2 towers speakers added to existing stereo? I'm stereo stupid. help?

[TN888]

2014 AR240. I have a standard Clarion/4 speakers from the factory and want to hear sound while were swimming near boat. We don't wakeboard or care about loud music, but need little more sound while swimming around boat because the factory speakers are inside vs directing sound outside.

I was thinking of adding 2 small tower speakers to the factory system...can this be done or will I need an amp?

What channel amp?
Any opinions on a inexpensive amp?
Smallest tower speaker you know of?

Not wanting to spend alot, just need little more sound directed at swimmers in water.

Thanks for any help and ideas on products you may have.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Take a look here:
https://jetboaters.net/threads/6-speakers-and-no-amp.1004/

 

[TN888]

Neat idea, but rather have all 6 speakers going at once so I don't have to toggle switch back & forth.

Sounds like I'll need an amp to do this and 2 more speakers(tower or swim deck).

 

[Greg M]

you can add them to existing radio and it will play them. BUT here is the problem.

The higher the volume you go, the worse they will sound to the point of unlistenable and at lower volume you will hurt their clarity significantly at any volume above ultra low.

A factory radio barely has enough power to push on 4 speakers, much less 6.


A little stereo 411........

Think of wattage (amp power rating or radio itself power rating) as horsepower.
Think of each speakers needs as a draw on that horsepower AND each the speakers needs to move the voice coil ...even at low volume.
The more horsepower you have (watts) the easier it is to get better speaker performance at any level and louder volume at a high level because its got enough ommph to be able to move and make the sound waves as it can handle. its never in a needy situation.

That's a layman'ed down explanation but it gives you a visual. I used horsepower because we can all relate, the more hp you have on tap, the better fuel/gas milage you get at low speed so to speak and if you want to haul ass its there for the top speed and acceleration.

 

[dancathy]

I use the clarion xc6210 2 channel amp. It is a great 350 watt marine unit and can be had on eBay for $130. The tower speakers I used are arial bullet for $200 a pair. Check out my pics on the Christmas presents thread. I use 2 amps because it was cheaper than their xc6410 4 channel unit.

 

[MikeyL]

Here is a QUALITY, well-known and highly respected amp on AMAZON, $95 DELIVERED ! HIGHLY recommended !

http://www.amazon.com/Rockford-Fosg...ef=sr_1_7?s=car&ie=UTF8&qid=1420290659&sr=1-7

This unit will give you lots of options in how you hook it up. Good Luck and if I can assist, please PM me.
Happy New Year, Mikey Lulejian - Lake Oconee, GA

 

[0627Devildog]

Following

 

[Blazin14]

most all car / boat radios are 4 ohm stable (not 2 ohms), thus adding 2 more 4 ohm speakers in parallel will present a 2 ohm load to the strereo. It may work at low volumes but at higher volumes it will clip and get hot and shutdown. This rule also applies to adding an amp, so buy your speakers and amp to ensure they are a good match. When looking at amps, look to see what ohm its stable too. (mostly 4 ohms)

for you just find a good 2 channel 4 ohm stable amp (25 to 50 watts) for your 2 tower speakers ( 4 ohm).

 

[jawsf16]

@TN888 highly recommend a class D amp for efficiency and heating considerations. Also, unless you store on the water or boat in salt water, you can use a car amp vs a marine amp. I have used a pioneer class d car amp in my last two boats with great success. I currently have two four channels, one for the boat speakers and sub, one for the tower speakers. I used the polk 6x9 cans for the tower and am very happy.

 

[0627Devildog]

Is there a thread anywhere on Tower Speaker installation for the 2010-14 AR240's? Specifically speaker wire routing?

 

[dancathy]

The clarion amp I mentioned is 2 ohms stable. It is the amp that yamaha used to solve the problem the had with the 2013 242 ls wiring problem

 

[David Analog]

All source units use a BTL output chip so they cannot be bridged and are not 2-ohm stable. So the only way to have six speakers on a source unit is to series two pair of in-boats on two channels which frees up two channels for the transom or tower speakers.
But like stated above, the source unit is barely enough power to drive four in-boat speakers within the bath tub, and exterior speakers in an open field require MUCH more power.
So an external amplifier is needed in any case. The problem with one external amplifier is control. You will not have complete zone control and will not be able to completely fade away from both pair of in-boat speakers. The answer is to use a four channel amplifier, with two channels driving the four in-boats and two channels driving the two transom or tower speakers. Using both source unit preamp RCA outputs will provide full zone control.
Understand that car audio speakers, which are intended for an expansive door or trunk baffle, will sound tinny loaded into a compact pod. When elevated on the tower, they also do not benefit from the surrounding coaming planes that tend to reinforce a warmer sound. So the transom-mounted speakers will sound a little better than the equal tower speaker at near proximity. In the end, when using tower speakers, any hope of decent sound quality will depend on a larger speaker in a larger pod or a speaker that was intended by design to be used in a small pod.
Some of the above may be contrary to a limited budget. However, the real value will come in doing it right the first time.

 

[txav8r]

@TN888 , I like the discussion and focus your getting on the several threads you have going regarding the improvement to your stereo. It helps to have some exposure and input from those that have done them. I too, like you, don't care a flip about "loud" or "wake range" music. However, you can't even have music in the swimming range behind the boat without some pretty decent speakers and the power behind them to deliver it to you. And the difference discussed in the several threads between speaker differences is enough to fill a book. The Polk DB651 always gets thumbs up to a nice upgrade without breaking the bank. It is a great "entry level speaker". But make no mistake, it is an entry level speaker and you can amplify it and get good sound at certain levels. That means it can easily be powered to let you hear it above engine and wind noise at cruise or higher. Here is the rub. Hearing music and being able to actually "hear" it are two very different things. Yes, you can deliver enough power to that speaker to get it loud enough to hear it. But it is just not efficient enough to handle that level of play regardless of power, to compete with the wind and engine noise. What sound system could? Well, it is all about the things that have been discussed in the threads you have going. It is getting enough power to work the speaker to its capability and...the speaker has to have more dynamic range and capability to play clean at a much louder level to compete with that outside interference. So while you and I don't really consider ourselves listeners of loud music, when we are playing at cruise, or in your specific request, out back where we swim...you have to compete with distance and the open air auditorium. So to deliver music with any quality at all to it, you better modify and put the speakers on the transom, unless you get a better speaker to mount in the pod on the tower. You don't need the projection horns for swim distance, but you need a speaker that can handle the challenge. And like @David Analog said, a larger speaker may be in order, but I suspect you could get swim distance worthwhile music out of a set of JL MX 650's or the Polk MM651UM. But you can certainly get better overall sound out back with the JL 770 line.

These discussions are all relative and very subjective too. Because some will be satisfied with just the background noise that you know is music...others want to hear the lyrics and every note from high to low. Some will tell you that you can't get that in an open air environment of a boat. Those of us with JL audio equipment will tell you that you can get good music at low listening levels in open air, as well as pretty crisp and understandable music even at cruise. And the music out back...well, it suffers no matter what you do, but it is attainable too. Nothing you do will be like in the small confines of a car, and certainly not like in your home, but you can have music that is worth listening to. Like David said, do it right the first time.

 

[TN888]

Thanks, forgot about the ONE thread from last year inquiring about speakers. Ordering the Polk speakers/Pioneer amp. And being winter a perfect time to install this....plus make an improvement over my factory set-up. gfy

Thanks for all the help.