232 Limited Audio Upgrades - Rounds 1 (Polk), 2 (JL), and 3 (JL)

[captainhook]

My 2008 232 Limited came stock with an upgraded audio system consisting of a Sony head unit and two pairs of Kicker 6.5" speakers below the rear seats and in the bow. When I bought the boat in 2014 with 11 hours on it, one of the bow Kickers was already mostly blown but I never sat up there so I figured I'd get to it eventually. I was using an $8 bluetooth audio streaming device for a few years and playing music from my phone. It sounded surprisingly decent, but I had to really crank it up to hear it when on the swim platform, which blew out the ear drums of anybody sitting inside of the boat.

Round 1 - 2019
I started reading about a few who were using the micro amps last spring with positive results. I had used an Alpine micro amp in my GTO several years ago and it worked extremely well with good audio quality and a form factor that supported fitting it in the dashboard out of sight. I also read about many who were happy with Polk DB651s, particularly after amplifying them.

After a fair bit of research and hemming and hawing, I decided on the following inexpensive route:
1 - Kenwood KAC-M3004 micro amp $150ish
2 - Polk DB651 (Pair) - $140ish
25' - KnuKonceptz Bassik 4 Gauge Power/Ground Wire Cable (Red) - $16ish
25' - KnuKonceptz Bassik 4 Gauge Power/Ground Wire Cable (Black) - $16ish
100' - Amazon Basics 14 gauge speaker wire - $25
1- Bluesea fuse panel - $25ish
Misc connectors, cutting board for an amp rack, etc. - $60ish

The plan was to replace the existing Kicker speakers with the Polk DB651s, run all new speaker wire, and amplify these two pairs with the Kenwood micro amp. As I started running the speaker wire, I remembered that the two problems I had were 1) hearing the music while underway now that my kids are older and I'm pulling tubes/wakeboards more often, and 2) hearing the music while sitting on the swim platform or floating out back. Thus the replace-the-speakers-I-am-never-near-plan turned into the add-new-speakers-where-I-want-to-hear-music-plan. This meant cutting four giant holes in my boat in both the cockpit under the throttles and in front of the port side passenger seat, as well as near the seats on the swim platform. I bought a cheap hole saw on Amazon and it was a mistake (BUY A GOOD HOLE SAW!!!!), but the anxiety of drilling big holes in the boat significantly lessens after the first one!



Whoops! There are a lot more wires back there behind the throttles than I thought! Close, but fortunately no damage.




Well that was easy, let's do the other side!

The end result!





I mounted the amp board to the bolts on the seat back in the helm compartment. The board was not too heavy with only a micro amp, some distribution blocks, and a Bluesea (future use) so it worked well. Sound quality was vastly improved, the Polks sounded great, especially in the cockpit. That must be the perfect spot for them as they had plenty of range including deep bass for a 6.5" speaker. I could crank it up and hear it well while underway pulling tubes and I had the gain on max on the amp so that the loudest speakers were the amplified Polks and the prior-existing Kickers were still powered from the head unit and didn't blow everyone else in the boat away. I also could clearly hear the music when out back on the swim platform.

 

[captainhook]

Round 2 - 2020

Round 2 started this year because I had enough of making sure I not only brought my $8 bluetooth adapter, but that I also remembered to charge it. I had been contemplating adding a new head unit or a good quality marine bluetooth adapter from Wet Sounds, JL audio, and a few others because I have this Bluesea in doing nothing. I can't have that, right? Right!

But wait, there's more... Naturally, this project escalated because if I was taking the amp board out, I might as well redo it, right? And if I'm redoing it, I might as well add an amp, right? After all, the Kenwood micro amp got very hot and that seems inefficient so, justification found, right? Well if I'm adding an amp, I can sell the Kenwood micro amp and recoup some of the cost, but... I still have a blown speaker in the bow and if I already have an amp, I might as well use it, right? Okay so I should buy a bluetooth adapter, a new amp, and new speakers too, right? Right! So a plan begins...

1 - JL Audio MBT-RX Bluetooth Adapter $42.39
1 - JL Audio M400/4 ($REDACTED IN CASE MY WIFE READS THIS)
2 - Pair Polk DB651 $150ish - damn it the price went up since last year! and everything is delayed at Amazon!
2 - Distribution blocks that support 0-4 gauge in and 4 gauge out (dumbass, buy the bigger size next time from the getgo!) $25ish or something
misc - connectors etc. $30?

So the amp arrives and my wife told me not to do it on a weeknight and should do it on a weekend, but I was grilling and the boat was right in front of me and it'll only take a few minutes, right? The wife is right, I should start listening to her. Maybe I'll start tomorrow. Amp rack removed.

As I bring the old amp rack in the kitchen (too damned hot in the garage!) to start redoing it, my wife declares that I am wasting my time because "We already have the best sounding boat in the river." Well, there's only up from here then, right? (Good thing I bought the JL amp)

A little crooked and I went nuts with the holes, but hey, I'm sure this will escalate too, right? (Note, this is not my kitchen )



Unfortunately this was way too heavy to bolt onto the back of the seats in the helm compartment and the 4 gauge wire going through the back of the amp board made it stand off too much so I couldn't bolt it on. After two trips to the hardware store to extend the bolts, I gave up on that plan and figured out how to just barely clear the steering knuckle and mount it to the back of the helm.



The Polk DB651s were delayed at Amazon (thank you, Covid) so I stuck the amp rack in and amplified the existing cockpit and swim platform Polks with the JL because we were going out on the boat that day. It sounded slightly better but I wasn't expecting much difference, just more efficiency. The JL bluetooth adapter is awesome though, so this project was worth it. But I had a few times where my wife and kids were asking me to turn it down which put a real damper on the fun. But I have to turn it up to get it to sound good, there's not enough bass! So I decided to do a little poll and 3/5ths of my family stated that the music was too loud on the boat that day. DAMN IT! Now what? The Polks didn't even ship yet! I decided this was a waste so I canceled the order for the Polks. Apparently I already have the 'best sounding boat on the river' so this is fine for now, it still works pretty well.

 

[captainhook]

Round 3 - Fifteen minutes after round 2, 2020

So there I was with two amplifiers (only one in use), most of the wiring run to replace the other two pairs of Kickers, and the feeling I didn't have enough bass and wasn't utilizing the JL amp to its full potential. And, I had already canceled the order for the other two pairs of Polk DB651s that were going to replace the stock Kickers. What do I do now? JL MX650s, of course! I went back and forth on 2 pairs or 4 pairs for a couple of days and ultimately decided on 2 because 1) 2/3rds of my kids mostly sit in the bow and don't want the music super loud and 2) I don't sit in the backseat anyway so I decided to move the Polk DB651s from the swim platform and cockpit to the locations of the stock Kickers (bow and backseat) and put two pairs of the JLs in the place of the Polks. The mismatchedness is mildly irritating, but at no point can you really see two different sets of speakers at the same time based on where they are located. Plus, I can always upgrade the Polks to JL next we--err year--err when they break.

I also decided to use the Kenwood amp since it seems to do well with the DB651s and I already had it.

The first thing I noticed is that the Kickers were a lot larger than I thought they were, actually larger magnets than the Polks. They also seem to have better build quality as well. Polk DB651 left, Kicker KM613 right. Other than the one Kicker being mostly blown, the other issue is that the grilles seem rather fragile and several pieces from the backseat pair were broken off. I didn't try it, but they may have done well with some amplification. Oh well, too late now.



Bow install completed, even the screw holes were the same.





Backseat was easy too.

On to the good stuff. I immediately noticed the difference between the Polk DB651s and the JL MX650. The build quality is no comparison and at this point I am questioning whether the Polks are even actually marine speakers. They sound good, look good, and I liked them but they are not even comparable build quality-wise to the JLs. I apparently forgot to take a picture of the Polks versus the JLs, but I did take a couple of the JLs versus the Kickers.

JL MX650 (left) vs. Kicker KM613 (right)



JLs installed.




Just as I was screwing in the second swim platform JL at dusk, my wife stopped by to tell me that the Polks looked better than the JLs. In pictures and from a distance, the JLs win for me, but up close I actually don't like them as much as I did the Polks. However, the grille is significantly better build quality than the Polks and I'm pretty certain the JLs could take a pretty good smack from something like a wakeboard and come out unscathed.

By this time it was dark so I donned my headlamp and decided to fire it up. I neglected to order enough RCA cables to connect the Kenwood amp powering the Polks so I set the JL amp to half gain and gave the JL MX650s a listen. They were good, probably twice as much bass and a little better clarity, but I was honestly expecting more. Did I have my expectations too high after sweating my ass off over multiple days and spending a bunch of money on a sound system most of my family didn't care to use to its fullest potential? Maybe, but I would give it a listen on the water the next day to really decide.

The next morning I dug through one of my totes of miscellaneous cables I've been lugging around move after move since college, not letting my wife throw away and found a few temporary RCA cables to connect the Kenwood and Polks. I then turned the gain up to about 75% on the JL amp and kept the Kenwood amp on the low side after realizing my mistake. Don't mount your amp like I did with the controls facing the side of the boat so you look like a moron after squeezing your not-as-skinny-ass into the helm compartment. This is the only way I could see what the hell I was doing. Using my phone to take a picture of the amp to attempt to adjust the gain. Fun times.



After adjusting the gain on the Kenwood amp with moderate success, I hooked up the boat and we got out on the water. I cranked it up and let me tell you, five minutes in and it was all worth it. I did have deeper bass, more clarity and what seems like twice the volume from the JLs versus the Polks. Nobody complained that the music was too loud and we had a great time at the little sandbar we always visit. I set the volume on 20 on the head unit and control the music volume with my Apple Watch and could do it from onshore about 50' from the boat. Another boat was playing some garbage music and I was able to mostly drown it out while standing on shore by raising my volume up a little bit. I do still lack a little bass on the swim platform, but there is so much bass in the cockpit when you're inside the boat that you might even bet that I had a small or medium sub installed. I think the cockpit locations just happen to be ideal places to mount 6.5" speakers and the space behind the speakers on the swim platform just is not large enough to allow deep bass unless you crank it up to the point where you cannot sit there.

I am getting a little bit of noise when there is nothing playing from all speakers which I hope will be rectified with the KnuKonceptz RCA cables I have arriving in a few days. The sound is great and what I was looking for and didn't absolutely break the bank. If I had it to do over again, I'm not sure what I would've done differently other than perhaps going with a JL 800/8 amp instead of the 400, but then I would've wanted 4 pairs of JL MX650s as well. Regardless, hopefully this satisfies me for now, or at least until next season.

Next up, an onboard charger that I never worried with two stock batteries about until I installed two amps...

 

[mark_m]

Nice install! Whatcha up to for Rounds 2 and 3?

 

[captainhook]

Nice install! Whatcha up to for Rounds 2 and 3?

I typed up Round 2 above after you posted this. Stay tuned for round 3 which I will type up tomorrow. Spoiler alert—your project gave me the confidence to put the speakers on the swim platform and then eventually what I put there for round 3. ?

 

[mark_m]

I typed up Round 2 above after you posted this. Stay tuned for round 3 which I will type up tomorrow. Spoiler alert—your project gave me the confidence to put the speakers on the swim platform and then eventually what I put there for round 3. ?

@captainhook and you inspired me to buy my sx230! I picked up the one you looked at bayside jet drive!

 

[mark_m]

I typed up Round 2 above after you posted this. Stay tuned for round 3 which I will type up tomorrow. Spoiler alert—your project gave me the confidence to put the speakers on the swim platform and then eventually what I put there for round 3. ?

Re-read round 2 -hopefully you are installing J/L Sub - M10IB5!!

 

[captainhook]

Re-read round 2 -hopefully you are installing J/L Sub - M10IB5!!

No more ideas!!!!

Updated round 3.

 

[mark_m]

No more ideas!!!!

Updated round 3.

Nice work!!! Did you tune the JL amp using the 9 step process? I still need to do that after multiple years with 0dB reference tones...

The JL on the swim platform will rock the bass too if you have things dialed in.

 

[mark_m]

No more ideas!!!!

Updated round 3.

You gotta go with the JL Infinite baffle sub in the compartment behind you!!

 

[captainhook]

Nice work!!! Did you tune the JL amp using the 9 step process? I still need to do that after multiple years with 0dB reference tones...

The JL on the swim platform will rock the bass too if you have things dialed in.

I sure didn't! Time to go to Google!

 

[Bluewater272]

Plus, I can always upgrade the Polks to JL now.

Fixed

 

[captainhook]

Fixed

I probably should while it's still coo--DAMN IT this is your fault already. Go install a sub in yours!

 

[LukePrinsloo]

Fixed

I probably should while it's still coo--DAMN IT this is your fault already. Go install a sub in yours!

So as I keep telling you guys. No idea why you say JL is low on Bass. but I do have a huge sub behind me.

Stop talking about cockpit and swim platform speakers though please, thanks. (since you refused to order them for me.)

 

[captainhook]

So as I keep telling you guys. No idea why you say JL is low on Bass. but I do have a huge sub behind me.

Stop talking about cockpit and swim platform speakers though please, thanks. (since you refused to order them for me.)

Actually, you're the one who broke the pact because we ordered what we said we were going to order...

Cockpit speakers are the best!

 

[D&S232]

I laughed so hard when I read this, especially the reference to your wife! Love the attention to detail! I recently did a budget build as well and added two MBQuartz 10" subs (one under the port front seat, and one behind the captain's seat). That plus 4 tower speakers and the 4 factory location speakers... Wow! I used the head compartment wall to mount my speaker and remembered to point the AMP controls towards the door for easy adjusting I can post a pic if anyone cares to see...

 

[captainhook]

in fairness to my wife, most of it was a joke and she wouldn't care what I spent on the amp.

A few more updates--I received and installed the KnuKonceptz RCA cables and they did not alleviate the buzz/hum I am getting without audio playing. I think it's in the head unit at this point because just turning the amps on it is not present until the head unit is also powered on.

In addition, I was going back and forth on the onboard charger thinking I haven't needed it thus far in 7 seasons, may not need it now and I can always top off with my portable battery charger. Well it turns out that my portable gets so hot in the sun and running that I was actually concerned it was going to burn something. An hour or so charge and the house battery still wasn't charged and the amp was very clearly reduced in power in our last outing. The house battery also died halfway through the trip so an onboard charger is on the way and will arrive tomorrow. It's quite annoying to have spent all this time and money on audio and not be able to utilize it for half of your boat ride so this charger should be money well spent, even if I killed the battery completely and need to replace it since the new one will need to be charged after each outing as well.

 

[D&S232]

I added the onboard charger and love the ease of it. Does it do a better job? No clue! It’s just easy!

 

[Chris Miller]

Amazing post! I just happened to stumble upon this while trying to get the details on the stock Sony deck as looking to finally upgrade my stereo. Have a 232 limited S as well. I added a sub which has helped but still struggle greatly to hear under way. Some questions as I really like this upgrade you did. 1) Did you do all this using the existing Sony head unit that came factory install? 2) how did you plug in the JL Bluetooth? Did you replace the Sirius input (I don’t use it) or is there an extra one? 3) I believe there was only 2 pre amp outputs last time I looked. So did you use one for the kenwood and one for JL amp? And not care about front rear, as technically you would want the polls in the back under seats and the JLs on swim deck as rear and then the helm and bows as front I would think? 4) finally what hole saw did you use (I’m super nervous about this part). Any input thoughts on exact measurements of where to put the hole or advice on cutting the hole?

 

[captainhook]

Amazing post! I just happened to stumble upon this while trying to get the details on the stock Sony deck as looking to finally upgrade my stereo. Have a 232 limited S as well. I added a sub which has helped but still struggle greatly to hear under way. Some questions as I really like this upgrade you did. 1) Did you do all this using the existing Sony head unit that came factory install? 2) how did you plug in the JL Bluetooth? Did you replace the Sirius input (I don’t use it) or is there an extra one? 3) I believe there was only 2 pre amp outputs last time I looked. So did you use one for the kenwood and one for JL amp? And not care about front rear, as technically you would want the polls in the back under seats and the JLs on swim deck as rear and then the helm and bows as front I would think? 4) finally what hole saw did you use (I’m super nervous about this part). Any input thoughts on exact measurements of where to put the hole or advice on cutting the hole?

1) Yes, I did use the factory Sony head unit. Frankly with Bluetooth I never really touched it other than to turn the volume at a certain level and I didn't feel like modifying the rear control hole (which I also barely use) to another shape that something like a Fusion uses. All that said, I should've just replaced it as well. Sometime in the past couple of seasons I was doing something and now my stern remote stopped working. The display works but no buttons do. I'm assuming I caused this, but I have not been able to easily determine what the issue is. No wires seem to be unplugged and I don't use it much so I haven't spent more than a few minutes on fixing it. Also now everything is more expensive so it's probably gonna cost me way more to do it than it would've in 2020.
2) The Sony head unit has an aux in port, separate from the Sirius (which I also don't use). There is a header in the cockpit near your knees forward and under the throttles. I unplugged that cable from the back of the head unit and used that one so I turn the head unit on and put in "AUX IN" and then set the volume to around 20 and then adjust volume for the day on my phone or Apple Watch. I eventually will remove the Sirius tuner since I've never used that once. Maybe I'll do that this year.
3) I used two splitters from Knukonceptz to connect both amps. Klarity RCA Cable Y adapter 1 Male 2 Female - Merchandise
4) I used a piece of garbage no-name 5" hole saw from Amazon. DO NOT DO THIS. After halfway through the first hole it was noticeably duller, and the damn thing was so dull it took like ten times as long to get through the fiberglass on the rest of the holes. Go to Lowe's, Home Depot, or your local hardware store and buy a good, brand name 5" one. I actually didn't have any hole saws so I bought this kit on Amazon thinking it was a good value--it isn't. It sucks. I've since used some of the other sizes on other stuff and they are equally terrible. Use masking tape, start in reverse to get through the gelcoat, and triple check the placement (including what is behind it). After the first big hole, the rest are easy.