ok...i have a new boat with a simple 4 speaker w/cd player and want to upgrade to run those 4 speakers, a 10 inch sub, and 4 tower speakers.

the questions are:

what kinda extra battery juice do i need to run this ? i want to run 3 amps...one for the sub, one for my current 4 speakers, and one for the new tower speakers

what brand should i use?? i was think Kenwood since i know they are realiable and fairly decent priced...i am trying to keep the system under $500 and the batteries will be extra cost i guess...let me know

for the amps i am lookin at 2 that put out 150w x 4 and a mono 400w x 1 for the sub


any input?

 

your batt. should be fine, Kenwood is ok, how many speakers are on the tower? what kind of speakers are they?

 

4 speakers total...2 speaker cans..(2 facing forward and 2 facing rearward)

the boat has dual batteries already

as far as brand i am not sure yet

 

I would be more concerned with the altenator than the batteries. Those amps will drain alot of juice. Just my $.02.

 

Think of the battery as a fuel tank, which means it won't allow you run tons of stereo equipement it just allows you more "Parking lot" time meaning more time before you need to fire the engine up to recharge the batteries.

If your looking for more "parking lot" time then I would add another battery perferably a optima spiral cell jobbied (not cheap) and a battery isolator, this will insure that if you suck the stereo bat down you can still start the boat to get back to shore.

As posted before I would be looking for a higher output alt. You should be able to find them off the shelf at your local auto alt/starter rebuilder. If not they can in some cases beef your alt up for more power generating. But keep in mind that alt ratings are not taken at idle they are typically taken at 2 k rpms so discuss what your looking for in great detail with the shop that does your alt, if you go that way.

Another thing to consider is adding stiffing capacitors to the system. Place the stiffing cap(s) as close to the amps as possible, the reason for this is because batteries are slow at providing the needed amperage that high current amps call for. The cap can discharge very quickly to keep the amp supplied with current for that instant that the bass hits, then it will charge back up much faster as well than compared to a battery. One thing you will notice if you need a cap is as the music is playing if a large bass note hits that the bass will become muttled after the note for a few bars, also the highs will suffer. But typically this is not a concern unless you want to vibrate the water next to the boat.

 

argve, you thing his one 10 is gona run that much? boat alts, must suck i never wired a boat tho. like you said maybe some capacitors.

midwestdually, how much do you plan on sitting with the boat off and the speakes on?

 

probably not that much....the only time we need it cranked is when someone is riding...

check my gallery for the boat this is going in

 

With all that sound, you're gonna need a bigger boat..........

 

Then since your not going to be sitting and listening to it much then there is no need for the extra batts but you will want to keep an eye on them if you do listen to it while beached. I know from my experience with owning many boats over the years that you will end up pulling up to a sandy beach flip the tunes on and every one gets in the water. Then factor in the thing of a boat is only a part time use item and the batts in these go through living heck because they are not used all the time. So then after a year or so they are compromised. Then everyone hops back in and you hit the key followed by the dreaded "CLICK" then it's "UH OH". Trust me been there done that and I only had 500 watts on our boat. But it was a single batt install. What I found was when your in the water the sound is hard to hear so you end up turning it up so that when everyone is in the water having a good time you can hear it, now standing anywhere on the boat (bow or stern) it's pretty loud but out in the water it's a different story.

I'm just pulling from my experience. The first 3-4 years we pretty much spent our time riding around pulling toys behind the boat then we migrated into we only pulled the toys about 10% of the time, we would end up anchored with tons of other boats all day long at "Party Central" as we called it. I only receieved one tow/jump start before I added a separate stereo battery.

On thing that would probably help is to mount a set of speakers on the tower. I have seen tons of ski boats do this for the very reason that I mentioned (it gets quite when your in the water). Mine were mounted under the gunnel so I suspect this had a lot to do with the sound level out side the boat.

Oh btw NICE BOAT.

 

yup...a set of 4 speakers is going on the tower and just one additional sub in the compartment where the seat flips up, and that is where the amps will be placed as it stays the driest and has moderate air flow for cooling....i may just install a 3rd battery just incase and have it on a switch or something....

i know what you mean about "click- click" never has happened to me but i check before we even leave the storage so i am not a fool sitting in the water having to paddle after launching

thanks guys...

and Top....maybe...just maybe...

 

Hey Guys, I found a picture of MWD's boat!!! If you loock at it you will see that he has the option of having FOUR tower speakers!!
http://www.killsometime.com/Pics/Red...sp?PictureID=9
Tom

 

All you should need is a one farad capacitor streetwires phoenix gold rockford fosgate all offer these Its when the amps try to draw alot of current all at once is when you will have problems.

 

very funny MNTom..ver y funny

 

I thought you would like it

 

Nice boat, hope all goes well with the speakers, let us know how it turns out, or if you have anymore questions.