Not really a explorer audio question, but a boat system question...

[WannaXP8]

I am gunna put a stereo system in my boat here soon, I am gunna use a pioneer car head unit, but put it in the glove box so its waterproof..and 2 6 1/2s and 2 5 1/4s, I was wondering, how can I run a sub in there, will I have to put another battery in the boat to run the amp, or do you think the factory battery will be fine? And where do you think I would ground the amp too??

 

[Alec]

Dunno about the other questions, but to ground the amp (and HU) you'd probably need to run a line directly to the battery.

 

[ShadowA2J]

I think I remember another member of the board saying he turned a bench into a box for a sub.

 

[Robb]

If you have rear "jump" seats, you could prolly seal one of those up and put a sub in. I am not sure if there is any type of waterproof sub out there........but there may be. If your amp is of any real size, run the ground directly to the battery. I would guess you would have to mount the amp under the dash somewhere? There is prolly a ground distribution block under there, but I wouldn't run anything more than a 10gauge to it. I would also assume that the system would be used often with the boat still just hanging out on the lake.........if this is true, a back-up battery would prolly be a good idea.

Robb

 

[410Fortune]

Alot has to do with the boat itself. Like my old boat was an outboard which only gives back to the battery what it uses, meaning stereo's, lights, etc, drain it.

Withthe new boat its a sterndrive, and it has a 65 amp alternator that puts out 14.4 volts at idle, so a single battery can get re-charged.

Now on a boat it is always the best idea to have two batteries, just in case. Personally I run a single Optima marine deep cycle and keep an eye on the voltage. For extended trips I always bring a back up (not int he boat) and my jumper box for those day trips.

Now it also has a lot to do with your boat as to where you put the sub and what kind of sub to use.

I am installing a single Rockford 12" in my boat in a band pass enclosure. It will be mounted under the dash in a compartment where it will likely never get wet, but since it is a bandpass the speaker is completely inside the box and water will only splash on the box which is fine with me..........

Many boats have a ground distribution block like mentioned above and you want to wire the amp to that, straight to the battery if you dont have a ground distribution. On my new boat it has an accessory spot in teh circuit breaker panel, and a ground dist block back near the battery, so the + feed will come from the factory circuit breaker panel and the ground will go back to the dist block.........

Keeping the amp as close as possible to the battery is your best betm but thats not always possible.

Also remember a sub or speakers can serisously screw with a compass, so check that before installing........also use stainless harware on everything so it doesnt rust......

Oh and boat marine audio is usually cheaper then car stuff! so shop around, I got everything for my boat for under $500 including a face off MP3 Excelon deck, 12" Rockford punch, MTX 4 channel amp, and Jensen marine speakers........

 

[WannaXP8]

well I have a 83 celebrity with the 4 cylinder mercruiser in it, and the seats that fold into beds if you want, and they have alot of space under them, so I was gunna just put one sub in there...but I wonder how long I can really run my system with the boat off, cause you know when your swimming you gotta have the radio on.lol..and I dont wanna get back in the boat and have a dead ass battery..I got a set of pyrmid 6 1/2 for the front and pymird 5 1/4s for the rear..but I was just thinking maybe a 8 inch sub, or a 10..not to big...so not that big of an amp either..jensen sells waterproof subs..but they are hella expensive..and amps too..even more..

 

[Alec]

If you want to run the radio with the boat off you're gonna need a reliable dual battery setup. You're still gonna need to watch how long you keep it on though as it'll be bad for the aux battery to keep draining and charging. Think about a solar powered battery charger too, they're not that expensive anymore.

 

[A Wise Guy]

How big is your boat? You may want to amp your main speakers also and maybe step up from the pyramids. I'm running MB Quarts 6 1/2 with seperate tweeters in my radar arch with Bose 251s on my rear deck. Pushing them is a Sony Xplod 4 channel amp with built in eq. I forget the rating on it. I can blast like there is no tommorow while you are on the boat but if you step off the boat and onto the deck the sound is extremely well contained within the boat and you would never realize just how loud it really is. Without really facing the speakers off the boat it will be hard to drive the sound there.

 

[410Fortune]

Bazooka makes sub tubes that are water resistant.

Under the seats is not a good place for a speaker, it just gets too wet under there when the top is not up, towing, watersports, whatever.

Your best bet in a boat is a sub in some sort of a ported enclosure or bandpass (protects the speaker) YOu want high output because it is an open top boat..........

A dual battery setup is your best bet in order to assure that you can always crank the starter with the charged battery.

Something that is removable is a good idea too for sotrage and theives, I decided to go with a Rockford 12, one of the cheapos (was $50 on sale) because I am only pushing 180 watts to it at 4 ohm and this speakers RMS are 175 (perfect match) Also it only requires 1.5 cubic feet of airspace for a bandpass encluosure. Easy for me to move in and out of the boat..........

 

[davesexplorer]

Alumapro makes a boat sub, as does clarion, and a few others, but if you want to get a regular sub, Id stay away from paper cones, and foam surrounds. Also try to get a high efficiency amp, so you dont have to worry about killing your battery as much..... A battery disconnect would be a good idea as well.

 

[WannaXP8]

well my boat is only 18 feet long, and theres not that much room in there..and I park my boat in my garage, so Im not worried about theft really..but under my front seat is about the only place for it to go, and If I get a waterproof speaker it shouldnt be that bad..and I would like to upgrade to better speakers, but I cant afford it..lol..and I dont want to like hit 130 dbs..I just wanna have a little bass cause 6 1/2 and 5 1/4s dont have that much bass..