Jason Parks
Active Member
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 8
- Points
- 42
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2018
- Boat Model
- AR
- Boat Length
- 24
Got my new 2018 AR240 last month and immediately wanted to upgrade the audio. Terrible base system and wanted sound off the back. Although I would love to spend $$$ on the audio, just spent $$$$$$ on the boat itself and the "boss" (wife) is holding me to a budget.... for now. Spent lots of hours researching upgrades on the forum (thanks and shout out to majorsmackdown, swatski, chip f, etc. for the audio upgrade posts... big help). Decided on an 8 speaker Polk DB651 system with the original bow and stern speakers powered by the onboard amp. 1 new pair is located around the cockpit on the port and starboard. The other new pair is located in a set of Rockville MAC65b tower pods (providing sound off the back in lieu of cutting out swim deck speakers).
The helm install wasn't bad at all. I was able to place them up higher in the black molding with plenty of room behind the cutout (probably 2.5"). Routing for the starboard side was easy since the amp is installed in the cockpit. For the port side I ran speaker wire around the front of the boat, using the holes from the exposed bow speakers as pull stations (fish tape) as well as the anchor storage area. Bought a $15 hole saw kit from Amazon and used the 5" hole saw.
The tower install was fairly straight-forward. Cut a pilot hole at the location for each tower and then used a step bit to get 1/2" hole. Lowered the wake tower and followed the hole for the tower light with fish tape. I was not able to get (2) 14awg wires through the hole since they were wrapped in the Amazon basics sheathing so I had to use 16awg. Not my first choice but I'm not running massive power to the towers (50w rms/channel) and the run is only 20'.
Power for the Alpine MRV-300 amp was run across the engine bay and along the starboard side to the cockpit. 20' was perfect (Amazon 20' 4awg solid copper power/ground). I wrapped in braided sleeving for additional protection. Amp was installed on a 12"x18" cutting board and hinged on one side ease of access. I mounted the amp on the inside so nothing would be exposed to the cockpit storage.
System sounds fantastic for phase 1 (don't tell my wife there might be more phases) of the build. I'm great with 2 pairs running off the stock amp and the cockpit/tower running off the Alpine. Bass is actually pretty good even though I have no amp installed yet (shh...). Can't wait to get it on the water and jam!
(4) Polk DB651 $256 (Ebay)
(1) Alpine MRV-300 $125 (Amazon)
(1) 4awg power/ground solid copper $47 (Amazon)
(1) 16awg speaker wire $25 (Amazon)
(1) Rockville MAC65b $105 (Amazon)
Misc parts (hole saw, step bit, etc.) $100
Total $650
The helm install wasn't bad at all. I was able to place them up higher in the black molding with plenty of room behind the cutout (probably 2.5"). Routing for the starboard side was easy since the amp is installed in the cockpit. For the port side I ran speaker wire around the front of the boat, using the holes from the exposed bow speakers as pull stations (fish tape) as well as the anchor storage area. Bought a $15 hole saw kit from Amazon and used the 5" hole saw.
The tower install was fairly straight-forward. Cut a pilot hole at the location for each tower and then used a step bit to get 1/2" hole. Lowered the wake tower and followed the hole for the tower light with fish tape. I was not able to get (2) 14awg wires through the hole since they were wrapped in the Amazon basics sheathing so I had to use 16awg. Not my first choice but I'm not running massive power to the towers (50w rms/channel) and the run is only 20'.
Power for the Alpine MRV-300 amp was run across the engine bay and along the starboard side to the cockpit. 20' was perfect (Amazon 20' 4awg solid copper power/ground). I wrapped in braided sleeving for additional protection. Amp was installed on a 12"x18" cutting board and hinged on one side ease of access. I mounted the amp on the inside so nothing would be exposed to the cockpit storage.
System sounds fantastic for phase 1 (don't tell my wife there might be more phases) of the build. I'm great with 2 pairs running off the stock amp and the cockpit/tower running off the Alpine. Bass is actually pretty good even though I have no amp installed yet (shh...). Can't wait to get it on the water and jam!
(4) Polk DB651 $256 (Ebay)
(1) Alpine MRV-300 $125 (Amazon)
(1) 4awg power/ground solid copper $47 (Amazon)
(1) 16awg speaker wire $25 (Amazon)
(1) Rockville MAC65b $105 (Amazon)
Misc parts (hole saw, step bit, etc.) $100
Total $650
