheAdventurer

LaurencetheAdventurer

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With the new LifePo’s in, I am feeling confident that I now have enough power to up the performance of my Tunes. At this point, I am only looking to ad an amp and sub. Speakers – for another budget season….

Questions on adding an Amp/Sub:

Consensus Acknowledged: JL or WetSounds is the Best but pricey; Rockford Fosgate is solid; Kicker seems to have a higher failure rate, but most love the upgrade.

  • Sub Location – I conclude either under the Helm or Swing Back – the bench seats do NOT work given the plastic seat encasement. Correct?
  • Powered vs Passive – Most marine units are passive. I assume the 5 channel amp/passive sub is best, though recommendations pushed the 4 channel / powered amp – better heat diffusion, easier wiring, independent systems, expandable. Thoughts / experience? I assume in most cases turning off the radio will turn off the powered sub (I don’t need more switches to remember).
  • 2 ohm vs 4 ohm. So the 2 ohm is louder/more strain on amp; 4 ohm will let the amp run cooler, some say better sound. Has anyone had issues with a 2 ohm Sub in constantly hot climates (110 degrees plus)? I assume these marine products have this figured out. Anyone regularly run in very hot weather (we do all summer long) and have any issues with their setup?
  • Wiring: If I am just adding in the amp and leaving the existing RGB Kickers (2021), will I need to replace the speaker wires to really get the benefit of the amp?
Product Selection: - Though I included prices, the overall variance is not really a factor.

  • Amp – Based on keeping my existing speakers, the following seemed to be the consensus on the best “Matched” Amps, depending on 5 or 4 channel, with the higher rated systems allowing for better speakers later. Has anyone used one of these with their existing Kickers with good results & reliability?
  • Rockford Fosgate M2 750X 5Channel - $600
  • Rockford Fosgate T400X4ad 4Channel- $500
  • JL Audio XDM1000/5JL 5 Channel - $1,000
  • JL Audio M400/ 4Channel - $500
  • Note – seems the 750 or 1000 would allow a future speaker upgrade, and interestingly, because they are larger units, better suited for the heat, per my research.
  • Subs: Research pushed the following 4 options with enclosed systems:
  • Kicker Tube – 8” = 9x9x14 - cylinder shape- $400 – Passive.
  • Smallest - seems this would tuck well into multiple spaces and can be mounted in either direction.
  • Wet Sounds Zero – 8” = 18x14x9 -rectangle shape - $800 – Passive
  • Concerned about the exposed speaker, largest.
  • Wet Sounds Stealth – 8” = 10x10x11 – cube shaped - $700 – Powered
  • Winner in size, but powered, need access to 2 sides, but then only a 4 channel amp?
  • JL Audio – 10” = 18x13x7 = rectangle shape = $800 – Passive
  • That is a lot of floor space, but the downfire mount looks appealing and save from the movement of “stuff”, you could toss stuff on top and not worry about it.
  • There were some other cheaper options, but… you get what you pay for….
OTHER DETAILS / FYI for others:

No Tower, Ski Pole – so tower speakers are not an option.

I have the stock Rockford Fosgate PMX2 with 6 RGB Kickers (2 on back of SB). No objections to the sound when floating or cruising at 20, but when we are going up the lake at 30+ – I clearly don’t have the power needed to hear the music. Extensive reading and research (26 pages) suggest that if I am not an audiophile, then just getting a quality amp may solve my issue, and adding a Subwoofer will definitely take me to a new level of sound quality. YAY!

The Sub: I concluded there are two types, Infinite Baffle (“free air” install sub speaker into a large sealed cavity – ha, my Benny is stuffed full) or an Enclosed Sub (Sealed/Loaded (pre-wired / powered) or Ported (bigger boom, but needs space). I don’t have much room – so Sealed/Loaded is the answer.

You mean I can’t just cut a hole somewhere and mount the sub, geeze…Maybe I just bring my Klipsch’s on board?

THANK YOU, I appreciate any nuance or other details I should consider before spending those hard earned greenbacks.
 
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So after going through all this having 6 speakers makes things complicated to get by with a solo amp and a sub. The 6 factory speakers only sound good when thrown into a trash can. I avoid wet sounds stuff. I don't love it from the experience I've had with it, and you pay a premium for it. I have 2 kicker 2 ohm 10" sub tubes on my boat currently. But i stepped up to run two amps. 1 pair of speakers bridged on a 5 ch amp with 1 sub on the 5th channel and 2 pairs of speakers and the 2nd sub on the other amp. I tried to run the swing back speakers off the head unit originally and interior speakers off the original 5ch am. The swing back speakers sounded like garbage, so once I knew I was adding another amp came the 2nd sub. One is under my helm the 2nd is under the interior seat behind the co captain seat. One of my friends who changed his roswell setup around a little because the OEM config leaves alot on the table added a 2nd amp to mirror my setup but did a surface mount in the removable panel that bolts in on the interior of the boat. Looks good and sounds great. Ill try to locate a pic.
 
No - I have read that an AMP install makes a huge difference. Then adding a moderate Sub is the next update. After that, it is a complete speaker and wire replacement - that gets really pricey and if done right, then you need a big or multiple amps. I don't much extra room for a Sub - so working on that issue. I am currently thinking either the Kicker or JL Stowaway under the SB, these require the 5 channel amps, the RF750 is better matched, but the JL1000 would allow future upgrades. Still searching for experience with actual installs.
 
Is there not an Amp already? I have a sub in the front. But just looking for some extra bass in thre back. The speakers I have, have the RGB lighting built in... so not sure I want to replace them..
 
Unless your boat has some upgrade package, everything is wired to the head unit internal amp. Also if you do have an upgraded speaker/amp combo it’s still wired wrong from Bennington for a 6 speaker setup. You can swap those speakers and still keep your RGB lighting.
 
I do have a 6 speaker setup. What do you mean it's wired wrong? I did notice my fade doesn't work.. for front or back. They are either all on or off. I can control left or right.
 
Its wired wrong because they have 6 sets of speaker wires running to the head unit. The head unit only has 4 pairs of wires to power speakers. So they bundle two pairs of speakers together and run them on the rear channels. Instantly cutting power down to the speakers. The rgd Plug is on the back of the speakers. You just unplug it and swap it to the new speakers that have built in rgb
Speakers I run in my boat
Im running two amps because I tried to cheat at first and get by with one. If I were to do it again id get a 6 ch amp for the speakers and the a class d for a subwoofer
 
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So those are the speakers on your boat?



So I want to add a 6ch Amp for the 6 speakers? Is the power to tap off under the helm? I seem to have some unused switches,



I have a sub as well. Does our head unit have a RCA output for that? I assume so... because I can go into setting and adjust the volume for subwoofer.. I also assume there is a seperste Amp for the sub..
 
I had the factory kicker rgb speakers. I added a amp to power 4 of them originally with a kicker 10" sub tube. They sounded absolutely terrible. They are not good speakers at all. Then I pulled all 6 out and went with those fosgates. I still had two speakers in the sunpad powered off the internal amp of the head unit. They couldnt keep up and were very underpowered. Then I ended up adding a second amp to power all the speakers equally. So once I had the second 5 ch amp I figure I might as well and the 2nd sub. To power a amp you will need to run a heavy gauge wire back to the battery. Depending on size of amp and run 4ga should be ok. There are charts to determine wire size based off draw and run length. You currently have a sub? Before you buy anything you really need to figure out how important sound clarity and volume is?
 
So I need new speakers, 4 rgb Fosgate and 2 non rgb Fosgate for the Sunpad(back of boat), powered by a 6 channel amp off the original head unit..
Yes I currently have a sub that is in the front under the seat. It's OK, but nothing that is booming... I assume it's connected to the head unit from a rca output with its own amp.. I either just want to replace it all together, or add a second sub. I'd like to put the 2nd sub and amp under the Sunpad. Sounds like the challenge might be to run power to the new 6ch amp in the helm, and then connecting the sub under the sunpad.

I think that would be a decent upgrade..
 
My boat had rgb speakers in the sunpad also. There are ways to wire 6 speakers to a 5 ch amp with the amp bridged out. But you have to do some math calc and make sure you do not drop under the amp ohm capacity or underpower the speakers. I have two of those subs. One under the helm and the other is under the interior flip up seat of the sun pad. I run the 2 ohm versions with the amps i haveI used this link to figure out load calc
 
Would mine be any different then yours? What amps/wiring did you use? What kind of subs do you have and how are they wired? Amp?

As mentioned, I have a sub in the front under the flip up seat.. and want to add another in the back. I like the one I posted above.. I would need to make sure it will fit.. I would even imagine one like that would be enough vs having 2..

I'll have to check again if mine in the back have rgb... Are the new speakers hard to install.
 
Do you think I need 2 subs? Maybe I could use my existing sub and then add this new one? You have any pics of where you mounted this stuff?
 
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