Adding 3rd pair of speakers

[WildCatFan54]

Please realize that this request for help is coming from an electronics novice !! I consider myself to be mechanically competent but electronically challenged , at best !! I just replaced the crappie (not fish) OE speakers in my AR240 with Polk MM651UM in the four locations that Yamaha had the original speakers. Simple , easy , everything matched , no holes to fill, no new holes to drill , sound is MUCH better. Now I'm getting greedy. I would like to put another pair of Polks out back on the swim platform like the upscale E series 24' boats have. I have no plans for an amp , tower speakers , or any other electronic mods ?? Just would like to have a little cleaner , mid volume sound closer to me while sipping on cold adult beverages on the swim deck. I would assume that the Connex head unit in my boat is capable of six speakers in that the upscale boats are already doing that ? I'm good with the part about drilling the holes and running the speaker wire to in front of the helm. I'm just no clear about the hook up in the helm storage area and how the fader / balance adjustment will work thru Connext ? Will the fader treat main cockpit and swim deck equally ? Any pics , advise , or links to previous threads on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

 

[swatski]

Please realize that this request for help is coming from an electronics novice !! I consider myself to be mechanically competent but electronically challenged , at best !! I just replaced the crappie (not fish) OE speakers in my AR240 with Polk MM651UM in the four locations that Yamaha had the original speakers. Simple , easy , everything matched , no holes to fill, no new holes to drill , sound is MUCH better. Now I'm getting greedy. I would like to put another pair of Polks out back on the swim platform like the upscale E series 24' boats have. I have no plans for an amp , tower speakers , or any other electronic mods ?? Just would like to have a little cleaner , mid volume sound closer to me while sipping on cold adult beverages on the swim deck. I would assume that the Connex head unit in my boat is capable of six speakers in that the upscale boats are already doing that ? I'm good with the part about drilling the holes and running the speaker wire to in front of the helm. I'm just no clear about the hook up in the helm storage area and how the fader / balance adjustment will work thru Connext ? Will the fader treat main cockpit and swim deck equally ? Any pics , advise , or links to previous threads on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

You will need to add an amp. Check out @fraserjr install - very cool:
https://jetboaters.net/threads/easiest-way-to-add-amplify-music-at-the-helm.12049/page-2#post-207679

Go to page 5, post #85 or so - probably best location for 6.5s midship.

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[Julian]

I agree with @swatski - you will want to add an amp....not hard, but more time consuming. The easiest way is to just run RCA cables back to the area next to your batteries and wire in the power for the amp there, then run your speaker wires from there back to the swim deck. If I were you, I'd probably put in a 4 channel amp and put a couple of the cabin speakers on that amp as well.

 

[WildCatFan54]

thanks guys for your experienced recommendations. So I would guess that a 4 channel amp means 4 speakers , and a 6 channel amp means 6 speakers , etc. ?? If so then why would I not (other than more $s) go with a 6 channel amp located in the battery storage area and run speaker wire to all from that point ? Would I still control volume , balance , fade from the Connex which I would assume means some connection between it and amp or is some other external device needed ? I t would not seem practical to me having to raise seat cushion to control volume etc. ? Sorry to be so naive ! Could you recommend a moderately priced 6 channel amp ?

 

[WildCatFan54]

Just made an executive decision !! I'm going to limp by until next off season with just the Polk MM651's replacing the OEM speakers. I will solicit professional install help then with the amp install and speaker rewiring. Its already better than it was and after reading @fraserjr thread its seems a bit over my pay grade and seems that it can snowball rapidly ?? Thanks again for your advise.

 

[bronze_10]

Runni the rca cable around the boat yo the batteries is how i was planning on doing it but i am having a hard tine findig the cables much over 20 foot long. Also i assume u have to run the power on cable around too?

 

[Julian]

Runni the rca cable around the boat yo the batteries is how i was planning on doing it but i am having a hard tine findig the cables much over 20 foot long. Also i assume u have to run the power on cable around too?

Yup....you have to run RCAs and the remote wire power on wire. 20' should be good enough....the bucket control cables are 17'.....you can also measure with a string in advance.

 

[Julian]

@WildCatFan54 Yes you could get a 6 channel amp, but as you said, the more you add the more it costs. On my last boat I ended up with 4 pairs of speakers, and to keep the costs down I bought one 4 channel JBL marine amp off EBAY and added 2 sets of speakers to the boat. This resulted in a decent stereo with speakers in bow, cabin and swim platform for a limited cost.

 

[robert843]

You can always run the 4 rear speakers in parallel to a four channel amp to power all 6. I thinking about using a 4 channel amp to power 8 speakers dragging the whole load down to 2 ohms.

 

[swatski]

Runni the rca cable around the boat yo the batteries is how i was planning on doing it but i am having a hard tine findig the cables much over 20 foot long. Also i assume u have to run the power on cable around too?

20' should be plenty, I did about 15' going thru the fuel tank compartment. People warn you about RCAs and interference, but it is a boat, I ran very long (cheap) RCAs for the WS420 and it was all good at the end.
That power on can be small wire, like 18awg.

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[bronze_10]

20' should be plenty, I did about 15' going thru the fuel tank compartment. People warn you about RCAs and interference, but it is a boat, I ran very long (cheap) RCAs for the WS420 and it was all good at the end.
That power on can be small wire, like 18awg.

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If i can manage to do it without the fuel hatch coming up i would rather do that.. i really dont want to mess with broken bolts!