For the sound system guru's

[viggen]

Car audio amp is fine, just keep it away from water

IB is the best sounding sub period however it's also by far the most difficult to do right.

I would actually suggest visiting your local car audio shop, visit when they have a boat and listen to it when they are done. I also purchase all my audio stuff from my local shop

 

[Speedling]

also is there any danger in running a car audio amp? I know it may clunk out on me early but just curious about risk.

Corrosion. I am using regular amps not marine. 3 years and no corrosion so far but well protected, elevated, and i don't live near salt water.

 

[Speedling]

My setup inside the "cuddy" elevated on the side wall. Even thought about making spacers and a plexiglass window on it.
But this is automotive amps pretty well protected from the elements.

 

[robert843]

With a goal of running two 10-inch subs I'm thinking the goal is more than just moderate.

@David Analog I actually dont want to go overboard I'm not trying to be crazy loud on the water just add a little more bass. Is two 10 inch woofers too much? Should I just do one and build the custom box and max out the watts versus going with two? I will only be sticking with the original 4 speaker locations in the boat outside of the sub or subs as well I do not have any intent to add other full range speakers so I do not want the subs to over power the other 4 speakers either. I have replaced the stock speakers with a little better speaker.

 

[Speedling]

2 10" subs is awesome in my boat but i also have them under the seats. Plenty of punch and not too muddy. Just tune them down if too loud. Make sure the cutoffs for frequency compliments the other boat speakers, meaning, listen to when they cut off and let the subs fill in. Turn the gain up slowly until it fills in the frequency missing. Now, turn down the frequency on the subs until you notice something missing and then turn back up again. Don't do rap base music for testing. Try some good classical music or even something by Lindsey Sterling or Escala.

 

[viggen]

One sub in a properly designed enclosure is better then two in mediocre enclosures

Two subs will help reduce dead spots

Two subs will play louder then a single sub with the same power. If you have a 500w amp which pushes the same power any any ohm load the pair of 10's will be 3db louder. If the amp produces more power at lower ohm loads then it be that much louder.... However you will also suck down more juice

Always better to have more power, bass or whatever then you need/want vs not having enough. Easy t properly set gains so the bass isn't overwhelming, not so easy to add more low end

 

[David Analog]

@David Analog I actually dont want to go overboard I'm not trying to be crazy loud on the water just add a little more bass. Is two 10 inch woofers too much? Should I just do one and build the custom box and max out the watts versus going with two? I will only be sticking with the original 4 speaker locations in the boat outside of the sub or subs as well I do not have any intent to add other full range speakers so I do not want the subs to over power the other 4 speakers either. I have replaced the stock speakers with a little better speaker.

If you want a system that is musically balanced with plenty of low end extension, you can do this with four coaxials and a single subwoofer within the cockpit (excluding the bow). This is a proven system in Yamahas. Past that, the right layout, execution and installation details will make all the difference. On the other hand, if you want dominant bass, because that's just the way you like your music, then you need a subwoofer larger than a 10-inch or more than one 10-inch subwoofer.
No one sets these systems up better than Odin with Earmark Marine. He knows how to get the most from the equipment and how to correctly tune the system.
Btw, Earmark Marine has been doing some interesting things with direct-radiating infinite-baffle subwoofer manifolds. It's a new development and I'm very impressed.

 

[Mainah]

@David Analog Don't want to hijack but dont you need an empty boat load of space for an IB baffle manifold setup? Not disputing it just trying to picture it in a boat without taking up a lot of space and still sounding right.

@robert843 You are getting a lot of advice. Simply put a sealed box with the right airspace for the speaker will be the cheapest boom for the buck while sounding really good. If you like things bass heavy then do 2 subs instead of one. Any class D amp with enough power for the subs will work but consider how much moisture or worse salty moisture is there where you will mount it. A mid grade car amp is certainly cheaper and people have done it with success. If you plan to have the boat a long time then I would still recommend going marine grade and quality all the way around.

Others on this site have said good things about Earmark from their pricing to the design of the system. Can't hurt to give them a call.

 

[robert843]

Thanks for all the replies guys lots to think about. Budget isn't really the issue I was looking at car amps more for the power factor. I have had great success with Orion HCCA car amps in the past and the power was unbelievable but even though I have a two battery system on my boat I think the draw will require more Battery upgrades so I may skip that. Also spending $800 on a car amp to put in a boat is probably a bad idea. Plus the Kicker KM10's have very low power handling at 150 rms 300 peak. I really want to get those to match the rest of the boat but I may need to find a higher powered speaker as well to get desired results. Also still looking for a head unit I found this sony unit that claims to have a class d amp built in pushing 4x40rms and 4x100 peak any one tried this unit before? Its been years since I used a sony audio product but in the past they didn't ever live up to the expectations or claims I wasn't sure if that was still the case.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158M10...49545&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=99516733825&awdv=c

 

[robert843]

Right now if I stick with the KM10 speaker I will probably power each one with JL mhx 300 amp at 2 ohms thats about all the power the can handle.

http://www.jlaudio.com/mhx300-1-marine-audio-mhx-amplifiers-98402