"Economical" Stereo upgrade... My progress.

[WickedPorter]

So... If anyone looks back at my old posts on "the other forum" ... when I first bought my boat, I had some pretty big stereo system aspirations. While that is still the ultimate goal, I've decided to take a more economical approach to the stereo system, as the other boat related expenses have somewhat taken over (i.e. gas, tube, cover replacement ("premium" deluxe cover from 2013 has disintegrated), covered slip, lift, etc.

Anyway... I was at my chiropractors office the other day and he mentions that he has a slightly used Bazooka Tube 10" 200W powered sub from his old boat that has been sitting in his garage for a year... willing to sell it to me for $100. I took him up on this.

My incredibly anal/OCD-like tactics aside, I decided to take him up on his offer... but allow the possibility of future upgrades when considering the install. The first upgrade was always a sub, and I had the Wet Sounds HT AS-10 in mind. A little pricey... and from what I've heard, this little Bazooka Tube offers some pretty nice fill for the price, especially at $100 for "like-new".

So... Purchased an Optima D34M, mounted under port side seat by current starter/house battery. Ran cables (remote turn-on, RCAs) from factory Clarion CMD8 in the helm back to this compartment via steering cable trough above gas tank and followed fuel lines in to the compartment through the engine compartment.

Per all knowledge received from @David Analog , I purchased a vent from Earmark for the sub and proceeded to cut a hole in my boat ... my first foray in to fiber glass destruction. A little nervous, but with all the knowledge on here and the Internets, had no problems whatsoever creating this venting port. Used a Dremel with 561 bit, blue masking tape over the entire operation. Hopefully this allows me to get a bit more of the actual bass tones rather than just pure boat shaking and vibrating.

Next year I plan on purchasing a nice Wet Sounds 4ch amp and Wet Sounds coaxials for the cabin speakers... and the year after that, another D34M in parallel and another amp and some tower speakers. For the most part, I'm pretty happy with the Clarion CMD8 head unit that came with my 2013... certainly there are better options, but so far I've found it to be very acceptable. May also consider the Wet Sounds WS series equalizers for a little more versatility. Here I am dreaming again.

Anyway, I have a nicely mounted sub, vented with my first-ever foray in to fiberglass cutting, a new Optima D34M to run it hooked up to my Minnkota MK315D charger (power at my slip, charged nightly). A little more fill in the sound spectrum once the deck was adjusted properly, but still lots to go.

Here's my (ordered from Earmark (West Marine brand)) louvered vent. Total cost of the system so far with everything: $350. Pics of actual mounted sub hopefully coming on Friday along with more extensive sound reviews from yours truly, a picky audiophile.

 

[WickedPorter]

Everything installed and working! Now I know just how bad the factory "Marine Audio" brand speakers are... Those must be replaced soon (probably in the spring).

Correction on original post, my head unit is a CMD7, not a CMD8. Basically looks identical with a few less configuration options, namely low pass / high pass filters. No big deal.

The only problem I've run across is the remote turn on from the CMD7 is not working. I'm not sure if it's not supplying enough current; I don't have a volt meter handy so not sure. It was a relatively long run from the head unit to the sub/amp, so I'm wondering if that may have something to do with it... ? Or perhaps the remote turn on circuitry in the bazooka tube is too weak to sense it, not sure...

Not a huge deal, as I simply wired it to the power wire connection after my circuit breaker. I turn off the stereo circuit breaker/"switch" after every outing (along with the house switch/batt) so it's not on all the time.

I'm wondering if running a thicker/more robust remote turn on wire will fix this...

 

[Mainah]

I would check that you are getting +12vdc with a multi meter from the stereo remote wire at the amp connection when the stereo is on. If you are then you could always use a standard bosch style relay. Remote turn on circuits should only draw milliamps of current though.

 

[WickedPorter]

Wait a minute ... I think I have an idea.

The amp is connected to its own dedicated/separate battery. Since the head unit runs off the house, and the amp runs off this separate dedicated battery, a remote wire from the head unit (powered by the house battery) then grounded to the separate/dedicated amp battery might cause this issue? Assuming the remote turn on wire needs to complete a circuit too... it can't in this configuration.

 

[Mainah]

In that case the amp would be looking for continuity between the turn on wire and its +12vdc supply. I don't think that is how it works. More likely an internal relay or current sensing switch is triggered when +12vdc is supplyed to the remote turn on connection.

As long as the amp has a path to ground it should not care where the +12vdc is being supplied from .

 

[WickedPorter]

In that case the amp would be looking for continuity between the turn on wire and its +12vdc supply. I don't think that is how it works. More likely an internal relay or current sensing switch is triggered when +12vdc is supplyed to the remote turn on connection.

As long as the amp has a path to ground it should not care where the +12vdc is being supplied from .

Thanks Mainah. I'll get the voltmeter out (i.e. purchase one on Amazon) and do some further testing.

This leads me to another somewhat related question ... does anyone know if the 2010-2014 models have a dedicated pos/neg cable on the battery just for the radio?

I ask because I'd like to eliminate the potential for any electrical noise being introduced in to the system by wiring the head unit directly to my dedicated sound system battery. If it's a simple cable swap from house battery to new stereo battery, great! Otherwise I'm going to have to run more wires from the head unit back to the battery area.

Thanks!