2015 242 Limited S - Amp and Speaker Upgrade Questions

[mlinton]

I'm sure there is more than one post with a couple of answers from this, but I want to get some feedback directly.

My stock 2015 242 Limited S, has a couple of speaker issues (broken tweeter in tower, faulty connection in starboard bow speaker and the sound is generally something to be desired. Here is my plan - please let me know what you think.

Change the stock speakers from the 60w rockford 1652s (6.5" ones) to JL Audio MX650-CCX-SG-CLD-B
Add two JL Audio 10" Subwoofers MX10IB3-SG-WLD-B to the cooler compartment
Add two JBL A6004 - 4 channel amplifiers to the stock front and back RCA outputs
Rewire the speakers so that the cabin and bow speakers are one one amplifier (and not in Parallel) and the swim deck and subs are on the other amp.
Wire the two subs in Series and connected to a bridged output on the amp.
Disconnect the tower tweeters.

Any thoughts, or anyone don anything similar?

 

[AZMark]

I think you’re backwards on series and parallel wiring.
Series doubles your ohms and lowers your power. Parallel cuts ohms in half and increases your power.
You just need to make sure your amplifiers are stable at whatever ohms you end up with (usually 2 if you’re running 4 ohm speakers in parallel, but you could end up at 1 if you parallel wired two 2-ohm subs).

 

[mlinton]

Right the idea is that the amp is rated for 170w on a bridged channel but the subs are 2ohm each, so putting the subs in series on the bridged channel gets me to 4ohms to match the amp rating.

The other fix is to put all the 6.5" speakers on their own amp channel. I think there are two (cabin and the swim platform) that are currently connected together.

 

[AZMark]

Not questioning you but when I google those subs it’s showing 4ohm. I know some speakers come in different versions as I recently had to return one, so just make sure you get the ohms you expect.

I think your subs might end up underpowered trying to run two 10s sharing a max of 170w. I would look at using a dedicated sub amp or a more powerful 4 channel for that amp.

 

[mlinton]

Yeah I was also kicking around the idea I should get a better 6 channel amp to run the 6.5s and then a mono amp for one 12" sub instead, or even an 8 channel amp and bridge two for the sub.

 

[212s]

Yeah I was also kicking around the idea I should get a better 6 channel amp to run the 6.5s and then a mono amp for one 12" sub instead, or even an 8 channel amp and bridge two for the sub.

Depends on what you want to achieve.

If you want louder, cleaner sound without party levels to hear while cruising, then the little JBL and a mono amp would probably be ok.

However, if you want to have party volumes, then yes you're definitely going to want a much better amp or amps to drive those JL's - something with a solid 75w/ch RMS would be much more satisfying for the 6.5s. The subs should have a solid 175w at least each, and more would be better if you're a bass hound. That JBL could push maybe 300w peak total power (only 15Ax2 fuses = 30A) and not class D so less efficient, so maybe 250w or so peak.

You need a lot more power to really pump that system:
6.5s x 6 = 525w RMS total
10s x 2 = 350w RMS total
Total of 875w of real power RMS rated, not peak with no specs. JL, Wetsounds, Kicker amps and similar will have real output ratings that you can expect to drive your speakers well.

Also two subs on opposite sides in a boat would be much more effective than a single larger sub since the cockpit is open and the bass will travel in all directions (80% of it up and out of the boat where you don't hear or feel it). A single small sub in a vehicle works because with the windows closed, all of the bass is maintained inside the cabin. As an example, just crank up the volume with the windows closed, then open them, and notice the drop in bass impact and pressure levels (my RAM has a 500w amp with a sub, and it's a very noticeable difference with the windows open). If you have a really powerful sub/amp combo in your vehicle, then you may not notice the difference as much as the pressure is so high, but it's still there.

You might also want to consider upgrading to two or more house batteries to power the system if you go big.

Good musical sound quality isn't cheap...but if you appreciate it like I do, then it's worth it.